She nods. “Yes. You’re it for me, Dax. Just you.”
I breathe her in. The faint tinny smell of jewelry making on her that never seems to go away with her citrus perfume. It’s uniquely Chloe. Something that will always remind me of her.
My Chloe. My bright, shining light that brings more to my life than anyone else.
“Ditto.”
Her laugh breaks the tension. “Ditto. I can’t with you, Dax.”
“It’s a good thing you love me.” I peck her nose. “At least half as much as I love you.”
“Maybe even three-quarters.”
“I’ll take it.”
Because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quantify howmuch I love this woman. There aren’t enough words in the English language. They haven’t been discovered yet.
Whatever it takes to protect Chloe, to make her happy, to show her I love her day in and day out, I’ll do it. Because she’s worth it.
And after what Duncan did to her, I will make sure she knows it every day.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DAX
“Dax. I need a minute,” Coach Andrews calls, disappearing into his office.
“What’d you do?” Noah asks, tugging his jersey on over his pads.
“Depends on who you ask.”
I hang my jersey back up in my stall, not wanting to keep Coach waiting.
“You wanted to see me?” I ask, knocking on the door.
“Come in. Close the door.”
“Did I do something?” I drop down into the chair across from him.
Getting called to the coach’s office is the equivalent of going to the principal’s office. I don’t like the feeling one bit.
“Listen, I know there’s a lot of heat with your brother right now, so I’m shifting the lines around tonight. You’re going back to your old line for tonight.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Detroit is going to be gunning for you to protectDuncan because of his interview. It’s going to be a chippy game tonight.”
“But it was all a lie!” I blurt out. “Why am I being punished when I did nothing wrong?”
“I have to do what is best for the team.”
“Only for tonight?” I ask.
Marcus and Bode have been elevating my game ever since I was bumped up to first line. It’s what I’ve been working toward and it feels great to see my hard work pay off.
This really fucking sucks.
“Just for tonight. I need cooler heads to prevail tonight, okay? Make sure the rest of the guys know it. I’m going to have a chat with Noah, too, if it makes you feel better.”
