“Nein.”

“He’s such a pain in the ass.”

Franz snickered. “He is.”

I sighed. I could leave after a little while. Hopefully.

I met Kulti at my car where he had apparently already gone through my bag to get my keys. He tossed them over the roof and we got in, waving at Franz as he slipped into the Audi parked next to mine. As soon as we were inside, I shot him a look. “You could have let Franz ride with me instead of making him ride alone.”

He gave me that annoyingly even look. “He will survive by himself.”

I glared at him for a beat before shaking my head. “You’re being rude.”

“I don’t care.”

Not a surprise. I turned on the ignition and pulled out of the lot before I finally thought about it. “Why didn’t you invite Mike?”

“I don’t like him.”

Seriously, I would never understand men. “Then why did you invite him today?”

“He owed me a favor,” was his simple response. Then he added, “And his plane ticket was reasonable.”

Wait a second. “You—“ I couldn’t get the words out. I had to swallow and process what he’d said. “You paid for their tickets here?”

Kulti didn’t even bother looking at me; his attention was directed out the window. “Yes.”

I dropped my head against the steering wheel and took a deep breath. This was all too much for one afternoon. Way too much. Everything seemed to pile on top of me. “How do you expect me to ever pay you back?”

“I don’t,” he answered, turning to face me. “The light is green.”

Sitting up, I kept my gaze forward. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I wasn’t sure what the hell I would do. “I didn’t even think about how they made it here. I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry for not thanking you more.”

Nothing.

I clutched the steering wheel and kept my mouth closed the entire drive back.

I was getting traded.

Half of my teammates thought I was a tramp.

The idiot next to me had been paying for people’s plane tickets to come to my youth camps, my free camps.

I was at least a little bit in l-o-v-e with the same idiot, but realistically it was more like a lot. My childhood feelings had come back in full force, more real than ever. Plus I knew myself, and I didn’t tend to half-ass anything.

And said idiot was leaving at the end of the season.

What the hell was I doing with my life? Everything I’d worked up to, worked for, suddenly seemed to be repelled by me.

What was I going to do?

My nose tickled in response.

We arrived at his house and parked, but still I couldn’t get myself to say anything. I wanted to cry. I really wanted to cry, and I sure as hell didn’t want to do it anywhere near here.

I kept my gaze down and followed the German up to his door where Franz was already waiting. We’d barely gone inside when I felt a choking cough in my throat. I knew I needed to get away from them. “Where’s your bathroom?” I asked him in a voice that sounded even weird to me.

“Up the stairs, first door,” he answered, his voice distant enough to let me know he wasn’t standing that close.

“I’ll be right back,” I lied, already hauling my butt up the stairs, desperate to get away.

Two swipes at my leaky nose later with the back of my hand, and I was inside. I didn’t even bother turning on the light before I was plopping onto the porcelain rim of a tub I could appreciate when my life wasn’t falling apart.

I was getting traded because I was friends with someone.