Page 20 of The Rebound Play
“It’s just … Oh, I don’t know. I guess seeing him again brought back a whole bunch of feelings I had hoped were dead and gone.”
She arches a brow at me. “Dead and gone?” she questions, seeing right through me. Blair’s one of the few people who knows I still have feelings for Dan after all this time. Blair, Ellie, and my sister, Clara.
“Okay, not dead, exactly. More … comfortably asleep.”
“Why don’t you wake up to the hero, then?”
My eyes get huge. “Are you serious right now?” I ask on a chortle. “You know why. He’s got this big, exciting life in the spotlight, with those female fans throwing themselves at him at every game. What do they call them?”
“Puck bunnies.”
“Terrible name.”
She shrugs. “I didn’t make it up.”
“I can’t compete with them. I’m just his high school girlfriend who never did anything with her life.”
She leans toward me. “Babe, you’ve done plenty. Not everyone out there would give up a career to come back and care for their sister and her kids. You’re amazing, Kiki, and don’t you forget it.”
I smile. “You’re the best, B.”
Everyone needs a Blair in their lives.
I blow out a breath. “I have feelings for a guy I broke up with a lifetime ago, who’s not just some regular guy. Oh, no. That would be way too simple. He’s a famous NHL star who lives halfway across the country, who probably hasn’t given me a second thought since the day he left town, and could have any woman he wants.” My shoulders slump. “I’m just going to have to try to avoid him like the plague while he’s here. I guess that’s all I can do.”
“That might be harder than you might think,” she replies, her attention focussed on something behind me.
I turn to see the man himself, right here in the bookshop, his bulky hockey-player frame filling the space. He’s in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie, looking every inch the off-duty athlete that he is. He’s looking around the shop, as though searching for something or someone, and when his eyes land on me, my belly does a flip any gymnast would be proud of.
He smiles and lifts a hand to wave before he skirts around a couple of customers, heading to the counter to see his sister. He’s accompanied by another big guy, with dark hair and a friendly, handsome face.
Emmy greets her brother with an enthusiastic hug.
Meanwhile, I’m having a minor cardiac arrest.
“You okay there?” Blair asks. “You look like you might want to throw yourself on the ground and hide from the guy again. Which I don’t advise, by the way.”
“I thought instead of that I might finish my coffee and leave,” I reply, draining my cup.
“Kiki, you can’t run away every time you see the guy.”
“Why not? It seems like a totally plausible approach to me.”
Blair gives me a look.
I glance over at Dan and the other guy who are both talking with Emmy. Now is the time to get out of here. I rise to my feet. “Let’s get together again soon, okay?”
“Sure thing,” she replies, not moving an inch.
“Are you coming with me?”
“I’m meeting my client soon down the street, Mr. Grump. But you scamper on like the frightened little mouse you are.” She waggles her fingers for effect.
Blair has always had an acerbic wit, but right now I could do without it.
I collect my purse, put my head down, and rush toward the exit. Just as I think I’m on safe ground, a large, burly figure steps in my path, blocking my exit.
Dan.