Chapter 14
AUSTIN
“We need to discuss Seattle,” Tom said, his voice crackling through my phone speaker.
I froze mid-stretch, standing in the arena’s empty weight room after everyone else had cleared out. “What about Seattle?”
“There are rumors circulating, Stone. Credible ones.” The hesitation in Tom’s voice sent ice through my veins. “Management’s considering a trade.”
“Bullshit!” I snapped, straightening up. “I’m their franchise defenseman. They wouldn’t—”
“They would if they’re worried about your knee long-term. Seattle’s rebuilding, looking for a veteran presence, and they’re willing to take the risk.” Tom sighed heavily. “Nothing’s official, but my sources are solid.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. “Timeline?”
“Nothing’s official, but it could happen before the deadline—three weeks, maybe sooner.” He paused. “I know this complicates things with your...situation.”
Kate. He meant Kate.
“I’ll call you back,” I said, ending the call before he could respond.
Trade rumors weren’t new in my career, but this felt different. The timing was fucking devastating. Just when my knee was improving, just when Kate and I were figuring things out, just when I’d started to imagine a future beyond this season—Seattle. Three thousand miles from Minneapolis. From Kate.
I drove home in a daze, gripping the steering wheel like it could hold me together. How the fuck was I supposed to tell her? We’d barely defined what we were to each other, and now I might be ripping us apart before we’d truly begun.
When I unlocked the door to my apartment, the scent of something burning hit me immediately.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Kate’s voice carried from the kitchen, followed by the clanging of pans and the high-pitched beep of the smoke detector.
I rounded the corner to find her frantically waving a dish towel beneath the alarm, a blackened pan smoking on the stove behind her. Her hair was escaping from its messy bun, cheeks flushed with exertion.
“Need some help?” I asked, unable to stop the small smile tugging at my lips despite the weight in my chest.
She whirled around, her eyes wide. “I was trying to make you dinner!” She gestured helplessly at the charred remains. “I wanted to surprise you since you’ve been cooking for me, but apparently chicken has a very narrow window between salmonella-inducing and carbon-dating material.”
I grabbed a chair, reached up to disable the smoke detector, then moved to open windows.
“It’s the thought that counts,” I said, watching her scrape the blackened remains into the trash.
“The thought was supposed to come with edible food.” She sighed dramatically. “This is why I stick to science. Bacterial cultures are much more predictable than cooking times.”
I walked up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist and burying my face in her neck. She smelled like vanilla and some kind of floral shampoo, layered with the distinct scent of burnt chicken. I breathed her in, suddenly terrified by how essential her presence had become in my life.
“Hey,” she said, turning in my arms to face me. Her smile faded as she studied my expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I lied, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She pulled back, eyes narrowing. “Austin Callahan, I research microorganisms for a living. I can spot something microscopic that’s off. You’re about as subtle as a bacterial bloom on agar.”
I should’ve known better than to try bullshitting a scientist.
“Tom called,” I said, dropping my arms and leaning against the counter. “There are trade rumors.”
Her brows furrowed. “Trade? Like, to another team?”
“Seattle,” I confirmed, watching her face carefully. “Nothing’s official, but my agent’s sources are solid.”
“Seattle,” she repeated, her voice flat. “As in, Washington state Seattle? Three time zones away Seattle?”
“That’s the one.”
Kate took a step back, her scientist brain visibly processing this new data. I could practically see the equations forming behind her eyes—calculating distance, time differences, flight durations.
“When would this happen?” she asked, her voice measured in a way that made my chest ache.
“Before the trade deadline. Three weeks, maybe less.”
“And what does that mean exactly? You’d just...go? Immediately?”
I nodded, throat tight. “Pretty much. I’d have a couple days to pack essentials. The team handles shipping the rest.”
“Oh.” She crossed her arms, then uncrossed them, clearly unsure what to do with her hands. “Well, that’s...unexpected.”
