“Of course you did. Being thePrincess of Hockeyand all.”
“Hush you.” She playfully nudges me. “But damn, that’s unhinged.”
“I know,” I agree. “I asked for the trade partly because of her.”
Haisley goes quiet. The glow from the TV flickers over her face, her lips pressed together as she absorbs my words.
“That makes so much sense,” she finally says. “I wondered why you left Minnesota. You were so established there.”
I lean back against the couch cushions. “It wasn’t the only reason. But it was part of it. I needed a fresh start. A clean break.”
Elle’s in the middle of her transformation on the screen, proving everyone wrong in her perfectly over-the-top way. But I can tell Haisley is still caught up in our earlier conversation.
“Do you ever worry about that happening again?” She asks when the scene changes in the movie.
“What, a crazy ex slashing my tires?”
She shoots me a flat look. “I meant getting trapped in something you don’t want. Feeling like you’re losing control of your own life.”
I let her words roll around in my mind. I know she’s not talking about Petra anymore. Maybe she’s talking about us, about the pregnancy. About the way our lives are shifting into something we never expected.
That’s why I don’t answer right away. Because, yeah, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about losing control over my future. But it’s not the same.
“With Petra, I knew from early on that something felt off. That I wasn’t what she truly wanted.” I look at her then, making sure she hears what I’m really saying. “With you, it’s different.”
Her throat bobs in a swallow. “How?”
“Because from the start, it was evident you weren’t after my money or fame.”
She shifts, resting her head against my shoulder. “I like that answer.”
I breathe her in, and the scent of her shampoo and something so Haisley fills my senses. The movie keeps playing, filling the room with Elle Woods’ unrelenting optimism. But I can still feel the weight of our conversation hanging in the air. Haisley’s breathing is steady against my shoulder, but she’s not asleep.
Then, out of nowhere, she says, “I’m known for dating hockey players.”
My entire body locks up. “Do you mean players in the League?”
“Yes.” Her voice is almost a whisper. “My last ex is Lewis Farrington. We dated briefly.”
I blink. And then I blink again because what the fuck?
“You datedhim?” My voice is sharper than I mean it to be, but it’s Farrington. One of the biggest pieces of shit on skates. A guy with a reputation for being cocky, entitled, and enough of a jerk that no one’s surprised when he does something out of line. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. For six months or so.”
I have to look away. The thought of him anywhere near her makes my blood boil. I press my hands into my thighs to stop from clenching them. My mind runs ahead of me, filling in blanks I don’t want to see. It’s irrational, and I know it, but the jealousy burns anyway.
“How did that even happen?” I barely get out. “You’re so out of his league.”
Haisley groans and drags a hand over her face. “I don’t know. We met through mutual friends, and he was different at first. He put on the charm, and it worked. And then, little by little, the real him came out. He didn’t respect my career, telling me my job was a silly hobby while his was real work. He got possessive in ways that weren’t about affection. It was about control.”
I exhale slowly, forcing down the flare of protectiveness in my chest. “Sounds like him.”
“Tell me about it.” Haisley toys with the edge of the blanket. “I wasn’t planning on telling you. But since you told me about Petra, I thought you should know.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to worry about him. I was done with him long before we officially ended.”
