Page 47 of Puck Me Twice

And those four words? “It’s not too early.” They ring in my head like a bell: ding ding ding, pay attention.

So I am.

What are we?

Is this real, or are we still faking it?

His kisses felt real. The display before the game—that felt real, too. And in the locker room?

The lines are too blurry.

As he pulls up in front of my apartment, Sven cuts the engine.

“We need to talk,” I tell him, turning to face him.

He nods. “I scared you.”

“Yes.” How can I think about forever when I don’t even know where we stand?

“I apologize for making you uncomfortable,” he says quietly. “I know there’s nothing with you and Whitney, you’ve never made me doubt your integrity. When I saw him with you, I saw red.”

In the middle of a nod, I pause. “Wait, what?”

He raises his eyebrows. “When he kissed you?”

I blink a few times. “You think that scared me?”

He nods.

“No, Sven, it didn’t scare me,” I tell him slowly.

“Then what did?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the part when you started talking about ‘I do’?”

He swallows. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” I blow out a breath. “How much of this is real, how much is still a lie?”

“I’ve never lied to you.” His voice is quiet, strong. “The one thing I’ve never done is lie to you.”

“But—”

His hand covers mine on the center console. “I agreed to this because I had feelings for you, feelings I would never act on while you worked for the team. I’m not going to deny them.”

“Why?”

“You don’t date hockey players,” he says simply. “That’s your boundary. It would hardly be appropriate for me to try to change your mind.”

I stare at him.

“I want you to like me for who I am, not what I can do for you,” Sven continues.

“I do. I mean, I do like you,” I say awkwardly. “I just…”

He waits patiently.

“Marriage? That’s, like…” I laugh nervously.