Page 215 of Risking the Pucking Defense
She’s there.
She’s… “Fuck,” I breathe as I reach for the handle and pull the door open. “Fucking hell, baby. I’ve been going out of my mind,” I confess as I drop into the passenger seat. “I…fuck.” One look at her tear-stained face and everything comes crashing down again. “What’s wrong, baby?” I turn to face her and reach for her hand. She lets me, which I take as a positive sign, but her tears don’t stop falling, and her chin continues to tremble.
She sniffles, and I fight all my instincts to allow her a moment to compose herself and find her words.
“I…I…” I squeeze her hand. “I’m scared,” she finally confesses.
Lacing our fingers together, I get as close to her as physically possible with the center console between us.
“Why? What’s happened?”
She sucks in a shaky breath before reaching for her cell. She unlocks it and stares at it for a moment, before handing it over.
I don’t look down to start with; instead, I hold her eyes.
“Whatever it is, I’m here. We’ll deal with it together, okay?”
When she nods, I believe her.
Leaning over, I press a kiss to her cheek before looking down at the screen.
At the top is an image I’ve looked at more times than I’d like to admit since I found it on my cell last night after our game, courtesy of Casey.
It’s of Hailee, Bea, Freya, Casey, and Sutton in their Vipers jerseys last night. I love it. It’s not just a group of friends enjoying watching a sport and the men they love. It’s so much more than that—for Hailee, at least. It’s strength, trust, embracing new friendships, and experiencing what life can be like with people on your side.
But then my eyes drop to the words written beneath it.
‘Vipers WAGs assembled last night to watch the boys beat the Blackhawks three to two. But who is the new addition to the squad, and is that a Hayden Monroe jersey she’s wearing?’
My brows pinch as my eyes shoot back up to the image.
How do they know what jersey Hailee is—
“Oh fuck,” I breathe, seeing something new for the first time.
“Yeah,” Hailee whispers.
Behind them is a mirror, and the reflection…well, it shows everything Hailee was trying to hide.
“How?”
“I don’t know. I approved it to go up on Casey’s Instagram, but it’s set to close friends and family only. I trust her but—”
“Someone leaked it,” I finish for her.
“I assume,” she says before releasing a huge breath.
“You can get it taken down, though, right? It’s just some bullshit bunny gossip site.”
“Y-yeah. I could easily.”
“Oookay, so…what’s the issue?”
“What if…” Hailee lets her words trail off, and I wait, my heart in my throat. “What if I don’t get it taken down?”
“Uh…”
“I mean, it’s going to come out eventually, right? Is it better to let it be leaked like this and come out slowly than to announce it publicly?”