“Kate—”
“No, it’s fine,” she said quickly. “I mean, it’s not fine, but it’s sports, right?
This is how it works.” She moved toward the refrigerator, pulling it open and staring inside without seeming to see anything.
“We should probably get more information before freaking out. How certain is your agent? What’s the statistical probability based on his past predictions?
Do you have historical data on mid-season trades we could analyze? ”
Her systematic approach to emotional chaos would’ve made me smile under different circumstances.
“This isn’t a research project, Kate,” I said gently.
She closed the refrigerator door without taking anything out. “I know that. I’m just trying to approach this logically.”
“Are we worth it?” The question escaped before I could stop it. “If this happens—if I move across the country—would you want to try making this work?”
Her eyes widened slightly. “That’s what you’re worried about? Whether I’d want to continue this if you moved?”
“Partly,” I admitted. “Long-distance is complicated. Your life is here—your fellowship, your research. I wouldn’t blame you if—”
“If I decided you weren’t worth the complication?” She shook her head firmly. “That’s not how I operate, Austin. When I find something valuable, I don’t just discard it because the circumstances change.”
Relief flooded through me, but I noticed something else—a slight tightness around her mouth, a carefully maintained distance between us. Kate was saying all the right things, but her body language told a different story.
“What are you not saying?” I pressed.
She sighed, running a hand through her already disheveled hair. “I’m just processing. This is a lot to take in, especially when we’re still figuring out...whatever this is between us.” She gestured vaguely at the space between our bodies.
“And what is this between us?” I asked, stepping closer.
“I don’t know.” Her voice softened. “Something important. Something I’m not ready to lose.”
I reached for her hand, relieved when she didn’t pull away. “Me neither.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait,” I said, squeezing her fingers. “Nothing’s certain yet. And we talk—figure out what we want, what’s possible.”
Kate nodded slowly. “Okay. Waiting and talking. I can do that.” She managed a small smile. “And maybe ordering takeout, since I’ve officially proven I can’t cook.”
“Takeout sounds perfect.” I pulled her against me, needing to feel her warmth, to anchor myself against the uncertainty swirling around us.
We sat on opposite ends of the couch, takeout containers spread across the coffee table between us. Kate hadn’t eaten much, just pushing her food around with chopsticks, lost in thought.
“You know,” she said, breaking the silence, “Seattle has some impressive research facilities. University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center...”
I lowered my container. “You’re researching Seattle institutions already?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, not meeting my eyes. “Just some preliminary investigation. I figured it couldn’t hurt to know what’s out there.”
“Kate—”
“It’s just information gathering,” she said quickly. “Not planning, just...exploring possibilities.”
The implication behind her words caught me off guard. Was she actually considering the idea of following me if I got traded? The thought was both thrilling and terrifying.
“Your fellowship is here,” I reminded her gently. “Everything you’ve worked for—”
“I’m aware,” she interrupted, setting down her chopsticks. “I’m not saying I’d move immediately. I’m just saying options exist. Good science happens everywhere, Austin.”
I moved across the couch, eliminating the distance between us. “I would never ask you to abandon your career.”
“You didn’t ask. I’m just thinking out loud.” She gave me a small smile. “Besides, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Nothing’s official yet.”
“But if it becomes official?”
She gazed down at her hands. “Then we figure it out. People navigate long-distance relationships successfully all the time.”
“With my schedule?” I couldn’t keep the edge from my voice. “I’d be gone for weeks at a stretch anyway.”
“We’d make it work,” she insisted, but I could hear the uncertainty beneath her words.
I stood abruptly, pacing across the living room. “Maybe this is the universe telling us something. Clean break before we’re in too deep.”
Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing. “Is that what you want? A clean break?”
“Fuck no,” I said, turning to face her. “But I’m trying to be realistic. You deserve someone who can actually be present in your life.”
“Don’t you dare make that decision for me,” she said, standing to confront me. “I’m perfectly capable of determining what I want and what sacrifices I’m willing to make.”
