Page 12 of The Enforcer

“Yes.”

“Do you need anything from the pharmacy? More bandages or something? Ice maybe?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he asks, looking at me like he’s genuinely trying to understand.

I shrug my shoulders and smile. “Because it’s nice to be nice. I don’t need more of a reason than that, do I?”

He just watches me as I stand up and put the first aid kit on the sink.

“Okay, well… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nods as he watches me back away toward the door.

“Bye!” I give an awkward wave and head out of his room and back down the stairs.

“Tell me everything,” Alina says once I’m in the car with my heart pounding. “What happened up there?”

Something happened up there, I say to myself as I think about the intense way he was looking at me.

But I have no idea what.

Chapter Four

Tucker

It’s three in the morning and I’m still staring at the damn ceiling.

Sleep won’t come no matter how hard I try.

Every time I close my eyes, I see her.

I’ve never met anyone like Jane.

She has an angelic innocence that is gripping me. It won’t let me go. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.

But along with that sweet innocence is a fiery passion that made me come alive. She wasn’t intimidated by me at all. She didn’t care about my fame or my size or my bad temper. She stood her ground and held her head high as she took me on.

It was at that moment I fell in love.

“Stop,” I growl as I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling. You don’t want this. You don’t want any of this.

She’s not the girl for you. No one is.

I yank the blankets off me and get up with a grunt.

Sleep is not going to happen. Not with this angel on my mind.

I head into the basement with my heart pounding. I need to burn off some energy. A game would have been nice tonight, but unfortunately, we were off.

I’m playing the Oakland Lumberjacks tomorrow and then we have another home game with the Seattle Centaurs. I wonder if that beast Clint Maddock will be back on the ice by then.

I’m sure he’s going to want another shot at me if he is.

I turn on the light in the basement and head for the heaviest punching bag I got.

Maybe this will get it out of my system. If this doesn’t do it for me, I don’t know what will. I have a feeling this beauty is going to be haunting me for a long time.

I yank off my sweaty shirt, square up in front of the bag, and start punching until my knuckles go numb.

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