Page 83 of No Rhyme or Roughing
A warm tongue slid up my face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re no different from the guys on the team, are you? Eager to please, not the brightest.”
I set him down, and he ran in circles before finding the perfect spot to squat.
The rest of the day was spent with Guardian, snuggling, staring at my emails, and ignoring calls from Angela. I heard the boys return, but since it was game day, I kept to myself and let them do the same.
A knock sounded on my door, and I mentally prepared myself to face the problem that was Ryder Cassidy. But it wasn’t him who stepped inside.
Teddy smiled down at me, where I was curled around a sleeping Guardian.
“I’m so glad I got you a dog,” he joked.
I shrugged, pressing a kiss to the dog’s soft fur. “Not my fault he prefers me.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it. I’m his favorite.”
“Shows what you know.” I sat up carefully, not wanting to disturb my little nephew. “Did you need something?”
“We’re leaving for the game. You’re coming, right?”
“Of course.” I didn’t have a choice. Someone had to record them and make sure the music was perfect for their performance.
Teddy grinned. “Good. I have a surprise for you.”
“Why does that worry me?”
“It’s fine,” he said with a laugh. “It’s going to make our performance stand out even more. Imagine a second video going viral. We’ve got this.”
“I’m sure you do.” I wasn’t lying. I’d seen something in the team during practice—a determination. They cared. And that was half the battle with performances.
Teddy bent down, pressing a kiss to my forehead and then Guardian’s. “Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“Everything.” He paused in the doorway. “Oh, bring Guardian tonight. I’ve already cleared it with Sullivan. He’ll watch him while you’re recording us, but we think putting him in the video will help.”
“He isn’t a prop, Ted. Tell me this isn’t why you adopted him.”
“Of course not. But he’s our Guardian—the team’s. He’s part of us, of this.” Rapping his knuckles on the doorframe, he disappeared down the hall.
Well, I guessed I was going to a hockey game with a dog. The thought almost made me laugh, but my phone ringing stopped me. Assuming it was Angela, I glanced at the screen.
It wasn’t her.
Jameson’s name flashed across my screen. I hit ignore and lay back down beside Guardian, gathering him into my arms.
“Be glad you’re a dog, buddy,” I murmured. “You don’t have to feel things.”
Things that terrified me. Things I knew didn’t last.
Even if my feet fell off from some disease I picked up on that locker room floor, last night meant something. And I didn’t want it to.
Feelings were the true destroyer of worlds. Not me, but what could happen to me if I let anyone in.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
RYDER
The arena buzzed with an energy I almost didn’t recognize, the noise filtering down the tunnel to the locker room.
