Page 109 of Slash & Burn

Nearly all the teams had been mentioned and I was waiting for Cleo to come on to talk about the Holden Cove program. I must have been only half listening because I heard them introduce Holden Cove, but it wasn’t Cleo who walked out onto the stage.

It was Jill.

My heart stopped, and I shoved my chair back so loud it scratched the floor. Eyes whipped my way, but I didn’t care.Jill was there.

She walked to the podium, her face turning red as she unfolded a piece of paper in front of her.

“My name is Jill Jordan,” she said, her voice shaking and soft. She swallowed, forcing her eyes up for a brief second, before she lowered them again and went on. “I had the extreme pleasure of working alongside the greatest hockey player here tonight.”

The crowd laughed, and she laughed with them. “Call me biased, but I think you’ll see in a moment that my assertions are based on more than just my own opinion. The people of western Maine are proud, hardworking folks who put their families first and their dreams second. Many of them never leave the state, so when a celebrity comes to town, it’s kind of a big deal. Especially when that celebrity is one of their own. Grady Holloway might have shown up to read to the children of our community as a hockey player, but to them he was a hero. A hero who walked like a man, who got down on his knees to hear them better, who let sick children climb on him even with a bum shoulder.”

The crowd laughed again, and my face got hot.

“He spoke to the parents and teachers and nurses like he was one of them, even if he’d long ago set himself apart by becoming one of you. In a place where dreams feel very much out of reach, Grady gave those children, and those families, the path to find their own dreams—through books. Nothing can open a child’s mind to their own potential quite like reading. And thanks to Grady and his Boston Brawlers, over three thousand children were inspired to read this summer, and took home books to keep that fire stoked.”

Jill paused, looking out into the crowd and I almost called her name.

“You aren’t just hockey players,” she said. “To those kids and those communities, you are nothing short of magic. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for caring.”

As soon as she walked off stage I was out of my chair. I slammed through the side door, clearing the hallway that ran to the rear door in a handful of half-jogging strides. I was halfway to the backstage when her voice came from behind me.

“Grady?”

I whipped around to see her, paper still in her hand, shaking wildly.

“Jill.”

I was on her instantly, cupping her face and kissing her. I was too rough, too demanding, but she clasped her fingers around my wrists and held on. The need to get closer to her was like a drug I couldn’t fight. When she let out the softest whimper, my cock surged in my pants and I dragged myself back for a breath.

“You . . .” I didn’t even have the words. I swept my trembling fingers through her hair, staring down into her eyes like she was the air I needed. Because she was. “You came?”

She ran her hand down my chest, toying with the lapel of my suit jacket as she swallowed. “I needed to.”

Every muscle was like a live wire, the urge to hold her and never let her go coursing through me. “Why?”

She smiled to herself before lifting her eyes to meet mine. “Because I love you too much to let what you did go unrecognized.”

I froze. “Youwhat?”

Tears sprang to her eyes, recognition and regret swirling in them. “I’m sorry I never told you. I should have told you. I love you, Grady.”

My heart might have actually skipped a beat, I can’t be sure. All I felt was a knot in my chest coming loose and then my arms were around her, hauling her feet off the floor as I spun her around.

“Say it again.”

She laughed, her head pitching back. When I set her back on her feet, she took my face in her hands and brought me closer. “I love you, Grady Holloway.”

My forehead landed on hers, my eyes closing. “I knew you did,” I told her, staring into her caramel brown eyes. “You know how I knew?” She shook her head, biting down on her lip to keep from crying. “Because I love you too. I have since I don’t know when. You just appeared one day, taking up all the room in my heart like you’d been there all along.”

“Grady,” she sobbed. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to make this work.”

“Hey.” I swiped at her cheeks, catching every tear that fell. “I don’t either, Jilly. But we’re going to figure it out. Okay? Cause I’m not letting you go now.”

She nodded, sucking in a choppy breath. “Okay. Don’t. Don’t let me go. I like it right here.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, burrowing into my shoulder and I felt something big and heavy click into place inside me. She was it. This was it. We were it. From now on.

CHAPTER 45

JILL

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