“And what is it you want, Kate?” I challenged.
“You, you stubborn ass!” She stepped closer, frustration evident in her flushed cheeks. “But sometimes I wonder if you feel the same way. Sometimes I think you’re looking for the first convenient exit before things get too real.”
Her words hit closer to home than I wanted to admit. “That’s not fair.”
“No?” Her eyes searched mine. “You’re the one suggesting we end things at the first sign of complication.”
“Because I’m terrified!” The admission escaped before I could stop it. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone, and now I might be traded across the fucking country. You think I want that?”
Kate’s expression softened immediately. “No, of course not.”
“Hockey’s been my entire identity,” I continued, the words rushing out now. “But for the first time, I’m thinking about something—someone—who might matter more.”
I sank back onto the couch, and Kate joined me, turning to face me with determination in her eyes.
“What are you really afraid of, Austin?” she asked quietly.
I took a deep breath, knowing she deserved honesty. “That you’ll realize I’m not worth the complication. That between your brilliant career and the inconvenience of loving someone who lives thousands of miles away, the math won’t make sense.”
“And what about you?” she countered. “Aren’t you worried you’ll meet some Seattle woman who doesn’t disrupt your precious routines or talk about bacterial samples during breakfast?”
I couldn’t help but smile at her assessment. “Is that what you think I want? Someone who doesn’t challenge me?”
“Most men do.”
“I’m not most men,” I said, pulling her onto my lap in one smooth motion. She gasped, finding herself straddling my thighs. “I want you, chaos and all.”
Her eyes darkened, her body instinctively settling against mine. “I’m scared too,” she admitted softly. “Scared that you’ll realize how much work I am. That I complicate everything I touch.”
I slid my hands under her shirt, tracing the warm skin at her waist. “You’re worth every complication.”
Her breath caught as my fingers traveled higher, skimming beneath her breasts. “We still don’t know what will happen,” she murmured, even as she pressed herself closer.
“No,” I agreed, pressing my lips to her neck, feeling her pulse race. “But I know what I want, regardless of geography.”
My hand moved down, flicking open the button of her jeans with practiced ease. Kate shifted, helping as I lowered her zipper and slipped my hand inside her panties, finding her already slick with arousal.
“This doesn’t resolve anything,” she gasped as my fingers found her clit.
“Not trying to resolve it,” I replied, circling the sensitive bundle of nerves. “Just reminding you what’s at stake.”
Her head fell back as I slid one finger inside her, then two. “God, Austin...”
“Feel how perfectly you respond to me,” I murmured, curling my fingers to stroke that spot inside her that made her tremble. “Distance can’t change this.”
“Fuck,” she breathed, beginning to rock against my hand. “Don’t stop.”
“I want to hear you say it,” I urged, my thumb working her clit while my fingers maintained their rhythm. “What do you need?”
“You,” she moaned, her nails digging into my shoulders. “Only you.”
“No matter where?” I pressed, increasing the pressure.
“Anywhere,” she panted, her eyes locking with mine despite her pleasure-hazed expression. “Everywhere. Just—please—”
I kissed her deeply, swallowing her desperate sounds as she began to tighten around my fingers. She clutched at me, her movements growing more frantic as she chased her release.
“That’s it,” I encouraged as her rhythm faltered. “Let go for me. Show me how good I make you feel.”
“I’m going to—” she gasped, trembling on the edge.
“Come for me,” I commanded, curling my fingers just right while pressing firmly on her clit. “Now, Kate.”
She shattered against me, crying out as her inner muscles clenched rhythmically around my fingers. I continued stroking her through her climax, only slowing when she collapsed against my chest, breathing hard against my neck.
When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were soft with satisfaction but also filled with something deeper that made my heart race.
“Bed,” I said, standing with her still wrapped around me. “Right now.”
She nodded, clinging to me as I carried her down the hallway.