Page 245 of Risking the Pucking Defense

A smile curls at my lips as I think of our game tonight. It wasn’t easy. Hell, it was far from that. But we deserved that win.

“I can’t believe you drove all this way for me tonight, Hails,” I say, my voice soft and exhausted.

As the adrenaline ebbs away, the tiredness and pain are slipping in.

“I’m learning that there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you,” Hailee confesses, my chest compressing.

“Yeah. Same.”

She risks a glance over before focusing back on the mostly empty road ahead of us. “What you said earlier…”

“Meant every single word of it. You’ve been it for me for a while, baby.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “It’s all been so fast. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve rushed through it all.”

“Does it feel rushed to you?”

She thinks for a moment before slowly shaking her head. “Everything has felt right, natural.”

“Then you need to stop worrying about how others might view it. Yes, it’s been fast compared to others. But there will be plenty of couples out there who’ve done it even faster. Hell, look at Bea and Rett—they were already growing a small human this fast into their relationship.”

“There was no relationship when that happened. She despised him at that point.”

I can’t help but laugh. “He won her over eventually. But that’s my point. There are no rules here. We did it fast. Bea and Rett did it backward. We’ve gotta do what feels right for us. And I don’t know about you, but everything in my life feels better when you’re involved.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “I don’t think I really had a life before you. You’ve made me see things differently, and I’m so grateful. These past few weeks have hands-down been the best of my life.”

“Just think about all the good times we have ahead.”

“I’ve never been overly excited about the future before, but now, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us.”

“Same, baby.”

She falls quiet again, but as she thinks, her grip on the wheel tightens.

I don’t push her to talk. If she wants to, she will. If she doesn’t, then that’s okay too.

Minutes tick by, and I think she’s going to keep her thoughts to herself for now when she finally speaks. “I emailed my lawyer earlier,” she starts, her fingers wringing the wheel. “I told her I wanted to serve Brandon with divorce papers again, only this time, the only thing I want out of the marriage is for him to permanently delete those videos.”

My heart slams against my ribs at the thought of her being free of her past.

Free to start her future.

“Is that what you want?” I ask. We’ve talked about this quite a bit since she told me about her past, her marriage. When she first filed for divorce, she was bitter and wanted every single thing she deserved after years of dealing with Brandon’s shit. So to do a one-eighty on that and to ask for nothing but some footage to be deleted is huge.

“Yes,” she says confidently. “I don’t want or need anything from him. Any money I received from him would be tainted. I’d never use it. Hell, I probably would have given it all away just to spite him. But now, I don’t care about any of it. I just want it over. I want to move on.

“I want everything you said back at the arena.”

“Yeah?” I ask, lighting up.

“Yeah. Although the ten kids will be up for discussion. I’m not sure I want to birth that many babies. Listening to Bea talk about having one is scary enough.”

“We can take it one baby at a time. But not yet. I want to enjoy having you to myself for a while first. It’s taken me so long to get you to notice me.”

“I noticed you,” Hailee argues.

“Mmm. You never really thought about me, though, did you? Not the way I was you.”