Page 108 of The Assist
“Let them,” he says fiercely. I lift my head to look at him. His jaw is set, and his eyes are burning. “I’m not ashamed of you, Mia,” he says. “I never will be.”
“I know,” I say, and I do. “But if it gets out my career and everything I’ve worked for is at risk.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he says, gentling. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I swallow hard. “Neither am I.”
He pulls me closer, and presses a kiss to my forehead. “We’ll be smart,” he says. “No more sneaking around the rink. No more impulsive physio room incidents.”
I flush hot, remembering.
“No more stealing kisses in corridors,” he adds.
“That was your fault,” Igrumble.
He grins wickedly. “Pretty sure it was mutual.”
I can’t argue with that. “We’ll be careful,” I say again, mostly to reassure myself.
“And Sophie’s friend is helping me look into the contract. There’s a loophole. It’s thin, but it’s there. I just need to make sure we’re watertight before we figure out the next step.”
“Good,” Dylan says fiercely. “I don’t want you risking everything for me.”
I touch his face, and let my thumb brush over his jaw. “You’re not just ‘for you’ anymore,” I say softly.
He turns his head, kisses my palm. “You’re it for me, Mia,” he says. And God help me, I believe him.
We stay curled together on the sofa until the sky outside turns from pink to deep velvet blue. We talk about everything and nothing all the stuff in between. Planning stupid future dates we’ll have to hide. Joking about renting a fake office so we can make out during lunch breaks. Dreaming out loud in the way you only do when you’re falling so hard it terrifies you.
And through it all, the quiet, unshakeable truth, I’m his and he’s mine. Whatever happens next, we’re in it together.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
DYLAN
It’s game night, and I’m wired. Not from the usual nerves. Not even from the pressure of needing a big win after last week’s loss. No, tonight, it’s something way worse. Mum’s here. In the building. At her first ever live game. And after months of begging, bribing, guilt-tripping and practically blackmailing her, she’s finally come down to see me play.
I pace around the player’s lounge, tugging my hoodie over my head, then dragging it back down again. Murphy watches me from where he’s slouched in a chair, smirking.
“Christ, mate,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re worse than Ollie before his first playoff game.”
I flip him off without much heat. My mind’s already somewhere else. Namely Mia. And the fact that in about five minutes, I’m dragging her into the private family section to meet my mum. Secretly. Without making it look like anythingweirdis happening. Because the last thing we need is the team, or worse, Coach, figuring out that Mia’s not just the team physio to me anymore.
She’s everything.
And I’mfucking uselessat hiding it. Jonno shouts for warm-ups to start, and Murphy hauls himself up. “You’ll befine,” he says, clapping me hard on the back. “You love her. She’ll love you.”
“Talking about my mum or Mia?” Murphy winks and jogs off toward the rink. I take a second to breathe deeply and try to look like a normal, fully functioning adult male. And not some lovesick idiot who’s about to introduce the girl he’s head over heels for to his mother under the sketchiest circumstances imaginable.
Good luck, Winters.
I spot Mia immediately as we head onto the ice for pre-game warm-ups. She’s standing near the bench, clipboard in hand, head down like she’s double-checking something important. But her eyes flick up and catch mine, and for half a second, everything else disappears.
The noise. The lights. The players shouting. It’s just her. God, she’s beautiful. I can’t smile because I can’t give anything away. But my chest feels like it’s splitting wide open.
As I skate past, close enough that the air stirs the loose strands of her hair, she flicks her gaze down in a way that almost no one would notice.
But I do. It’s the smallest thing, but it’s ours, and it’s enough to get me through the warm-up session.
