Page 116 of Defensive Desire

Before I knew I loved her. Before…everything.

The truck climbs the mountain road, and I grip the wheel tighter.

But I feel… lighter.

For the first time in years, I’m not wondering who I’m supposed to be. Or what I’m supposed to sacrifice to stay on the roster. Or which bone I’ll break next to prove I still belong.

Because I already know where I belong.

Withher.

Emma Carter came into my life like a sugar-sweet hurricane, all coffee stains, sarcasm, and those ridiculous handmade bookmarks she made me cut out.

She changed me.

Not in the way people talk about in those romance novels she keeps by her bed. Not some dramatic transformation or physical makeover.

But in the small ways that actually count.

The way I wake up now thinking about making her coffee before she stirs. The way I've started reading the books she leaves on my nightstand, just so we'll have something to talk about while she bakes the muffins ready to sell the next day.

I never needed any of that before. Never wanted it.

But now, she's made me feel human again.

She's taught me that mornings weren’t just for early skate and protein shakes. That they could be for lazy pancakes, sleepy kisses, and her fingertips brushing the scruff on my jaw while she murmurs nonsense about iced maple lattes and opening hours.

Now I can't imagine breathing without it.

I'm not just a name on a jersey. Not a contract to the suits in the boardroom. Not a body without a purpose.

I'm aman. Her man.

My foot pushes harder on the gas. Because shit… what if she thinks I left?

What if right now she’s thinking I chose the game over her? What if she thinks she wasn’t enough?

She doesn’t know I walked out of that office forher.

A red light slows me near the middle of town, and I smack the steering wheel once, trying to keep from crawling out of my skin. I roll to a stop just as the radio cuts to a new segment.

"—and finally, congratulations to Chapter & Grind, winner of the Icehawks Community Outreach Program! Owner Emma Carter will be expanding her popular bookstore and café into Icehawk Arena, bringing her famous 'Hat Trick' blend and literary magic to hockey fans all season long—"

I slam my palm against the steering wheel, a smile breaking across my face.

"That's my girlfriend!" I shout to the world, beaming from ear to ear.

I push the gas pedal to the floor, my truck eating up the pavement. The tires screech as I whip into a parking spot in front of Chapter & Grind, not caring that I'm half on the curb.

I throw the door of my truck open, not bothering to shut it behind me.

"Emma!" Her name tears from my throat, my boots pounding against the pavement.

I reach for the door handle, yanking it… but it doesn't budge.

My eyes snap to the window, where the CLOSED sign hangs crookedly in the glass. The breath leaves my lungs in a rush.

Closed?