“I can tell.” He nodded toward the ice. “Anyone special I should be watching out for? Family? Friend? Boyfriend who’s going to come fight me for sitting in this seat?”
The question hit a bruise I wasn’t expecting. “My brother’s number three.”
“Dumontier? The defenseman?” Tyler looked genuinely impressed. “He’s good. Really good, actually. I’ve watched him shut down our best forward twice already.”
“I’ll let him know you said that. It’ll go straight to his head.”
Tyler’s laugh was warm and easy. “Siblings. I get it. I’ve got two older sisters who’d never let me live it down if I complimented them to their faces.”
I found myself relaxing slightly. He wasn’t being pushy or weird. Under different circumstances, maybe I would have enjoyed the attention. Maybe I would have let myself be flattered that a cute guy had crossed an entire arena just to talk to me.
But I wasn’t under different circumstances. I was sitting here with my heart in pieces, trying not to look at the man who’d shattered it without even knowing.
“So, Ava with the hockey star brother,” Tyler said, leaning in just slightly. “Can I buy you a hot chocolate after the game? I hear there’s a place on Main Street that?—”
A sharp bang against the glass made us both jump.
Liam was right there, only a couple of feet away, his gloved fist pressed against the glass. His helmet was still on, but I could see his jaw clenched tight through the cage, his eyes burning into Tyler with an intensity that made my breath catch.
He ripped off his helmet.
“Get the fuck away from her.” His voice carried through the glass, rough with that Irish lilt that had gotten thicker.
Tyler blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Whoa, man. We were just talking.”
“I don’t care.” Liam’s gaze flicked to me for just a second—long enough to make my heart stutter—before snapping back to Tyler. “Move.”
Tyler glanced at me, then back at Liam. “What, are you her boyfriend or something?”
The word hung in the air.
“Yes, the fuck I am.” His voice was loud enough that theentire section could hear. “Now get the fuck away from my girl before I come over there and make you.”
The world stopped.
My girl.
Tyler’s face went pale and he raised his hands in a surrender gesture. “I didn’t know. Sorry.” He stumbled to his feet and disappeared into the crowd without another word.
But I barely noticed him leave. I was too busy staring at Liam, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, trying to reconcile what he’d just said with everything I’d convinced myself was true.
He held my gaze for a long moment, his expression fierce and tender all at once. Then he gave me a small nod—like an answer to the question that was no doubt written all over my face—and skated back to join his teammates.
“Holy shit,” Sam breathed. “Did that just happen?”
I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything but replay those words over and over in my head.
Yes, the fuck I am.
Maybe I hadn’t imagined what he’d said on the ice after all.
FORTY-TWO
The final buzzer sounded and I barely heard it. We’d won—I knew that much from the eruption of cheers around me and the way my teammates were piling onto each other near the goal. But I wasn’t thinking about the score or the game at all.
I was thinking about Ava.
I’d been thinking about her all fucking day. It had only gotten worse since the moment that asshole in the Montana Tech shirt had slid into the seat beside her like he had any right to be there.
