DIRTY SECRET: A Slayers Hockey Novel by Mira Lyn Kelly

Author:Mira Lyn Kelly [Kelly, Mira Lyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-18T18:30:00+00:00

“It’s not ugly,” I say, shrugging off my black puffer coat in the back entry to Vaughn’s place. “I mean, it isn’t really what I’d have expected for a twenty-nine-year-old professional hockey player with the kind of disposable income you have, but—”

“Babe, it’s ugly.”

Fine, it is. It’s really ugly and not in any cool or intentional sort of way. From the outside it looks like any other graystone. Nice. Garage in the alley. Fenced-in little yard and a covered breezeway leading up to the back door.

But once you get inside… “I don’t get it,” I finally say, shaking my head at what looks like an amateur rag-rolled zebra-patterned paint job, the brass accents, and Old-West-themed runners at the top of the walls. “How did you end up living here?”

“I told the agent what I needed security- and privacy-wise. And moved in sight unseen.”

“Yeah, but you could have had it updated. Painted.” I turn to face him. “Isn’t it supposed to be painted before you move in?”

“I could have changed it,” he mutters, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “But…”

And then I get it. “But you didn’t want to like it. Because Chicago isn’t where you want to be.” And he’s basically counting down the days until he gets to leave.

“Turns out Chicago’s not so bad.”

Chicago is pretty spectacular. And in spite of his differences with Greg, he seems to have found a rhythm with the team and O’Brian in particular that has Slayers fans everywhere taking notice. But the way he meets my eyes tells me it isn’t just the city he’s talking about.

God, I’m falling so hard. More every minute we spend together.

I know I should be careful. That I’m treading dangerously close to a line I swore I wouldn’t cross, to betraying a promise I made to myself when I was sixteen years old getting yanked out of yet another school so we could follow Greg to Dallas. But being with Vaughn just feels too good.

And really what’s the harm in letting myself live out this fantasy while it lasts? It’s not like I’m going to throw away the life I’ve spent years building here. I have a job I love, I’m a coach for an amazing team, and a contributor to the community. I have friends and family and plans and priorities, and all of it means something to me.

Vaughn means something too. More than I thought he would. But he’s a professional hockey player who’s signed on to a life of putting the NHL above all else. It will dictate where he lives, what his schedule looks like, activities he can or can’t partake in. It will be the thing he has to put first every single time and, to a degree, so will the person who chooses to be with him.

I can’t sign on to a lifetime of being second best. It’s how I grew up. Second best to my brother. An afterthought to my parents. Barely a consideration in the choices that shaped the lives of our family.

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