Page 124 of Hard to Handle

HUNTER

EXCITEMENT HUMS THROUGH ME LIKE never before.

I can feel the energy of the crowd and the anticipation of a game I’ve waited my whole life to get a chance to play.

“Let’s do this, boys,” I yell as I walk up and slap the shoulder pads of each player on my team. “Start with a win, end with the Cup! Start with a win, end with the Cup!”

They start chanting while we sit on the bench as my adrenaline begins to surge.

I take a glance up to the box. The owners are there. The GM beside them. Finn’s there too. But it’s Dekker I focus on. She’s in the far corner, elbows are resting on the edge as she leans forward, but her eyes are on me.

She blows me a kiss, and I smile in return with a nod.

She loves me.

Me.

Fucking loves me.

“Start with a win, end with the Cup!”

The chant of my teammates brings me back. To the here. To the now.

To the ice beneath my skates.

To the feel of the stick in my hand.

To the chill of the arena on my cheeks.

Just like when Jonah and I were kids.

I’ve got you, brother.

I never stopped.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

DEKKER

“WHAT’S THIS?” I ASK, AS I look at the gigantic box Hunter’s carrying through my front door.

“Things.”

“Things?” I ask with a laugh.

“Yes, things.” He sets it down on the kitchen counter and pushes it my way.

“Can I open, said, things?” I ask as I toy with its edges.

“Yes.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “I can only stay for your initial reaction and then I’ve got to get to work.”

“Okay.” I draw the word out as I lift the flaps of the box and then a laugh bubbles out when I see the team colors of the Jacks. Like lots of team colors. Black and red on hats and T-shirts and jackets and koozies and pens and everywhere. “Did you mug a vendor?” I ask when my laughter subsides and my sides ache.

“Perhaps,” he says with a shrug of innocence but a smile like the devil.

“And these?” I ask as I pull out a thong—if you can even call them that—with the Jacks logo imprinted on the only spot of fabric big enough to hold it and dangle them off my fingertips. “These are sold in the kiosks?”

“We like to make sure everybody’s covered.”