Page 193 of Stick It
Once he’s gone, Finn drops onto the couch beside me, his head falling back against the cushions. “So we do nothing?”
It’s the one question that’s been asked on repeat, none of them willing to believe we’re helpless. That there isn’tsomethingwe can do.
“No,” Griffin snaps. His voice is dark, feral. “We don’t do nothing. We make sure he never lays a finger on her again.”
His gaze finds mine, and I remember the vow he made in the bathroom. That if Kyle had taken me from him, he wouldhave killed him before following me straight into the afterlife. His expression now tells me he still means it.
“There’s only one thing you do with sick bastards like Kyle,” he says coldly. “You get rid of them.”
Finn gives a half laugh, more out of disbelief than humor. “What, like kill him?” he says, clearly expecting someone to scoff or call him dramatic.
Griffin doesn’t blink.
The room stills. Finn’s eyes go wide. “Wait, no—seriously?” He glances at the others as though searching for confirmation. “Dude! We’re not the fucking mafia or some shit. We can’t just go around killing people.”
No one says anything. No one agrees with him. But no one tells Griffin he’s wrong either. The air is thick with something heavy and dangerous. We all know Griffin. Know the quiet rage he carries like a loaded weapon. He wouldn’t say it if he wasn’t thinking about it. If he wasn’t already planning.
Ethan exhales slowly, measured as always, the voice of reason. “Griff…his dad has money. Serious money. You make someone like Kyle disappear and there’ll be consequences. Investigations. Questions.” His eyes widen, intent on Griffin. “You’d go toprison. Your future would be over. Any chance at the league, gone.”
“You think I give a fuck about hockey right now?” Griffin snarls, stepping up to Ethan. He stabs a finger in my direction. “The only thing I give a shit about is keeping my girl safe, and unlike you, I’m willing to sacrifice anything—everything—to do that.”
He glances my way, and the amount of love I see there, the level of obsession, scares me. Not because it’s too much, but because I know he means it. He would burn the world down for me. He would destroy himself just to make sure I’m safe. And I can’t lose Griffin.
“I’dgladlygo to prison for her,” he states loudly, confidently, with his chin lifted high.
“No.” My voice breaks over the syllable. Just the thought of… “No,” I say more firmly, pushing to my feet and crossing to him. I press my body against his, grasping his face with my hands. His hands slide to my hips as though the action is involuntary. Like he can’thelpbut touch me. “I can’t lose you, too,” I implore him. “I need you—here. With me. Withus.”
He softens, just barely. One hand lifts, brushing my hair back, his fingertips lingering along my jawline like a promise. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, Hurricane.”
I press a hand to his chest. “Then stay. Stay here. Stay withme.” I choke over the final words, tears momentarily blurring my vision.
Ducking his head so his forehead rests against mine, those piercing blue eyes of his threatening to swallow me whole, I see the war raging within. The internal battle he’s fighting.
The fury. The loyalty. The need to protect me at any cost.
“I survived Lucas on my own,” I murmur, voice low but steady. I’m aware of the others listening, and while I’m speaking to Griffin, my words are for them too. “I fought my way through it.Alone. And I would’ve kept doing it on my own if I had to. But now I know what it’s like to have you—to have all of you—and I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back.”
“Hurricane.” Griffin’s voice is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It’s soft, haggard, cracked. “You’d still have them.”
I shake my head, refusing to hear his words. He sounds so set on his decision, and honestly, that scares me more than seeing Kyle today. The thought of losing Griffin is moreterrifyingthan facing Kyle.
My fingers fist the front of his top as I shake him.
“Kyle’s not the first guy who’s hated me just because I dared to dream outside the box,” I say, voice sharpening with convictionas I meet his resolute gaze with a defiant one of my own. “Because I took a spot he thought belonged to him. Because I wanted something I wasn’t supposed to want. And he won’t be the last. There will be others—on the ice, in the NHL, in locker rooms filled with ego and entitlement. Guys who think a girl like me shouldn’t exist in their world.”
That does the trick. His fingers tighten around my hips, murder flashing in his eyes—but this time it’s not for Kyle. Well, not solely for him. It’s for all potential future threats.
Yeah, I realize I’ll have to talk him down from going after them too. But future problems and all that. I can only take on one battle at a time, and today, this is it.
“You’re no good to me stuck in a prison cell. I need you out here.With me.Please,” I murmur.
Closing his eyes, he exhales heavily before giving the slightest of nods.
The relief I feel is monumental. Still, I cling to him as though afraid that if I let him go, he’ll stalk straight to wherever Kyle is and rip his head from his shoulders without a single care for the consequences.
“We do what we’ve always done,” Jax mutters, and I look up, realizing the three of them have come to stand with us, all four of my guys surrounding me. He looks between each of the guys. “We keep our girl safe.”
As though forming a pact, they all nod in agreement. “We keep her safe,” Finn mutters.
