Page 125 of Trade Deadline

“Is this her?” I hold my phone out to Hayden.

He takes my phone, then nods. “Yeah, that's her.”

“What’s her?” Blaine asks, concerned.

“She was one of the people sending the awful messages.”

“No fucking way.” Blaine’s features harden as the anger rises. “Fuckin’ bitch.” He turns to Hayden. “Can I get someone banned from games? I don’t want her anywhere near me or Alex.”

“Possibly? It’s been done before but I wouldn’t know where to start…”

Blaine turns to face me, his hand cupping the side of my face. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I’m sorry it didn’t click in my head when you showed me the messages, but I promise you that she won’t be bothering you anymore.”

I lean into his touch, smiling at his protective ways.

Because I know this man would fight to the end for me.

Thirty-Nine

Alex

May

“Are you sure about this?”Nate asks as he parks his car outside Paw-loved Adoption Center.

“Yeah, he’s going to love it.”

I’m pretty certain Blaine’s going to love the surprise I’m planning. He hasn’t stopped talking about how much he loves Boomer since they got him five months ago, and I know it bums him out that he can’t bring him home. But as I moved in with him last month and Blaine signed an eight-year deal to stay with Thunder, I knew this is the right time for him to finally get the dog he always wanted growing up.

With Ethan’s help, we’ve managed to hire two new assistants to help run the shop, allowing me to do a bit more graphic design work and giving Jacob more time to have a life again.

The door beeps as we push it open, alerting the assistants to our arrival. I’ve already gone through the thorough background checks a week ago and notified Brent—who was handling it all—that it’s a surprise for Blaine and about his occupation.

It turns out Brent is the one who helped Thunder choose Boomer, so he fully understood our situation.

“Hey, Alex!” Brent greets me with a warm smile. “How are you? Excited to take him home?”

“I’m so excited; it’s been really hard keeping it a secret from Blaine. I’m pretty sure he suspects something is going on.”

I’ve already chosen the dog for Blaine and me.

I just hope Blaine loves him, too.

Brent laughs. “Let's hope he isn’t too mad. He gets home tonight, right?”

I nod.

Thunder made it to the playoffs, and their flight lands tonight. Luckily, it’s only from Calgary, so he’ll be home before midnight.

Brent swipes his key card over the door and leads Nate and me through the corridor to the kennels. The sound of dogs barking fills my ears, and my heart crumples at the sound of sad howls.

I wish I could take them all; maybe I can convince Blaine to get a house in the country with loads of land so we can rescue all of the dogs.

Maybe one day when he’s retired.

The dog—nicknamed Puppy Dog as he’s currently nameless—I’ve chosen is a golden retriever-german shepherd mix, and when I heard the story of how he ended up in the shelter, I cried. My heart broke for the poor, sweet puppy, and I knew he was meant to be ours.

“How has he been?” I ask.

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