2. Chapter Two

"Shit, I completely forgot I"m supposed to take my sister"s friend Eden to a wedding next weekend. Natalie is going to kill me, " Miles slams his locker shut, a scowl replacing his normally friendly expression as he stares down at his phone. "The private investigator I hired has a lead on Emily."

Emily is the woman who has my best friend and teammate tied up in knots. Miles met her six weeks ago. They hooked up after one of our games, and she left him the next morning. No note, no goodbye. She left before he woke up, taking his favorite hockey jersey with her.

"Are you still trying to find your lucky shirt?"

Miles has played like shit ever since that night. I"m not a superstitious man, but if having his lucky shirt back will help him get out of his slump, I"m all for whatever it takes to get it back.

"It"s more than my lucky shirt. It"s Emily." Miles"s face takes on a dreamy, faraway look, and a dopey smile crosses his face.

Man, I hope no girl ever makes me look that stupid.

"I don"t understand why you"re so bent out of shape about some random pussy."

Miles"s hand is around my throat in an instant, "Don"t you fucking call Emily some random pussy!"

"Sorry, I didn"t mean anything by it. But you know how these puck bunnies are, going from one hockey player to another until they land themselves a baby daddy."

"Emily"s not like that."

"How do you know? She ran off without telling you goodbye or leaving a note with her number."

"I said Emily isn"t like that." He growls.

"Hell, I bet she shows up pregnant one day, claiming you"re the father."

"She was a virgin when we slept together. She gave me her virginity, then ran."

"Shit, sorry, man. I didn"t know."

"Not everyone is like Jessica, you know." I suck in a sharp breath at his harsh words. "Sorry, Rafe. I didn"t mean anything by it."

"No, you"re right. I have no business judging your love life when mine is even more screwed up."

Jessica. Just hearing her name makes me break out in a rash.

I thought she was the one. She was so sweet and shy, and my protective instincts immediately went into overdrive the first night I met her. She was standing in the sea of puck bunnies waiting outside our locker room after a game one night; she looked so lost. I took one look at her and knew she didn"t belong there, but boy, was I wrong.

"I know Jessica hurt you, but something good came out of it."

"And what would that be?" I eye him skeptically.

"If all that hadn"t happened with her, you wouldn"t have needed a clean start on a new team in a new town. And we wouldn"t be best friends or teammates."

He"s not wrong. Thankfully, he left out the part about having a different puck bunny in my bed every night before I met Jessica—all the late-night parting. I was on a crash course, spiraling out of control. I"m lucky to still have my career after the way I acted.

Meeting Jessica was the wake-up call I needed to get my life together. I"m just thankful her betrayal didn"t send me on a downward spiral again.

Miles is the only one who knows all the details of that time in my life. He"s a good guy; I"m glad to call him my best friend. A best friend who I would do anything for, even go on a blind date in his place, which is a testament to our friendship. I haven"t dated or even hooked up with anyone for over a year, not since Jessica.

"Thanks, man." I slap him on the shoulder, his bulky shoulder pads absorbing the brunt of the hit. "How about I make you a deal? You follow up on the lead you got on Emily, and I"ll spend the weekend with Natalie"s friend."

"You"d do that for me?" His hopefulness fills me with a warmth I thought I had lost from the last time I trusted a teammate and a friend.

"Of course. What are friends for if not to help each other out? Now, tell me all about my mission for next weekend."

Feeling freer than I have in years, I listen to the details of what I"ve just agreed to. Maybe it"s time to forgive and forget and find the real me I lost all those years before becoming a professional hockey player when I was just Rafe, the guy who liked to joke and laugh, the guy who enjoyed life, the guy who didn"t have the weight of the world on his shoulder to be the best.

Maybe a weekend getaway is exactly what I need to reclaim the old Rafe Rameriez.