“Stop,” he commands lowly, the corner of his lips turning up the smallest bit when I glance at him. “You’re not in trouble, Hunt.” He looks over at me. “I would have been pissed if you’d let him talk shit about her and just stood there.” He shrugs. “Violence may not always be the answer, but with guys like NickPelletier, it’s the right one.” He smirks. “Besides, I remember how good it feels to punch that asshole too.”
Relief washes over me. I’ve never been one to care about what people think of me, and there was a time not long ago that I didn’t really give a shit what Cam thought of me either. But then I saw how much he loved his daughter, and I got to see firsthand that even though her biological father was absolute trash, she had grown up being loved by Cam—a dude who drove over an hour in the middle of the night just to thank his daughter’s boyfriend for defending her.
The man deserves my respect.
“It did feel pretty good,” I admit. “How did you … you know, find out about everything?”
He breathes out a quiet laugh. “Huff is one of my best friends. And seeing as we both share a deep hatred for that fucker, he figured I’d want to know the details of you likely breaking his nose and Cade damn near killing him.” He pauses, his face growing somber. “Thank you for defending my girl, Hunt.”
“Anytime,” I say, knowing that I’ll always be on Isla’s side.
His expression grows pained, and I can tell that whatever he’s going to say next, he’s nervous.
“Hunt, can I ask you something?” He stops, but not long enough for me to respond. “Does Isla know that he’s her … well, biological father?”
Cam Hardy is one of the toughest NHL centers in the history of professional hockey, and yet right now, I can hear the pain in his voice as he talks about the man who created his daughter—the person he loves debatably more than anyone else.
I sit here, completely torn, because on one hand, I don’t know if Isla would want him to know the truth—that she knows exactly who the lowlife who abandoned her is. But on the other, this dude will always have her best interest at heart.
“Yeah, she does,” I admit before exhaling. “But trust me, she doesn’t want to know him.” I look at him. “She’s got you, Cam. And she knows that.”
For a rugged man, I swear his eyes gloss over as he bobs his head up and down.
“Let’s get you home.” He shifts the truck into drive and gives me a look with his eyes slightly narrowed. “And don’t even think about sneaking over to The Nest. You hear?”
I freeze for a second. But eventually, I nod curtly. “No, sir, I won’t.”
I may be a changed man and doing my best to be better and to be honest, but there’s one thing for sure: nothing is keeping me away from Isla tonight.
We drive away from the arena, and for a few minutes, it’s quiet, but I can tell he’s deep in thought. And when we turn onto my road and pull in front of The Tower, he stops the truck.
“I’m about to get all squishy and shit with you, Hunt, so just prepare yourself.” He sighs. “You’re her first love. The first guy I’ve seen look at her … well, the way she looks at you. The first one she’s let all the way in.” He stops, looking straight at the road in front of us. “Don’t hurt her, kid. Because as much as I appreciate what you did tonight … I will fuck you up if I have to.”
A laugh comes from me, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m uncomfortable or because he caught me off guard. Whatever it is, I shake my head.
“I won’t hurt her, sir. You have my word.” I look down the road at The Nest. “Isla is one of the only good things life has given me. I’m not about to mess that up.”
He eyes me over, finally seeming satisfied with my answer before hitting the unlock button. “Good. Now, go get some sleep. And don’t forget what I said.” He pauses, giving me a warning glance. “Don’t be sneaking your ass into The Nest.”
“I won’t,” I lie and push the door open. “Thanks for the ride.”
After I close the door and realize he isn’t going to leave until he’s convinced I’m going to my house and not Isla’s, I head toward The Tower and up the stairs. I pull the door open and go inside, waiting around the corner.
I respect Cam Hardy and all—I really do—but I told my girl I was going to come to her when I got back from my game, and I’m not going to go against my word.
I know Isla hasn’t been following Nick’s career path since that day at the camp where he pretended she wasn’t there. So, she didn’t even know that we were playing his team tonight because she didn’t realize he was the coach. And she certainly doesn’t need to hear about what happened after the game either. It would only hurt her, and he doesn’t deserve to hurt her ever again.
But even though she doesn’t know what happened tonight, I still want to go to her. I want to show her how much I fucking love her. So, as soon as Cam’s truck drives away and is out of sight … I go to my girl.
Like a weirdo,I watch Isla for a few minutes while she sleeps peacefully. I love that there isn’t any pain on her face, and I’ll make sure it stays that way too. That’s why I’m going to make sure she doesn’t find out about what happened tonight because she doesn’t need to know that the man who was supposed to love her unconditionally was talking shit and ended up getting punched by me and damn near choked by Coach.
When I followed Isla into the closet that day, I could feel the hurt radiating off of her because I was sure in her mind, shenever imagined that if she came face-to-face with the man who had helped create her, he’d pretend like she wasn’t there. But when I came to NEU, so long after that happened, I didn’t see that look in her eye again. Well, besides the time I put it there when I thought the best thing to do would be to push her away.
She healed from what happened at that camp, and she let go of Nick Pelletier and found peace. I’ll never be the one to take that away—and I’ll make sure that asshole doesn’t either.
Lying down, I slide my arms around her warm body and pull her to my chest. I try my best not to wake her, but slowly, she stirs before she cranes her neck to look at me.
“Hey,” she whispers with an adorably raspy voice. “Congratulations on your win tonight.”
