Chapter 34
Connor
Connor counted Daisy’s shots. She downed her own and Roxie’s as soon as they were placed in her hands.
Then she stole Valentine’s. Then Hazy’s.
And then Casey, the traitor, had pushed his in front of her.
Connor didn’t think Daisy knew she was doing it.
She’d get fidgety, her eyes darting around the room, and she would reach for one of the tiny glasses.
He wanted to see her, but not at the expense of her wellbeing.
He’d been excited to see Hazy and Lover and tell them how happy he was with their game. They had taken everything he taught them to heart; their work was paying off. He wished he could be a part of it.
He also wished that if he had to sit so close to Daisy, she would at least look at him.
She was so beautiful in a little black dress, her hair in a twisty style with curls pulled out to frame her face.
He had known there was a possibility of her being there, but when he’d seen her, he’d almost walked out, abandoning his plans for the evening.
Sitting so close to her without wrapping himself around her felt impossible.
When her gaze landed on him, he froze, letting her look her fill. He looked like shit; there was no hiding it. She stared for a few long seconds before she stood and ran toward the bathroom. Connor stopped Roxie from following, signaling for her to stay put. He caused this; he’d go.
Connor followed her into the restroom and twisted the lock on the main door for privacy.
Daisy was already crying, and she would hate for anyone to see.
The sniffles coming from the bathroom stall were enough to shatter him.
His bruised and bloody heart would never heal at this rate.
She opened the stall door upon his arrival, but when she recognized him, she tried to slam it in his face.
He stuck an arm out, blocking the door open.
He pushed into the stall and grabbed her arm, dragging her into the main part of the restroom.
She didn’t fight him, so he pushed his luck and pulled her into his arms, doing the very thing he told himself he wouldn’t and wrapping himself around her.
She was stiff for several long moments before returning his hug.
Deep sobs wracked her body, and Connor couldn’t help his own tears falling in response.
They stood in that public bathroom for a long time, holding each other and crying, both of them crushed and helpless.
When her shoulders had stilled and sniffles had quieted, she pulled away from him and said, “I’m sorry. ”
He cupped her face in his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away tears and the smudged makeup beneath her bloodshot eyes.
“Oh sweetheart, what are you sorry for? I’m the one who left.”
Lingering tears streaked down her face, and he pulled her into his chest, not ready to relinquish his hold on her.
“I could have answered when you called. I could have messaged you. Or told you how I felt.”
“I could have done those things too. That first night. But I didn’t.
It took your personal bodyguard hunting me down and kicking my ass for me to grow the balls to say a single word to you.
I fucked up. I’m the one who should be sorry.
” Connor rubbed her back in slow circles and planted soft kisses on her hair.
Her fingers knotted in his shirt, her forehead against his chest. They were both crying and dripping snot, but for the first time in weeks he felt whole. If this were all he would ever get from her, he’d take it.
“I love you.” He whispered his confession so softly he doubted whether she had heard it until she started sobbing again.
“I love you too.” She told him through gasping, shaky breaths. He led her to the sink and helped her splash cold water on her face before repeating the process for himself.
She stared dead-eyed into the mirror and sighed. “I can’t go back out there,” she told him.
He agreed. He looked like death. The whole group would worry if they went out there looking like this.
He tapped out a text, and a minute later a light knock sounded.
Connor unlocked the door, and Valentine stuck his head in the room.
“I brought your keys. Are you two okay? You’ve been in here for a while.
” He lowered his voice to what was supposed to be a whisper but was still loud.
“There’s like a really long line out here. ”
Daisy laughed, a high-pitched hysterical sound, and walked toward the door, her steps unsteady. Connor looped his arm around her waist and led her past Lover and out the back door.
When they got to Daisy’s apartment, Connor invited himself in. If she told him to go, he would, but if she was willing to be in his presence, he would soak in every possible second.
Before he could shut the door behind him, Daisy stripped out of her clothes, dropping pieces behind her as she stumbled toward the bathroom.
He didn’t follow her. She loved him, but the logistics wouldn’t work out.
The shower started, and he listened intently, worried she would fall.
The alcohol hit her hard on the way home.
Connor wandered her living room while he waited for her to shower. He tried to absorb every detail, to see it through new eyes. He memorized the books on her shelves, the games, and the snacks spread out on the coffee table
When he got to her pyramid of hockey pucks, he picked one up. It had a smiley face drawn on it in familiar silver ink. He went through the stack, smiling at every Love You, and Darlin’, and stick figure. When he’d gone through the last of them, he re-stacked them as he’d found them.
