Page 87 of Pucking the Team

“Dude, you see this?” one text reads, followed by a link.

“What’s going on with you and Emma? Ryan too?” another demands.

My pulse quickens, a sense of unease settling in my gut as I click on the link, my thumb hovering over the screen. The page loads, and I feel the blood drain from my face as I take in the shocking headline splashed across the gossip site.

“NHL Star Lukas Dvorak Caught in Steamy Love Triangle!”

Beneath the bold text, a series of grainy but unmistakable photos stare back at me. Pictures of Emma, Ryan, and me at that dinner in Miami, our intimate body language captured in damning detail.

In one shot, my arm is draped over Emma’s shoulders, my lips brushing her ear as I lean in close.

In another, Ryan’s fingers are laced with hers, their joined hands resting on the tabletop in a gesture that screams of tender affection.

My blood boils as I scroll through the images, each one a frozen moment that seems to tell a scandalous story. The captions beneath the photos are even worse, speculating about the nature of our relationship and the potential fallout for the team.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, my mind reeling with the implications.

This is bad. Really bad.

If the media runs with this, it could turn into a PR nightmare for the Blizzards.

And Emma…fuck. Emma’s worked so hard to prove herself, to earn her place on the team.

The last thing she needs is this kind of salacious gossip undermining her credibility.

I try to calm my racing thoughts, to think through our options. But all I can focus on is the urgent need to find Emma, to make sure she’s okay.

I glance at my phone again, realizing with a sinking feeling that I haven’t heard from her since the story broke.

She might not even know yet.

Shoving the device back into my pocket, I take off at a jog, my destination clear. I have to get to Emma’s cubicle, to be there for her when she inevitably discovers the headlines. My mind races as I navigate the hallways, searching for the right words, the perfect way to reassure her that we’ll weather this storm together.

Because we will. We have to.

This love, this incredible, complicated, wonderful thing we’ve built with Ryan and Alex and Slade, it’s worth fighting for. Worth facing down whatever challenges the world wants to throw our way.

I just pray that Emma sees it that way, too.

CHAPTER 39

EMMA

I’m sitting in my cubicle, sipping coffee and absentmindedly scrolling through social media, looking for posts about our team to amplify, when something stops my thumb dead in its tracks.

It’s a photo of Lukas, Ryan, and me, our faces clearly visible, as we’re on our date together in Miami. It’s a whole gallery of photos, I realize, but in the first one, Lukas has his arms slung over both of our shoulders. I have my hand up, laced in his, while he’s whispering something in Ryan’s ear. Ryan is blushing, grinning.

The caption reads “NHL Star Lukas Dvorak Caught in Steamy Love Triangle!”

We look very clearly like three people in love. I’d actually like a copy of this photo if I didn’t have the sinking feeling it was about to wreck my whole life.

“What the actual fuck,” I mutter under my breath, my mind reeling. We were in such a casual part of South Beach, not anywhere that you’d find paparazzi. And it’s not like Lukas or Ryan are easily recognizable celebrities in Miami. It’s not like Chicago, where they get recognized on the streets by rabid Blizzards fans.

How did?—

“EMMA COLLINS!”

I nearly jump out of my chair as Alison comes barreling into my cubicle, her face flushed with anger. She slaps a printout of the very same photo on my desk.

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