Page 98 of Defend Her Heart

Niko appears at my side, but I shake my head. “Say it,” I spit at Bryan.

He turns to Avery, his feet still dangling in the air. “I’m sorry.”

I set him down on the ice. “Good boy.” I shove him so hard he stumbles backward, falling right on his ass.

I’m fully expecting to be on Avery’s shit list after that display of toxic masculinity, but when I turn, I see her covering her mouth with her hand. She drops it and places her hands on her hips. “Good boy? Really?”

I shrug one shoulder, but can’t stick around because the ref has me by the back of my jersey. There’s only four minutes left in the second period, so he escorts me to my bench to head down the tunnel.

Right before we get there, the ref steps in front of me. “You know you’ll probably get a hefty fine for coming off the bench and bashing his face in like that right?

I smile at him.

“It was worth every fucking penny.”

My eyes track Connor as he gets escorted from the ice to the tunnel that leads to the locker room. He stops and says something to the ref that makes him laugh and shake his head. I wish I was close enough to hear, but I guess I’ll have to use my imagination.

My chest still feels tight from what just happened. From Bryan’s words. From the way Connor didn’t hesitate before he was off the bench, flying past me, throwing punches like there wasn’t even a single doubt in him about who he was defending.

The fact that he called me his wife in front of everyone should probably make me panic. Or angry. Or something rational.

Instead, my skin is still buzzing. My core clenching. I don’t even realize Ted is saying something in my ear until he raises his voice.

“Avery! Is everything okay down there? Did we lose you?”

Oh, shit. The broadcast is still going, and I literally haven’t said a word since saying, “good boy” to Connor. God, I hope my mic wasn’t on for that.

“I’m here. Sorry about that. It’s my first timeat ice level, and I guess the action stole all my attention.” I fake a laugh and hope everyone watching is believing what I’m saying.

Ted laughs, too. “I totally understand. That was a good one. You got a front row seat. Did you hear what they were saying? Any clue what that was about?”

I’m sure half the people watching know exactly what it was about. It’s no secret I used to be married to Bryan. Although I always tried my best to stay out of the spotlight because I wanted to further my career, Bryan was all about the attention. Our history, combined with yesterday’s article, makes it pretty easy to figure out why they dropped the gloves. Bless Ted’s heart. He’s older and doesn’t pay attention to any gossip. I’m not even sure if he remembers me telling him I was married to Bryan.

I do my best to feign innocence. “You know, I’m not sure. After the earlier scrum by the net, maybe something was said there that prompted what just happened. But, man, that was a good one. It’s gonna take a few minutes for the ice crew to clean the ice here.”

On cue, the crew comes to a stop in front of me. They use their skates to scrap the ice that’s covered in blood and then shovel it into the trash can they brought with them. Once that’s complete, the referees by the penalty box finally disperse and the main ref announces the different penalties. After announcing Connor and Bryan’s match fighting penalties he points to the jam-packed penalty boxes.

“And everyone else gets two minutes for roughing.”

The crowd laughs, and I can’t hold mine in either. Apparently there were other fights happening because there are four players in each penalty box, which means everyone on the ice was roughing someone up.

Connor’s overprotectiveness and his decision to fight Bryan should probably not be making me all hot and bothered, but here we are. I take a seat on the stool Ted demanded they provide me down here and try to calm my poundingheart. I finish the rest of the second period sitting on the stool and chime in whenever Ted asks me a question. He must know I’m feeling uneasy because as soon as the period ends I hear him in my headset.

“Come upstairs, Avery. You’ve shown your face enough. No need to push yourself so hard just to sway the public’s opinion of you. If anyone has anything to say about it, they can come talk to me.”

Warmth blooms in my chest at the care and concern I hear in his voice. He’s right. I’m glad I was down here showing the world that some gossip article isn’t going to scare me or keep me away. But I’m also feeling the effects of being on my feet.

I push open the door to the broadcasting booth, and Ted immediately stands. He thrusts a water bottle into my hand and then holds a salt capsule out in his palm. I keep a container nearby at all times and he’s seen me take them a few times. The fact that he thought to do this at all makes my heart swell even more.

“Thanks, Ted.” I smile before popping the capsule in my mouth. I wash it down with water and look down to see him offering me his hand now.

“Well, come sit already. Sheesh.” His exasperated tone nearly makes me snort, but I hold it in because what he’s doing is so thoughtful and I don’t need to be laughing at his concern.

The third period flies by and the players are surprisingly on their best behavior. Probably because St. Louis scored early and then again with five minutes left in the game, putting them down by only one goal. There’s forty-five seconds left and they just pulled their goalie.

“Phillips heads to the bench for an extra attacker. Forsberg flies down the boards carrying the puck across the red line. Smith steps up at the blue line before he can gain entry into the Bobcats zone. Forsberg fires it in. Less than forty secondsleft now and St. Louis sends three men to the puck. Koskinen is down low, holding the puck to the boards trying to eat up time. The ref blows the play dead.”

I take a sip of water while Ted continues. “That was a pretty quick whistle. St. Louis has thirty-three seconds to try and tie this game up.”