Steele (Arizona Vengeance 9)

And when they fell apart, they did so at the same speed.

Kane is new to the Vengeance. Unlike me, as I was brought here from Quebec in the expansion draft, Kane was a late-season trade with the Carolina Cold Fury. So even though we’ve only known each other for about six months, he’s become my closest friend on the team.

As such, I feel comfortable in reiterating to him once again that he’s being a dumbass where Mollie’s concerned. When he proposed, instead of saying yes, she told him that she was considering a yearlong job in Australia as she’s a travel blogger.

Just as I told him during intermission, a year apart isn’t that big a deal. Not when they could have forty or fifty years together.

He nods with a sheepish smile. “I know, man. You’re right. I get it. I just have to get over having my feelings bruised that she wants to go.”

“Well, get over it,” I say pointedly as I pick up my beer. “And tomorrow, I suggest you start making things right. Put the engagement ring on her finger while telling her it’s cool if she takes the job—say you’ll get married when she gets back. It’s that simple.”

“Simple,” Kane murmurs as if he’s testing the weight of that word on his tongue. Then he blinks before turning more toward me. “Speaking of simple… how are things with you and Ella?”

I fill him in on the major points since we last spoke about my own dilemma with my woman, recounting everything since the kiss we shared after I fixed the garbage disposal to our evening watching Lucy at her debate match and ice cream after.

“What’s the next move?” Kane asks.

I shrug. “I’m not sure. I had asked her out to dinner for tomorrow night, but she’s already got plans to go out with Mr. Ordinary.”

“What the fuck?” Kane exclaims, his eyebrows shooting high. “You mean she’s still seeing someone?”

“Same guy we tailed at the food festival,” I mutter.

“And you’re okay with that?” he asks tentatively.

“No, I’m not okay with that,” I snap, lifting my glass and draining it. “But I also can’t demand she stop seeing him. I have nothing trustworthy to offer her, so the best I can do is assure I’m confident she’ll choose me in the end.”

Wincing, Kane shakes his head. “That’s some fucked-up relationship mess. I’ll take my issues with Mollie over yours any day.”

“Tell me about it,” I grouse, then signal the bartender for another beer.

“Are they… I mean, is she…” Kane stumbles around for the right words.

“Having sex?” I practically spit out.

“Yeah.”

“No,” I reply with surety in my voice.

“And you know that how?” Kane asks.

I’m not about to tell him that it was a bit more than a kiss after the garbage disposal, and that I got a breathless admission from her because she was so lost in the haze of lust I’d created.

“I just know,” I say. “Because I know Ella. She won’t make that move with him unless her heart is in it for the long haul, and she won’t do that while she’s still considering me.”

“And are you sure she’s considering you?” Kane asks, prompting me to frown at such a question. “I mean… she’s going out with the guy tomorrow night, and you’ve yet to make any personal headway with her at all.”

Well, fuck… when he says it that way, I realize I need to up my game.

“You need a bold move,” Kane says with a firm nod. He drains his beer as the bartender brought him one from my prior signal, “Need to show her you’re serious. Can’t just sit around and wait for her to have free time from the other guy she’s dating to have some time for you.”

I snicker, smiling at the suggestion. I’ve always known I’d need a pretty big move; I just wasn’t sure when to pull it out.

“I have a bold move to make,” I say, twisting on my stool. “The question is how and when.”

“Sex?” he queries, and I roll my eyes.

“Sex was never our problem, and it would be easy to fall back into bed. It’s not a bad move, but would only be a band-aid for our problems.”

“What were your problems?” Kane asks, and it’s an intrusive question, yet I don’t mind. We’re teammates, close friends, and we both have our own female problems we talk to each other about.

“I didn’t see her,” I reply in a low voice, my throat threatening to close off as I admit my failures. “Or rather, she felt like I didn’t see her, so how she felt is what’s important.”

“Valid?” he pushes.

I nod. “For a long time, I just assumed she was happy being married to me. I thought she understood and accepted our travel schedule because she came up in the league with me, so I assumed she could handle me being gone so much.”