Page 67 of Heartfelt Goals

Her fingers trailed light, distracting swirls over his chest, and for a second, he almost let himself get lost in it. Almost. He caught her hand, stilling it, because he needed to think—needed to focus on the storm raging inside him.

“I know,” he murmured. “But if this gets out…”

She stilled, eyes locked on his.

“What happened?”

Dustin hesitated. He trusted her. Gosh, he trusted her more than anyone, but saying it aloud made it real. Made the consequences feel inevitable.

“You can’t say a word,” he said, his voice tight. The emotion pressing against his ribs felt almost unbearable.

“I won’t,” she promised without hesitation. “You know me.”

Dustin exhaled, his grip on her hand tightening slightly. “I do. And I trust you.” He swallowed. “But this is big. If it got out, it would be… it would change a lot.”

She reached for him, her fingers tracing a slow path over his jaw, grounding him in a way only she could. “Dustin, you’re stalling,” she murmured with a small, knowing smile. Then, as if sensing how much he needed her, she nestled back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Talk to me.”

His throat worked as he forced the words out. “Matthieu lied.”

Laurel blinked. “About what?”

“He and Jeannie aren’t married.”

“What?” she whispered, stunned. She lifted herself up slightly, her eyes wide with disbelief. “That was a condition of the spot on the team,” she sputtered, shaking her head. “It was the reason we got married and?—”

“I know,” Dustin said, his voice raw.

“They’ll cut him if they find out,” she breathed, her hand gripping his arm.

“I know,” he repeated, the words aching in his chest.

The room fell into silence, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Dustin closed his eyes, pulling her closer, needing the warmth of her body against his own. He held her as if he could protect them both from the storm that was coming.

He knew what it felt like to be in Matthieu’s shoes—to feel like everything you’d worked for could be taken away in an instant. He knew the fear of making a desperate choice, of gambling with your own future, because there was no other way.

And now, Matthieu’s secret was out. How long would it be before someone else knew? Before someone guessed? They had to provide a copy of the marriage certificate, so how did he getpast that obstacle… and that meant that Jeannie was in on the lies, too.

Why?

Dustin pressed a lingering kiss into Laurel’s hair, breathing her in.

He didn’t know how to fix this.

In a perfect world, he’d say‘Get married’and be done with it, but there was the paperwork. Someone would find out sooner or later, because the media loved to dig up old skeletons in the closet, and Boucher was a perfect example of that. Matthieu was too young to realize that, to understand, and he didn’t want the starry-eyed arrogant kid to end up in the same mess… not after seeing how it nearly destroyed Boucher.

Closing his eyes, he quickly kissed Laurel’s forehead and felt her squeeze him in silent understanding. No, this was beyond them, beyond anything any of them could do. He had to keep himself free of the mess because he couldn’t afford to get penalized or lose his job. Not when he had Laurel and Kendall, his family, to take care of.

“Even though I messed things up for a while, I’m so glad we took these steps together,” he whispered tenderly, kissing her once again. “I’m never looking back.”

“Me neither.”

“You mean the world to me,” he admitted, hesitating and scared to use the ‘L’ word, afraid that it was too soon, too much. “Laurel, if you didn’t already know it, you truly mean everything to me, and I don’t want you to ever have regrets or wonder about things. I know you want more…”

“I want you happy,” she interrupted, stressing that in the silence in a hushed whisper as she lifted up to look at him, meeting his eyes. “I want happiness for you and for us to work on building our relationship and creating a home together.”

He nodded, overcome with emotion, as he realized she wasn’t pressing him for more.

“I am happy,” he confessed hoarsely, his eyes searching hers. “I’m happier than I ever dreamed possible with you.”

---