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"Why can't she do it?" Hawke asks, and his eyes slide lazily over to me

My body stiffens and I stand upright fro on the table as I read from the laptop My heart skitters out of control as I realize Haas very much aware of me

He stares at le word to me There was a time in our lives when he could communicate to er and love Pain and happiness Hell, I could tell if he was hungry for a steak or a chicken by the way he stared at me

Now I get nothing Not even a hint of welcome or even curiosity about me

I have to wonder what he's feeling, because we did not part on good terms In fact, we parted on very bad terms I shut hi

Of course, I was operating on pain, loss, guilt, and anger myself, so I felt I was justified back then

Now?

I'e the past I was ruled by emotion, and I acted in the only way I knew my conscience would let me at that exact moment in time

"Vale's still reading the procedural et you in a few"

"Or she can tape ests hat borders on an iet back on the ice"

"Suit yourself," Goose says with a shrug of his shoulders "She fucks it up, not on my shoulders"

My body jerks and s over to Goose Noould the asshole say that?

"She fucks it up, it's on her shoulders," Hawke clarifies, and lint in his eyes, and I realize in this ave ht here says there's still sos toward me, and that's just an unnecessary coht now

With a sigh, I tip my head toward the table next to the one that holds the laptop "Skates, socks, shin pads, and pants off"

Hawke lu dully on the industrial tile floor "Jock strap too?" he asks without a trace of humor

"No," I tell hi to the supply cabinet "You can put that over your lap though"

He's only half a foot ahen he catches the towel and murmurs so low I barely hear him, "Why? Seen one dick, you seen 'em all"

I freeze withand sadness crashes through uish over e had, which was still so fresh in my mind fro the Sydney River Wondering through the years, andjust a few feet aould have happened had things been just a little different

"Vale?" Hawke says softly, and I jerk into action I pull the cabinet open and gather adhesive, gauze, and tape, knocking it closed with my shoulder

I turn to face hi a neutral expression on o, Therrien Thought you wanted back on the ice?"

His eyes flick back and forth betweenHe studieselse, but then silently bends down to start unlacing his skates

I take a deep breath but blow it out silently

This should be fun

Chapter 3

Hawke

I quickly shed ear fro seminaked in front of Vale No clue why, because that woman has seen parts of uess there's so fro off-kilter around her

I should have just fucking waited for Goose to finish up with Sutherland I suspect he's in here getting his back worked on not because it hurts but because his face is fucking green as hell His parting words to ht when he stuet home"

Still, the guy did an adh I could have kept on partying, I knew I had to be up early for practice today Didn't stopthe phone nuht, and I think I'll give her a call this weekend

Vale keeps her back to me untilmy lap I take a moment to watch her as she lays out her supplies on the table beside us, her slender fingers using a pair of scissors to open a new package of tape She then cuts off uniforths of tape and attaches them to the table

Fuck, but she's still gorgeous Even in her "uniform" of khaki pants and her tidy, black Cold Fury shirt, she still rocks sexy Her face is devoid of makeup, but she was never the type that needed it Oh, she wore it, back in her days of frenzied punk style Thick, dark eyeliner that made her eyes pop and dark red lipstick that left streaks on my dick Her hair is conservatively pulled back in a sleek ponytail Not a single piercing to be seen, not even in her ears So different, yet so damn hot still

Her body is different though, I notice that Her arms seem more toneddefined Her stomach flatter and her hips flared more It's like she filled out and shrunk down in certain places, but not those tits Nope, they are still spectacularly big and full and were my favorite part of her body before