Page 79 of Off The Ice

For a second, the thought made me recoil as the intrusive voice asked me what type of weird, territorial part of me had been unleashed to think up that thought, but I shoved that voice away. I was getting good at keeping it at bay.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “after tonight, I’m a Harbor Wolves fan through and through.”

“Yeah?” I asked, feeling idiotic at the size of the smile on my face. “Or are you just a fan of whoever the winning team is?”

She scrunched up her nose, scoffing at the insinuation. “I’ll have you know I amnotthat fickle.”

I didn’t doubt it. She was as loyal as they came. I had the feeling that once she was in your corner, there wasn’t anything on earth that could drag her out of it.

“Besides,” she said, “I wasn’t cheering because of the team. I was cheering because ofyou.”

For a moment, my head whirled. I felt like our conversation was far too intimate to be had in the bustle of the Garden. All I wanted was to throw her in my car and take her home immediately so it could just be the two of us.

I don’t know how the hell she did it, but she calmed something inside of me. She made all the noise that was in my head stop. I felt like I could breathe easier around her, and I was scared as hell about what that meant.

“Cassie, I—”

“Cassie?” My back stiffened at the sound of her name being called by another man’s voice.

Cassie spun, her body freezing when her eyes landed on the owner of the voice.

He was of average build, average height, and average face. Everything about him was completely ordinary. He could’ve been anyone. But Cassie’s reaction made it evident that he most definitely was not just anyone.

“Cassie?” he repeated again, his jaw dropping as he stared at her. “What are you doing here?”

He started to take a step, and when Cassie processed his plan, she turned back to me, eyes wide and frantic, face paler than I’d ever seen it.

“I, uh- I need to go home. Now. Please tell Maggie I’ll be outside.”

“Cassie—” I started, reaching out for her, but she was already running out the exit.

I could’ve followed her, but I needed to know what the hell was going on, and the idiot standing a few feet away seemed like the best place to start.

The guy looked as if he were going to go after her, but I stalked over in front of him, grateful as hell for the way I towered over him. Rage radiated off of me toward this stranger who was looking up at me with intimidation in his eyes. I might not know who he was, but I could guess. And Cassie’s reaction alone gave me cause enough to hate him with a ferocity that was dangerous.

“Mind backing up?” he asked in a way that pissed me off.

“Mind telling me who the hell you are? And why she just ran out of here at the sight of you?” I lifted my arm, pointing in the direction where Cassie fled.

“None of your business.”

He snorted, trying to get around me, but I was bigger and broader, and I knew if he tried to get away, I would punch him right in the face and not care how many reporters printed the story.

“She is my business,” I answered. “So start fucking talking.”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but Cassie and I—”

Those words. The way he still tried to pair himself with her made me see red. I wanted to shove him against the wall and demand that he never utter her name again.

“There is no Cassie and you,” I said, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, just an edge away from the tipping point. “So tell me now, who the fuck are you?”

I knew if he didn’t answer, I’d hit him. I knew there’d be no restraining myself if he said one more smart-ass comment.

For a minute, his eyes shone with panic as he looked down at the fist that grasped the fabric of his shirt. Then, it was replaced with a scathing look as he jutted his chin in defiance.

I held his gaze, not backing down in the slightest.

It didn’t matter who saw. It didn’t matter that people were stopping to stare.

---