The Game Changer

by Lana Ferguson

Lila laughs like she’s happy to just be. It’s infectious. It’s also hard to ignore how it makes my chest feel too warm.

Ian Chase ages like Gouda, and I love me some fucking cheese.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t just come from a stern discussion with your brother.” “Oh shit. How did that go?” “Can you imagine Jack giving anyone the ‘hurt my sister, and I’ll kill you’ talk?” “He didn’t.” “He sure as fuck tried.”

Everything about what he just told me sounds exactly like something my Lila would do. My Lila? I mentally rear back. Where the hell did that come from?

My lips curl in a smile at the image of my massive hockey player tumbling on the ice because of some tiny little boy. Well, not my hockey player, but whatever.

“Looking good out there, Cupcake.” “You keep saying that,” he says. “I’m going to start thinking you’re just flirting with me.”

I struggle for words, because the implication is there, but to acknowledge it would be a game changer for the both of us.

“I’ve always thought he was kind of sleazy-seeming.” I smirk. “Oh, have you?” “It’s the eyes,” she says seriously. “You can always tell.” “We have the same eyes,” I remind her. She turns her head, her lips curling and her expression warm as she says, “No, you really don’t.”

“I see you, Lila,” I tell her quietly. Her hand trembles in mine. “Took you long enough.”

“Let me be clear,” he says firmly. “I have been thinking about this for a lot longer than I probably should have. Fuck, since the moment you waltzed back into my life. Do you know how shocked I was that day in the studio? That the girl I cared for so much growing up turned into this gorgeous woman I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about? Because I haven’t, Lila. I don’t know what it means, and I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you for weeks now. And I can’t think of a single fucking thing I want more than to know what your mouth tastes like.”

“You’re going to ruin me. Aren’t you.” My smile is soft now. “I sure fucking hope so.”

“You’re so weird sometimes.” “That’s nothing new.” “How adorable I find it is.”

“Because that’s who you are, Ian. That’s who you’ve always been. You make people feel safe.”

Because I still want him, I still dream of him, I still burn for him—and I absolutely love him too.

God, I love her. The thought hits me all at once, but strangely, it doesn’t surprise me.

“My dad used to say, ‘Strength isn’t measured by how quickly we pick ourselves up after we’ve fallen…A person’s strength is determined by their willingness to keep going once they’re back on two feet.’ ”

Because of Lila…I’m finally okay, and the world didn’t end because of it. In fact, it feels like it’s just beginning.