“They’ll kick us off the team,” he said. “That’ll be the end of your hockey dreams.”
“Yeah, but it’ll also be the end of yours,” I snarled. I wanted him to flinch, to show that my words hurt him as much as he’d hurt me.
When Cole stepped out of the car, he raised his face to the sky. I slammed my door and stormed up the porch. “If the words out of your mouth are anything but an apology, you’re fucking done.”
He didn’t join me, and I looked back at him, staring at me with eyes that glowed an eerie blue in the faint light of Eva’s porch light. “I’m not apologizing,” he replied.
Before I could react, the door opened, revealing Eva in sweatpants and a Marauders sweatshirt—mine. I couldn’t stop the fucking butterflies in my stomach each time I saw her, and today was no different. She’d pulled her fiery hair up into a messy ponytail, and I wanted to drag my fingers through her curls and bury my face in them.
She looked at me then over my shoulder at Cole, who’d finally joined me in front of her door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked simply, her expression that careful blankness I thought we’d banished weeks ago, hiding every thought from me.
I didn’t know what to say. My heart stuck in my throat, and I couldn’t vocalize how fucking sorry I was.
Her eyes snapped to Cole, and her chin lifted, a hint of stubborn defiance peeking through, and I wanted to sigh with relief.
“It’s ten at night, and you’re seeing someone else,” she snapped. “Get the fuck out.”
Cole took a step back at the venom in her voice. “Eva?—”
“And you.” She looked at me, and fury transformed her features into a vengeful angel. “You enable him, you know that? All the sweetness, all the patience, all the care doesn’t fucking matter if you’re not there when it matters.”
“I’m here now,” I said softly.
“Are you? Because it looks like you brought a man who hates me to my door. A man who dropped me the moment things got fucking inconvenient for him. A man who’s already found someone else to take my place. That seems like being here for him, not for me.”
“Eva—” Cole began, but she held up her hand.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped. “I’ll say it until you believe me. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“But you brought him with you!” she cried out, and her eyes shone with unshed tears.
Her eyes snapped to Cole’s, and she lifted her chin once more. “Fine,” she said softly. “I’ll forgive you, Tristan.”
Lightness burst through my chest—until I saw the hard look in her eyes.
Eva rose up on her toes and brushed her lips against mine before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and opening her mouth.
Like a drowning man desperate for oxygen, I devoured her, losing myself in her softness, in her citrus and vanilla scent, in everything I loved about her. My arms slid up her back, and I held her, relief outweighing my common sense,too happy to have her in my arms again to think about how quickly she’d changed her mind.
When she finally pulled back, I did exactly as I wanted, tangling my fingers in her curls and inhaling her scent, holding her against me.
“I missed you,” I breathed.
She nodded and took a shaky breath before looking at Cole again. “Come in,” she said quietly.
“Both of us?” Cole rasped.
Eva’s eyes hardened. “Sure, come on in, Cole. You canwatch.”
21
EVA
I twinedmy fingers in Tristan’s and stepped into my house. My father was working an overnight at the docks, and I wanted to do some damage tonight. I wanted to forget about everything, and I wanted to hurt them—hurt themboth.
“Eva,” Tristan rasped and tugged me back for a hungry kiss. I melted into his arms, relishing the sweetness, the need that built in my core as he held me, hating how easily I forgot my anger when I was in his arms. “I’m so fucking sorry.”