Page 109 of Defend Her Heart

“I have a bunch of texts from the girls and two missed calls from my parents. What the hell is going on?”

I gently push her phone away from her face before grabbing it and setting it down on the nightstand again. It starts buzzing again, but I stop her when she goes to reach for it.

“There’s another article.”

Panic covers every inch of her face and she sits up, leaning over me for her phone again. “Avery, don’t read it. Someone told that Roger douchebag that we’re married. Then he goeson to insult the both of us. Please, spare yourself. It’s not worth it, baby.”

Her hand flies to her mouth. “Oh my god. My parents must’ve seen it. That’s why they keep calling me.” She reaches for her phone and this time I let her grab it. Avery holds it up in front of me and I see the word “Mom” flash across her screen.

Avery’s shoulders move up and down with how hard she’s breathing now. Cupping her face, I turn her head to me. “Breathe. It’s going to be okay. We can talk to them together.”

She throws her phone at the pillow beside me and jolts out of bed. Her legs start moving before I can even comprehend what’s going on. She paces my room back and forth until I stand in front of her, causing her to stop.

My hands find her arms and she looks up at me. “Avery, we’ll just explain everything. They’ll understand.” She squeezes her eyes shut and when she finally opens them, they start darting from the phone back to my face. “What’s going on, Aves? What aren’t you telling me?”

Finally, her gaze lands on mine and holds. “They have no idea I didn’t have health insurance and couldn’t pay for the tests. I didn’t tell them anything about my financial issues.”

My eyebrows scrunch as I try to understand. I don’t want to make her feel any worse than she clearly already is, but it doesn’t make any sense. Avery’s parents are the complete opposite of mine. They would do anything for her. As a matter of fact, they dideverything to ensure her dreams came true, including working overtime and seven days a week at times.

Avery must see the confusion on my face because she moves toward the bed to sit and pulls me down with her. She turns her body toward me, folding her hands in front of her.

“I never told them because I didn’t want them to worry. You know how hard they worked to pay for my prep school. Hockey is one of the most expensive sports there is and whenyou add in a private prep school, it nearly put them into bankruptcy. My mom still works full time as a teacher and at the winery on the weekends. My dad works himself to the damn bone, taking construction jobs out of state for weeks on end. They’re still trying to pay off all the debt from me playing, and I can’t even fucking play anymore. It was all for nothing.”

She shakes her head and releases a bitter laugh. “You know they would’ve found a way to pay for all those tests. I refuse to let anyone pay my way, but especially them. I should not be their burden anymore.”

It’s funny how different our lives are from each other. She doesn’t want her parents to sacrifice anything more for her, and my parents don’t even know the definition of the word. I’ve always been jealous of that part of her life, but hearing her say all of this definitely gives me another perspective. I just hate how much guilt and blame she’s putting on herself. What they did for her could never be a waste.

I place my hand over hers. “Aves, you may not want to hear this but you should know, what your parents did is what any good parent would do. They love you unconditionally, and no matter what, they were going to do whatever it took to make your dreams come true. I’d bet a million dollars they wouldn’t have regretted a single thing, even if you didn’t get a scholarship or play college hockey. And it wasn’t all for nothing. Your playing experience and knowledge of the game is what makes you one of the best play-by-play commentators in the country. It may not have been your dream back then, but I guaran-fucking-tee they’ve never been so proud of you.”

Avery’s phone starts buzzing on the pillow behind me and her eyes shoot to the spot. I give her hand a little squeeze.

“You need to tell them, Aves. I know you don’t want them to worry, but that’s what parents do. Well, it’s what parentsshoulddo.” Avery’s eyes fill with sympathy but I push past it, not wanting to dive into my own shit. “Besides, we have agame plan in place, so that should ease their minds a little bit. We can explain it to them together.”

The phone stops vibrating, and she exhales an exhausted breath.

“I think this is something I need to do on my own.”

I nod because I completely understand where she’s coming from. She’s always had an amazing relationship with her parents, so wanting to speak with them alone doesn’t surprise me. When I go to stand, her hand shoots out to stop me.

“But could you stay in here with me while I talk to them? With you by my side, I feel like I can conquer anything.”

I didn’t think it was possible to love this woman any more than I already do, but she continues to prove me wrong. She has no fucking idea how true those words are for me too. Lowering myself back down onto the bed I give her a smile.

“Of course, baby. Whatever you need.”

Avery leans over and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “Thanks.”

She’s gone before I can pull her back into me to extend the moment. She crawls to where her phone lies on my bed, and I reach over to grab mine as well.

The news of our marriage is spreading and my phone is going crazy with notifications. Most of them can wait because my girl is my priority, but I open the group text with the guys and immediately start chuckling to myself.

Jefferson

I know Roger Park is a fucking idiot, but I need to know if there’s any truth to his new article.

Mack Attack

What new article? Oh god, Connor is going to murder this guy. We should start looking for places to hide the body.