Excerpt:
Her head hangs low, that smile I’ve done crazy things to earn nowhere to be seen. And I hate myself for being the reason it’s gone.
I need to knock it off and fix this. “Hey, I don’t want you to leave.”
“Really?”
She won’t even look at me.
Maybe I wasn’t sure before, but I am now. “Yeah.”
Lara worries her lip between her teeth. “Okay. I’m taking you at your word about the apartment. Thank you. But if you change your mind, you’ll let me know. And even if you don’t, I don’t expect— I— We don’t have to be friends.”
Ooph.
The words hit like a blow. Harder than they should after all this time. I turn them over once more. It’s enough.
“Here’s the thing, Elliot.” I scrub my jaw. “Our baggage is from a million years ago. Sure, we crossed some lines, had some fun… A lot of fun.”
Her lips part in surprise.
Yeah, didn’t see myself going there either. But this needs to be said.
“We were young. Headed in different directions. College. The league. Life happened and we drifted apart. That’s all.”
It wasn’t her fault that I’d quietly gotten it in my head we might be more. Or that when I realized more wasn’t in the cards for us and she was moving on with her life exactly the way we promised each other we would, I couldn’t handle it. That when the time and distance started to grow, it was easier to let it build and build… until that’s all there was.
It wasn’t her fault. And it wasn’t totally mine. Which I’m feeling mature AF being able to acknowledge.
It’s kind of freeing, actually.
I reach out and take her hand. “But before all that? We were really, really good friends.”
Her eyes meet mine. “Yeah, we were. The best.”
I nod. “I miss being friends with you.”
“I miss it too.”
Damn, there’s that smile again. A little bittersweet. A little hopeful.
I shrug. “So maybe we give it a shot. See if there’s a way we can get some of that back?”
I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at her without seeing all the stuff that’s about being more than friends. But even though it’s there, might always be there… That line between friendship and more is not one I’ll cross again.
“Yes.” Her grin is as bright as the sun. “I’d like that a lot.”
Bad ideas are kind of my Super power.
I’m Ben Boerboom, the NHL’s favorite puck boy, and Lara’s my slamming hot, former bestie. She’s also the friend who got away and my dirty, dirty accomplice from those two insane weeks that weren’t supposed to change anything… but did.
I wanted it all. Would have wrapped my forever around her finger if she’d let me. But if making bad decisions is my special skill, Lara’s is making good ones… Like prioritizing her career goals and the kind of security she didn’t have growing up.
Hard pass on that kind of heartbreak again. So cue the bunnies. Years of bunnies.
Now Lara’s back in my city. Temporarily. And thanks to a burst pipe and a miscommunication with my sister, she’s living in my spare room.
A lot has changed, but two things haven’t. Her goals and the way she sometimes believes my bad ideas are good… like crossing those lines I swore we wouldn’t cross again.
*All titles in the Slayers Hockey series are loosely connected but can be read as standalones.
Find more books by Mira Lyn Kelly: miralynkelly.com
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