Free 12 Christmas Romances To Melt Your Heart by Anthology Page B

life could be worth living again despite all his losses.
    For a brief while, he’d had it all—the love of a good woman, a resurrected hockey career, and great friends—until it’d come tumbling down around him like a precarious stack of children’s blocks because neither of them had been willing to find a compromise.
    Regardless, she was here, and he saw the yearning in her eyes, certain his own reflected the same. He forgot the others sitting around them. Only Sarah existed and only Sarah mattered.
    But did she matter enough? Would he limp away from hockey, living out the rest of his years in obscurity on this beautiful island? There could be worse fates—far, far worse—such as a life without Sarah. But what about life without hockey? He’d had skates on his feet and a stick in his hand as soon as he could walk. How did a guy turn his back on such a huge part of his life?
    Sarah blinked at him and ran her fingers over his stubbled jaw. He held his breath, savoring her touch. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly, concern darkening her brown eyes.
    He wanted to tell her no, he hadn’t been okay since she’d broken off their relationship, but he caught her quick look at his cast.
    Oh, yeah, that .
    “I’ve had worse injuries,” he answered nonchalantly, managing to conceal the turmoil raging inside him.
    She frowned, almost as if disappointed by his answer. “So you’ll be heading back to the team soon?”
    Blake studied her closely, trying to decipher her true meaning without reading too much into her words. “Not in a playing capacity,” he admitted for the second time in one night.
    “You’re not going back on the ice?” She patted his arm as if she cared, causing a huge lump to lodge itself in his throat. “But you love hockey.”
    Blake cleared his throat and willed his voice to remain steady. “I’m thirty-five, it’s time to retire. I had a good run.”
    “What will you do?”
    Did he detect hope in her voice? “The Sockeyes have offered me a coaching job.”
    “Oh.” Her face fell, and he wished he could make her smile instead, only he couldn’t and wouldn’t lie to her.
    “I don’t know what I want so I came here to get my head on straight and consider my options.”
    “It was nice talking to you.” Sarah nodded and stood abruptly, ending their conversation as if she’d heard enough.
    Before Blake could explain further, she skirted around the group and disappeared into the house. He rested his elbows on his thighs and propped his head in his hands, staring into the flickering fire. Eva was right about one thing. His parents would approve of Sarah, but Sarah had taken her stance. As long as hockey was his life, they had no future. He understood her desire to have as normal a life as possible.
    Waiting for him to come home after a long road trip only to leave again a few days later wasn’t the way she wanted to live. It’d be difficult even if they lived in the same city as the team, but Sarah didn’t. Every option open to him required he reside a majority of the time in Seattle. No matter how he spun it, he couldn’t see a future for them no matter how badly they wanted it.
    She’d slipped away, and he’d let her go once again.

Chapter 4
    Slapshot
    T he following Monday evening , Sarah had just finished with her last furry patient when Janna peeked her head in the door.
    “You have a last-minute patient.”
    Sarah sighed and put her lab coat back on. She should’ve known she’d never get out of the office on time. “Okay, bring him in.”
    Janna grinned at her. “It’s Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hockey.” She ducked out the door before Sarah could respond or throw something at her. A few seconds later Blake stood sheepishly in the doorway holding a cat in his big hands.
    She forced her gaze away from his blue-gray one and concentrated on the handsome feline. “He’s grown.”
    “Yeah, hard to believe he’s over a year old,” Blake answered almost proudly as he sat the cat