Chapter 2
Idon’t know how long I stood there, gaping at her, certain I must be imagining things.
Surely, I hadn’t had that many beers yet.
Jay and I hadn’t seen each other in a good six months or so before we both ended up on the new team here in Austin, so our few hours in this bar had consisted of a lot more catching up than drinking.
“Uh,” Jason said, looking between the two of us. “Do you guys know each other?”
It was only then that I realized Gracie Knight, who I hadn’t seen in more than a decade, was sitting on my best friend’s lap.
A flash of annoyance hit me, right in the gut, the sensation so strong I had to grit my teeth. “Yeah,” I told Jason, unable to keep the snarl from my voice. “Grace and I go way back.” At his confused expression, I nod at her. “That’s the team owner’s sister you have there on your knee, buddy.”
Jason’s face immediately fell, his eyes widening in what looked like horror. “Shit. For real?”
“For real.”
I wasn’t sure why, exactly, that I had this raging irritation in my chest. I hadn’t seen Grace in years. I certainly had no claim to her—I never had, not really. But something about seeing her sitting so close to Jay, touching him, made me want to punch things.
Grace seemed to shake herself a little, tearing her gaze away from me as she stood. “Sorry,” she stammered to Jay, her face even redder than her hair. “I didn’t realize you were a hockey player.”
“No worries,” he said, even though he still looked freaked out. I didn’t blame him. Everything about our team’s position right now felt precarious. I wouldn’t want to piss off the brand-new owner before camp had even started either.
Of course, the argument could be made that I had been pissing off the owner since long before I’d even been drafted.
“What’s up?” a perky female voice asked, and I forced my attention from Grace to see that two women had joined us, one tall and blonde, the other shorter with a mass of dark curly hair tumbling around her shoulders.
They wore nearly identical expressions as they looked between me and Gracie—equal parts curious and protective.
“Oh,” Grace said, seeming surprised by their presence.
She shook her head a few times, her fingertips coming up to brush along her delicate collarbones and I was struck with a memory so strong it almost took my breath away.
Leaning towards Grace over the kitchen table at my parents’ house back in the day, her eyes widening the closer I got, her fingers worrying over her collarbone the way they always did when she was nervous.
To my teenage brain, it was the hottest thing ever, the brush of her fingertips over her smooth skin, and I tried to get her to do it as often as possible.
I shook my head, needing to get my shit together.
“It turns out these guys are on Andrew’s team,” Grace explained to her friends, still fidgeting. Uncomfortable.
The brunette’s eyes widened in surprise but the blonde girl just looked gleeful. “I guess I picked right,” she said eying both Jason and I like we were nice juicy steaks.
“And it just so happens,” Grace continued, sounding strained, “that Liam and I went to school together.” Her wide green eyes met mine for just a second before they skittered away again.
“What?” the blonde yelped. “You didn’t tell us you went to school with one of your brother’s players!”
Grace’s gaze kept jumping around the bar, like she was desperate to look anywhere but at me. Taking pity on her, I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I was in Grace and Andrew’s grade,” I explained. “I couldn’t believe it when I got picked up by his new team.”
“Andy and Liam go way back,” Grace said, still not looking at me. I did my best not to roll my eyes at that. Andy and I did have history, and none of it was good. I had been absolutely shocked when my agent called to drop the news that it was Andrew Knight’s new team that had traded for me.
Somehow, I had never expected to see her here in Austin. In hindsight that seemed really stupid of me. Andrew and Grace had always been joined at the hip. It made perfect sense that she would settle in the city where her twin brother had set up his business empire.
And here she was. Gracie Knight, all grown up. Shit.
“How interesting,” the blonde girl was saying, that predatory look back in her eyes. “We should all have a drink together, so you guys can catch up.”
Yes, a little voice in my head urged. The idea of catching up with Gracie was incredibly tempting. Of course, I would much rather do it in private, but I’d take what I could get.
But Grace put a damper on that idea real quick. “Actually, I need to get going,” she said. “I think I had too much already tonight.”
Jay chuckled. “These girls have been playing an adult version of Truth or Dare,” he told me, and the realization that he knew something about her that I didn’t had that same annoyance burning in my chest.
Jesus. What was wrong with me?
Blondie looked like she wanted to protest, but Grace held her gaze for a long moment. Some kind of silent conversation must have passed between the two of them, because the friend finally sighed.
“Fine, we should get going.”
“Thanks for being a good sport,” Grace said to Jay, giving him a genuine smile. And shit, just the sight of it had the air whooshing from my chest. When was the last time I saw Gracie Knight smile like that?
Once upon a time, I was the lucky bastard who had her smiling like that every single day.
Her expression dimmed a little when she turned to me, and fuck if that didn’t sting.
“It was nice seeing you again,” she murmured, still not meeting my eyes.
Then, before I could even respond, she was turning to go.
I stared at her retreating back for a long moment before I finally snapped out of it.
She was leaving. After all these years she was just going to walk out without talking to me.
Oh, hell no.
