Page 120 of Defensive Desire

Logan’s still got one arm around me, but he’s watching Grandpa Walt like he’s waiting for him to deliver divine judgment.

And sure enough, Grandpa Walt smacks Logan square on the back of the head with the newspaper he’s somehowstill carrying.

“OW—Jesus, Walt!” Logan pats the back of his head. "What was that for?!"

“Focus, Kane!”

“Iamfocused!” Logan protests, rubbing the back of his head like a scolded teenager.

“Not on her, you’re not,” Grandpa Walt huffs, already turning for the bench by the arena wall like he’s earned his retirement medal. “I didn't come all this way to watch you stand there like a defenseman in figure skates. Now say what you came to say before I drop dead and miss it.”

Logan's eyes lock with mine, his gaze piercing with determination.

“I’m not going to Seattle.”

The breath rushes out of me like someone opened a pressure valve.

“I walked out of that meeting with Big Mike,” he says. “Told them I’m done.”

“Done?” My mouth is dry. “You mean…?”

“I’m retiring.”

His voice is steady. Strong. Like he’s never been more sure of anything.

I open my mouth, close it and then open it again. “Logan. That’s your whole life.”

He nods and shrugs those huge round shoulders that have carried years of grit, determination and hard work to get where he is in his career. And now he's standing here telling me he's giving all that up?!

“Itwas. But today I realized something. I’ve given everything to hockey. My time, my body, my heart. But I haven't givenallofmyself yet. Not the best part.” He brushes his thumb across my cheek. “The best part? I saved it for you.”

I swear I feel it in mybones. The shift. Like something clicks into place and I’m finally, fully seen.

“I was coming to find you,” I whisper, blinking fast. “I was ready to fly to Seattle every weekend if I had to. I’ve already started mentally budgeting for airport coffee and long-distance phone sex.”

Logan’s smile tilts crooked. “You would've done that for me?”

“Yes, you idiot.”

He groans and pulls me into him again. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You don’t,” I agree jokingly, laughing through the tears. “But you get me anyway.”

He kisses me, his mouth covering mine in a fierce, unapologetic embrace. It's full of everything we haven’t said and everything wehave. My knees nearly give out, but he’s there, arms wrapped around me like a fortress.

“God, I love you,” he murmurs against my mouth. “I’ve never loved anything like I love you.”

He kisses me again, and this time it’s slow. Final.Certain.

When we break apart, Grandpa Walt claps loudly just as Sophia appears from the door of my café down the corridor. In the rush of my search for Logan, I've apparently done a full lap of the arena.

"I thought I heard voices out here!" Sophia sings, pushing through the door of my new café space with a dramatic flourish. She freezes mid-step when she sees Logan and me tangled together, his massive arms still wrapped protectively around my waist.

"Oh!" Her professional demeanor cracks as she takes in the scene—me with tear-streaked cheeks, Logan looking like he's run through a hurricane, and Grandpa Walt perched on abench with the smuggest grin I've ever seen. "I'm... interrupting something, aren't I?"

"You're fine," I say, though I don't move away from Logan.

Sophia's gaze darts between us, her marketing-brain visibly connecting dots.