Page 106 of Ruthless Game

Now wasn’t the time to talk to them about what the doctor said.

Still, I felt lighter than I had in a long, long time.

And I had Max to thank for that.

The rest of the week was a beautiful blur. We swam in the lake every day, sometimes twice a day, Max getting better and more confident each time, and then we’d fuck after, in every position possible, before collapsing in a heap in each other’s arms.

After Max and I talked through the pain of the past, we talked about the good things. My future thoughts about a family—our family—his goals when he joined the Beasts, his career ambitions, even his plan for when he retired from hockey. I don’t know what you do with a history degree, but I want to do something with it. Maybe I’ll go back and get my Ph.D. after I retire, he’d said. We talked about our dreams for our life together, and how they had changed.

Every day, he did what he could to show me he wanted to make his mistakes up to me. Feeding me yellow Starbursts, holding me through another flare-up, telling me how much he loved me and how sorry he was.

Even though something he’d said to me about what happened the night of the party nagged at my brain, and I couldn’t figure out what. Couldn’t pinpoint the bit that felt off.

When we weren’t talking, we were all over each other. Max spent most of his time inside me, until I was pretty sure he’d fused himself in there. We’d both come more times than I thought was possible. He’d go from edging me to forcing orgasm after orgasm out of my body, until I was nothing but a mindless heap of flesh below or above or in front of him. He’d fucked me in every direction and every way possible, and I loved all of it. So did he. And the fact that I’d only ever been his—and he’d only ever been mine—made it hotter, better. We’d discover sex and all its intricacies and intimacies together … and only together.

Max. I’d stopped thinking of him as Lawson. He wasn’t the boy I’d once known, but he wasn’t the cold, ruthless stalker who’d tracked me down at that pub in Oxford either. Instead, he was some wonderful mix of both: confident, possessive, dominant, obsessed, willing to destroy anyone who hurt me, but with a softness reserved only for me; only I could see, only I could touch.

And that almost made everything we’d been through together worth it.

Almost.

But if I ever saw those two girls who assaulted him? Or found out who sent him the video of “me”—or posted it on social media—I’d kill them.

“Who do you think did it?” I asked Max as he carried our bags to his truck. He had a game that night, so we needed to head back to Reina. And as much as I knew it was time to get back to the real world, I was reluctant to leave our little bubble behind.

He knew exactly what I meant. “I don’t know. Jack’s older brother is a hacker, and so he’s looking into who sent me those texts and posted it, but so far, they’re turning up nothing. I can’t fucking think of anyone who’d pull something so spectacularly fucked up.”

“Whoever it was had to have known what my birthmark looked like,” I pointed out.

“You were on the swim team in high school; it could’ve been anyone. And no one I know hates you, or me, as far as I know.” He shrugged. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter. We’re together now, and when Micah tracks down whoever it was, I’ll kill them. Handled, see?”

I rolled up onto my toes to kiss him. “I love when you get all violent and scary for me.”

He snorted. “Good. Because if anyone hurts you again, or tries to separate us, they’re going to have to deal with a lot of violent and scary.”

Pulling me tight against him, he kissed me back—hard, deep, a claim and also a promise.

And silently, I made a promise to him, too: That I’d find the girls who’d hurt him, and I’d make them suffer for what they did.

“You know, Lawson’s not going to love that you’re meeting us without him here,” Jack drawled.

I blinked.

“He’s protective, but I’m assuming none of you will hurt me,” I said to him. Jack, Isaac, Asher, and the twins. “Am I wrong about this? Because then I will call him.”

Jack chuckled. “Protective’s one word for it.”

“More like he’s a possessive asshole who doesn’t want you anywhere near another man, ever,” Isaac explained.

“Speak for yourself.” Asher rolled his eyes. “I have no plans to get possessive over anyone.”

For some reason, this made the rest of them laugh their asses off.

“I think my little cousin, Maya, might feel differently—” Isaac began.

I gaped. “Maya? Like my co-swim instructor, Maya? No.” I shook my head. My curiosity would have to wait. “Stop derailing me. I met you all because I need help with something, but I can’t tell you why.”

Jack’s eyes glinted. “And why can’t Lawson know?”