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I’m pacing in the kitchen. His kitchen, not mine over in the casita. Mine isn’t big enough for the type of pacing I need to do.

I chugged a water and took some ibuprofen, and Mandy is still here with me, but I can’t seem to stop worrying about where he went and what he’s doing.

She’s sitting at the kitchen table with Jaxon, and they’re trying to distract me, but how do you distract someone from worrying that the man she loves just went to go kill another person?

Okay, so that’s dramatic. I’ve been reading too many dark romances lately, I guess. I know he isn’t going to kill Owen. Maybe just rough him up a little for upsetting me.

But even that makes me crazy nervous.

He can’t afford to get into it with Owen. He’s got a daughter to think of. A career to think of. He’s not just some guy off the streets going over and confronting my ex-boyfriend. He’s an NFL superstar. He’s a celebrity, and people are watching. I know Owen well enough to know he’ll use that to his advantage.

When I finally hear the garage door start to open, I freeze.

He’s home.

Relief fills my veins even though I haven’t gotten a look at him yet.

I stare at the doorway he’ll walk through any second, and I hear the door from the garage into the house open. Footsteps are quiet, and then he appears in the doorway. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a baseball, and he tosses it to me.

It’s my ball.

I start to cry, and he comes over toward me and throws his arms around me. He pulls me in against his chest while I cry.

He’s here, and he brought me this ball that means so damn much to me, and he’s a freaking hero. I look up into his eyes, and he’s staring tenderly down at me.

He brushes away one of my tears with his thumb, and then he drops his mouth to mine.

I pull back and look at him again as feelings rush through my chest for what he just did for me.

It’s not just about the ball. I’m grateful to have it back, but the relief I feel that he’s here and didn’t somehow get himself arrested is overwhelming. And it combines with the fact that he went and defended me as he confronted someone who made me cry not just tonight, but lots of times over the last couple of months.

“I love you.” The words fall from my mouth before I get a chance to think them through.

His eyes move back and forth between mine. “I love you, too.” His mouth drops to mine, and he deepens the kiss. It’s intense and passionate and hot as the feelings simmering just under the surface rise up.

“We’ll just be heading out, then,” Mandy says loudly from over near the couch, breaking up the intimate moment.

We pull apart, each of us chuckling a little warily. And that’s when I glance down at his hand.

My eyes widen as I spot what definitely looks like dried blood on his knuckles.

I pull his hand into mine and inspect it.

“What happened?” I demand.

He pulls his hand out of my grip and walks over to the sink to wash off the blood. “Nothing,” he mutters.

Jaxon walks over to him while he scrubs. He pounds him on the back a little. “Dude, what happened?” He’s got a stake in this too, I guess, given that they’re teammates.

“He was talking shit, so I shut him up,” Travis admits.

“What did he say?” I demand.

Travis remains quiet, which tells me everything I need to know. The shit he was talking had something to do with me.

I clear my throat. “Okay, then how did you shut him up, exactly?”

“I knocked him in the jaw.” He grabs a paper towel to dry his hands, and he turns around to face the three of us.

“Is your hand okay?” Jaxon asks at the same time Mandy asks, “Is Owen okay?”

“I’m fine and he’s fine. I just roughed him up a little. Gave him a fat lip.” He holds up his knuckles. “Hence the blood.”

I blow out a breath. “He’s going to press charges,” I murmur.

Travis shrugs. “Then let him. He has proof, too. Took pictures of me destroying his house looking for the ball. But I don’t care. The fucker had it coming.”

“But the wedding…” I begin.

Shit. This is such a mess.

“I’ll fix it,” Travis says.

“How?” I’m clenching the ball in my fist. “We have to leave in a few hours for the airport and there is no way he’s not going to press charges and get you arrested so you don’t get to go.” I’m rambling and possibly starting to hyperventilate.

“Call your sister. Tell her what happened,” he suggests.

“They’re already in the Bahamas with my parents!”

He sighs, and I pull out my phone and dial Owen. I’m convinced he isn’t going to pick up, so when he does, I’m shocked. “Don’t you dare ruin my sister’s wedding,” I hiss when he answers.

“Your dumb jock boyfriend is the one ruining it, not me,” he says. His voice is muffled as if he can’t fully open his jaw to talk, and I picture him with a bag of frozen veggies on his jaw.

“If you have to press charges, wait until we get back.” I try to keep the begging out of my tone. I fail.

“Why the fuck would I do that?” he demands

“Because Jake is your best friend and you will not ruin his wedding with this.”

“That dumb jock is the one ruining the wedding, Vicky,” he says, trying to reason with me.

“If you call him a dumb jock one more time, I’ll come over there and split your lip on the other side,” I snarl. “Behave yourself at the wedding, and do what you have to do when we get back in town.”

He’s quiet a beat. “Fine. For Jake, not for you. But the second we’re back in Vegas, I’m calling the police and filing a report.”

“Whatever.” I hang up on him, and Travis blows out a sigh of relief. “He’s going to press charges but he’s going to wait until we’re back. Maybe we can reason with him while we’re there.”

“Not likely.”

“No, you’re right. But I’m already starting to think of ways we can rub our relationship in his face while we’re there,” I admit.

“Maybe I’ll fuck him up even more while we’re there,” Travis says.

“Yo,” Jaxon says, and he shakes his head. “You think it’s a good idea for you to go?”

Travis holds up a hand. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting her go spend six days with that fuckface without me there.”

I lean into him a little. Maybe I should be offended that he said he’s not letting me go , but instead I’m just grateful he’ll be there with me.