Page 32 of Charming Crosschecks

For Gerry, love wasn’t a game. It was a lifetime commitment—and he was all in.

The game ended with him parked in the penalty box yet again, not that Gerry cared. It had been worth every second just to exchange a few lingering smiles with Molly—who was staring at him from the stands like he’d completely lost his mind. Maybe he had. But for once, he felt perfectly fine with that. This whole relationship thing, the thing he’d resisted for so long, was starting to feel right.

Once, he’d been baffled watching his teammates lose their hearts so quickly. Giroux had practically sprinted into love with Becca. And Batiste? That guy was certifiably insane with how fast he fell for Aimee after just one blind date. At the time, it had seemed ridiculous. But now, with Molly, he understood. The kicker? He hadn’t even planned to fall for her. Heck, he’d actively avoided it. She terrified him.

Molly was everything he hadn’t thought he wanted. In his mind, his perfect girl was blonde, sleek, and bubbly—someone who would fit neatly into his neatly constructed life. Molly, though? She was the exact opposite. A temperamental, no-nonsense firecracker with jet-black hair that cascaded down her back and legs that could bring him to his knees just by standing there. Her sharp tongue kept him on edge, her fierce independence made him chase her harder, and her vulnerability—the part she worked so hard to hide—drew him in like nothing else ever had.

Behind her shields, she was softer, sweeter than anyone could imagine. It was there in the way her voice caught when she was nervous, in the unguarded flicker of uncertainty in her eyes when he kissed her. It was in the way she held herself, so strong and capable, yet with cracks she tried so desperately to keep hidden. He didn’t just see them; he wanted to fill them, to make her whole, to be her safety net when the world felt too heavy.

They were opposites in every way. He was chaos; she was order. He leaned into spontaneity; she clung to plans. She was the storm that shook his perfectly still waters, and somehow, impossibly, they worked.

Oh gosh, did it work…

He wanted to kiss her for hours the moment he spotted her in his jersey, losing himself in her touch, wanting to see all that dark hair spread across his pillow on a sleepy morning. He wanted to worship those curves, tell her he cared, and wished he could wash away all the doubts in her anxious little mind so she knew thatthis was it. But that wasn’t how love worked.

He could see now, more clearly than ever, that Molly needed those moments – the kind of emotional vulnerability that he wasn’t used to showing, the kind of assurance that made her feel cherished.

And now, with that knowledge burning in his chest, he knew it was game on. He was ready to play this game, to make her feel the love he had growing for her in ways she could understand.

Every kiss, every touch, every word would count, and he would make sure she never had to wonder if she was enough. Because in his eyes, she was everything. He knew the game and the rules now and was setting the board up in his favor.

He was playing to win.

CHAPTER 10

MOLLY

“So, you and Gerry, huh?”the blonde woman next to her said, grinning and stuck out her hand. “Becca Giroux – and number eighty is my man on the ice. This is Aimee, and she claims the mouthy one…”

“Only sometimes,” Aimee laughed before waving her off. “I’m kidding – sheesh, and don’t tell Theo that I even joked about that. He may be the biggest fighter on the ice, but he’s a sensitive little soul – and we don’t talk about that either.”

Both women looked at each other, winked, and then laughed.

“Welcome toAlonsy Alley,” Aimee smiled before hugging her. “I’m so excited for you and Gerry. He’s such a good dude.”

“We’re just dating.”

“Aww, you hear that Becca? She’s using my line…”

“I think we’ve all used that one.”

“I don’t even belong here. I mean, I bought my ticket and…”

“Girl, you don’t buy your tickets anymore, sheesh. First off, your man should be giving you one. Secondly, if you don’t have one, you go talk to the PR office because, lemme tell you – theywantthe significant others here. The more they make it onto the television, the better publicity it is, and people love the Coyotes right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah, about five years ago – not so much.”

“They’ve really cleaned up their act.”

“Yeah, do not Google that…”

“You know she will now. I would – and did. Some of the older players were—um, shall we say ‘active in the community.’”

“They were…activeandveryhydrated.”

“Drunken bro-hoes?”

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