Page 66 of Wrong Score

Afterward, we lay tangled together, his arm wrapped around me as if he can’t bear to let me go. I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, my finger tracing the scar on his shoulder from the surgery on his arms years ago. The injury that cost him his career.

He and I each have scars, some physical, some internal, but laying in his arms, I feel more at peace than I have in a long time.

Bex shifts, pressing a tender kiss to the top of my head, pulling the covers up over my bare hip to keep me warm, and then murmurs, “I want to give this… us… a try.”

I can’t keep the dumb grin off my face or stop the giggle that’s begging to bubble out of me. I stare up at him finding no hint of hesitation—just that same determined focus he brings to everything he does.

“Yeah,” he says, his lips curving into a small smile. “We’ll tell the Hawkeyes and your boss. I don’t see why it would be a problem. Half the Hawkeyes players are dating women who work for the team. This isn’t any different.”

My mouth opens, then closes. Bexley Townsend, notoriously private and fiercely protective of his personal life, is suggesting we go public—now? He’s diving in, fully committed, as if he’s thought it all through and made a decision. And I realize… of course he has. Bex doesn’t do things halfway. He’s deliberate, and when he goes after something, he’s all in. He’s choosing me, and he’s ready to let the world know it.

I can’t help the rush of excitement, but I doubt Charles will feel the same. In fact, this is a conflict of interest, even though he did just tell me to sleep with Bex for the story. “Charles might see this as an issue since I’m supposed to be unbiased with my articles about the team. I need some time to find a way to tell him. Are you okay with waiting to tell everyone?”

He stares back at me for a moment, debating it. “I need to tell Sam, and I can explain to him the situation that you’re in. He’ll keep it to himself. But don’t make me wait long, yeah? You’re the first thing in my life that I don’t want to keep a secret. I want everyone to know. ”

I nod, feeling like I’m in a dream to be having this conversation with Bexley Townsend while laying naked against him in his hotel bed.

He reaches for my hand, tangling our fingers together over his chest.

“My age isn’t an issue for you?” he asks.

“No,” I say. “Though I’d prefer it if you were a little older. That guy at the gala was really doing it for me before you scared him off.”

“Is that right?” he asks, reaching over, tickling my side.

I squeal and push his hand away. I’m ticklish and he doesn’t need to know that he can use that against me. Besides, I have my own question to ask, and it’s not one that comes easy.

“Does the fact that I can’t have kids bother you?” I ask, tracing a line with my finger down his chest, not allowing myself to meet his gaze.

He pulls me impossibly close. I thought I couldn’t be any closer to him but he proves that’s not true. He slides a finger under my chin and lifts my head to meet his eyes.

“I wantyouRowan, nothing else matters. I’m not Drew,” he says.

“I know you’re not,” I say because I know it’s true. He and Drew couldn’t be any more different.

“Since we’re doing this, I need you to promise me something. It’s important,” he says, staring up at the hotel ceiling.

“What is it?” I ask, watching him from my spot tucked into his side.

He lets out a breath, and I brace for whatever it is he’s about to tell me. “Lily left after our first two years of marriage. When I got drafted, we decided to get married. It was either that or break up and we’d been together for four years, it seemed like the next logical step.”

“That makes sense. A long-distance relationship would have been hard,” I tell him, encouraging him to continue.

“She moved away from her family and friends to live with me in the states when I started in the NHL. My rookie year was hard on her. I practiced every waking hour and traveled a lot during that year. The second year, I didn’t ease up. It seemed like I had more to prove to my team than ever, and my hard work paid off. We won our first Stanley Cup. But Lily was feeling more like a fan than a wife. I picked hockey over her every chance that mattered. I didn’t love her the way I should have. When the tabloids heard that Lily filed for divorce, they loved the narrative that I was unfaithful to her. That infidelity got between us while I was out on the road. But the truth is, I was always married to hockey, there wasn’t room for Lily.”

I didn't know the inner workings of his marriage to his first wife and their divorce, but his hate for the media now makes more sense as to why he stopped taking interviews. I can’t blame him for that.

“That’s why you stopped taking interviews with the media,” I say, putting more of the pieces together for why Bex doesn’t play nice with the press and why he was quick to paint me out to be after gossip.

He nods. “She left divorce papers on the kitchen table and when I showed up from an out-of-town game, she was already packed. It was our anniversary… I didn’t even remember. I signed the papers and after she left, I went straight back to the stadium to practice.”

“You were young, and the pressure was high,” I say, trying to offer some kind of excuse for him.

He shakes his head, his eyes still on the ceiling. “That wasn’t it. You know… she used to knit back in the UK—nothing big, just little animals or a hat for her gran’s cats,” he says with a snicker. “And she used to sing when she did the dishes. There were just all these small things, and it took me years after our divorce to realize that she stopped doing all of those things during our last year of marriage. I killed her spirit, Rowan. And that’s why I’ve stayed away from you all this time.”

“You won’t kill my spirit. You said it yourself, I need a man who can handle my fiery personality.”

A small smile stretched over his lips. “That’s true.”

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