Chapter 35
Lily
Fuckety fuck.
My life sucked.
“Did I make it?” I groaned, hating how water from the rain was squishing in my shoes. “Please tell me the game isn’t over.”
“Might as well be,” Steven grumbled.
“My God. There you are. I didn’t think you were going to make it,” Vicky moaned as soon as I burst into the suite. “Are you okay? You look like shit. You’re out of breath and did you fall in a mud puddle?”
My nose twitched and after sneezing, I wiped my face, holding my hand out.
Yep. I’d fallen face first into a mud puddle when I’d been running from the only parking spot within miles I’d been able to find.
So much for VIP parking. There’d been no time to deal with the tailgaters drinking themselves into oblivion while blocking the special section with their hotdog carts and cotton candy machines.
What was worse than jogging two miles in the rain then falling into a mud puddle?
The tailgaters dressed up in werewolf costumes.
The legend lived on.
Panting, I scanned the suite before staring at the scoreboard 3-1 with the Denver Devils in the lead. This wasn’t happening. We couldn’t lose. The fans were going nuts. I’d barely made it to the suite without accidentally getting in the middle of two separate fist fights.
The crowd would destroy the arena if they lost.
Saint’s parents were glaring at me as if I was the bad seed. At least Steven rose to his feet, ignoring his parents as he sauntered closer.
“Please tell me Saint scored the single point,” I said absently. I wasn’t certain it would matter given the current score and the fact there was one period left.
“Nope,” Steven tossed out while studying me with a strange light in his eyes. I had to remind myself he was a wolf as well. “You back with your ex?”
“Fuck, no. I mean heck, no.” I moved in between the group.
“But my ex is out to sabotage the game. I need your help. Everyone here because I’m running out of time.
The shithead ex is also trying to ruin Saint’s life, which means ruining my life.
I can’t allow that to happen.” My exasperation showed.
Charlotte rose to her feet, searching my eyes. “Do you love my son or is what they’re saying true, that this was just a job?”
Saint’s father was begging me with his eyes not to say anything. He didn’t need to worry. His secret was safe with me. “I love your son more than anything in this world.”
“I’ve got the posters and Magic Markers!” Vicky shouted as if my cheerleader.
I looked at her and sighed. What if this didn’t work?
“I’m trusting you. My son had never felt this way about anyone. I know my boy.”
Charlotte placed her hand on mine.
“He’s everything I never knew I needed,” I admitted.
“Let’s do this,” she said. “We have a drop-dead date for the wedding. All hands on deck. Now, boys. Now.”
Wedding. As I peered at the ice while the Zamboni machine worked its magic, I wondered what Saint must be thinking.
And just how much damage control I’d need to do.
Not with social media, but with the sinfully sexy hockey star who’d awakened my soul to new possibilities.
Including a love of the wild.
Saint
“You need to get your heads out of your asses, boys, or we won’t win this thing,” Coach Cavanaugh barked. While he was trying his best to keep the spirits up, I could tell by the look on both his and Jonathan’s faces that we were doomed.
Of course we were. I couldn’t hit a basketball with my stick if it hit me in the face. My anger was off the charts. The fact I’d almost sliced off a head when the puck had gone wild in the stands was something I’d never live down.
I couldn’t look at my team, but didn’t need to. I could feel their angry glares.
“We have one period left,” the coach added with sadness in his voice. “I need you on this, Savage. That’s what Lily would want.”
As soon as he mentioned her name, I bristled but knew he was right. She’d worked very hard to allow me to focus on the game and not my birthright.
Where was my Lily flower?
I found it impossible to think she’d want to get back together with him. But the photo was real. The kiss had appeared passionate.
However, when I was finished with the game, I planned on hunting down her ex. I’d toss him in the woods of the compound and see if he could handle the chase.
“It’s time, boys. Let’s do this.”
I nodded and waited as the others piled out. The moment I was on the ice, I tried to shake it off. Solving my personal problems on the ice had never been an issue before. Why now? Why her?
The answer was clear, but maybe one I needed to forget about.
Yet the ache remained burning a hole in my heart. I skated around the ice, doing what I could to shove the sadness into a locked box.
“Hey, tough guy. I heard your main squeeze two-timed you. Couldn’t happen to a nicer asshole.”
Hearing Rocco’s voice was all it took to snap me back into needing to kill something.
Or someone.
He was as good a choice as any.
