Page 64 of Long Hard Road

“Everyone knows,” Harpers said. “They know who she is.”

“Ah.” Nate sank onto the seat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t hide that beautiful face, Madison. I want to show you off.”

“I don’t want everyone to stare,” I whispered.

“Too late for that, babe.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Let’s at least give them a reason to stare.”

I had never been comfortable with my fame. I didn’t like the attention of strangers and the way people felt like they could comment on private aspects of my life. I had always done my best to keep my personal life away from those prying eyes. But when I looked up and saw Nate staring at me like I was the only person in that entire arena, I did what I always wanted to do when he was looking at me like that. I kissed him.

He returned the kiss instantly and deepened it, burying a hand in my hair as he pulled my head even closer while sliding his tongue between my lips. I twisted a hand in the front of his shirt and let out a moan that caught the attention of the Sullivans in front of us.

“Get it, girl!” Lily sang out happily.

I broke away from Nate’s mouth with a laugh and then buried my head in his shoulder when I realized everyone in our section was staring at us. When I lifted my head, a few people had their phone cameras pointed right at us. I ignored them and turned back to Nate, pressing my lips firmly against his.

“That’s my girl,” Nate said proudly, gray eyes twinkling. “No more hiding.”

“No more hiding,” I agreed.

I felt good about that decision as the teams took the ice. Some of the people who had been staring now focused their attention on the players. Nate pointed out which players were his niece and nephew and Chase gave me the rundown of which players on the other team were known for being little jerks on the ice.

Just as the game was starting, two girls stopped next to Nate. “Madi? Could we get a picture with you?”

“Oh. Um…” I wanted to say no. I would have to get up and move into the aisle to take the picture and the people around us would be annoyed. Not to mention that once I took one picture, I’d likely be asked to take a bunch more. But there was no good way to reject them without sounding like a snotty celebrity.

“Now isn’t a great time with everyone watching the game, but maybe you could come back during intermission?” Nate said with a smile.

“Yeah. Sure!” The girls smiled happily and skipped back to their seats.

“That was smooth, Sullivan,” I said, giving his leg an appreciative squeeze.

“I’ll be happy to run interference for you, but I want a picture with you too,” he said, sounding surprisingly serious.

I kissed his cheek. “You can have the first picture, honey. As many as you want. Everyone else can wait.”

His arm stayed around my shoulders throughout the first period. I was impressed that he didn’t seem at all uncomfortable with the staring and pointing. The rest of the Sullivan family was also relaxed under the awkward conditions and when I asked Harper why she wasn’t bothered by it, she reminded me that they had a semi-famous brother.

“Noah tends to draw a lot of attention too,” she explained. “And when we go to his games, the cameras like to focus on the family members who are in the stands. We’ve gotten good at ignoring it.”

“Your fans are a lot more polite,” Ronan said. “Noah tends to attract the crazies. A lot of young women looking to hook up.”

“When Noah ignores them, they turn their attention to the guys,” Harper said. “It’s disgusting watching them throw themselves at my brothers.”

“And me.” Ronan grinned. “I know it bothers you, Harp.”

“You wish.” Harper put extra sass on her reply that did nothing to hide the flush in her cheeks. “Those women are fifteen years younger than you. Sometimes twenty.”

“And do you ever see me flirt back?” he countered.

She frowned. “No.”

“Exactly.” Ronan was staring at Harper with a mixture of exasperation and adoration. He might be an honorary Sullivan, but there was something between those two that had nothing to do with being pseudo-siblings.

At intermission, the girls returned with a half-dozen more friends. I squeezed past Nate to take pictures with them. They were sweet girls who told me how they watched my show as kids and loved my music. I was glad that I was able to make them happy by taking a few pictures and chatting with them.

Nate had moved into the seat next to Harper and was chatting with her and Ronan. I didn’t want to make him move again, so I took his seat at the end behind Tom.

The second period was intense. Evan’s kids were clearly the stars of the team and were responsible for all three goals. The opposing team was staging a comeback and tied up the game just before the second intermission.

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