Daisy took a long time in the shower, so he knocked on the door to check on her. “Just a minute!” she yelled.
For lack of anything better to do he plopped on her couch, marveling at how comfortable he’d come to be in this space.
He dug around the cushions for the remote and thought he’d found it when he pulled out yet another hockey puck.
The sloppy scrawl on it read, ‘Daisy loves Connor’.
For a second he considered pocketing it, stealing a little reminder that this was real.
He smiled and set it out on the coffee table, continuing his search for the remote. His search came up empty, but only because it got interrupted by a soaking wet, naked Daisy exiting the bathroom. She stomped over to him and demanded his hand, using it to drag him to his feet.
“You’re wearing so many clothes,” she whined, the words slurring together.
“And I’m going to keep my clothes on.” Connor told her.
“Whyyy?” Daisy wasn’t happy with that news.
“A few reasons, but mostly because you are drunk out of your mind.”
“I’m so drunk.” Daisy gave an exaggerated nod of agreement. “I’m also naked!” she twirled in a circle, hands raised to the sky.
Connor laughed, “I see that.”
She pulled him by the hand toward her bedroom. “Tuck me in!”
Connor grabbed a towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around her, rubbing her down so she wouldn’t soak the bed.
He pulled her knotted mess of a blanket off the bed and waited for her to lie down before draping it over her and tucking the edges under her body.
Then he kissed her forehead and moved to leave, but she caught his wrist.
“Please stay with me.” Her voice was small, but she seemed more lucid than she’d been moments before.
Connor studied her. He should go, but he needed to hoard as much time with her as possible. Abandoning any sense of self-preservation, he shimmied out of his jeans.
“Ooo,” Daisy teased, making grabby hands toward him.
“Hey!” he said as her hands closed around his thigh. “No funny business!”
“You’re the one who took his pants off,” she told him.
“Yeah, sleeping in jeans sucks. Scootch over.”
She wiggled to the other side of the bed, and he climbed in next to her, pulling her flush against him. Her hands roamed over him, sneaking up the front of his shirt where he trapped them.
“Daisy,” he said, with a warning in his voice. “If you don’t stop, I can’t stay. You’re drunk, and still mad at me.” He tested her by freeing her hand, and it remained still. “Good. Now go to sleep.”
In the morning, they rolled out of bed together and had barely cleared the sleep from their eyes before Daisy’s stomach rumbled and she groaned. “Ugh,” she complained, rubbing her forehead and glaring at him through squinted eyes. “Why am I so hungover? I had three drinks.”
Connor gaped at her. “You had at least double that; what are you talking about?”
She frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. I watched you.”
“Oh, fuck.” Daisy wandered to the kitchen and pulled a single slice of Wonder bread from the bag, stuffing it directly into her mouth. She swallowed her bread and followed it up with two Advil.
“Let’s go get breakfast.” He wasn’t ready to leave her yet.
As he’d lain in bed last night with Daisy in his arms, their impossible situation transformed in his mind.
His initial reaction to being traded may have blinded him to the reality of their situation.
He could see a path forward for them if Daisy was interested. He had to fight to keep her.
Connor let her get halfway through her greasy breakfast before he said, “What if you came to Nashville with me?”
Her attention, which had previously been focused solely on the task of eating her mammoth burrito, snapped to him, and with a comically full mouth she asked, “What?”
“You’re not working in the off-season, right?”
Daisy worked through her bite, shaking her head.
“Okay, so come with me.”
“I can’t move to Nashville on a whim, Connor. Even for you.”
“Don’t move to Nashville. Come watch the playoffs. You can stay with me at Casey’s house. Cora would love to meet you. Or we could get an apartment. We can spend the evenings together, and you can come to some games. Evan and Casey are dying to get to know you. You wouldn’t be on your own.”
He could see the gears working in her head. “You’re coming home for the summer?”
“I’ll be here the second we win the cup.”
Daisy’s laugh was a little insulting. “Nashville made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth. When you win a Cup, it damn well better be with Seattle.”
“I don’t think I’m going to get an offer from Seattle. Nashville offered me a lot of money to re-sign with them.”
“Oh God, you’re not going to do it, are you?” Daisy wore an expression of pure horror. “I can’t pull off yellow!”
Connor laughed, loving that he’d correctly assumed some of her objections would be based on team colors. “I have time to decide. Can’t do anything until after the playoffs, anyway.”
“Ugh. Fine. I will go with you to Nashville. On one condition.”
Connor would do anything she asked. “What’s the condition?”
“Go to free agency. See what other offers you get.”
Easiest yes of his life.