Page 129 of Rule 1: Never Accidentally Marry Your Teammate

I wish I had his confidence and could walk out of things. I wish I didn’t feel like I had to stay here.

Finn smiles, unconcerned. The man looks happy and excited.

And that’s wonderful. Really wonderful.

I don’t want anything bad to ever happen. My heart is raw, as if someone’s scraped it over the ice, like it’s one of the pucks being struck by two hundred plus muscular men over and over again.

I suddenly don’t want to sit and wait for whatever team management has decided should happen now, so I get up and follow Finn, ignoring the startled glances of the other players on the bench.

“Where are you going?” Luke asks.

“I’ll be back.”

Luke blinks, but I’m already moving past him. I totter on my skates. Walking is ridiculous with them on, like I’m two years old again.

But I want to find Finn, so I continue. I want to see what he’s doing.

I enter the tunnel, then I see him.

His eyes widen, and he puts his hands in his pockets hastily. His happy face turns worried, and I hate that I’m the cause of it.

I quicken my steps. I want to get out of here.

“Noah? Where are you going?”

“Why does everyone ask me that?”

He frowns. “Noah...Let’s go back to the rink.”

I pout. “I don’t want to.”

His eyes soften. “Come, baby.”

The endearment jolts through me. For a wild moment, my body believes that he means it. But of course, he doesn’t.

“You were trying to get anannulment.”

His skin turns a ruddy color, and he glances toward the tunnel. “We should get back out there.”

“No.” Frustration skates through my veins, and I fucking glare. “We need to talk about this. It’s important.”

“I know...but...”

“No one is here.”

“But we’re not out there.”

Music wafts in from the arena. It’s something romantic, and God, I don’t feel like anything romantic. “I don’t want to listen to that song.”

Finn’s skin whitens, and he runs a finger along his neck, as if his jersey is strangling him. “I thought you loved this song.”

“I did, but now...”

“Now?” Finn scans my face desperately, but I’m not sure what he expects to find.

“It reminds me of...”

“What?” Finn narrows the distance between us like a defenseman closing off an open pass, and I step back and slam against the wall. “What does it remind you of?”