Page 12 of Love in the Net
“Hey,” he says, his voice carrying over the noise.
“Hey.” My heart pounds. “What is all this?”
“Mm, it’s so good to see you.” He hugs me close, his mouth right at my ear as he murmurs, “Your fundraiser didn’t go the way you wanted, and I thought maybe I could help.”
I pull away, blinking. “By hosting a doggy hockey day?”
His gray eyes lock onto mine with an intensity that makes me wish we were alone. “You work so hard for everyone else, Claire. I wanted to do something for you. Something to show you that I see you. That I—” He pauses, then takes a deep breath. “That I love you.”
The words hit me like a freight train, and for a moment, all I can do is stare at him. He loves me. Liam O’Brien, professional hockey player and grumpy dog dad extraordinaire, loves me.
“Claire?” he asks, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “You okay?”
I snap out of my daze, a laugh bubbling out of me as tears prick the corners of my eyes. “You love me.”
He grins at me. “Yeah, I love you.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, and when I look up, his eyes are shining with a mix of relief and happiness. “You don’t have to?—”
“I love you too, Liam.”
“Yeah?”
“Nowyou’re going to start with the questions?” I fold myself into his arms and take in the happy canines frolicking on the ice. Waffles bounds around, his paws slipping and sliding as he tries to keep up with Bear and Scout. “This hockey uniform isn’t very comfortable.”
“Keeps me from getting hurt though.”
I straighten and look at him. “Why are you wearing it?”
“Great question, sweetheart,” he says, but he doesn’t answer it.
7
Liam turns around,and I go with him. “Ah, they’re here.”
His teammates come in the same door I did, and they’re all wearing their uniforms, sans helmets and skates, same as him. They start down the steps and join Liam and I and the dogs on the ice, and then Liam whistles.
“Let ‘em in,” he calls, and people start streaming in three doors on the side where he and the dogs had entered.
The rink fills faster than I expect, the sound of laughter and barking echoing off the high ceilings. People stream in with their dogs in tow, and Jack Winters—theJack Winters, the captain and center of the Buffaloes—leans over and says, “Every single person here paid twenty bucks to come for a canine and Buffalo meet-and-greet.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“Liam set it all up,” Jack says as Liam reaches the other side of the ice, where three lines have formed. He turns back to us and yells, “Jack, I need you over here,” over all the barking.
“My goalkeeper has found himself a loveoutsidethe net.” Jack grins at me and walks away, so sturdy on the slippery ice.
I watch as the Buffaloes start signing autographs, with Liam right in the middle. “This is a full-blown community event,” I muse as I migrate through the canine chaos on the ice. Chase stands down by the end where the net would be, and I see him handing out some very familiar bagged treats.
“Hey,” I say to him. “Those are my Cheddar Chompers.”
He smiles at me and hands another dog owner the treat, and a flyer. “Sure are.” He nods to me. “This here’s Claire, the owner of Pawsitively Delicious.”
The woman turns toward me, and she says, “I can’t wait to try it.” She takes her schnauzer and starts to leave.
“Liam bought out my bakery, didn’t he?” I ask Chase as he gives a man a Dog-nut Delight and a flyer.
“Yep.”
He thought of everything. My heart warms and warms and warms, and I know that my impromptu declaration of love is absolutely real.
