Page 36

36

FORD

“ G et your ass over here. And bring the laptop.”

I don’t waste time with pleasantries, barking orders the second I hear his voice.

I’m barely containing my rage as I squeeze the phone with one hand, the other clenched into a fist.

My jaw aches from how tightly I’m clenching it, but it’s a necessary evil to keep the rage inside.

When I find that motherfucker Jeffrey, I’m gonna wring his damn neck!

Then I’m going to pummel him with my fists until I hear the satisfying crack of his bones, his crimson blood staining my knuckles, his body, and the floor.

And then ? —

Connor’s annoyingly chipper voice brings me back to reality.

“Well, good morning to you, too, Ford. Glad to see you so chipper this beautiful morn?—”

“I don’t have time for this nonsense!” I explode, my rage making me shake. “A motherfucker broke into Harper’s parents’ house and trashed the place.”

I run out of air.

Closing my eyes, I squeeze the phone so hard I’m surprised I don’t break it. “They spray-painted awful shit on the walls about Harper.”

“Fuck.” I hear Connor’s feet and then a flurry of activity. “I’ll be right there.”

He ends the call, all business now that I mentioned Harper’s name.

The hockey team always takes care of one another, and that extends to anyone or anything we care about.

If it’s important to one of us, it’s important to all of us.

Shoving my phone in my back pocket, I squeeze Harper against me. “You up for checking out the rest of the house?”

She nods. “I need some water, anyway. I put some in the fridge.”

Her big eyes blink up at me. “Do you think it’s safe to drink?”

“I’ll get Connor to bring us some.” I pull my phone out, quickly shooting him a text.

It shows as read before the three dots appear.

CONNOR: Gram is packing a cooler of water. I’ve got the laptop. Anything else?

ME: Text Jaxson at King Morine. We need cameras. I want some at Gram’s and more here.

CONNOR: More?

ME: I have some in Harper’s bedroom and the living room. I’m checking them now.

CONNOR: Such a stalker. LOL!

ME: Shut up, ass wipe. Text Jaxson.

CONNOR: On it.

My eyes move to Harper, feeling her mood shift.

She’s staring at the painted message on the wall, a frown on her face.

“Baby.” I wrap my arms around her, pressing my hard dick against her ass.

I’m always hard for this fucking woman.

I can’t get enough of her.

“You know that shit on the wall isn’t true. It isn’t who you are.”

She sighs, relaxing against me. “I know. It just… brings up some old insecurities. I’ve never been thin like other?—”

“I don’t care. I love you for who you are. Inside and out.”

She looks at me over her shoulder, her eyes soft. “I know that, Ford.”

She spins in my arms, pressing herself against me. “I feel it.”

She gestures to my hardness poking her, a smile curving her lips.

Her eyes meet mine. “I see it. It shines in your eyes.”

I nod, blowing out a relieved breath.

I can’t stand the thought of her being upset.

Unless I’m the one who’s doing it.

But that’s different.

I aggravate her because I like getting her feisty and pissy.

I love it when she fights me.

But anyone else… I’ll fucking kill them.

She strokes my jawline, her expression turning thoughtful. “I haven’t seen Jeffrey’s writing in a while. He used to leave me notes.”

I growl, angry at the thought he was anywhere near my woman.

The feral sense of possession nearly drowns out all logical thought.

But her sweet voice pulls me from the edge. “It actually reminds me of him. We were at a café close to campus when I broke up with him. I drove there after work and met him.”

“Smart. You ended things inside, right?”

She nods. “There was something that told me it was safer that way.”

I pull her closer. “You know you’re never fucking ending things with me.”

She laughs. “Why the hell would I want to?”

My lips hover near hers. “That’s my good girl.”

She shivers against me, enjoying the praise.

I breathe her in before capturing her lips, drinking in her essence.

I’ll never let Jeffrey near her again.

I’ll end that fucker and get him out of our lives.

The door bangs open behind us, and I whip around, pushing Harper behind me, ready to go to war.

My hands relax when I see Connor’s grinning face.

“Wow. Tense as fuck.” He whistles. “Hey, Harper.” He sets the cooler down, grabs a bottle of water, and hands it to her.

“Hey, Connor. Thanks.”

