Chapter 50
Chapter fifty
Rhys
It is time.
That was a close one. When an old photo of me on stage wearing a cowboy hat, a Nashville jersey, and wranglers showed up on the screen during the lookalike game, I was immediately concerned they'd found me. I froze but waited out in the open in case a camera did pan to me.
Zara would kill me if I dodged it.
But a cold sweat immediately crawled over my skin.
"Phew!" Harper says as she pulls the back of her hand dramatically across her forehead.
"No shit." Jo says as she slumps a little in her seat. "I'm so invested in this."
"Me too." Harper says as she bounces excitedly next to me at the little counter stools looking out at the ice.
I catch Duncan looking up at the jumbotron. I wonder what he was thinking when my photo popped up.
Suddenly nerves wash over me. What is he going to say when he sees me? What is he going to think? What is he going to do?
I lean over to Harper. "What if this is a terrible idea?"
"It isn't."
"But what if it is?" I ask.
She turns towards me and sips her margarita through the tiny cocktail straw.
"It isn't because you love each other. There's no right or wrong, only love.
I ran when I thought things were going south.
And, after I ran, I hid. I wish more than anything I had been braver and faced Aiden sooner.
We spent two miserable weeks apart." She looks down at the ice where Aiden is standing in goal.
"You're here, you know how you feel, now you're going to talk about it. "
"Is it that simple?"
"Yep." She pops the P before slurping the last of her drink.
The game ends and the girls encourage me to wait a bit, let the stadium clear out, let the boys get some treatment and showers.
Each minute feels like an eternity as I sit in the box. The ice gets cleaned, staff comes around to clean up the seats.
And still we wait.
Harper's phone dings with a text. She reads it, looks up at me. "It is time."