Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
JJ
Twenty-Two Years Old
I never could have imagined it would be so hard saying goodbye to a person I just met, but getting in the car and driving away, knowing Avery was inside and I wouldn’t see her for two weeks, was damn near impossible.
Seven days. I’ve only known her for a week, and I’m head over heels in love with her. She’s perfect. I spent the week staying in Tabitha’s guest room so I could help out and so I didn’t have to miss any more time than necessary.
The two of us are awkward around each other. Tabitha and me. Or maybe it’s just me. Because when I’m not focused on my daughter, I’m staring into space thinking of what I could have done differently with Adeline. What I should have said. How I should have handled the bomb dropped on us.
I shouldn’t have asked her to come to the hospital. It was too much, too fast. Of course she wasn’t ready to deal with this long term. We’d barely gotten out of bed for the first time when we found out that I’m a father.
But in that moment, I needed Adeline my friend, not my girlfriend.
Girlfriend. Was she even that for those brief perfect moments? We never defined anything. She’s certainly not that right now. We haven’t spoken since the elevator. She got off and told me she’d call an Uber. I let her. I left her there like a complete dick. Angry and shocked.
But I’m going to fix this. Over the last few days, I’ve worked out a plan.
We’re playing Vegas tonight and Adeline will be there.
I’ll knock on her door at the hotel and beg her to talk to me before morning skate.
I want to be with her. Even if we only see each other for eight weeks out of the year.
Even if we have to FaceTime every night just to spend time together.
When I’m not with Avery, I’ll do everything I can to show her I can make this work. That I will make this work.
She doesn’t have to be Avery’s mom. She just needs to want to be with me.
I love her. We’ve got to figure this out.
With a very large tip, I convince an employee to give me her room number. My hands tremble the whole way up to her floor, and outside her door, I stop and take a deep breath before knocking.
There’s a commotion inside. Multiple voices.
“Just get out of here,” she hisses.
A second later, the door swings open and Dirk fucking barrels into me.
I stumble back, frowning. “Dirk?”
“Hey, JJ, see you tonight.” Winking, he smacks my chest. Then he saunters away, whistling.
“JJ?” Adeline’s voice sounds off.
Vision going red, I step over the threshold. “Fucking Dirk?”
She pulls her robe tighter, her fingers white as she squeezes the fabric together. “It’s not what you think,” she mumbles, barely looking at me. Her hair is a mess. Her lipstick smudged.
My stomach rolls.
“It’s not what I think? Seriously Adeline? I—we—” I shake my head. How the hell could she do this? “You know what? Forget it. You made your choice.” I spin, fury engulfing me, and step into the hall again.
“Wait, JJ, please. He—please.”
“I loved you,” I shout, whipping around again. “I fucking loved you, and you…how could you do this to me?”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she shakes her head. “I hate you,” she whispers. “I needed you, and you…I hate you,” she sobs out.
She slams the door, the sound startling me out of my blind rage. Holy fuck, what did I just do?
All day, my stomach rolls. What I saw this morning? Something was off. Something…it’s not right. I need to see her. Confirm she’s okay. Then I can go back to being mad. Because right now, I’m too confused to be angry. Her eyes, they were…glassy. Sad. Scared.
That’s what haunts me. The emptiness in those deep, dark eyes. Like she didn’t expect anything but for me to walk away. Like I did exactly what she anticipated.
She begged me and I walked away. But not until after I yelled at her.
Fuck.
I do a lap around the ice, looking for her. Even with gear on, I can always pick her out. She wears her hair in a braid. She uses a bright pink mouthguard. Even without all that, I know Adeline better than anyone in the world. But she’s not here. Not on the ice or on the bench.
I skate up to the closest Vegas player and stop quickly. “Adeline Langfield playing tonight?”
The guy looks over his shoulder, glancing at his coach, and grimaces. “You didn’t hear it from me, but there were pictures of her naked everywhere in the locker room. Taped to all the stalls, in the shower, all over the floor.”
“What?” My stomach bottoms out. I glance around. This can’t be…fuck.
“And then she never showed,” he goes on, oblivious to the way I’m spiraling. “Coach was pissed. I’m pretty sure she’s done.”
Without another word to him, I dig my skates into the ice and power toward Dirk, who’s warming up in front of Vegas’s net.
“What the fuck did you do?” I say before I’ve even reached him.
He looks up, his eyes wide with surprise, though a smirk quickly slides across his face. Cocky fucker pulls off his mask and settles it against the net, then reaches for his water. “You were right. She was pretty good on her kn—”
My fist meets his mouth before the last word leaves it.