Page 23

Rio

I took a hard hit during today’s game that fucked up my back, so I try to align the tight area with one of the jets.

This hot tub is, hands-down, my favorite purchase I’ve made for the house. There’s nothing like 103-degree water when it’s winter outside in Chicago. Not to mention, it has a prime sightline to Hallie’s bedroom window, and I’ve caught her checking me out a time or two from up there.

It’s been a couple of weeks since we got home from New York. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve gotten a decent night of sleep too. It’s also been a couple of weeks since we kissed, but I’ve done exactly what I promised I’d do that night. I haven’t pushed her to want more or pressured her into giving us another chance. But I sure as hell haven’t gone away either.

If she’s working at the bar, I stop in. Sometimes with my teammates. Sometimes by myself.

Always to drive her home.

And most of the time, those drives turn into longer ones, either because we’re having fun listening to music together again, or she fell asleep and I’m not ready to wake her.

I leave a vanilla almond milk latte at her front door each morning with the shittiest version of foam art and a note that tells her what the design was before I took a sip.

I drop by the design firm to say hi if I’m downtown after practice or before a game because, yeah, I want to see her. I just want to be around her. Everything quiets when she’s around. These past few weeks have served as a reminder that we’re still so good together. That we’re the same two people who were in love once.

But no, I haven’t pushed her or asked her to give us another try. I’ve simply been me, allowing her to remember who I am.

I check the time on my phone, knowing I need to get upstairs to pack for our flight tonight, and hoping to have enough time to stop next door to see if Hallie is home so I can say goodbye. The team plane leaves in a couple of hours for a game in Philadelphia before we head to Boston, so I’ll be gone for almost a week.

I can’t wait. I’m stoked to go home for a night and play in front of my family and friends. It’s also an important one with free agency coming up in a handful of months. It’s one thing to have a nice-looking stat sheet and a career of accomplishments under your belt, but it’s another thing to play a solid sixty minutes of hockey live in front of a team you’re hoping might offer you a massive paycheck soon.

So, with all that floating around in my head, I climb out of the hot tub, turn off the jets, and pull the cover back on. I grab my towel, run it through my hair, and jog back to the house to get out of the cold.

But before I make it all the way to my back-door slider, I look up and halt in my tracks. Because right there in my kitchen, Hallie is standing behind the island, watching me.

And she’s not just watching me like she’s wondering what I’m doing out here, but she’s watching me as if she’s cataloging every new muscle I’ve earned since she last saw me naked. She’s not even trying to be subtle about it and I fucking love that.

Hallie liked me when I was a scrawny teenager without an athletic bone in my body. She was always so good about building my confidence and never letting me worry that I might not be enough for her. So, I don’t question if she finds me attractive. Now, I feel like I get to show off in front of her.

I take my time toweling off, but I’m sure to put my shirt on before I get too close to the door. Yes, it’s been on my mind for a couple of weeks now that it’s probably time to start letting Hallie know just how much I haven’t forgotten about her in all these years, but that needs to be done slowly with baby steps.

“Sorry,” she says as soon as I open the door.

I try to bite back my smile. “For which part? Breaking and entering or for eye-fucking me in my own house?”

“Mostly the breaking and entering. Though, I do have a key and used the front door, so I’m not sure if that qualifies. And as far as the eye-fucking...” She tosses her head from side to side in contemplation. “I was the first girl to ever see you naked. I figured that gave me a free pass to see what you’re working with now.”

Chuckling, I round the kitchen island to meet her, finding different tile samples and cabinet hardware laid out, expanding over the counter.

“What’s all this?” I ask, my palm instinctively finding the small of her back.

“A few samples I wanted to see in the space now that the demo is all done on the first floor.”

This entire week, a construction crew has been here, ripping out carpet, pulling off baseboards, and jackhammering tile. It’s been loud and messy and I’m already eager for this renovation to be done.

But then another part of me isn’t. Because if Hallie decides she doesn’t see herself giving us another shot, I don’t know how much I’m going to get to see her once my house is done. Especially once she moves out of Wren’s place. Especially if I end up in Boston.

“I thought you’d already left for the airport,” she says.

My thumb draws languid circles on her lower back. “Our flight leaves in a couple of hours. Typically, we go right after the game, but not tonight.”

“Are you excited to go home?”

That question gives me pause, because for a moment, my first thought is that I am home. But then I realize she doesn’t mean this version of home, with her in my house.

“Yeah, I am. I love that city, and I get to see my mom.”

Hallie smiles weakly, and I can tell she’s trying her best to be excited for me to go home. But I also know the mention of my mom could bring down the mood, so I swiftly change the subject.

“I need to finish packing but do your thing. If you want, you could come upstairs and hang out with me when you’re done.”

She shakes her head. “I’m here to work.”

“Okay.” I tuck her hair behind her ear because I can’t keep my fucking hands off her, and even though Hallie says she’s here to work, she still leans into my touch. “Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”

Leaving her in the kitchen, I head for the stairs and I’m halfway up when I pause.

Because there’s music playing throughout my whole house.

Music that Hallie put on.

I feel the smile begin to lift on my lips because the first day Hallie came to work on my house, she said she didn’t do that anymore. But clearly, things have changed since then.