Page 43 of What If We Break?
Reece pointed a finger at my father. “Have a little faith in your future son-in-law.”
“I know your brother, so there’s no way I can have faith in either of you.” Dad shook his head, sighing heavily. “And I watched you grow up, so I know the only good thing in your head is the fact that you love Brooke.”
“Fair enough.” Reece cleared his throat. “But I think I have a good idea for once.” His eyes met mine again, the unsure smile still on his face. “Since you need a new partner, I was thinking, what if —”
“I’m not going to steal someone’s partner.”
He cocked his head at me. “Fine, but I have another idea.”
“Does it require me having to injure another skater?”
“Not quite.”
“Then shoot.”
His hand reached over the table once more, holding mine. Without thinking, apparently, because that little move might’ve been nothing had I not been wearing a ring my father didn’t know existed. Until now, when Reece unintentionally drew his attention to the engagement ring. But my dad didn’t say anything.
“I don’t plan on entering the draft next year, so even if it’s going to look bad on me if I do miserable this season, it won’t matterasmuch. So, what if I just step in for Erik?” he said. “I’m nowhere near as good as Erik, at least not anymore, but I mean, it’s only been four years, right? It can’t be that difficult to start back up again, and it’s not like I stopped skating entirely. Okay, I might be a little wobbly with jumps now, but we have two weeks to make sure I get this right. Other than hockey, we have the same schedule now so finding time won’t be an issue, and I’m sure we can find a place to practice way past opening hours if necessary.”
My mouth hung open and a million different thoughts were running through my mind, forcing me to be happy, sad, confused, and a little angry all at the same time.
A part of me was relieved that I didn’t have to quit the season. Another part was afraid for him. Even if it was just for one season, if he missed too many hockey games, it could have fatal consequences for him.
I trusted Reece, obviously, and I knew we worked great together… but that wasbefore. It was before we got engaged. And it was before we had all these fights.
What if our balance was way off? What if skating together again would bring more arguments?
We just barely made it an entire weekend without fighting.
What if he couldn’t enter the draft in two years because skating with me messed up his stats?
“I’ve been talking to Ilya to make sure it was okay with him. He just replied and said that if you’re okay with it, he’d love to work with us as a team again,” Reece added when I stayed quiet because I didn’t know what to say.
I wanted to be happy so badly, jump in his arms, and thank him for doing this for me, but I was frozen in place, worrying more about what that potentially meant for us.
“You can say no,” he said. There was a note of uncertainty in his voice, something regretful. “It was just an idea.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “What ifwebreak?” I asked. “What if working together does us more harm than anything else?”
His thumb brushed gently over my skin. “I don’t think it will. I’m not skating with you to have an opinion on the program or anything else. This is your dream, Brooke, and I’m just offering to help you get there. You call the shots on everything. If you’re not satisfied with my performance, you may yell at me, and I’ll do better. Though, a little heads-up, I might get a bo?—”
“Careful what you’re saying next, Reece,” Dad warned.
My head snapped toward my father, only now really realizing that he was still here with us. He’d gotten so quiet ever since he noticed the ring on my finger that I completely forgot he was here.
Reece’s eyes widened, and he gulped down an unsteady breath as he shook off his shock. Guess he also forgot my dad was in the same room with us.
“I wasn’t even going to say anything bad.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I was just going to say that I might get a bo… bow, and clip it into my hair, then walk around campus with it all day to show Brooke how much she hurt my feelings by yelling at me. If I walked around with a bow in my hair, I’d humiliate myself, and Brooke would then be together with a guy who?—”
I cocked my head at my fiancé.
“Fine, okay. I was going to say anotherb-oword, but you can’t blame me. I share the same DNA as Colin, so you knew I had to make a dumb comment.”
Dad blew a laugh from his nose, shaking his head. “Good, so we agree that we’re blaming everything on Colin?”
Reece and I nodded.
My dad got up, stretching. “Great. So, Colin broke Erik’s legs. Colin ate both of your ice cream. Colin’s at fault for Reece’s inappropriate thoughts in my presence. And Colin told Reece to propose to my daughter and not tell mewhenhe was going to do it, or that he already did it.” He looked from me to Reece and back. “I like it. I’ve been looking for a new reason to throw a taco at him next Sunday.”
