Page 51 of Unleashed

Where the hell are you?

Too aggressive. Delete.

My thumbs hovered over the keyboard. Since when did sending a text message require this much thought? When had I turned into some rookie working up the nerve to talk to a pretty girl, not a grown man checking on my woman?

Because Lily was mine. We’d skipped the whole label conversation, too busy exploring each other’s bodies to waste time on definitions. But in my head, in my heart, she belonged with me. No question. No doubt.

I pictured waking up to her wild bed head, stealing kisses between her endless cups of chai. Her cat judging us from his perch while she burnt another grilled cheese at midnight. The way she fit against me, all curves and sharp edges wrapped in citrus-spice that drove me crazy.

The future stretched ahead crystal clear—her curled up on my couch, working on her laptop while I did whatever-the-fuck I decided to do for retirement. But whatever it was, I’d be coming home to find her and Bright had taken over another corner of my space. Building something permanent, together.

So why did sending one text feel like skating through concrete? I’d faced down enforcers twice my size without flinching. But this woman? She knocked me off balance with just a look.

Fuck this.

You around?

I hit send before I could second-guess myself again.

Three dots appeared immediately. My heart kicked against my ribs, only for the dots to disappear.

Silver’s low whistle cut through the chaos of my thoughts and brought me back to the weight room. “Must be some girl to have you this wrapped up, Cap.”

“Done here.” I shoved to my feet, ignored Silver’s snickering, and pounded through the weight room door.

I prowled down the hallway, my footsteps echoing against the concrete floor. Most of the guys were still in the weight room or hitting their cardio. But plenty of team staff members filled the corridor. They slid to the side as I powered down the hall. Lily usually camped out near the ice or equipment room when she wasn’t holed up in that closet theUnleashedcrew called an office.

I spotted dark hair rounding a corner ahead of me and picked up my pace. Before I could call out, Riley stepped into my path.

“Cap! Hold up a sec.”

I shifted my weight, ready to brush him off, but the kid’s expression stopped me cold. His usual puppy-dog enthusiasm had vanished, replaced by something darker. “What’s going on?”

He shot a glance over his shoulder, lowered his voice. “I was hanging around theUnleashedguys earlier. You know, helping Adele with some editing stuff.”

His cheeks flushed. Kid was about as subtle as a freight train when it came to his crush on the older woman. He avoided my eyes. “Adele stepped out, but the tall guy, Traver, he and one of the other camera people started talking. They referred to it as the bye-week episode, tonight’s ep.”

The rookie dragged his hand through his hair, his eyes fixed over my left shoulder. Impatience rode me. I couldn’t care less about the nextUnleashedepisode. I’d yet to watch one and didn’t plan on changing that anytime soon. I needed to catch up with Lily, have it out with her. But I was still the captain of this team. “Spit it out, Puppy.”

He scratched the back of his neck, rolled his lips, then blurted, “It’s about you. This week’s episode is about you.”

The words slammed into me with the force of a crushing hit I never saw coming—the kind of shot that leaves you with ringing ears and no fucking clue which way is up.

“What?” My voice sounded hollow, distant. Some other poor bastard’s voice who just found out he’d been sucker-punched by the woman he’d let into his bed. Into his heart.

“Yeah. They’re saying it’s this special episode about your last season.” His eyes darted around the hallway. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind about doing it. But the way they were talking…” He trailed off, shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Seems like it might be kinda intense.”

The words landed hard. No warning. No time to spin out of the way. No time to brace for the hit.

My mind whirled in that weird space where your body hasn’t caught up but your gut already knows.

The pain hadn’t even started yet.

Lily had pushed for an episode about me. That time behind the food trucks. And I’d shut her down. Made myself crystal fucking clear.

She wouldn’t have done one anyway. Not without telling me. Not after everything. Not after nights spent tangled in my sheets, her sweet little moans in my ear, her scent all over my skin. Not after we’d become... whatever the hell we were.

Without another word to Riley, I barreled around the corner, past the social media office and the video editing rooms. Blood roared in my ears, drowning out everything except the need to confront her. To know what the hell was happening.

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