Page 26 of The Truth of Our Secrets

“My wife will be furious when she sees my face,” I gloat.

“I’m sure you’ll play the poor, weak innocent victim,” he sneers.

“Fuck you.” I bang the locker room door open, ready to fight him again, but I stop short, causing Emmet to walk right into me.

“Hey—” His voice trails off as we see Dylon flat-out on the bench and rush to his side. Blood drips from his mouth down his jersey and onto the floor. Emmet sits him upright and I grab my phoneto dial 9-1-1. Everything’s a blur except Dylon and the voice on the phone.

Emmet leaves, and I try not to panic. His proximity shouldn’t affect my anxiety. Dylon shakes with tears running down his cheeks. He’s not coherent.

The door flies open. Emmet.

Dylon confesses he took prescribed pain medication but can’t tell us how much. I hear Emmet throwing things around and I have to force myself to focus on the 9-1-1 operator.

The eerie silence of the men entering consumes the locker room.

Emmet thrusts a nasal spray in front of my face. “Tell them we have Narcan. Can you administer it or should I?”

I’m so far out of my element. Lars has Dylon’s head cradled in his hands and demands the spray bottle. The ambulance is only a couple of minutes out. It takes forever.

Lars insists on being the one who travels in the ambulance as if he’s expecting a fight from me. Maybe it should be me, given my position with the organization, but they’re friends. I’m not sure Dylon would want me there.

Stripping off my pads so I’m only wearing compression shorts, I slip out of the locker room and into the office next door. I have to notify the team. The athletic trainer is the easiest call, but withthe seriousness of the situation, the general manager needs to be informed right away. The call is awful. He chews my ass out for letting Dylon on the ice. As if I can control a grown man. It would’ve been worse if he’d left the arena.

He could’ve died alone. The thought weakens my knees, and I collapse into a chair.

Finally, the GM decides to call Lars for an update. I exit into the hallway and bump into fucking Emmet.

“Stay the fuck away from my wife,” I shout at his back. He doesn’t acknowledge me and all the fury rushes in and I stride toward him to grab his arm. He dodges me and snarls like a cornered animal.

“After all that happened tonight, you’re focused on yourself?” He pokes my chest with a finger.

When I don’t dignify him with a response, he says, “You are so self-centered. Are you afraid I’ll tell her you’re a lying piece of shit?”

“She won’t believe you. Stay away.” His sudden movement catches me off guard. His hand circles my throat, and he pins me to the wall.

“Then maybe you should tell your wife to stay away fromme.” His pupils blow wide and his voice is menacing.

But there’s something else too.

“You’ve seen her?” I demand, aware of his thumb stroking my pulse. She saw him at his work, but the way he says it infuriates me.

I lean into his hand.

He throws his head back and cackles. “So many secrets.” Emmet leans in so his mouth grazes my ear. “I won’t tell her you’re a liar, and I sure as hell won’t tellyouher secrets. Sleep on that.”

He pushes away, using my throat to propel himself backward. We both know I could’ve fought him off at any time. I chose not to.

Emmet struts down the concrete hall without a glance back.

My eyes drink in the sight of him and my erection horrifies me. He could’ve felt it. It’s large and there’s nowhere to hide it in these shorts. I shake my head, trying to rid myself of my attraction.

He’s more dangerous than I thought. He’s got a temper, not afraid of a fight, and he’ll use whatever is burning between us against me.

Such a child.

I made sure Dylon got medical care. I had to call the team. And he accuses me of being self-centered. Everything I do is for Madyson or my team.

He’s the one who barged back into our lives uninvited.

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