Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(123)
The crowd lost it, hell, the bench lost it, everyone cheering for Lucas as he hugged his line tightly, congratulating everyone. That goal was going to be the game winner as long as they held them. When Phillip was tapped on the shoulder, he jumped over the board, Erik and Karson at his side as they skated to position, waiting for the defensemen to bring the puck up. Watching the clock because he knew that they were going to pull their goalie for the extra man on the ice, Phillip poke checked the puck away but unfortunately, a Wings player was there to get it and shot the puck. Tate blocked it with ease.
“EMPTY NET!” Shea yelled, blocking a forward before taking the puck.
Glancing at the clock, Phillip saw that they had sixty seconds to hold the lead. Shea tried to send it to Karson but a Wing took it, sending it to the goal but, like the ninja goalie he was, Tate batted it away and it came right to Phillip. He had a clear path to the goal, no one was in the way, but if he took off towards the goal, he knew they would stop him. So not wasting time, Phillip turned and took a slap shot, sending the puck right into the empty net.
Throwing his hands up as his teammates attacked him, the horn went off repeatedly and with that goal, the Wings’ fate was sealed.
The Assassins had won.
Feeling jovial, Phillip pushed through the door that lead to the parking lot, excited to see Claire and go to dinner, but nervous about seeing Reese. Should he invite her? Ignore her? What? Give her a chance to talk? Maybe she wouldn’t even be there but, when he reached the spot where they always met up, she stood there, tight, dark jeans clinging to her legs with black boots up to her knees. He wished his body didn’t react to her the way it did when he was mad, but it did, begging for her body and imagining her standing only in those boots and nothing else. Shaking the image away, he continued for them. Claire was talking about something but, once he reached them, she stopped and wrapped her arms around him.
“What a game!”
Phillip’s eyes were locked with Reese’s as he hugged Claire tightly. “It was awesome.”
“Great goal.”
“It was an empty netter,” he scoffed as she backed away.
“So? You didn’t even think about what you were doing. You just shot, and it was magical. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” he said, a little sheepish as he looked back at Reese, meeting her sad gaze. “Thanks for coming.”
She tried to give off an offhanded expression, but he saw right through it. She was dying inside, just like him, and he hated that she was torturing them like this. Why couldn’t she just do what her heart wanted? What the hell was holding her back? Just above a whisper, she said, “No big deal.”
He didn’t know what else to say. He could only look into her eyes and wish like hell she would say something else. The tension between them could be cut with a knife, and he hated that. He wanted to go back to the way they were. The easiness of them. He missed her. So much that it felt like the world was closing in on him. He just wanted her to say that she wanted him. That he was enough and that she believed in them. He wouldn’t even hesitate to kiss the hell out of her and then never let her go. All she had to do was say the words, and he’d be hers for the rest of his life.
“Did you have fun?” he asked, hating the silence and the way Claire was staring at them. She had this look of pure distress. He could see how much she wanted them together and he would love to give that to her, but Reese had to want it. He couldn’t make her be with him. No matter how much he wanted to do that.
She tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She just looked like she was in pain. “Of course I did, it was a wonderful game. Y’all played great.”
“Wow, this is super awkward,” Claire mumbled. Phillip elbowed her softly to shut her up, despite the fact that she was right. It was awkward and he couldn’t stand it, he had to go. A part of him wanted to invite her with them, but he doubted she’d go. Glancing over at Reese, he said, “Well, this has been fun, but we have to get to dinner. I’m starving.”
Her mouth pulled at the side. “Yeah, you’re always hungry after a game.”
He looked away as he slowly shrugged. She was right but it wasn’t only the food he was hungry for, it was her. Always her. “Yeah, so I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah,” she said a little too quickly, before looking at Claire. “Thanks for inviting me. I’ll see you later.”
She turned to leave but Claire asked, “At the next game right? Monday?”
Reese looked over her shoulder, and her eyes were pooling with tears. He went to take a step forward but stopped, tucking his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing a hold of her as she said, “We will see okay? We have recital tomorrow, and I’m probably going to be tired.”
Claire slowly nodded, her face visibly upset as she said, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She smiled before meeting his gaze. “See you later.”
He could only nod as he watched her walk towards her car. Once she was in it, he turned and started walking towards his own with Claire in tow and his heart a wreck. How long was she going to do this to them? And why? Shit, maybe he should chase her down and ask. Make her talk to him, but he had tried that, she just shut down and kept saying the same thing. When Claire let out a long breath, he cut her a look and asked, “What’s wrong?”