Page 27 of Rookie's Redemption
"How can you say that? Your whole life is hockey. What happens when the season ends? When you get traded? When some bigger, better opportunity comes along?"
"Because I can prove that I'm not going anywhere." His voice is urgent now, like he needs me to understand something important. "There's something I've been going to tell you. About why I came back here. About why I bought my house."
"Your house?" I ask, brows scrambling together.
Ryder opens his mouth, but my phone erupts in shrill rings, shattering the moment like glass.
"Ignore it," Ryder says, but I'm already fumbling for the device with numb fingers.
It's the emergency contact number for the shelter.
"I have to take this." I sit up, snow falling from my hair. "Hello?"
"Mia! Thank God." It's Janet Morrison, the elderly woman who sometimes helps with overnight emergencies. "I'm so sorry to call so late, but we have a situation. Someone dropped off abox of puppies behind the building. They're so young, and it's so cold—"
"Shit. How young?" I'm already standing, brushing snow off my clothes.
"Maybe four weeks?"
Fuck.Four-week-old puppies in this weather could die within hours. They need constant care or they won't make it through the night.
"I'll be right there." I end the call and look at Ryder apologetically. "I have to go. Emergency at the shelter."
"What happened?"
"Some asshole has abandoned puppies. In this weather. They're too young to regulate their body temperature." I'm already pacing back and forth, my mind racing through everything I'll need to do. "I need to get there now."
"You've been drinking." He catches my shoulder and steadies my steps. "I'm driving."
"Ryder, you don't have to—"
"Yeah, I do." He's already pulling out his keys, clicking the remote to unlock his truck across the lot. "Besides, you'll need help, right? Newborn puppies are a lot of work."
I want to argue, to maintain my independence, but the truth is I could use the help.
And despite everything—the hurt, the fear, the walls I've built—there's no one I'd rather have beside me in a crisis than Ryder Scott.
"Thank you," I say quietly as he holds the passenger door open for me.
"Thank me after we save some puppies," he says simply.
As I climb into the truck, surrounded by the scent of leather and that cologne, I can't shake the feeling that everything is about to change.
Again.
Chapter Seven
Ryder
Three days since the emergency puppy rescue, and I haven't seen Mia for more than five minutes at a time.
She's been living at the shelter, essentially. Those four-week-old pups need round-the-clock care—bottle feeding every two hours, temperature monitoring, constant supervision.
Every time I've stopped by with coffee or food, she's looked more exhausted than the time before, dark circles under her eyes and that stubborn set to her jaw that means she's running on pure determination.
And coffee. Lots of coffee.
The sound of Coach Brody's whistle cuts through my thoughts, bringing me back to the ice where I'm supposed to be focusing on drills instead of thinking about a certain stubborn animal rescuer.
