Page 54 of Grumpy Darling

Gray pulled me upright and grasped my face in his hands. “Are you okay?”

Nothing was hurt, but I was shivering from the adrenaline pulsing through me. “Just a little shaken. You?”

“I’m fine.”

“The puck didn’t hit you?”

“No. It missed us both.”

“You reacted so fast.”

“I told you I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”

My heart was still racing, but when he stared at me like that and said those words, I wasn’t a hundred percent certain it was just because of the puck.

But the moment shattered as his expression darkened and he glanced over my shoulder. “What were they thinking? You can’t mess around with a puck like that when there are people skating so close by.”

I grabbed his hand to calm him. There was a slightly murderous look forming in his eyes.

“Parker’s dealing with it,” I said, since I could still hear him shouting.

Gray looked primed to race off and confront the other boys, but I kept a firm grasp on his hand. “I think I’m done with skating for today. Want to go get ice cream?”

He hesitated but slowly returned his attention to me. “What I want is to kill those guys.”

“It was just an accident, Gray. And no one was hurt.”

“You both okay?” Reed shouted as he skated over to us. Violet was standing on the edge of the lake with a worried look on her face.

“We’re fine, Reed,” I called back to him. “But we’re calling it for the day. We’ll catch you guys later.”

I tugged Grayson’s hand, pulling him from the ice. The last thing I needed was for Reed to come and offer Grayson some backup. The kids playing hockey were already terrified as Parker went off at them. They didn’t need all three Darling boys defending me.

Gray was quiet as we changed back into our shoes and made our way to his truck. It was only once we were both inside that he spoke again.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared on the ice,” he said.

“Really? I guess having a puck flying at you is a little different when you’ve got a helmet on.”

“No, it’s a little different when it’s flying atyou.” The look in his eyes when they met mine was so intense I felt a lump form in my throat. “I can’t handle the thought of something bad happening to you, Paige.”

“Well, nothing bad did happen, thanks to you.”

He nodded and looked away from me, before taking a deep breath. “I saw this afternoon going a little differently.”

“How so?”

“Less pucks to the face,” he said, shaking his head. “More skating, I guess.”

He kept his eyes facing forward, and I wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling me. The truck roared to life before I could question him any further.

“So, ice cream?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” I replied.

He was clearly shaken by our near miss, and his expression remained troubled as he pulled away from the curb. He wasn’t the only one. There was nothing like a rogue puck flying past your head to get your heart rate going. But I still couldn’t be sure if that was the only thing to blame.

Chapter 13

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