Page 9 of Defend Her Heart

That I pushed away.

Fuck.

I turn the speed on the treadmill up to the highest leveland attempt to lose myself in the pounding of my feet as I sprint. But it’s no use. All I see is her.

My groin begins to protest. I was only supposed to be warming up. Jumping right into sprints was a stupid move, so I slow it down to a brisk walk.

Once I’m done loosening up, I head to one of the benches to start my upper body workout for the day. Moving the bench so I’m at an incline, I take the towel off my neck and lay it down. I walk toward the weight rack and grab the forty-pound dumbbells for a warm-up set.

I settle myself at the front of the bench, and just as I’m about to lean back and start my set, the door to the team gym opens up behind me, halting my movements. Looking at the mirror in front of me, I watch as Niko walks into the gym.

“What the hell are you doing here? The gym is supposed to be empty.”

Niko ignores me and grabs a band off the far wall. I track his movements in the mirror and wait for him to respond. He doesn’t. Instead, he wraps the band around one of the squat racks adjacent to me, prepping for what I’m guessing is a circuit workout.

“Are you ignoring me, Cap Daddy?” I use the nickname the team gave him because it’s definitely not his favorite so I know it’ll get his attention.

Niko freezes and slowly turns his head to me. He looks ready to murder me, which causes me to bark out a laugh.

“Cap Daddy is mad. You know if you just answer my question I’ll stop calling you that.”

He turns and loops the band on his foot, beginning a set of resistance lunges.

“I wouldn’t be here if you would’ve just picked up your phone this morning. I went to your apartment but you weren’t there, so here I am.”

He waits for me to respond, but instead I lean back and finally start my warm-up set. Unfortunately for me, my bestfriend is persistent as fuck and cares about his people hard so he continues as I push the dumbbells above my chest.

“Sadie is worried about you. And quite frankly, so am I. We barely saw you all summer, and now I only see you at the rink. Even Sophia keeps asking where Uncle Connor is.”

Niko and Sophia are the closest thing I have to family here in Wisconsin. And now that Sadie and Niko are together, that makes Sadie family, too.

My younger sister plays professional hockey for the Minnesota Freeze and my grandparents moved to Florida a few years ago. They used to spend their winters down there, but they got sick of going back and forth so moved there permanently. And my parents, well, they’re like Bruno. We don’t talk about them.

The thought ofEncanto, one of Sophia’s favorite movies, combined with what Niko just said consumes me with guilt. I finish my warm-up and stand to swap out my dumbbells for something heavier.

“I’m fine.”

Usually, my clipped responses would be enough for my teammates to leave me alone. I should’ve known better than to try it with Niko.

“Bullshit. You missed movie night last week, and I’m assuming you have no plans of attending tonight. Plus, your one-word texts are getting fucking old.”

I grumble something under my breath and get started on another set of bench presses.

A shadow looms over me, and when I look up, I see Niko above me. He places his hands under my elbows as I struggle with my last couple of reps. I’m able to finish without his help and set the weights on the floor next to me. Grabbing the towel, I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

“Thanks for the spot.”

He ignores me again and takes a seat on the bench next to me. When I finally move my gaze to him, he’s scowling.

“What?” I bark out.

Niko pinches the bridge of his nose and then levels me with a serious look. “Are you really going to make me pry it out of you?”

Reaching down for my water bottle, I squirt some water into my mouth and shrug my shoulders.

“Pry what out of me?”

He launches his towel at my face. “The story between you and Avery. I know she’s the same girl from the bar during the playoffs last season. The one whose picture you were staring at as you guzzled whiskey like water. You’ve been fucked up since you saw her. And that’s a problem because the season has started and you’re playing like shit.”