“Oh my god,” I gasp, my fingers wrapping around the edge of the sink as I hang my head, closing my eyes tight. “Fuck.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Parker soothes.
“Nothing is about this is okay, Parker,” I snap a little more forcefully than I was intending. “I’ve fucked everything up.”
Pressing my hand to my chest, I fight to drag in the air I need.
“I’ve been lying to my dad, sneaking around behind his back. And for what?"
She stares at me.
“Nothing. For absolutely nothing. Going to that ball was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” I hiss. “I should have just forgotten about him when he moved here.”
“Casey,” Parker says, a little firmer, before gripping my upper arms and forcing me to look at her. “Breathe, okay? Deep breath in.” She does it with me. “And out.”
She repeats it a few more times until she’s confident I’ve calmed down a little.
“It’s too late to start second-guessing your decisions now. What’s done is done. All you can do is deal with the future.
“I know you’re hurting, Case. But it won’t always be like this.”
I hold her eyes, my own swimming with unshed tears.
“I miss him,” I whisper so quietly, I’m not even sure she hears me.
“So tell him. Tell him how you really feel. Tell him what you want.” Her eyes bounce between mine. “Will it help? Maybe, maybe not. But at least you’ll know that you’ve said exactly what’s in your heart. You’ll never regret telling him the truth.”
I sniffle, desperately trying to keep the tears in, and nod.
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Nothing about love is easy,” she says. “But sometimes, it’s worth the pain—or at least, so I’ve heard.”
All the air comes rushing out of my lungs as a door opens behind us and someone moves closer.
Glancing over, I find a familiar face with an empathetic smile on her lips.
“Parker’s right,” Reese, Fletch’s wife, says as she steps up to the sink and washes her hands.
“You missed the puck drop,” I say, unable to think of anything else to say.
Reese chuckles. “Nervous wee. I’m the same before everygame. It never gets easier. Nerves for Fletch before a game, I mean. The relationship stuff gets easier,” she assures.
“Does it?” I whisper.
“If you’ve found the right one, yeah.”
She studies me for a beat, as if she’ll be able to read the answers on my face.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I was right there. Am I safe to assume that the man who has you twisted up in knots is out there right now wearing a pair of skates?”
Tipping my head back, I stare up at the ceiling.
I can trust Reese. She’s been a part of the Vipers family for a long time. But that doesn’t mean that confessing to my sins comes easily.
“Yes.”
“Look,” Reese says when I finally look back at her. “I don’t expect you to give me any more than that, but let me just say this…being with a professional hockey player is hard. Really hard. Their training schedule alone is nuts, but then you add the road games and…I swear, during the season, it can feel like I don’t really see him for months at a time. I know I don’t really need to tell you this—you’ve lived this life longer than I have. I just…I want you to go into whatever this is with your eyes open.”
