Page 78 of Drawn to You

“Dane, I need you for a few minutes,” Monica says from nearby.

My excitement at seeing Dane fades as we both turn to look at her.

“I told you I’ll be busy with my girlfriend until tomorrow.”

She purses her lips in annoyance. “I set up an interview for you. We need to get going.”

“I’m leaving with Josie. Cancel the interview and don’t set up any more.”

He takes my hand and leads me toward the exit, Monica hot on our heels.

“Arnold won’t like this. He wants good publicity, not ‘you shall not ass’ hashtags and photos of you with your flavor of the week.”

Dane stops. I look over at him and say, “Ignore her. She’s just trying to get under your skin.”

He turns to face Monica, who is glaring at him with a brow raised and a hand on her hip.

“Did you just call Josie myflavor of the week?”

She scoffs. “Yeah. It’s not like she’s wife material. And you were told no women. Dane, you can either come with me, or I’m calling Arnold.”

“We’re done.” His tone is measured, but I also hear a note of fury. “I don’t just mean tonight; I mean permanently. When you call Arnold, you let him know he can keep either you or me. Not both. I won’t dress for the next game unless you’ve been fired.”

He squeezes my hand as we walk away, my heart racing with a mixture of adoration and trepidation. Dane is risking his career over this.

Once we’re out of earshot, I say, “I don’t want you losing your place on your team over me. Monica is annoying, but I’m used to it.”

“No one talks about you that way and gets away with it. Arnold made his point, and if he thinks this team is better off without me, I’ll let him make that call.”

“But if you get traded--”

“I won’t.” He looks around to make sure no one is within earshot. “My teammates are with me on this. I talked to them after the game. Either Monica gets fired or none of us are dressing for the next game. Arnold will fire her. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

“Are you sure?” My voice is nearly a whisper.

“About Arnold? Or about us?”

My heart pounds hard as I say, “Both.”

He cups my cheek and smiles. “I love you, Nosy. You had me at ‘touch my cat and I’ll stab you in your sleep.’ And when I’m in, I’m all in. No one mistreats my girl and gets away with it. Got me?”

Love for him swells in my chest. “Got it. And I love you, too.”

He leans down to kiss me, and just before his lips reach mine, I murmur, “Obviously you’re getting laid tonight.”

He laughs. “Obviously.”

After a quick, soft kiss, he leads me from the arena to the car waiting for us in the parking lot. Neither of us looks back as the car pulls away. That’s where the past is, and we’re finally completely focused on our present and future.

EPILOGUE

Dane

SIX WEEKS LATER

“Whoa, Saffron. Let’s get a snack later.”

The horse I’m riding at Linc and Trinity’s Wyoming ranch pays no attention to me, which comes as no surprise. This is the fourth day we’ve been here and every day, we’ve gone horseback riding. Every day, Saffron has had a mind of her own.

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