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yourself if you for one second believe otherwise.”
    I was a lot more afraid that I was going to be the one to get hurt in all of this—that I would end up with a broken heart. Someday, when Katie was healthy again and ready to get back to her life as it should be, she would move on. She’d probably head to LA or New York, somewhere she could pursue an acting or singing career. It was what she’d been dreaming of as long as I’d known her. I’d have to let her go, even though it would probably rip me to shreds. It would be worth it, though, getting hurt in the end. At least it would if it meant giving Katie something—anything—she could hold on to.
    If it meant getting to hold her at least for one night.
    “I don’t like it,” he said, looking straight through me.
    “None of us likes it,” Laura said. “It makes us feel helpless because we can’t do anything. But for once, try to imagine what it’s like for Katie.”
    I had to wait a long time for Webs to respond.
     
     
     
    WE HAD SEVERAL games on the road after that, so I didn’t get the chance to see or talk to Katie for over a week. I got to see Webs a whole lot more than I might have liked, since he was still more than happy to glare at me and tell me all the horrible and painful things he’d do to me if I did hurt her in any way.
    I’d do anything to keep her from getting hurt, though.
    Once we got back, I was really glad I’d taken Zee’s advice last season and bought a tux. He’d told me there would be black-tie dinners, an annual Casino Night, and God only knew what else that I’d need one for during my pro career, and it just made more sense to have one of my own instead of wasting time trying to rent one. When you considered the fact that most hockey players needed custom-made pants anyway because we tend to have big thighs and asses, it really seemed stupid to rent.
    Even still, I’d had to get some adjustments made to mine before Casino Night about a month ago. Everyone had warned me to get one with extra allowance for alterations because I probably wasn’t finished growing. They’d been right. I’d added a couple more inches in height and about fifteen pounds of muscle since I got drafted the summer I was eighteen.
    My tux still fit me now, though. My body hadn’t changed too much since Casino Night. I adjusted the cummerbund and bow tie, looking myself over in the mirror. Fuck . I should have gotten a haircut, at least. It was a lot shaggier than it should be, and my faux hawk probably wasn’t the best choice for an event like this, but there hadn’t been time for that once we’d landed at PDX. I’d just had time to get home, eat something, and get dressed.
    I rubbed some product between my hands and tried to get my hair to settle down—without much luck. Yeah, I really should’ve worked in time for a cut. If I was going almost anywhere else, I could toss a ball cap over it and pretend there wasn’t a problem. Not tonight.
    After a minute, I gave up trying to get it to lie flat or even to stop poking up in random ways. There wasn’t much point.
    I headed to the living room. Kally came out of the kitchen with a glass of water. He looked me over and nodded.
    “You’re doing a good thing,” he said. “Katie’s really lucky to have you.”
    He had it all wrong, though. I was lucky to have her. I tried to shrug off all the jumbles of things racing through me. At least for tonight, I had to keep it together.
    “Got big plans for tonight?” I asked him. In the few weeks since Kally had arrived in Portland, there hadn’t been too many times that he and I weren’t doing something together on a night off. I’d been trying to help him get to know the area, to make sure he wasn’t alone too much. It had to be tough, being the new guy on a team that had been together all season.
    He shook his head. “Not really. I think I’m just going to drive around and see the city. I haven’t had much opportunity for that.”
    “Yeah.