I don’t say a word, waiting for him to realize his fault and apologize.
Instead, he continues to dig himself a deeper grave. “After all, everyone just saw the way she looks at yo–”
He didn’t finish that sentence.
Because I was already moving.
One stride, two—then my fist connected with his jaw. The sound wasn’t cinematic or dramatic – it wasreal, bone against bone, pop of a mic, theshocked gasps of the production crew.
The man went down, clutching his face, blood already on his lips.
“What the hell, mate?” he sputters, gaining hold of himself.
I leaned over him, breathing hard. “You say her name again,” I said quietly, “and I’ll cut your tongue out myself. You understand me?”
His jaw clenches as he bites his tongue, but he doesn’t agree.
“One more mistake and I’ll end your fucking career,” I growl, drilling it into him.
He blinks up at me, dazed, terrified. The cameras have gone dead silent. Somewhere behind me, the people are yelling my name, but all I could see is her—affected and insulted as her fingers trembled over my hand.
I straighten, rolling my shoulders, and look straight into the nearest camera lens. “You talk about hockey,” I say, voice steady now. “Not about her. Not about anyone who’s got nothing to do with what happens on the ice.”
Security was already moving in, and I let them. I unclip the mic and walk off the set behind her without another word.
I realize I staked my career, my captaincy, andeverything I love for her the second I decided to unleash myself on him. But I also realize something else.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Thirty Eight
Kaeli
Later in the evening, we’re lying naked in his bed after three rounds of sex because we couldn’t control ourselves and wait to reach his bedroom.
I draw circles over his chest while his fingers play with my tangled hair. “Your hair is so soft, like cotton,” he murmurs in my hair.
A small smile appears on my face, and I tilt my head to look at him, propping my chin on my hand over his chest.
I peck his enticing lips as they come into view. “What for?” he asks with a smile of his own.
I shrug. “Just because.”
“I see, that’s how it is.” He then turns me and hovers over me, dropping quick kisses all over my face and my neck, moving down to my breasts and navel.
I giggle when his kisses feel more like tickles, kicking my hands and feet in the air, begging him to stop between my shallow breaths. “Stop…stop…ahh, haha…stop.”
Once done with the torture, he drops back down and pulls me closer to him. We stay silent as he checks his phone upon incessant vibrating, while I lose myself in my own thoughts.
A few beats later, he drops his phone back on the bedside table with a clatter and speaks. “Kaeli.”
“Hmm,” I voice absentmindedly.
“There might be a tiny problem,” he says, his voice hesitant.
That gets my attention, and I look at him, blowing away a hair that falls over my eyes. “What problem? What do you mean?” My voice wavers.
Unease flickers in his eyes, sending the alarm bells ringing in my mind as I wait for him to elaborate.
