A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Chapter Forty-Two

 Kayla stared at him. He was here, right in front of her, in the flesh, close enough to touch. She sucked in a deep breath as her chest constricted, then shut her eyes, bracing herself. How many nights had she spent awake, physically stopping herself from reaching for her phone, from searching up his number, from giving in and reaching out to him?

The moment felt bittersweet. She had been dying to see him, yet now that he stood before her, she didn't know how to feel, didn't know where to put everything she'd been holding in. He was taller than she remembered. His hair had grown longer, and he looked thinner, like he'd lost a substantial amount of weight. And still, none of it took away from his beauty. She had forgotten how beautiful he was; seeing him again knocked the air straight out of her lungs.

His blue eyes pierced right through her, as if he were peeling back every layer, uncovering all her unspoken thoughts and pent-up emotion, one breath at a time.

She cleared her thought. 

"Why don't you come in." His eyes lit up with hope at her words, he nodded his head eagerly as she stepped out of his way and let him in. Shutting the door behind her. He stood awkwardly in the hallway staring at Nolan who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed his chest. The air suddenly felt tense as Nolan gaze landed on her, he raised a brow and his lips twisted into a cynical line, she squirmed under his gaze. 

"Hey." Louis lifted a hand in a brief wave at Nolan. Nolan nodded in return, though his gaze never left Kayla. She had sworn to him more than once that she wanted nothing to do with Louis. Nolan had even suggested she reach out, set their differences aside, despite his own history with Louis, but Kayla had objected viciously.

So the fact that she was folding now so easily was quietly, undeniably amusing to him.

"Hi," Nolan said, a little slower this time.

"I'll uh, I'll give you space," he added, shifting his weight.

Kayla shook her head quickly. "No. You don't have to."

Nolan blinked. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I mean--" She stopped, swallowed. "We'll just... go outside."

Louis glanced past her, then back again. "Outside?"

"The backyard," she clarified, pointing, her hand hovering awkwardly in the air before dropping back to her side.

"Oh," Louis said. "Okay. Yeah. That's...yeah."

Nolan let out a quiet breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll be here," he said. "If you-uh-need anything."

Kayla nodded, not quite meeting his eyes. "Thanks."

The silence stretched as she turned away, Louis trailing after her, the door clicking shut behind them a second too loudly.

Once they were outside and alone, Kayla crossed her arms over her chest, bracing herself, and stared at Louis.

"You have a nice place," Louis said, his jaw locked so tightly the words came out clipped, brittle.

Kayla's lip twitched. The air between them went cold, heavy with things neither of them wanted to say out loud. His eyes burned into her, accusatory, searching. She knew exactly where his thoughts were going and for some twisted reason, she let him go there. She wanted him to feel it. Even just a fraction of what she had felt.

"We were fortunate," she said, her voice flat. "Nolan's family has a lovely home."

"Nolan's family?" Louis echoed, brows knitting together in confusion.

"As in Edw--"

"No." The word snapped out of her. Final. "Don't say that name."

Silence. Then, softer, restrained, "He reconnected with his birth family."