Breaking Away Read online

  “While he was with you?” Phillip asked, already hating the guy.

  “Yeah. It completely broke me, and it has taken me a long time to get over him. I sometimes think I still love him, and I know that there will never be a love like that again. That’s why I’m emotionally unavailable, because I don’t want to be in a relationship with some guy and have him fall in love with me when I can’t fall for him. It isn’t fair, but it’s how I’m programmed now.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She looked up, confused. “Sure?”

  “That you’re programmed like that. Have you tried after douchebag?”

  She smiled, only for a second, before shaking her head. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  She eyed him for a second and then asked, “Are you suggesting I try with you?”

  He didn’t answer right away. He could see in her eyes that she was looking for a reason to run, and he’d be damn if he was going to give it to her. He had to play his cards right or this woman would shut him out so quickly that he wouldn’t know what hit him, and he couldn’t let that happen. He enjoyed her way too much. If she wanted to keep things light, fine, he could work with that. It might be something she wanted now, but if he worked hard and kept his eyes on the prize, he would score.

  And if there was one thing he was good at, it was scoring. On and off the ice.

  With a careless chuckle, Phillip said, “Heck no, I like what we have. I’m just saying.”

  She eyed him only for a second before smiling back at him. “Me too.”

  “Good, now hurry up and finish, so I can take you home and make you scream.”

  She laughed. “Do I even need to ask how you plan on doing that?”

  Shooting her a grin, he said, “Nope, I’m pretty sure you know exactly what that entails.”

  “Yeah, me naked.”

  “Yup, and in my mouth.”

  She took in a sharp breath before biting her lip. Looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, she breathlessly said, “I’m suddenly full.”

  “Good, let’s go.”

  Throwing three twenties on the table, he stood and reached for the woman that he hoped to make his. It wasn’t going to be easy, and it was going to take a lot of work to build the trust they needed for a relationship, but for once, Phillip Anderson had met the woman he was ready to try for.

  “DON’T YOU think we bought enough boy stuff?”

  Claire snickered beside Reese as she held all the blue crap Harper kept throwing at her. Harper shook her head as she continued to pick up little blue outfits.

  “No way, they are having a great sale!”

  “The same sale they’ll have in two weeks! Why don’t you wait?”

  Harper turned and set Reese with a dirty look. “You can leave.”

  Reese glared right back at Harper as Claire laughed beside them. “No, you promised me food.”

  “Yes, so hush. Let me shop, and then I’ll feed you.”

  Letting out an annoyed breath, Reese knew she should have never gone over to Harper’s house today. She knew today was when they would find out the sex of their baby but no, Claire wanted the music from the dance they we working on and, because Reese had a soft spot for the girl, she rushed over to get it to her. Then Harper promised her food to celebrate the baby but instead of going straight to the restaurant like she thought, she was parading through damn Carters with Harper as she squealed and gushed over every damn blue thing in the store.

  It was annoying.

  Reese loved Ally and Dimitri, she did, and now she would love the new baby, but she hated shopping for baby stuff. It always turned the mom-to-be into a freaking idiot, cooing and gushing over miniature-sized things for a baby that was going to grow out of it faster than a weed, and then shit and piss all over it. It was insane and stupid. Why couldn’t the kid just wear diapers for the first year? Why spend thousands of dollars on clothes and things when the little thing was just going to grow out of it!

  It made no sense and completely boggled Reese’s mind, which was the main reason why she was never having children. It wasn’t that she didn’t love kids. She was a dance teacher and she loved her niece and nephew, but kids were freaking expensive and then there was the chance that you could mess them up, or some fuck up could fuck them up, and then what? With Ally and Dimitri, she knew they were taken care of. Harper and Piper were two strong women, both married to good, strong men, but Reese would never find a man like the Titov brothers. She wasn’t going to put herself through looking for another man that would more than likely hurt her like Kevin, so instead of having that fairy tale ending, she would settle for the cool aunt.

  And she was cool with that, but when a quick image of Phillip holding a little brown-haired, blue-eyed baby came to mind, she stopped and braced herself against the wall. She had no clue where that crazy image came from, but it needed to go the hell away. Things with Phillip were light and fun. He was great, and they had a blast together, but babies were in no way, shape, or form ever going to happen between them. That would involve her actually opening up to someone, and that was a laughable event in itself! Writing the image off as a reminder to go to the OBGYN to make sure her IUD was well in place and nothing more, Reese groaned as she followed Harper around the damn store.

  An hour later, as they stood by the socks, Reese was ready to say the hell with lunch when Claire glanced over at Reese and said, “When Phillip gets back, can we come in so I can show him my solo?”

  Reese nodded as Harper asked, “When does Phillip come home? With Jakob’s arm being messed up and keeping him from playing. I have no clue what the schedule is.”

  “Friday,” Reese said at the same time Claire did.

  Claire’s brows came together, and Reese promptly picked up a pair of blue socks and decided they were the most fascinating socks ever.

  “Oh, Harper, these are too cute!” she said quickly, but Claire was still watching her.

  “How did you know when Phillip is getting home?”

  Thinking quickly, she said, “You told me.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Reese cocked her head towards Harper. “Then she did.”

  “Why would I ask if I already knew, Reese?’ Harper asked with a ‘come on’ kind of look. She then eyed Reese suspiciously. “Your face is bright red, what are you hiding?”

  Shit!

  Gathering her wits, she laughed as she waved them off. “Not a damn thing, I don’t know how I knew. I could have sworn one of you told me. Why does it matter anyways? Come on, I’m hungry.”

  When neither of them moved, both eyeing her, she laughed again. “What?”

  “Nothing, just thinking,” Harper said with a small smile.

  “About?”

  “The fact that you and Phillip would be cute together, really good together.”

  Reese could feel Claire’s eyes on her and knew that this conversation needed to end. NOW.

  “What the hell ever; he is so not my type.”

  “Yes he is, he has a penis, that’s the first step,” Harper said with a laugh.

  This was true but still. “Bitch!”

  Expectant mothers and parents alike shot Reese dirty looks, but she didn’t care. Harper continued to laugh while she shook her head. “I’m just kidding…kind of, but really, y’all would be cute together. I wonder why I never thought of it before. Hmm…”

  “Because it will never happen. I don’t want to be with anyone, you know that.”

  “Why?”

  Harper and Reese both turned to look at Claire. Her eyes were wide, looking right into Reese’s soul.

  “Um. Well. I was hurt pretty bad by a POS, so I tend to stay away from guys.”

  Claire face scrunched up. “But I’ve heard that you’re always with guys.”

  As much as she was glad the conversation of her and Phillip was over, this wasn’t one she wanted to go into. Plus, who the hell said she was always with guys? She kept her nigh