When Harper suggested we go out to Slapshots after the game, I wanted to tell her no. I had Macie with me, and I needed to be getting home. It’d been a long night, and all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and sleep.
But here I am anyway, sitting at a high-top table with Harper and Ryan. Macie’s at home with Scout, who promised to put her straight to bed, and Hollis went home with baby Freddie.
I finger the straw in my tequila sunrise. I didn’t know what to order and said the first thing that came to mind. The funny part is I hate tequila, but I guess it’s fitting for the night I’ve had.
I can’t stop thinking about Greer and the way he threw those tools across the room, can’t stop picturing the angry look on his face as he yelled about his arm. He was hurt, and I understand that, but him being hurt doesn’t mean he gets a pass to hurt me too. I’m not putting up with that anymore, not for anyone, even if I am madly in love with them.
And I am in love with Greer. So, so deeply in love with him. I think I have been for a few weeks now, but I’ve been too scared to admit it to myself until tonight. Seeing him lying there on the ice and not moving…well, it was terrifying. The only other person who gets my heart in my throat like that is Macie.
I knew then that Greer meant the same to me that she does. I knew my heart…it beats for him too.
I just hope it’s enough.
“Hey,” Harper says, bumping her shoulder against mine. “You’re supposed to be drinking your tequila, not playing with it.”
“I hate tequila,” I tell her.
“Amen,” Ryan says, shuddering. “It only leads to bad decisions.”
“I’m not sure you’re allowed to say that when you’re madly in love with your last ‘bad decision,’” Harper tells her.
“True.” Ryan giggles. “Best bad decision of my life, even when he drives me crazy, which he often does.”
“You two are complete opposites, but it works. The beauty to his Beast.”
A dreamy look crosses Ryan’s face. “Yeah. It works.” She groans. “Ugh, why do they have to leave tonight? Why can’t they fly out tomorrow?”
“Acclimation,” Harper says. “Playing in Colorado is a wreck on their lungs.”
“I know, I know. It still sucks.”
“Amen.”
They clink their drinks together, each of them taking a sip. I want to participate, but I can’t find the energy. Maybe it’s because they’re talking about husbands, and I’m over here with a heart that’s slowly breaking. Maybe it’s because I’m tired from the long week at the donut truck.
Or maybe it’s because I wish I never went down to that damn room and saw the mess that was Greer.
I have no clue. All I know is I shouldn’t be here right now.
“I think I’m going to head out,” I announce.
They both frown at me.
“Are you sure?” Ryan asks. “We can get you something other than tequila.”
“Yeah. How about whiskey?”
I crinkle my nose, shaking my head. “No, I’m good. I should get back to Macie.”
“Okay.” Ryan huffs. “We should probably head out too.”
“No, no. Don’t leave on my account.” I hold my hands up. “Stay. Have fun.”
“If I stay, all I’m going to do is drink more and drunk-call my husband, who is going to be very angry that I’m out without him,” Ryan says. She tips her head. “Though, that doesn’t sound all that bad. I do love getting him riled up when he’s too far away to do anything about it.”
Harper laughs. “You’re so mean to him.”
Her best friend shrugs. “He’s so easy to mess with. All grumpy ones are. Stevie knows all about that, though. Greer’s the grumpiest of them all.”
Just hearing his name has my heart aching. How is it possible to be hurt, mad, and missing someone at the same time?
Harper throws me a glance, her lips pulling into a frown. “Maybe we should all head out…”
“All right. Fine.” Ryan jumps off her stool, her fingers flying over her phone screen. “I’m going to run to the restroom first. I just got an Uber. It’s a silver Honda, pretty redhead inside.”
“I’ll come with you,” Harper says.
“I don’t need to go. I’ll be outside.”
They both nod, heading toward the back of the sports bar while I pull my crossbody purse over my head and head for the door without finishing my drink.
The cool air hitting my face is enough to sober me up instantly, not that I had much to drink anyway. I close my eyes, letting the fresh air wash over me.
“What a day,” I mutter.
“You can say that again.”
I let out a loud yelp, stumbling backward at the sudden intrusion. I mean, I’m in the middle of the sidewalk, so I’m not exactly expecting to be alone, but I didn’t think anyone else was out here.
Especially not him.
I turn to my right to find Greer leaning against the wall, and my eyes go right to the sling that’s holding his arm in place. My heart aches for him and his injury, but just as much as it hurts for him, it hurts because of him.
I fold my arms over my chest. Not because I’m cold, but because I’m scared. I’m scared I’m about to get my heart broken, and I want to protect it as much as possible.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on a plane.”
“I’m not.”
“I can see that.”
He shoves off the wall, taking a step toward me.
I take one back.
He doesn’t miss it, rolling his lips together, his dark brows wrinkling as his eyes fall to the ground in front of him.
We stand there in silence for several minutes, long enough for the door of Slapshots to swing open again.
“Oh,” I hear Harper say.
“What? Is—oh,” Ryan echoes.
They step to either side of me, almost like they’re protecting me.
“Everything okay?” Harper asks.
“Yeah, are we all good out here?” Ryan adds.
They’re asking me, not Greer. We all know that.
The Uber Ryan called pulls up to the curb, waiting for us.
“That’s our car,” she says.
“But we can get another if we need to,” Harper offers.
