One minute you're at the top of your game, and the next, you receive a hit that knocks your skates out from underneath you.
Still reeling after an unexpected loss, Ryan Nyberg not only finds himself back in his beachside hometown of Neptune Bay, bu...
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"I'm sorry," Mara said slowly and in disbelief. "Repeat that one more time."
Heat crept up my neck and flooded my cheeks at the weight of her intense gaze. "You heard what I said," I mumbled.
"The woods, Sloane?" she mused with amazement and glee. "You and Ryan boned in the middle of the fucking woods?"
"Oh, come on." I rolled my eyes and took a sip from my wine glass before placing it back down on her kitchen island. "You're trying to tell me you and Sam have never hooked up somewhere unexpected in the heat of the moment?"
"If you want to count the backseat of Sam's car when we were in high school and still living with our parents. Or in the ocean on our honeymoon. Otherwise, we tend to keep our fun private, where there's no risk of being interrupted." She grinned wickedly. "Though maybe we should give it a try. You sure don't seem to be complaining."
"I probably would've felt a lot more embarrassed if we did get caught," I admitted. And remembering that we almost had... holy shit, it would've been mortifying. "But it's not like I went on the hike thinking 'we're definitely going to have sex.'"
"Then what prompted the spontaneous lovefest?"
I barked out a laugh. "Never call it that again," I said, before lifting a shoulder, trying to appear nonchalant. "But we were all alone on this lookout right outside of town—with a picturesque view of the oceanfront, marina, and town—and it felt like we were in our own little bubble when he started talking about his plan for the hockey season. How he hadn't told anyone yet and wanted my opinion, which somehow turned into him asking me if we could make a long-distance relationship work." I noticed Mara's interest piqued. "Then I went into this explanation of how it'd be difficult considering I'm always working and kind of dodged the question, but ended up with him questioning why I was working there in the first place. But not in a mean way; in a way that was more caring and curious. So basically, I was both flattered and emotional about the fact he could read me so well, but also kind of used sex to get out of the conversation."
Not my finest moment, but some part of me knew that what Ryan had been saying about me stepping away from Wilma's was right. That it was time. I just wasn't ready to face that yet, because to me, it meant letting go of—or at least loosening the reins on—one of the last remaining pieces of my mom.
"I'm going to put a pin in the whole you-and-the-store thing, because we're going to come back around to that," she said, before lifting a brow. "How are you feeling about him heading back to Boston?"
"I mean, I have to be okay with it," I replied, trying and failing to keep the gloom from my words. "The plan has never been for him to stick around."
She threw me a pointed look, lifting her wine glass to her lips. "That's not what I asked."
I sighed. "It sucks. Not because I didn't see it coming. I did. I just wish there was more than a month left before he had to leave. I think... I think I could really see myself falling for him," I admitted shyly. It was the first time I was voicing these thoughts. "And it feels like the possibility to explore that is being cut short."
