Page 67 of Falling for the Pucking Bad Boy

“I’m sorry, Snowflake—”

“Don’t be,” she retorts. “I knew what I was doing. I don’t regret it.”

I didn’t think she did. However, it doesn’t help.

“I don’t want you fighting with your dad,” I reply. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

She lifts her shoulders. “He’ll get over it.”

I wish I had some life-altering words or some strategy that could help.

“I don’t want you to deal with this alone,” I mutter. “I’m leaving for Tampa tonight. After…one more game with Montreal.”

“I think I should stay out of this one,” she replies softly. “The media is going to be there tenfold, I’m sure, and it’ll throw my dad off his game.”

I step forward and reach for her hip, pulling her to me. “You wanna come with me to Florida? Get some breathing room?”

“I’d love to come.” She frowns then. “But I’m unsure if throwing this in my dad’s face will help our cause. Maybe we should lay low for a few days.”

Lay low.

It's not the answer I wanted, but I still get it.

Regardless, it doesn’t take the knot of anxiety from my chest because time away gives her time to change her mind.

And I don’t know why that scares me, but I know the press. It’s a heavy damper on your life when they don’t fuck off.

“Don’t make any decisions without me,” I emit softly. “This will blow over.”

“I know.” Her voice isn’t convincing enough, and I feel I’m losing her already.

“I love you, Rory,” I force from my lips, my last line of defense coming down as the words prick at my skin. “I want this more than anything.”

Her face softens before she rises on her tiptoes and places a chastising kiss on my lips. I’m not sure if it’s to make me feel better or her. But it doesn’t hold the same passion as last night.

She just got into a fight with her dad, dumbass. She’s not in the mood.

“I want this, too,” she says finally. “What’s after Tampa?”

“Atlanta.”

“I’ll meet you in Atlanta then. That okay?”

“Baby, if I could put you in my pocket, I would.”

She smiles at me. “I love you, too, Judson Wells.”

While her kiss is sweet and innocent, mine is full of unyielding lust. Her words spark an animal in me that wants to cement those words to memory and have her in my veins again.

These are three words that I never considered much of anything. While they were nice to hear from other people, it knocks me off my world when Rory says them.

Off my axis.

I will marry this woman one day and mark her as mine. Fuck anyone who tries to get in the way.

“You sure you don’t want to sneak into Tampa?” I mutter against her lips. “I can think of several new places I'd like to fuck you.”

She chuckles lowly and wraps an arm around my neck. “If you’re thinking of a beach, that will get messy.”

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