Page 25

I swallow hard. “Caleb?”

He releases me and backs up fast.

“You got a handle on it?” he asks, avoiding my gaze.

I try not to feel hurt that he dropped me like a hot potato. It’s hard to do when a bunch of kids are staring at you like you have cooties.

“Sure,” I say.

But I don’t have a handle on it.

“How about a quick game?” Trey bounces his gaze between Caleb and me as if he reads the tension between us.

“Maybe I should sit this one out before I take someone’s eye out with this thing.” I lift the stick I have no clue how to use.

“Doubtful,” a kid mutters. “You hit nothing but air.”

“ Hey !” I yell, feigning outrage. “I’ll have you know I grazed the top of that puck like no one’s business.” I sniff.

The other kids laugh, and when I turn to Caleb, he’s watching me, a hint of a smile lifting the corners of his lips.

I don’t know what it is about me that keeps capturing his attention, but whatever it is, I hope it never goes away. “What?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing, Myers. You up for a game with these punks?”

“Will I survive it?” I ask, only half joking.

“I’ll protect you,” he says so seriously that my smile fades.

“But I don’t know the rules,” I remind him.

“All you gotta do is score more than the other side. That’s all there is to it. Five on five. We’ll do three periods, one minute per period, and a five-minute break between each to talk tactics. Coach can decide the winner so no one can accuse me of cheating,” he says with a boyish grin.

“Sounds good to me,” the kids’ coach says with a nod.

I eye the kids warily when I remember something about hockey. “I want confirmation that no one is going to drop their sticks and fight me for no reason.”

Caleb laughs, but he doesn’t actually confirm anything.

“Um, Caleb?” I ask, getting worried.

“I’ve got your back, Myers.”

Then it’s too late to ask again because we’re busy forming into two teams, and the game is on.

They slow things down for my benefit. Thank God.

Until a kid charges me, and I freeze.

A large, muscled arm wraps around my middle from behind, lifts me out of the way, and Caleb takes my place before a kid can run me over with his stick.

“Go easy on my girl, k bro?” he says.

“Got it,” the kid says with a salute.

The game continues, so I don’t have long to dwell on what Caleb just said.

My girl.

He called me his girl.

I should be outraged about a man laying claim to me like that.

I’m not.

I’d give anything to hear him say that again.

We lose. But only because our opponents work out fast that I’m the weak link, so Caleb spends more time protecting me than scoring.

He doesn’t seem to mind getting his ass whooped by a bunch of kids.

I don’t mind losing because none of them kill me, and Caleb has such a beautiful smile, I wish he did it more often.

We’re at the park for nearly two hours, and I lose track of how many times Caleb grins. I learn more about hockey than I ever thought I wanted to, and at no point do my eyes glaze over.

“We’re playing in a couple of days,” the coach says when Caleb and I say we have to go. “It’s just a small tournament with the local kids, but it would mean a lot to them if you could come.”

“We have a big game to prep for, but maybe,” Caleb says.

I think this is a case when maybe means no. The coach must know it, too, because his smile dims.

I thought he was having fun today, but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe all along he was thinking of all the practice he was missing by being with me.

“Will it be here?” I ask the coach.

He nods. “Sunday, ten o’clock.”

“I’ll be there,” I say, smiling. “I didn’t think I liked hockey, but this was fun.”

After we say our goodbyes to the kids, who remind us to come back and watch their team, the Lamont Hurricanes, win, we head back to the parking lot.

Caleb is quiet until we’re nearly to his car. “Do you, uh… want to get something to eat?”

Wow. It really sounds like he’s asking me on a date, and I wish I hadn’t already made plans to help Reid with his paper this afternoon.

“Can’t. I have something I have to do later. But thanks for today. It was fun.”

“Sure.” He opens my door, but it’s clear he doesn’t believe me.

“Promise,” I say with a smile. “At no point did I nearly fall asleep on my feet.”

“In case one of the kids took you out?” The barest hint of amusement turns dark green eyes a lighter, warmer shade.

“That too.” I laugh and look away, hesitating to do something I never do. “Maybe…”

“Maybe…” he prompts.

“Maybe we could do the food thing another time,” I blurt out. When he doesn’t respond, I peek at him. “But we don’t have to if?—”

“I want to,” he interrupts. “Why didn’t you want to ask me?”

“I don’t usually do the asking.” I make a face. “Putting myself out there is hard.”

“I know.”

I blink at him, surprised. “Really? You ? You knew what you wanted to do since you were a kid and you didn’t let anyone or anything stand in your way.”

I feel like I have a constant voice in the back of my head, whispering all the ways I can fuck things up or fail.

He half-shrugs. “Doesn’t mean I’m not afraid sometimes.”

I’m going to be late to help Reid study, but I’m not ready for this conversation to end. “About?”

“Letting the team down when they need me, and that I’ll hurt the people I care about.”

“Why would you hurt them?”

“My dad mostly.” His smile is mirthless. “We’re a lot alike. He cheated on my mom a lot. He wasn’t there for me and my brother when he should have been.”

I frown. “It doesn’t sound like you’re alike to me.”

Everything I’ve seen of Caleb has led me to believe that he would be there for his teammates and friends if they needed him. He was there for me when he barely even knew me.

“Come on, I’ll drive you back. But you’ve got yourself a date, Myers.”

Fake , I remind myself as I climb into the passenger seat and Caleb closes my door.

He means a fake date. None of this is real, remember?