If I could get through the next week or two without ruining her life, maybe I could find a way out of this chasm I’d dug myself into.

A sharp knock at the door jolted me back to reality. Dallas didn’t wait for me to respond before strolling in like a man on a mission. He sat on the edge of my bed across from my desk, facing me. I shut my textbook before thinking better of it, then immediately flipped it back open to a random section. I needed to focus on something other than what I could only assume was an imminent interrogation.

“What’s up, man?” His icy-blue eyes bored into me.

I dropped my gaze, avoiding eye contact by pretending to be fascinated with a random graph on page 256.

I turned the page. “Nothing. Just studying.”

“Sure you are.” His tone turned gruff. “Now that we’ve gotten the bullshit out of the way, what’s really going on?”

Without looking up, I shrugged. It was difficult to lie to Dallas, because he knew me so well. But I didn’t want to tell him the truth, either. The fewer people who knew, the better.

He snatched the textbook out of my hands and slammed it shut. I lifted my chin reluctantly, and when I finally made eye contact, he leveled me with a reproachful glare.

“You haven’t left the house in three days,” he pointed out. “If you don’t resurface soon, Miller is going to come over here and drag your ass to practice himself. And at this point, I’ll help him.”

“I’ll go tomorrow,” I lied.

“We have a game in two days.”

“I know.” I didn’t, actually. Our schedule had been the last thing on my mind. “I’ll be ready.” Another lie, but I was doing a lot of that lately. After barely eating or sleeping, I’d be useless on the ice. A liability, in fact.

Dallas rested his elbows on his knees, giving me a stern look that was all too reminiscent of his father. “You know, Shiv has been texting to check up on you every few hours.”

“She has? Why?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Carter.” He threw his arms out. “Maybe because we’re concerned about the status of your mental health since you dumped Bailey for no apparent reason.”

An invisible hand wrapped around my throat. “Is she okay?”

“What do you think?” He gave me a hard look.

Guilt came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. I was buried so deep I might never get out. And I’d never forgive myself for how this went down.

Dallas’s voice took on a gentler tone. “Does this have to do with why you went to see my dad?”

I let out a long breath. He wasn’t going to let this go. “Yeah.”