Pucking Flames of Love: A Grumpy Sunshine Enemies to Lovers Hockey Romance by Alexis Lee

Author:Alexis Lee [Lee, Alexis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15—Riley

“This is a nightmare,” I groan as I hold my aching head, no longer having the appetite for my cake. Delicious as it is, I feel sick to my stomach. “What am I going to do?”

Sara has been trying her hardest to make me feel better ever since I got here, but even she’s gone ashen at the never-ending notifications that are blasting through my phone.

“I don’t know what to say,” my friend admits as she drops the phone on the counter. “That’s awful. All of this stuff… It’s just terrible. I can’t believe what people will say online.”

“This is why my mother wants me to come back to Cold Springs,” I moan. “But I already told her I can’t go. Not now. Not when I need to get this story written. Not when I’m just starting to get the sort of work I want.”

Sara sighs heavily before she leans across the counter to look into my eyes. She needs me to hear what she’s going to say, so I give her all of my focus.

“I know why you’re so determined to stay, Riley. I know better than anyone else why you’re working so hard to make it as a sports journalist. You’re doing this because of your father. Because you want to follow in his footsteps and make his memory proud, but you know he wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger, right? He wouldn’t want you to be suffering all of this. This is a lot.” She pauses, but I don’t have anything to say back. I don’t know what I’m thinking at the moment; my head is all over the place. “I’m the last person who wants you to leave. I love having you here, but at the same time, all this stuff…”

“So, you agree with Mom?” I snap, a little too harshly.

“I don’t know.” She offers me a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know what the right thing to do is. But I do want you to be safe.”

“There’s no guarantee that any of these threats will come to light. And there’s no way I can be sure that going home will keep me safe. Cold Springs might not be much safer than the city. I don’t want to bring any of this to my mother’s home either.”

Sara frowns thoughtfully. “I suppose. But at the same time, I’m concerned that people can use your job to get to you here. These doxing threats are scary.”

I hang my head low, concern ricocheting through my whole body. I know she’s right, and that my mom is, too. I can’t ignore the fact that they both have my best interests at heart. But I just can’t do it. Something is keeping me here in New York City, and I think I know what it is.

“But… What about Alex?”

I guess that’s the real problem here, isn’t it? He’s been there for me, and he’s keeping me strong at the moment. I’m afraid of leaving him behind and losing him in the process.

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