I exhale a slow breath, my arm around Harper. “Did you text Jaxson?”

“Yup, He’s on it. He’s going to have Stryker drive them to us.”

“Drive what to you?” Harper pauses, the water bottle halfway to her lips.

“More cameras.”

She nods, taking a drink.

Then her eyes widen as she coughs.

“W-Wait,” she splutters. “What do you mean, more cameras?”

She wipes her eyes, her voice raspy.

She coughs again.

I rub a hand over her back. “Yeah… I installed cameras in here.”

Her eyes narrow. “Ford! When did you do that?”

I stare at her. “They’re easy to install. Takes no time at all.”

I fold my arms over my chest, staring her down. “Why is this a surprise? How many times have you called me an unhinged psycho?”

“Not enough,” Connor jabs, laughing.

“Thank you. Glad you recognize it.” Harper holds up a hand, and Connor high-fives it.

And then she frowns. “I still don’t know when you did it.” Her gaze narrows on mine. “Wait… when you barged in on me while I was in the shower?—"

“Like I said, they take no time to install.”

She gapes at me, but I wave her away.

“It’s a good thing I did. He’s on camera. Hard to make out any identifying features since the guy is dressed in black and has a mask over his face.”

She stares at me for another moment before reaching her hand out.

I try to hide my grin, immediately knowing I’ve won.

She’s given up arguing with me about the things I do.

Ford—one.

Harper—zero .

“Lemme see. Maybe I can tell if it’s Jeffrey.”

I hand her my phone, letting her see the feed. “Hit this button to pause it.”

“Who’s Jeffrey?”

I growl. “Her ex .”

Connor nods. “Ohh… a soon-to-be-dead man. Cool.”

Harper’s gaze darts to him. “Why is that cool?”

Connor shrugs, his gaze moving from Harper to the living room, accessing the damage. “Cause your man is eliminating a threat. This asshole started it… my guy will finish it.”

“You’re fucking right I will,” I growl, anger thrashing through my veins, my blood pounding against my temple. “He picked the wrong person to mess with.”

I pull her against me, happiness easing some of my rage when she melts against me.

She knows I’ve got her.

That I’ll keep her safe.

I cringe as I meet Connor’s assessing gaze. “How did you not know about her ex? The way you checked out her social media all the time?—”

Harper’s gaze snaps up to mine. “You stalked me on socials?”

Connor snorts. “Please. He kept tabs on you over the years. You really think it’s a coincidence he happened to come back here when you were here, renovating your parents’ house?”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you.” I glare at him, my muscles tensing.

“Y-You’ve been… stalking me?” Her eyes narrow, and I see the wheels churning in her head. “How did you not know what I did for work… Wait… you did know, didn’t you?”

Her expression changes from angry to bewildered to shocked to angry again. “You pretended not to know.”

Her tone lowers as she says, “It makes sense why you want me to quit my job and work for the team. You somehow knew about him.”

I glower at her. “No, you never mentioned Jeffrey on socials at all. I thought Todd was the threat.” I wave a dismissive hand. “Either way, you’re quitting your job.”

“Did you already get me the job working for the team?” she yells, her eyes flashing.

“Oh, shit.” Connor shoots me an apologetic look.

I glare at him. “Bryns, I swear to God you fuck shit up?—”

“You’re not innocent in this!” Harper yells, her face turning red from anger.

Connor takes out his phone. “I’m putting this in the group chat. If I disappear, the team will know to start with you.”

Gritting my teeth, I shake my head. “You’re such an annoying fucker.”

“I don’t know how to feel about this. On one hand, I’m so mad, I could spit nails.”

Harper smacks my shoulder, glaring at me.

Then her eyes soften. “On the other, I’ve never had a man go to such lengths for me. Well, I mean, except when we dated in high school. I don’t count Jeffrey since he creeped me out a lot?—”

“I’m gonna rip that bastard’s intestines out and strangle him with them,” I seethe.

“Ohhh, nice imagery. Go with that. Kill Jeffrey instead of me.” Connor grins like a damn fool before his attention goes back to his phone.

My phone is vibrating like hell as I snatch it from Harper’s hands, not wanting her to read the foolish nonsense my teammates come up with.

“You’re not backing out of this marriage. I’ll fucking handcuff you and drag you down the aisle.”

