SITTING ON A toilet lid in this tiny bathroom is not my ideal Saturday morning. It’s a rest day, so I would have preferred spending it in bed with Summer on top of me, but she didn’t stay long enough for that. Any possibility of making that a reality burst when Donny fucking Rai became our full-time cock block.
When her bedroom door creaks, I take it as my sign to head back out. I would need a serious stretch after sleeping on her bed and then being shoved into her bathroom. Summer runs a hand through her hair before collapsing on her bed.
“How’d it go?”
She jerks. “Shit, I forgot you were here.”
“Yeah, I’m still here,” I mutter. “What did he want?”
“Something about the scale I’m using,” she mumbles, putting her hair up. “I need to focus on some work. I’ll text you later?”
I don’t expect the jolt of irritation that hits me at her words. Being locked in her bathroom for an hour might have eaten at any patience I had left. “Why do you always do this?”
“Do what?” She’s barely paying attention as she makes her bed. “You talk to him, and then you’ve completely withdrawn.”
Her movements pause. “That’s not true.”
“Don’t pull that shit with me, Summer. Why are you letting him control your life?”
She doesn’t make eye contact. “I’m not.”
“Really? Because you were just about to kick me out.”
“Because I have work to do.” She’s still fiddling with the sheets when I approach her. Slowly, she brings her eyes to mine, and the guard she keeps so high starts to slip.
“You can tell me.”
There’s an exasperated breath before she speaks. “Fine, yes, I pull away. But it has nothing to do with him. Every time I remember the project, I’m
reminded of everything on the line, and I hate that I let myself get distracted.”
“You think I’m a distraction?”
“It’s not the insult you think it is, Aiden.” She sits on her mattress, defeated. “I don’t want either of us losing focus or shifting priorities.”
“Priorities change.” “What are you saying?”
That I’m falling for you. “That I can focus on hockey and you.”
Turns out Kilner was right. Finding the balance depends on figuring out the things I consider priorities. She has quickly become one of mine, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
“That’s not true. You can only focus on one thing effectively.” She drops her hands in her lap. “If this is about sex, I’m sure any girl on campus would happily give it to you.”
The words sound simple enough, but the damage they do makes me take a step back. I can’t even think about another girl when this stubborn one is the one I want. “This isn’t about that.”
“Of course it is! That’s all we do. It’s all we agreed on.” My eyes narrow. “Then when’s the last time we had sex?”
“What do you mean? It was—” she falters, unable to find a reality where our relationship amounted to one thing.
“Exactly. Even you know our relationship isn’t only about sex.” I take a step closer. “We’ve been together every day for the past few weeks simply because we like to be around each other. Why can’t you just admit that?”
She bites the inside of her cheek, eyes set on her lap. “That sounds like more than I signed up for, Crawford.”
“Admit it.”
She releases a shaky breath. “I can’t, okay?” “Why not?” I prompt.
“Because you’re a hockey player,” she says the last two words with disdain, like every other time.
My frustration grows heavy. “What do you have against us?”
“Nothing.” Her expression shadows with reluctance. “It’s not a very interesting story.”
“I don’t need it to be.” I sigh. “Come on, you know I would never judge you. You can tell me if it’s an ex or—”
“My dad.”
“Your…dad?”
“My dad was a hockey player.” She gauges my reaction. “I know, a psychology major with daddy issues. Big surprise, huh?”
“That’s not at all what I was thinking. I had no idea he played.” “He’s played my entire life.”
“So, he’s the reason you hate the sport?”
“I don’t hate it.” My blank stare makes her release a breath. “Okay, maybe a little.” She glances at me. “Fine, I don’t like it because it reminds me of everything my dad chose over me.”
I sit beside her on the bed, speechless. Finding out her dad is a hockey player is more shocking than finding out Kian slept with Tabitha even after she stalked him and all of us.
“My parents had me when they were young. My mom was in college, and my dad had just gotten drafted. Getting pregnant flipped everything they knew. My mom really stepped up, and my dad got to play like he didn’t have a daughter waiting for him to come home. So, I knew early on that to him, this sport was way more important than the kid who ruined the life he had planned.”
“Summer, that’s terrible.”
She shrugs. “Anyway, that’s who called that time at the pool. My dad is the interim coach for Boston.”
“Boston’s coach is Luk—” I pause. “Lukas Preston is your dad?” She nods.
“Number one draft pick, two-time Stanley Cup, and Art Ross winner, Lukas Preston?”
“Yes.” She watches me as I try to contain my shock. From the looks of it, she’s been through this before.
“How did I not know this?”
“I don’t particularly advertise it. I’d rather not think about him.” She falls back on the bed, hands resting on her stomach. “That’s why it’s so hard for me to do this. Us.”
I lie down beside her. “Because I remind you of him?”
She sighs. “Because you remind me of everything he loved more than me. He’s dedicated his life to hockey.”
I feel like complete shit. “I’m sorry, Summer. I had no idea.” “Don’t be. It’s not like I told you.”
I intertwine our hands. “You can, you know. Tell me, I mean.”
“Thanks, but sharing my daddy issues with the guy I’m sleeping with isn’t exactly my idea of unwinding.”
Reducing me to the guy she’s sleeping with feels like she’s tossing my heart into a blender. I do my best to chuckle, but it’s hoarse. “Well, the guy you’re sleeping with is also your friend. So, you don’t need to keep everything bottled up.”
“I don’t. Sampson obviously knows, the girls too, and I’ve had pretty intense therapy sessions.”
Everyone knows that Tyler Sampson’s dad was in the NHL. Not because he advertises it but because he’s never bothered to hide it. Summer grew up with him, it’s only reasonable that it’s because she’s from a hockey family, too.
“And now I know,” I add. “Right, now you know.”
“You’re not going to tell me not to tell anyone else?”
“Nope. There’s this super weird thing called trust that you’ve seemed to earn a lot of.”
My smile is impossible to suppress. The last time she said it, I was bare inside her. But this time it feels like she’s finally showing me all of her. “You trust me?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“I thought I was just the guy you’re sleeping with.”
She gives a playful shove to my chest. The touch sends an electric rush rippling down my spine. “For your information, we actually haven’t done that recently.”
“Are you keeping count? I would never.” I put a hand to my chest in mock offense.
She nods, pointing down. “I think someone is.” “We can’t upset him.”
“Definitely not. We should rectify this immediately.”
I pull her on top of me and kiss her. The content sigh that leaves her warms my skin as I cup her face. “I mean it, by the way. We’re friends. You can talk to me anytime about anything. I’ll always listen to you.”
“I know you will, Aiden.” Her thumb grazes my jaw before she slides down my abdomen. “But I need you to be very unfriendly to me right now.”
I smile. “Whatever you say, Summer.”
