Page 151 of Playing the Pucking Game
He doesn’t release his hold on me. He doesn’t care that my tears are soaking his hoodie, or that my makeup is rubbing off on him.
He just holds me like I’m the most precious thing in the world, and the only place he wants to be right now is holding me together.
Pulling my face from his chest, I look up into his dark eyes. “Thank you for coming,” I whimper when my sobs have subsided.
His hands move to my cheeks, holding me so tenderly, my eyes burn all over again. “You’re my girl, Parker. I’ll always come when you need me. Always.”
39
PARKER
My heart is like a runaway train in my chest as Linc’s eyes hold mine.
Memories of that night have emotions roaring within me.
Devastation, grief, sadness. But it didn’t end there.
Linc turned up and proved to me that there’s more to life than cheating, lying assholes.
But as good as things might have been, my heart was still shattered into a million pieces.
“Linc.” His name falls from my lips like a plea.
His words. The way he’s looking at me. The way his hands are twitching at his sides like he’s desperately trying to stop himself from reaching for me. It’s everything. The thing dreams are made of.
But I can’t.
My heart has been ripped to pieces and stomped on one too many times by ice hockey players. And Linc…he’s the biggest player of all.
What he just said…
Fuck, it makes my heart flutter in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced before. But it would be naïve of me to allow myself to run away with them.
What I just said was true. Linc doesn’t do serious. He does hook-ups. And if we were to do that…
Well, there would be no coming back from it.
He holds more power than those two forgotten men of my past combined. He always has.
If I were to hand myself over to him…
I can’t. I have to stay strong, retain the power, and not let myself be swept away by his pretty words and sexy body.
He finally gives in to his need to touch me, and his hand lifts to my cheek. I startle as if struck by electricity as his warmth seeps through me.
Unable to stop myself, I lean into his touch.
“All you have to do is say the word, babe.” My eyes close as the deep rasp of his voice flows through me.
It would be so easy to agree.
But it would also be reckless.
I’d be asking to get hurt.
I managed to do the right thing and protect my heart once.
I’m not sure I’ll be strong enough to do the same thing twice.