“I know that’s true,” Connor says with a grin. “He’ll probably shackle your ankles, too.”

“Stop giving him ideas.” Harper glares at him over her shoulder before looking at me. “I’m not backing out of the wedding. I’m just trying to process things. It’s all… a lot. I mean, I’m not used to this after a decade apart.”

Connor snorts. “How did you not realize Ford was following you on socials, Harper? He had like five accounts. I mean, sure, he was stealing chick’s pictures and names to make fake accounts, but he commented and liked all your pics and videos.”

“You didn’t put that in the group chat, did you?” I bark at Connor.

He stares at me like I’m dense. “As if Cole and Jake don’t already know. Hell, Daltyn is the newest member of the team and even he knows how obsessed you are with Harper.”

“Who’s Daltyn?”

Ford’s gaze drops to mine. “Daltyn Guyer is our goalie. He took over after Warren got seriously injured.”

“He fucking rocks. The kid has mad skills. And fits right in with us.”

Harper rolls her eyes. “So, he’s a psycho kid. Gotcha.”

“He’s twenty-three. Connor considers him a kid.”

“Either way, I’m sure he’s unhinged based on the amount of respect the two of you have for him.”

Connor and I grin at each other, my irritation with him temporarily easing.

It was Daltyn’s idea to create social media accounts posing as women that Harper vaguely knew but wasn’t close to.

“He’s coming for the wedding, too,” Connor says.

“Sweet.” I glance down at Harper. “We need to discuss bridesmaids. I have three groomsmen.”

“We aren’t talking about this yet. I can’t…” She puts her hands over her ears. “I’m still processing things. Someone broke in here and trashed the place. You put cameras in here. You’ve spied on me for years using social media.”

“A decade, but who’s counting?” Connor quips.

I glare at him. “You may end up missing.”

“This is going in the chat.” He looks up at me as I growl.

As he types, he says, “Gotta go. Might die tonight. But worth it. Busting Ford’s balls is too easy.”

Harper suddenly bursts into hysterical laughter. “I-I s-swear. Y-You two are s-so unhinged.”

Immediately, I relax.

If she’s laughing, she’s processing things.

And though I don’t mind forcing her to walk down the aisle, it will be easier if she does it willingly.

We can use the handcuffs later.

Connor winks at her. “You’re marrying into the best hockey family in the NHL.” His eyes dart around the room before landing on me. “Have you checked anywhere else?”

“Connor’s right. We’re the best… and I’m gonna be one helluva husband.” I wrap my arms around her, hugging her.

She relaxes against me, squeezing me back, and I know things will be just fine.

Turning my attention to Connor, I shake my head. “We were just getting ready to when you came in.”

He smirks. “It looked more like you were ready to get her naked and forget about everything else. But okay.” He chuckles. “Let’s go check it out.”

He reaches down and grabs something I hadn’t noticed before.

My grandfather’s hockey stick.

“What the hell? Why do you have my grandfather’s stick?”

“Eww. That sounds like I’m holding his dick or something.” Connor makes a face, wiping a hand against his pants leg. “In case someone’s here.” He takes a step back and swings it wildly.

I push Harper down, curving my body over hers on the floor.

“Jesus Christ. Watch where you’re swinging that thing!” I yell, irritated as fuck with him. “You hit my woman with that, I’m shoving it up your ass.”

“Sorry, Harper. Are you okay?”

She laughs, looking up at me with a weary expression. “Ford had me on the floor before you could hit me with it.”

She laughs as I help her up, still glaring at Connor for his stupidity.

“You’re lucky you didn’t graze her with that.”

Connor gives her a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I got carried away.”

Harper waves her hands. “It’s okay. I actually feel safer with you waving that thing around. As long as you hit someone other than Ford and me.”

Her gaze moves to the window. “Or the work crew.”

My eyes move to the window. “I’ll talk to them. We’ll get this taken care of.”

My attention moves to Connor. “Take some pictures of the kitchen and dining room while we go talk to the crew.”

Connor salutes, propping the stick against his chest as he pulls his phone out. “On it.”

As Harper and I exit through the front door, she peeks up at me. “I hope he doesn’t bring that damn hockey stick when he officiates our wedding.”

I snort. “I’ll break it off in his ass first.”