Page 68 of Troublemaker

The night before came flooding back: Wearing Emory’s jersey to the hockey game, Blake benching him temporarily, finding out about his “date” with my professor, stealing his car and ending up at a random bar halfway between Gehenom and New York City, getting attacked by those men, his rescue, the hospital. A lot had happened in very little time, and all were things I needed to parse through, both on my own and in a deep and probably heavy conversation with Blake himself.

Speaking of which…

“Every time I look at that brace, I want to kill those men all over again,” he growled. Even with as nauseous as I felt, the growling was still hot.

I tried to sit up too quickly, and the room spun around me.

Blake was suddenly out of his chair, gently but with firm hands on my shoulders, lowering me back down to the bed.

“I thought you didn’t kill them,” I said.

He stared at me, face impassive. “Not for you to worry about.”

“Okay, but I am worried about it. What did you do, Blake?”

“I went back to the bar, hunted them down, and finished the job.” He shrugged like it was nothing. “Called in a favor. Like I said, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“You…you jeopardized your entire career? Your freedom? For me?”

“Troublemaker, sweetheart…don’t you get it?” His face softened and he brushed hair out of my face. “I’d do absolutely anything for you. Cross any line. Killing some assholes who hurt you doesn’t even come close to it.”

“Oh.”

I wanted to soak up his words, maybe record them so I could listen to them over and over, but right now I felt too nauseous to do anything but close my eyes.

“You need to sleep some more,” he said from somewhere above me. “You’re hungover.”

“Where are we?”

He handed me painkillers and an open bottle of water.

“Airbnb I rented. I wanted us to have some time together away from campus so you could heal.”

“But the team?—”

“Trey’s taking care of them. You’re more important.”

You’re more important.

They were the three prettiest words in the English language, even if they weren’t the ones I longed to hear from him. I’d never been more important than anything or anyone before. Not to my parents, not to my friends, and as far as I knew, not to Blake.

“I’ll let you rest.”

I immediately opened my eyes and put my hand on his. “Don’t leave me.”

He snorted. “Wasn’t planning on it. Aside from taking care of those assholes, I’m not letting you out of my sight. Might even get you a leash and collar.”

Even though I felt awful, my pussy clenched at the words.

His eyes darkened, but all he said was, “Trouble.”

“Can you…”

I didn’t have to finish the thought. He nodded, and then he was lifting the comforter, sliding into the bed, and gently pulling me into his arms.

I settled against him, sighing.

“How long do I get a reprieve for?”