Page 96 of Keep Me Close

With a groan, I bury my face in my hands. “I know.”

This isn’t just fun anymore. Or us pretending.

I’m falling.

Hard.

Even though every logical part of me knows I should step back and protect myself, put some kind of distance between us so I don’t end up hurt again, I can’t do it.

This no longer feels like something I can control.

Then again, did it ever?

Rina leans her elbows against the ledge, her gaze following Knox as he circles back. “That man is completely gone for you.”

My teeth sink into my lower lip as I continue watching him. “The feeling is mutual.”

Her eyes flick toward me and her expression softens. “Good,” she says simply. “You deserve that. And so does Knox.”

A knot of uncertainty tightens in my chest. “You think so?”

She studies the ice, as if genuinely considering my question. “Yeah, I do. For as long as I’ve known Knox, he’s always kept women at a distance. Never allowing anyone to get too close. And he’s never brought anyone to a game before.”

My heart stutters.

She leans in before lowering her voice. “So, whatever this is between the two of you… it’s different.”

Different.

The word lingers in the air before sinking deep.

“And just like I’m here for the ongoing Evelyn and Hugh saga,” she adds with a grin, “I’m here for the two of you as well.”

A laugh slips from me, easing some of my tension as I glance at the older couple. “I have to admit I’m totally invested in that situation too.”

“We all are, girl.”

Knox circles around again, his focus split between the puck and the suite. Every time his gaze finds mine, a burst of warmth floods through me.

Chicago was supposed to be temporary. A place to disappear and lie low while I figured out whether a different future might exist for me, even if it never felt entirely realistic.

And this relationship with Knox McNichols was supposed to be fake.

A temporary solution to solve a problem.

But standing here in his jersey, surrounded by laughter, children, and women who are starting to feel like more than strangers, while a man on the ice looks at me like I matter?

It feels all too real.

I glance around the suite—at Callie with her daughter, absently smoothing the little girl’s hair. At Elody and Caleb, so wrapped up in each other, it’s like no one else exists. At Sloane, watching her siblings with quiet affection despite her fatigue. At Evelyn and Hugh, tangled in something complicated, unfinished, and undeniably real.

I’ve spent years feeling like an island, even in a sea of people. But this feels like something I could get used to.

Something I might actually want.

My attention drifts back to the ice before locking on Knox again.

Chicago was supposed to be the place I came to disappear. But standing here now, surrounded by something that feels far too close to belonging, I can’t help but wonder…