***
Luke
It was good to be back on my home ice. I’d wondered so many times during my rehab if I’d played here for the last time.
My apartment was too clean. It was eerily quiet and didn’t quite feel like home. So I was spending lots of time at the rink. Ryke and I were shooting pucks at the net, our pace slow since practice was over.
I’d scored twice last night, and Dell’s congratulatory text was still fresh in my mind: Proud of u, Blondie. I thanked her and we sent a few messages back and forth, but nothing intimate.
Ryke broke through my train of thought.
“I thought you’d be rusty, but you actually seem better than you were before the hit,” he said.
I squirted some water into my mouth and wiped the back of my hand across it. “Yeah. I’ve been working on some things.”
“Welch a pretty good coach?”
“Yeah. He’s good. I worked nights with the trainer, too.”
“A trainer who helped with your game?”
I nodded, remembering how good her soft skin felt against mine when I fell asleep next to her. “Yeah. Dell Price. She’s Butch Price’s daughter. She’s been around the game her whole life.”
Ryke considered and then recognition dawned on his face. “I saw her in Nashville once. She’s pretty.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you—”
“No.” I met his eyes, my tone serious. “Don’t ask me if I fucked her.”
“That means you did.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
His brow furrowed and he grinned with amusement. “What was it like, man? You make sweet love to her?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You like her.”
“I really missed the way you don’t fucking listen,” I snapped. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Yeah, but you don’t mean it.”
“I don’t want to hear your shit.”
He shoved my shoulder and looked offended. “I’m not a complete asshole. I can be serious. Let’s talk about it.”
“She’s got a kid.”
His face darkened as my words sank in. “Don’t mess with a single mom, man. You’re not ready to settle down.”
“I know. I fucking know, alright? Didn’t I tell you I don’t need to hear it from you?”
“What is it?” He pressed on. “Are other women not measuring up to her now?”
“I haven’t been with anyone else.”
His single note of laughter said it all. My tried and true method for getting over a woman I was starting to feel into was to fuck someone else.
“Maybe you should,” he suggested.
“I don’t want to.”
“You will. Give it time. You’ll see someone who’ll change your mind.”
I glared at him. “You ever see anyone who changes your mind about Kate?”
“Fuck no. What the hell are you saying, Luke? That you love her? You were only there a few weeks.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I know.”
“Maybe some kickass sex is clouding your judgment.”
“It was incredible, but I only spent one night with her.”
He arched his brows and blew out a breath. “I don’t know, man. I’d say give it a go, but if she’s got a kid …”
“I know.”
“Go out with some of the single guys tonight.”
I sighed, remembering my efforts to go out with the guys from the minor league team. “Do you ever miss being single?”
Ryke considered. “No. I had some good times, but Kate’s my everything. I love knowing her and the kids are waiting for me at home. When you’re hooked, you’re hooked. You might be, from the looks of you.”
“It’s impossible,” I said, shaking my head. “Dell’s job is there and mine’s here. We’ve got not one, but two crazy travel schedules during the season. We can’t even date. She needs someone who lives there.”
“Yeah. You know you really care for someone when you put their needs in front of your own. Even if you do love her, if you aren’t good for her, don’t go there.”
I nodded slowly.
“Hey, you want to come over for dinner tonight? Kate and the kids would like to see you.”
That was the last thing I wanted to do – have my face rubbed in Ryke’s happy relationship when I was missing Dell.
“Nah, I think I’ll go out with the guys like you suggested. You’re right. Things’ll fall back into place.”
He let it drop, but I couldn’t get my mind off Dell. I was about to go to bed that night, still fantasizing about our night together. The way she said my name, the way she tasted – the smell of her hair when I woke up next to her.