The team had been busy from the moment they arrived in Denver until they got to the arena, and Dani was chomping at the bit to see Sergei. He hadn’t texted or called, so she didn’t even know if he was aware she would be there. The team was probably warming up and she took off in that direction, anxious to get to ice level to watch, let him know she was here. Hailey was hot on her heels and they got right up to the glass, grinning as the players skated by.

“Where is he?” Hailey whispered.

“Not sure,” Dani whispered back. “He’s…there.” She motioned with her head and Hailey followed her gaze.

“Damn, he’s even hotter in person.”

“I know.” Dani’s hands were a little damp as she waited for Sergei to notice her. It was ridiculous to be so nervous after all they’d been through, but she’d be a wreck until he acknowledged her. Finally, not long before the warm-up period ended, she caught his eye. He froze and for a long moment they stood still, eyes locked, as if there was nothing but the two of them. A strange look crossed his face but it quickly morphed into a smile as he skated towards the glass.

“Hi,” he mouthed.

“Hi.”

“See you later?” His blue eyes met hers almost hesitantly.

She nodded and he winked at Hailey before skating off.

Hailey giggled. “He winked at me.”

“He’s cute that way.” Dani watched him moving across the ice and made sure she didn’t let her little internal sigh of appreciation escape.

“Who’s that?” Hailey asked, motioning towards a dark-haired man skating without his helmet.

Dani grinned. “That’s Kane Hatcher.”

“Hattrick Hatcher?” Hailey’s eyes rounded. “I had no idea he was so hot. Wow…he’s downright smoldering.”

“I guess I never noticed.” Dani frowned as she watched him, trying to pay more attention now that Hailey had said something.

“You’ve got it bad, girlfriend.”

“I do. Kane’s nice, though. We met at a party on July Fourth and we talked hockey for a while. I didn’t really notice how good-looking he was, with Sergei sitting there with his hand up my dress.”

“I probably wouldn’t notice anyone else if Sergei had his hand up my dress.”

They watched for a little while longer before walking back up to the concourse to find the rest of the team and join them in being announced before the game started. They’d been told they would be introduced on the ice, so everyone was excited and Dani lost herself in the moment, forgetting about Sergei and everything except the music, the sound of the crowd, the magic of it all. The teams from both Colorado and Alaska were on the ice when each member of the U.S. Women’s Olympic team was introduced, tapping their sticks against the ice in acknowledgement of who they were and what they did.

Dani grinned at Aaron when he held out his hand for a fist bump as she skated past, and the rest of the Blizzard followed suit.

“You’re such a show-off,” Coach Saunders whispered when she came off the ice.

“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” she laughed.

“If your eyes shone this bright every day, you’d probably win that gold all by yourself.”

---

The game went into overtime and Colorado pulled it out with a goal Aaron never had a chance in stopping, but at least Alaska got a point since an overtime loss wasn’t quite as bad as a regulation loss. The rest of the team was frustrated at starting the new season with a loss of any kind, but Sergei wasn’t thinking about anything except Dani. He’d texted her and she was meeting him at the hotel bar in thirty minutes; he didn’t know what else to do. He hadn’t known what he was going to say or do when they saw each other tonight, but if he was going to truly end things, he needed to do it in person. He owed her that much even though it was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done.

He saw her the moment she stepped into the bar and he got to his feet to greet her. To his surprise she closed the space between them in four long steps, throwing her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder.

“Sergei.” She said his name as if it were part of her, as if it brought her some sort of pleasure to say it, and he loved the way it sounded.

“Hi.” Damn, it felt good to hold her and he temporarily forgot all about breaking up, saying goodbye, all of it.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Was she thinner? He held her tighter and thought she’d lost weight, but she’d been thin before so he wasn’t sure.

She slowly pulled away, her eyes on his. “Did you want to stay here or go up to your room? I didn’t know if you were allowed to be out this late?”

“I’m okay for now. Let’s get a drink.”

“Okay.”

They ordered drinks and took them to a small table in the back, affording them a modicum of privacy. Sergei wasn’t even sure how to approach what he’d wanted to say, but he had to. When she’d been introduced as part of the U.S. Olympic team before the game tonight his heart had nearly burst from his chest with pride. She was following a dream, doing what she was meant to do, and he absolutely refused to get in the way of that. It would also be true of the job waiting for her with the Sidewinders. She was smart, educated and talented, but getting a job as an Assistant Trainer for an NHL team wasn’t easy, especially for a woman. If she gave it up, that chance might never come again, and he refused to be the reason she didn’t take it. No, even though it was tearing his heart out, he had to do what was best for her, not what he wanted.

“You look like there’s a lot on your mind,” she said softly, reaching for his hand.

He squeezed her fingers, wanting desperately to hold on to her warmth as long as possible. “There is.” He had at least a thousand things he wanted to tell her, but none of them would make the end result any more palatable.

