Page 69 of Ice Cold Heart
To my surprise, Avery was waiting for me in my bed when I got there. She wasn’t naked, but I’d take yoga pants and her laptop over not having her at all any day.
“I thought you had to work on an article.” Not the best beginning if I wanted to show her I was happy to see her.
She raised a brow and pointed at her laptop. “I am. I can go…”
I shook my head and faceplanted next to her. “For the record, I never want you to go.”
A muffled quack sounded from under the bed, followed by a flustered duck popping out from her hiding spot. She waddled to the door and let out another shorter quack, which meant her peons needed to let her out immediately.
I groaned, and Avery laughed under her breath before setting her laptop on the nightstand. “I’ve got her.”
With our intruder now someone else’s problem, Avery tilted her head at me. “Rough game?”
“You could say that,” I uttered. “We won, but we have to do it again tomorrow.”
“I know,” she said softly, coming up to the side of the bed. “I wasn’t going to come over tonight, but I think we need to talk.”
Dread sank in my gut. Before she could say anything else, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her under me. Relief cooled some of the fear when she sighed and snuggled closer.
“I missed you,” she murmured.
This was where she belonged. The truth seemed so obvious to me when she fit perfectly in my arms, but I needed to convince her of that fact.
I kissed her forehead, determined to ease into telling her how I felt. “I love when you’re waiting for me after my games.”
“What happened tonight? I saw that hit on Kane.”
“He was running his mouth, and I was letting him get to me,” I explained, nuzzling her neck.
“Really? I’d think you’d be used to the taunting by now,” she teased.
“I haven’t seen my girlfriend more than a handful of times the last few weeks, and I’ve been a frustrated asshole to everyone but you. He kept hammering the sore point.” I knew my mistake immediately, but it was too late to claw the words back. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to. I wasn’t great at subtle on the best of days, so the direct approach would have to do.
Avery jerked back. “Your girlfriend?”
Time to go all in. “Yes, my girlfriend. And one day my fiancée and my wife. That’s what I want—a life with you that doesn’t involve us hiding in the shadows until the right time.”
“But this isn’t the right time.”
“It will never be the right time, Avery, but we can deal with the repercussions together. Your dad, the class, the team, none of it is as important to me as you are.”
Her hand flattened over my heart. “Cole, this was exactly what my dad warned me about.”
It was my turn to jerk back. “He warned you?”
“Yes. He wanted you focused on hockey instead of fleeting distractions.”
“You are not a fleeting distraction. You are my future. Can you trust me to know the difference?”
“No.” The world came crashing down around me as her denial sliced into my chest. “Cole, there’s no reason to push this now. If we just wait?—”
I cut her off. “I’m done waiting. Either you want me or you don’t, Avery.”
Her fingers closed, bunching my shirt as if holding me in place. “It’s not that simple.”
Just like that, I felt my hope slipping away. I knew the easy answer would be to give in and let her keep pretending we weren’t it for each other, but I couldn’t do it. Time wasn’t the answer. Avery had to take a leap of faith, and she might never be ready to jump with me.
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