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“I know, but it made you smile”

I peered around the corner

Grant tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked at her like she was the air he breathed My jaw sla the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood

“Thank you, Grant I needed that” She dropped her head onto his shoulder He closed his eyes and ran his hand along the back of her head

Jerking away, I pressedmy beard

I wanted to rip his hands out of her hair

I wanted to explain everything to her and tell her it was all a mistake

I wanted to not be the guy who’d betrayed his best friend and his own brother for a wo near in the first place

Olivia was everything I wanted and everything I should’ve never dared to hope I’d have Their murmured conversation barely reached ret rose in my throat as her sweet taste was seared into my soul

Walking into my hotel rooht like I’d been kicked in the ribs with a pair of freshly sharpened skates I cracked open the mini bar and downed fivewhen I checked out, but this was a liquor ee of the bed, I stared at the open bottle clutched in arden that I wouldn’t kiss her again This time it would stick It had to

And I kept that promise for another 544 days

1

Ford

I wrenched the shower handles to the side, turning off the cascade of water Picking up a towel, I began to dry off, sweating even a my shirt and shorts off the hook in the stall, I stared at hter around h me The crash was inevitable I pulled my clothes on Every second I stayed in the shower shielded me from the circus that was post-win locker roo, the reporters, and the cameras

After a ga for refuge I hated how that was the only thing to caloal with just the ice and the pounding determination not to let the team down