“Gracie, wait,” I called out, my too-loud voice drawing plenty of attention from the crowded bar as I rushed around the table to catch up with her before she hit the door. The two friends stared at me, wide-eyed, and Gracie’s cheeks colored even more.
“Go ahead,” she told her friends, looking resigned. “I’ll catch right up.”
I gritted my teeth at the insinuation that this reunion would be quick, but didn’t say anything. Her friends shot me one last curious look before they went out the door. Then it was just the two of us—and a bar full of people behind us.
Grace stood there, shifting from side-to-side, eyes fixed on a spot a few inches to my left. I wanted her to look at me, damn it. And that was probably why I reached out and touched her. Just a graze of my fingers across her forearm, but it was enough to make her shiver.
“You look great, Gracie,” I said, because it was the truth.
The years had been kind to my old friend.
Her face had thinned out a little, more womanly now, but still holding a remnant of that same cherubic look she used to have.
I had bulked up quite a lot since high school, so her always petite frame seemed even smaller next to mine.
Her lush hips and fantastic rack looked better than I remembered, tight jeans and a soft blue sleeveless blouse accentuating those curves.
Back in high school, she always wore her messy red curls up in ponytail or a braid down her back—I could remember the way so many little tendrils would escape by the end of the school day.
I spent every tutoring session staring at those wild curls around her face, wanting so badly to rub one between my fingers.
Now she wore her hair down, the curls somehow sleeker and more well behaved than they had been. I still wanted to touch one, and it was everything I could manage not to reach out to do just that.
Then Gracie finally met my gaze and my stomach bottomed right out. Her eyes were still that same shade of pretty green but they seemed larger now, somehow. God, she was gorgeous. As gorgeous as she had been all those years ago when she broke my heart.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice soft. “You look great too.” Her eyes scanned my shoulders. “You’re a lot bigger than you used to be.” She must have regretted saying it, because she grimaced and pressed her lips together.
“Had to get bigger,” I told her, chuckling. “I would have been eaten alive in the NHL if I went in as the same string bean as I was when I was eighteen.”
She smiled at that. “You’ve done so well for yourself in the league,” she said. “Everything you always dreamed about. That’s really great, Liam.”
The idea of her following my career over the years had my chest puffing up a bit. “It’s been hard work, but worth it.”
“You must have been bummed to get traded,” she said.
I shrugged. “Not really. I was ready for a change.” It was strange, but I wanted to tell her exactly why it had been a good thing for me to leave New York.
Usually all of that garbage with my ex-wife was the last thing I wanted to talk about.
Maybe it was because Gracie had always been such a good listener.
“But I was pretty surprised when I heard it was Andy’s team that had picked me up. ”
She scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I was surprised myself. He was, uh, never quite your biggest fan.”
I snorted. Understatement of the year, right there.
“Then again, Andy did always like to win,” she continued. “So, I guess it makes sense that he would try to get the best, right?”
That had a grin stretching across my face. “You think I’m the best, huh?”
Grace blushed darker and God, I wanted to run my thumb across those pink cheeks. “I mean, you had the highest shot percentage of all the available centers so…”
I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face if I tried. “Gracie Knight, have you been following my career?”
She rolled her eyes. “My twin brother just bought an NHL team. I’ve been looking up all the players on the roster.”
“Supportive sister,” I said, leaning in a little closer.
There was something about her rolling her eyes at me.
It reminded me of the old days, when she’d finally gotten comfortable enough around me to start teasing a little.
She had never taken my shit, Gracie Knight. And I had been full of it back then.
Suddenly, she straightened, putting more distance between us. “Anyhow,” she said, looking nervous again. “I really do have to get going.”
A stab of disappointment hit my chest. “Sure. I guess I’ll see you around, huh? What with Andrew owning the team and all…”
“Maybe,” she said brightly. Too brightly. It sounded false. And she was avoiding my eyes again. “I’m not sure how hands-on he’s going to be with the team but I’m sure I’ll make it to a game or two.” She inched away another few steps, her eyes darting to the door.
Fuck. I didn’t know why I was making her so uncomfortable, but I didn’t like it. And I certainly didn’t want to prolong it. So, I slipped my hands into my pockets, even when everything in me was calling out to pull her closer, and took a step back.
“I sure hope so,” I told her. “It would be nice to really catch up.”
She nodded, but from her expression I was sure she considered the idea far from nice. “Good luck this week,” she told me. “With training camp.”
“We’re going to need it,” I muttered.
“Well…” she paused, almost backed up to the door now, and met my eyes again for a brief moment. “Night, Liam.”
“Night, Gracie.”
And then she was gone, leaving me to stare at the heavy wood door through which she’d escaped.
Gracie Knight. Holy shit.
Realizing that I probably looked pretty stupid staring at the door, I turned and made my way back to our table. Jason was watching me, his eyebrows raised. “What the hell was that?” he asked, before I’d even managed to drop down in my seat.
“That,” I told him, sighing as I signaled the waiter for another beer, “was the one that got away.”