Page 85 of Second-Rate Superstar

“I’m right here.” Three simple words, and they cracked my heart wide open.

Fuck. She knew what I needed better than I did. Our connection was the only thing anchoring me.

Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I inhaled her scent.

How could I not believe in fate when she had walked into my life at the exact moment I needed her? She took my mind off the stress and pressure of playing with Jaxon, giving me the perfect distraction. Not only that, she’d become my outlet. For so long, I’d kept my feelings inside, but I didn’t have to hide with her. She saw me for who I was, never once asking me to be more.

Tightening my grasp, I held onto her for dear life. So long as I had her, I didn’t need anything else.

Swallowing back the pain, I whispered into her hair, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

With her face pressed to my chest, Dakota’s words were muffled. “I’m not.”

Stunned, I pulled back enough that she could peer up at me. “You’re not?”

She shook her head. “It was the wake-up call I needed. All these years, it’s nagged at the back of my mind, wondering why my dad didn’t care enough about me to want a relationship with me post-divorce. Today, I realized that maybe I was better off.” She reached up to cup my face. “But I hate that I had to watch you suffer to see that.”

“It’s fine.” I sighed. “I’m used to it.”

Dark blue eyes searched mine. “It’s not right. No child should be used to their parent verbally abusing them. Making them feel like less. You don’t deserve that.”

Leaning down, I pressed my forehead to hers. “Thank you for being here tonight.”

Fingers stroked my cheeks. “I wish you’d told me about Jaxon’s celebration.”

“I didn’t want you to feel obligated. I wanted you to come to watch me play because it was whatyouwanted. Not because it’s what you thought I needed.”

“You were incredible out there tonight.” Her voice was filled with reverence.

“You don’t have to say that. Jaxon made me look good.”

Hands gripping my face, she forced my head back. “Honesty, right?”

Releasing a heavy breath, I confirmed, “Yeah.”

“Then believe me when I say it wasyouI was watching all night. Not your brother. It wasyourname I was screaming in the stands. And it’syourname and number I’m wearing on my back. How many times have you told me it’s a team game? Would you be downplaying your role if you were the one giving the assists to Jaxon?” She arched an eyebrow.

“No,” I grumbled.

She was right. Jaxon’s presence tainted my perception of my own game. I was seeing things that may or may not even be there because I expected them to be. Jaxon took care of everyone in his life, so it only seemed logical that he would go out of his way to look out for me on the ice. But so long as we were out there together, I would never know for sure if I earned any of it on my own.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” I breathed out, dipping my head to brush my lips against hers.

It was meant to be a quick kiss, but she deepened it, slipping her tongue inside my mouth. Groaning, I gripped her hips, trying to bring our bodies closer. She drove me insane in all the best ways. Her heart and soul only added to the physical attraction I felt for her.

Breathless, she broke away. “Is it crazy to think we were exactly what the other needed?”

Nuzzling her neck, I whispered, “Not at all.”

There was a smile in her voice. “And to think I almost wrote you off as nothing more than a cocky, self-absorbed, asshole athlete.”

Smirking, I couldn’t help myself. “Maybe we can keep cocky in there.”

Her laughter rolled over me like honey, thick and sweet. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

Stepping out of my arms, she took in my appearance, still dressed in my gameday suit. Smoothing her hands over the lapels, her eyes darkened. “You look nice.”

“Oh yeah?” I did a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn so she could get the full experience.

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