“Go,” I tell them, my eyes still on Greer, who looks like he’s seen better days. “I’m good.”
“You’re sure?” This from Harper.
I nod. “I’m sure.”
She gives me a side hug, Ryan squeezes my arm, and then they both crawl into the Uber, their heads together as they whisper, no doubt about us.
The car pulls off, leaving just me and Greer on the sidewalk. There are so many questions running through my head, so many things I want to say to him, but I don’t know where to start, and I don’t know if any of them are even worth saying anymore.
It doesn’t matter, though, because he’s the first to speak.
“I stopped by your place.”
“You did?”
He nods. “Macie answered the door.” Dammit. She’s supposed to be in bed. “I figured she’d be in bed by now since she usually is, but she wasn’t.”
“Scout must have let her stay up later.”
“Yeah. Must have.” He nods, then takes another step toward me. “We, uh, had a talk.”
“About?”
“Something important.”
“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until you got back from your road trip?”
I know there’s no way he’s not going to be facing consequences for missing the bus, so whatever it is, it has to be big.
“I just had some things I needed to say to her.”
He takes another step closer, that familiar scent of his washing over me. I want to close my eyes and breathe him in, but I can’t, not when he’s staring at me like he is…like I’m his and he’s mine.
“Like what, Greer?” I ask quietly.
He exhales a shaky breath as he takes another step. He’s so close now I can feel the heat coming off his body. It wraps around me like a warm jacket on a cold winter night.
“Like I’m sorry for making her mother cry.”
I close my eyes at his words, warding off the tears that spring to life. I really don’t want to cry again.
His fingers find their way under my chin, tipping it up toward him.
“That I’m sorry for being a complete and total jackass.”
That makes me grin.
“And that I’m madly and completely in love with you.”
My eyes fly open along with my mouth.
Did he just…
“Did I just say I’m in love with you?” He nods, closing my mouth gently. “Yeah, I did.” He steps even closer, and I can feel him pressed against me this time. “I love you, Stevie.”
I part my lips, but he shakes his head.
“I love you and Macie too. You’re my people. You’re that thing I’ve been missing, that thing I’ve been waiting on. It’s you, and it’s her.”
I can’t even process what I’m hearing right now.
Greer loves me? Mr. Doesn’t Believe in Love loves me? And my daughter? How?
“Greer, I—”
“I’m not done, okay?”
I nod, swallowing down the lump that’s formed in my throat.
“I fucked up tonight. Big-time. Like really, truly messed everything up. I didn’t…” He shakes his head. “I didn’t think. I just acted. I was pissed about my shoulder, about losing so many games when we were doing so well. Hockey is life to me, you know? The thought of losing it terrifies me. When I was faced with that fear tonight, I reacted like a complete dickwad. I shouldn’t have yelled, I really shouldn’t have thrown anything, and I really, really shouldn’t have let you walk out of that room letting you think for a single second that I didn’t want you there. I always want you there, Stevie. Hockey? It might have been my everything at one time, but now…now it’s you. You’re my everything. You and Macie.” He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. “If you’ll still have me, I mean.”
My head is swimming, so many thoughts running through it that I don’t even know where to begin, so I say the first thing that comes to mind.
“I’m mad at you.”
Greer sighs, hanging his head. “I know.”
“Like really, really mad. I’ve been through that before. I’ve been with an angry guy who took it out on me, and I won’t be with someone like that again.”
“I understand. I—”
“But I know you’re not really that guy, Greer. I know it’s not you. You’re not him, and you’ll never be him. I know that because I know the person you truly are.”
He gulps. “But…”
“No buts.” I shake my head. “I don’t have any.”
He closes his eyes, relief settling into his shoulders.
And I don’t. I don’t have anything else except… “I love you.”
His eyes pop back open. “You…”
“I love you. In fact, I am madly and completely in love with you, Jacob.”
“Yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
Then his mouth is on mine, and he’s kissing me like he’s never kissed me before. It’s different because we’ve never kissed while knowing we’re in love with each other.
I don’t know how long his lips dance against mine or how long we stand there, but when we finally part, everything feels different.
“I’m so sorry, Stevie.” He drops his forehead to mine. “So, so sorry. I swear, it won’t ever happen again.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I know it won’t because you know I won’t stand for it.”
“Good. Don’t ever let me or anyone treat you like that again.”
I won’t, I promise myself.
“I think I might have loved you the first time I saw you,” Greer says. “Or maybe when Macie first called me a jackass.”
I laugh. “She’s feisty.”
“That she is. I was scared as hell when she opened that door tonight. I was certain she was going to kick me in the nuts.”
“You’d have deserved it.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. Yeah, I would have.” He presses another quick kiss to my lips. “Say it again. Please.”
“I love you.”
“No. Say all of it again.”
“I love you, Jacob.”
He sighs. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”
“I’ll tell you every day if it’ll help.”
“Every morning?”
“And night.”
“For the next eighty years.” Another kiss. “Because that’s how long I plan to love you, Stevie. Until the last breath in my lungs gives out and then some.”
“Come on, Greer. Don’t get all weepy and emotional on me now.”
He laughs. “I can’t help it. I’m a man in love.”
“Weird.”
“So weird.” Another kiss. “And so, so right.”
