Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

I have one leg in my jeans and about to step into the other when she says this, so I hop to turn around, especially since she sounds genuinely remorseful. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” she asks, sitting up and pulling the sheets to keep her covered. “If I had’ve let you go home, you wouldn’t be late and missing a game.”

I button my jeans and carefully zip up the fly. “Don’t worry about it.”

Elizabeth nods, so I turn to find my shirt. When I snatch it from the floor, she whispers, “What are we doing?”

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. This is twice I’ve slept with her and we’ve only had one date. This is uncharted territory for me. “We can keep going and see what happens, or you can cut your ties with me now.” Please, don’t do that. I’ll get down on my knees and beg.

She doesn’t say anything. She only looks down at her lap.

“Elizabeth?”

“Just go,” she says without looking at me. “I don’t know, and you’re already late.”

I place my knee on the bed, place the tip of my forefinger under her chin, and tilt it upward. Without enough thought, I tell her what I’m hoping is all she needs to hear. “I don’t want a wo

man to watch me do my job, whether in the box or on TV. I don’t want a woman to discuss hockey with. You can control the pace. Hell, we can be friends if that’s what you’d prefer. Either way, I have the strength to help you carry your baggage, if you’d let me.”

Her eyes well with tears. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s so much more than what you already know.”

“I don’t need to know what’s in the bag to carry it, Elizabeth.”

She takes a deep breath, but it doesn’t seem as if she’s going to say anything.

I lean down and press a firm kiss to her forehead. “Push some furniture in front of the door after I leave in case Sylvia is out there, waiting to come back.”

Elizabeth laughs. “Good idea.”

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

She nods, and with that, I leave. By the time I go home, change, and make it to practice, I’m ridiculously late. It’s so worth it, though. Elizabeth intrigues me in so many ways. She’s obviously struggled with the death of her husband, and I’m not sure how to navigate this path with her because in no way do I want to do or say something to upset her in that regard. But she also seems to be full of contradictions.

She’s uptight and gives me a hard time, but then, there’s a side of her that just seems to let loose and give in to me. She doesn’t want to even entertain a date, and then we’re on one and she’s pulling me into her bedroom. She’s genuinely conflicted, and the only thing I know to do is keep asking for some time with her.

“Marco!” Scott shouts.

“Polo!” Tommy Alderson yells back.

Practice is now over and I’m walking into the training room. Coach just finished letting me know I was out of the lineup for tonight, which is what I expected. Scott is watching me with narrowed eyes, so I walk over to him. He stands upright and folds his arms over his chest.

“What?” I finally ask when he only stares. “Is this about Elizabeth?”

“Yeah. I just want to let you know—”

“Not to hurt her because she’s your sister-in-law, yeah, I knew that.”

Scott’s eyes widen. “She told you that?”

“Yes, and she talked about Roger some.”

“She said his name?”

“I know what his name is, so obviously. What’s the big deal?”

Scotts shakes his head in disbelief. “She hasn’t said his name since he died. Lizzy doesn’t even talk about him; it was almost like he never existed to her.”

“Are we talking about the same Elizabeth?” Because she had difficulty at first, but for the most part, she spoke with ease, especially if she was wrapped up in a memory.