Page 59 of The Rebound Play
I collect a few tissues from the Kleenex box on the coffee table and wipe my eyes. I’ll go to see Emmy tomorrow. She’ll give me some recommendations for some anti-love books.
I switch off the lamp and head to the bathroom when there’s a loud knock on the door. I almost leap out of my skin in shock.
“Who’s there?” I call out.
“It’s me, Dan,” a muffled voice replies, and my heart leaps into my mouth at the thought that he’s here—even though the last thing I want right now is to have to see him. Because if I do, I know I will crumble, my resolve gone, and I will willingly fall into his arms.
“Please, Kiki. Let me in. Let’s talk about this.”
I stand, rooted to the spot, indecision playing racquetball with my brain.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he says and my heart screams at me to open that door.
I make my way down the hallway until all that lies between us is our wooden front door with its frosted pane of glass. “Please go, Dan. It’s for the best. You’ll see.”
“Kiki, please. I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”
It’s like the sincerity in his words has a direct line to my heart, and before I know what I’m doing, I’ve pulled the door open to see him standing on the welcome mat in his post-match clothes, looking more handsome than I’ve ever seen him in my life. There’s pain etched across his face, and the deepest look of love in his eyes.
Neither of us utters a word. We simply stand on either side of the door frame for a beat, staring at one another, a world of unspoken words swirling around us.
He makes the first move, stepping closer, pulling me into his arms in one smooth, purposeful movement, and I find myself melting into his arms as he presses an urgent kiss against my lips.
“I love you. I love you,” he murmurs against my mouth between kisses, his arms holding me possessively against his firm body.
I want to let go of all my fears, of everything I know to be true, and stay here in his arms, confident in his love for me.
But I can’t. Not when I know that we live in different worlds and that one day, he will see that.
With the strength of Hercules himself, I pull back from him, and I’m shocked to see the tracks of his tears on his cheeks. I reach up to touch them with my fingertips. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Be happy that we’re together. Know that this is what is meant to be.”
I twist my mouth. “Why don’t you come inside.” I take him by the hand and lead him down the hallway to the living room.
Once inside, he closes the door behind us.
I clasp my hands at my waist, more to stop myself from pulling him to me than anything else.
“Can I tell you one thing, Kiki?” he asks.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak.
“We’ve got this second chance, which is more than most people get in this life. The last thing I’m going to do is give up on you. Give up on us. I love you, with every fiber of my being. And I know you love me, too.”
“But Dan,—”
“If this is what you really want, then tell me and I’ll walk away forever. But I think you’re letting your fears get the most of you, and I’m here to tell you that you’ve got nothing to fear because I love you and I will never, ever hurt you. I give you my word.”
“It was so hard when you left the first time. I know we agreed to break up, but I didn’t want to, and I never got over it. I can’t put myself through that again.”
He cradles my face in his hands and says tenderly, “You won’t have to because I will never leave you.”
“But … but your team. Chicago. The NHL.”
“My mind’s made up. I’m giving it a year, during which you can visit me as often as you want, and I can come home here to see you whenever I can. And then, once I’m done with the Blizzard at the end of next season, I’ll move back here to be with you.”
As he reaches for me, my fears begin to evaporate around me.