“Has she contacted you again?”
“I’m not sure. The team’s been holding any mail that comes for me because of her.”
“Has she contacted you over your social media accounts?”
He pulls his lower lip between his teeth. “I have DMs turned off on everything, and I’ve stopped reading the comments on my posts. I guess I should take a closer look. But later. Right now, I’m more worried about you.”
Logan’s thumbs fly across his phone screen, and I watch as the text thread with his teammates starts blowing up. Within minutes, they know all about the latest email fromibyrne4u27and her threats, and it’s clear their women know, too, because my text chat with the WAGS gets noisy.
“The guys are worried about you. Griffin offered to let us hang out at his place after the game tonight instead of Chasers.”
“The girls are worried too. They said they won’t let me or Reed leave their sides tonight.” I suck in a deep breath. “We can hang out at Griffin’s if you want, but I don’t want to let this crazy woman win. We’ve already adjusted so much of our daily lives. Maybe it’s stupid, but I just…”
“You don’t want her to take anything else from you.”
I nod. “Exactly.”
“Then she won’t. We’ll all go to Chasers like we planned, and the five of us will be on high alert. She won’t try anything with us around you.” Logan stands, pulling me to my feet with him.
I sigh deeply as he pulls me into a hug. Despite everything, I feel safe when I’m wrapped in his arms like this. Nothing and no one can hurt me. Except Logan himself, but with every passing day, I’m more and more sure that he won’t.
“I love you,” I whisper into his neck.
“I love you too. I’ve got you, angel. I won’t let anyone touch you or Reed. You’re mine.”
“Yeah,” I sigh happily. “I am.”
“You both are.”
After everything, I believe him.
forty-nine
LOGAN
Every woman holdinga sign tonight could be her. Hell, any woman in the arena could be her.
“Keep your head in the game, Byrne,” Maddox commands as we fly down the ice on a breakaway. “She’s safe. But you won’t be if you don’t fuckin’ pay attention.”
He’s right, and I know it. It’s too easy to get hurt if you’re not locked in on the ice. Hockey’s a brutal game, and there are too many ways the opposing team can take you out.
I allow myself one last glance up at the family box to reassure myself that Blair and Reed are fine, then I focus on the game. Wright dribbles the puck down the ice, passes to Graves, who maneuvers around one of Chicago’s defensemen before chipping it back to me.
The Blizzard’s goalie tracks it all. His body sways with each movement, already anticipating where the shot may come from. When we get closer, I pull my arm back like I’m about to take the shot, and he drops to the ice, his leg pads blocking the lower part of the goal.
But I don’t take the shot. With my eyes still on the goal, I tap the puck over to Graves, who doesn’t hesitate to take the shot. Chicago’s goalie almost tracks the move in time, his glove shooting up to catch the puck, but he’s half a second too late, and the biscuit hits the net.
“Fuck yeah,” Griffin cheers, pulling Maddox in for a hug. I join, tapping our helmets together before looking up at the family box. All the ladies are jumping around and cheering, hugging it out in a celebration of their own, with Reed in the middle, looking amused but awkward. My chest squeezes tight.
That’s my family cheering me on in the box. They’re not sitting, unmoved, tracking every mistake like my dad always has. They’re not making a list of everything I could have done better. They’re cheering. For me. And I know they’d still be cheering me on, even if I was having the worst game of my career and missed every single shot. Because they love me no matter how I’m performing. The way real family should.
“You good, man?” Wright asks as we leave the ice so the next shift can take over.
“Yeah. Really fucking good. Well, except for the stalker situation, obviously.”
Griffin nods. “The team will figure out who she is.”
“I sure as hell hope so, man. I need to keep them safe.”