“Just say it, Sergei.” She slowly pulled her hand away and rested it in her lap, though her eyes never left his. “I have a feeling I know what’s coming, so don’t delay the inevitable.”

“It’s time, honey,” he said. “Time for us to let this go. For you to go do all the things you were meant to do without being tied to a guy in Alaska.”

“Even if that’s what I want?”

“I can’t promise you a future, and you deserve so much better.”

“You keep saying that, but what could possibly be better than what we had all summer?” she protested. “We were happy. We had fun. We had incredible sex. I love your son… What else is there?”

“Dani, sweetheart, you’re beautiful and caring, everything a guy could ever want, and when we’re together, everything is stupidly easy. The thing is, if I’m being honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to marry you, to give you the love you’ve given me. Just thinking about getting married again makes me uncomfortable and I want you to have everything you want. I couldn’t bear to see you become a trainer at some gym instead of working for a hockey team, doing what you love, and I won’t let you give that up for a guy who isn’t even willing to try.”

“You’re not willing to try what?” she asked in a soft whisper.

“Marriage, the happily-ever-after I know you want. It scares me. I’ve shouldered that responsibility twice before and let down two good, loving women. It’s shown me that I don’t defend the things I love—I corrupt and eventually lose them. I love you enough to not want that for you.”

“And that’s your final answer? Your decision is made?”

“I’m sorry.” He was the world’s biggest asshole; he saw the unspoken sentiment in her eyes.

“Are you?”

“More than you know.”

“If that was true, you wouldn’t be doing this.”

“Someday you’ll see I was right. I should have done this in Vegas, because leaving you hanging was wrong of me. It’s not fair to have one foot in, one foot out, like a relationship is some kind of hokey-pokey dance with your feelings.”

Dani didn’t say anything, her big green eyes merely focused on his, something so inscrutable in them he wanted to throw his arms around her and tell her how he really felt. Anything to make that look disappear. He couldn’t, but he wanted to.

“Is that it?” she asked after a while. “Is that all you have to say?”

He wanted to laugh, because there was so much more he had to say, but none of it would help. Nothing would make this any easier. “I never meant to hurt you. I hope you know that.”

“Is that what you’re telling yourself to make yourself feel better?” She dug in her purse and put a five-dollar bill on the table. “That’s for my beer. I have to go.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but that would only add insult to injury. She was hurt and angry, and he wouldn’t minimize her feelings by trying to act like the big man over five bucks.

“How are you getting back to your hotel?”

“Cab.”

“Let me—”

“No.” She got to her feet. “I’m perfectly capable of getting a cab on my own.”

“I know.” He stood too, frowning slightly as she turned away. “Dani.”

“Yes?” She stopped moving but didn’t turn around.

“I hope you know our time together was special to me.” He needed to stop talking, to let her go and get this over with, but it was harder than he’d anticipated.

“It was special to me too.”

“You’re too important to me to be my on-again, off-again hook-up. You mean more to me than that.” He needed to stop talking, but he didn’t want her to feel used. God, he was an idiot and mucking things up more than he’d ever thought possible.

“Good to know.” She finally turned, her green eyes finding his in the dimly lit room. “Take care of yourself, Sergei. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

There was no way to respond to that, so he didn’t, subconsciously reaching out to gently push a lock of hair out of her face. Their eyes locked and he saw a shimmer of tears brimming in her eyes. It was time to let her leave, before he did something selfish, something that would ultimately hurt her much more than what he’d done tonight.

“I’m truly sorry, sweetheart,” he managed to choke out.

“I know.” She turned and walked out of the bar.

He watched her disappear out the front doors of the hotel and then sank back into his chair.

“Was that Dani getting into a cab?” Aaron asked as he, Jake and Kane came into the bar.

“Yeah.” Sergei cleared his throat. “You guys wanna have a drink?”

“Absolutely.” Aaron clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Sergei managed a smile. “I just told her it was best if we didn’t see each other anymore. You know, with the Olympics and all, it’s better all around.”

Jake raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, this is going to be a long night,” Kane chuckled, raising his hand to get the bartender’s attention.

“Tequila or whiskey?” Aaron asked Sergei. “You’re the dumb-ass who let the best thing that ever happened to you go, so you get to pick.”

Sergei scowled. “Jack Daniel’s. Straight up.”

“Make that four,” Aaron told the bartender.

“Probably should make it eight,” Jake added.

“You want to talk or just drink?” Kane asked.

“Jesus fuck,” Sergei muttered. “What the hell makes you think I want to talk? Unless it’s about hockey or Jake’s latest marriage counseling session, drinking is the only thing on my mind right now.”

“Drinking it is.” Jake raised his glass and the others clinked theirs against it.