I lunged toward him, tossing my stick on the ice. With seconds, we were both beating the shit out of each other, punches flying, one pitching the other across the ice.
We growled as if in competition and there was no doubt by the vibrations beneath our feet we could shift at any moment.
I saw the same look of hunger in his eyes as I’d noticed in mine.
We were both in need of settling down, mating the only hope we had of keeping our shit together to play this game the right way.
The snarls continued, drowned out by the shouts coming from all directions.
Players, coaches, and refs circled around us. Now it was team against team, the shouting echoing in my ears.
I had both hands wrapped around Rocco’s shirt, jerking him onto his feet.
Sadly, I didn’t have a chance to finish what I’d started, yanked away by security personnel.
“What the hell?” the coach yelled. “Get it together. Both of you.”
“On the sidelines, Rocco,” the Devils’ coach yelled. “You’re a disgrace to the sport. Both of you.”
When the two of us tried to go at it again, a shrill sound caught my attention. No ordinary man would have heard the whistle above the roar of the crowd.
But I did.
Because I knew the lilt in her voice. Whether talking, which she did too much of. Singing, which I hated to admit she sucked at. Humming, which always managed to take some of the anxiety away. Or whistling, which she enjoyed doing when she was really frustrated with me.
I’d know Lily’s voice anywhere.
And her smile.
And her laugh.
And her scent. As I took a deep breath, a very deep breath, I slowly skated away from the melee. She was here. Not only did I gather a whiff of her awesome perfume and the piercing sound she’d made lingering in my eardrums, but every inch of skin was tingling because of her presence.
With a quick sweep of my eyes, I found her. Very slowly, I started to skate closer. Whether or not the crowd had quieted down I wasn’t certain. But all I could hear was the rapid beating of her heart.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Or was that mine?
As I closed the distance, signs began to appear. Not just any signs. Not the ones from superfans still encouraging the team after a disastrous game, but something much more personal.
Signs from her held up by my family.
Hey, Wildman. This girl loves you.
Don’t believe everything you see.
There are dark forces attempting to break us apart.
I ripped off my helmet, studying her more intently. Her face was pensive and her eyes imploring.
Suddenly, every phone in the arena was recording the interaction. And there was silence. You could hear a pin drop.
I held out my arms as if asking what she was trying to say.
I was within a few feet, my chest rising and falling.
It means, silly, that I’m asking you a question.
The girl could read my mind. Grinning, I moved closer as she made her way to the ice ring border. “What question?” I shouted.
We were on the Jumbotron, one view concentrated on her, another on what I was doing and my face. Ugly mug that it was.
She lowered the signs, cocking that pretty little head of hers. Her clothes were soaked, her face covered in something dark, which made me laugh. The woman was a mess. But without a doubt, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
My woman.
My lover.
My fiancée.
My mate.
“Will you marry me?” she shouted. And what did the little librarian do to tease me? She mouthed the word ‘wolfman.’
The hesitation was done on purpose. Everyone leaned in, holding their breath.
I skated back and forth, making her wait on purpose.
Then I body checked the border, reaching up and lifting her off her feet. “I thought you’d never ask.”
As I crushed my mouth over hers, I heard a collective gasp.
Then sighs.
Then chants.
“Savage. Savage. Savage.”
When I pulled away, she licked her lips. “Time to win a game, Wildman.”
“Only for you, babe. Only for you.”
Lily
“I still don’t know how you pulled off the win,” I told him as I typed a message after uploading the picture.
“Because I’m the best, baby.”
I threw him a look. He was grinning from ear to ear, tapping the steering wheel to the beat of whatever song he was playing.
The man had the worst taste in music, but it was still adorable.
“Four to three. Impressive. What I want to know is how did you calm Rocco down after the game? You even shook hands. Maybe more impressive than your slapshot at the buzzer.”
He snorted. “Slapshot?”
“I call it like I see it.” I glanced out the windshield. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I told Rocco if he didn’t calm his ass down, I’d expose him as the big, bad wolf.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said, laughing. He pulled into a parking lot. There were plenty of cars and it appeared he’d taken me to a fitness gym or something like it.
His grin remained. “Yes, I would.” He threw the gear into park, immediately cutting the engine.
“Well, I’d be careful since he’s going to be your new teammate.”
“No, he’s not.” He laughed as if I’d told the funniest joke.
The joke was on him.