Page 152 of Pucking Obsessed

We both need the comfort of this connection, sitting in the wood’s cold shadows.

I was playing at Halloween fears before, but now, human ones have come true…and they’re more frightening than any mask, costume, or movie.

What the hell is happening to D’Angelo?

“We won’t.” Eden’s courageous calmness settles Shay but also me. It’s the medicine that I need right now. “Cody’s driving. Your brother’s here.”

“Can you hear me, Ryn?” Cody calls. “It’s going to be all right, I swear. I’ll be with you soon. Look after my sis for me, Shay. Can you do that?”

Shay’s shivering reduces. He straightens his shoulders.

I can tell what Cody is doing. He’s giving Shay the task that he needs to calm him and get him through this.

Thank you, bro.

Shay sets his jaw. “I can. She’ll be safe with me.”

He pulls me more fully onto his lap.

I settle my head on Shay’s chest, listening to how fast his heart is thudding. It’s still reassuring to feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest after the terrible moment, when I had to watch the man I love so fucking much collapse like he’d been poisoned.

As if he’d just died in front of me.

Heine did that to me.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t with you tonight. I’m so fucking sorry,” Cody says.

My eyes prick with tears. “None of this is your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but Heine’s.”

“I lost Jude.” Shay sounds heartbroken. When I tip my head back to study his face, his eyes are glazed. He’s biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. “I didn’t protect you, Dee, and now I haven’t—”

“Stop,” Eden says, sternly.

“Heine attacked all of us. He spiked our drink.” I scrunch up my nose, trying to piece together my fragmented memories of the night. “Do you remember how the waiters were dressed as angels? The jerk is a billionaire, plus the club’s owner. He could have easily arranged for that detail in this annual event, then bribed his way onto the caterers. Dressed as a waiter, we’d never know that there was a problem with the drink.”

“Heine took a risk,” Eden says. “He would have been angry with Jude for not following his orders. He saw his chance, when you went outside.”

So, I was to blame. It wasmysuggestion.

I blink the tears from my eyes. “How long was I…?”

“I don’t know.” Shay is scanning the road that leads into the woods, on the alert. “But only a couple of minutes longer than me, thank fuck. I’ve kept an eye out for that bastard returning, but he hasn’t.”

“Have you told security? Dad?”

“My legs aren’t working, love. It’s why I can’t get us at least back to the road. I just phoned my brother. I didn’t know about calling anyone else without talking to you. I mean, this is huge if our boss truly has kidnapped the captain of the team. But Jude’s safety comes first. I know that. I simply couldn’t take the decision, when this is your dad’s team.”

I freeze.

This could be the end of the Bay Rebels. If we call the cops, it will be.

We would need to be honest about the circumstances of how we were drugged, which would mean about why D’Angelo, Shay, and I were together outside.

I can imagine the headlines now:Hockey players in Satanic Orgies in the Woods.

And those would be the friendly ones.

D’Angelo and Shay’s careers would be over. Our relationships would be misunderstood, while we’d be hounded to death. It would be the worst way for our dynamics and polyamorous relationship to become public.

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