Page 116 of Choosing Their Omega

Both teams are on fire after what just happened. My teammates are clearly pissed that I’ve been sent to the sin bin and know I must’ve had a good reason for attacking the guy, but the Grizzlies are energized by the victory of putting me in the box and angry that I just broke the nose of one of their defensemen. Everyone fights tooth and nail, but in the end, the Grizzlies take the W with only a couple minutes to spare in the third period.

I’m fucking furious, and I know I’m not alone in that. I’d probably still be angry no matter what, but it’s extra galling after the shit that guy said about Lily. They don’t deserve to win when they’ve got guys like that on their team.

At the same time, even though I’m pissed that we lost… I don’t regret it, if it means that Cruz’s shoulder is okay and he doesn’t get seriously hurt. And I don’t regret it if it means that everyone, especially the Grizzlies, knows that Lily is off limits.

We chirp at each other in hockey, it’s how it goes. It’s friendly when it’s between teammates, but we get aggressive when it’s the other team, and everyone expects it. But that was beyond the fucking pale. If anyone else had heard what he’d said to me, they’d agree. That guy and the rest of his team had to be taught a fucking lesson, and I don’t regret it.

Protecting Lily, our Omega, and standing up for her, is more important than anything. Even a hockey game.

I get off the ice, and I can tell right away I’m not the only one steaming. My teammates would all probably punch someone right now too if they could get away with it. The groan that our home crowd let out when we didn’t make it rings in my ears.

Yeah, we’re going to have to get the Grizzlies back for this, but good. Maybe on their home turf, see how they like it.

I strip and shower and get changed quickly, then leave the locker room. I’m going to sit outside in the quiet hallway, let the other guys take their time. The room feels claustrophobic right now.

Nobody blames me for taking the penalty, I know that. I don’t feel any resentment. It’s just frustrating and I kind of want to find a punching bag to wail on a bit, get some of that extra restless energy out.

But when I exit the locker room, I find that the hallway isn’t deserted like I assumed. Someone’s there, and I recognize her by her scent even before my eyes find her and my conscious brain calculates who she is.

Lily.

She’s leaning back against the wall near the family loung, and she smiles warmly when she sees me. “Hey, you.”

“Where’s Ben?”

“Jennifer’s got him.” Jennifer is the wife of the player who hosted that party for the kids while Lily took us on the walking tour. Ben likes her, and he’s safe with her. “I wanted to come say hi and make sure you were okay.”

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her, dropping my head down onto her shoulder. She’s shorter than I am, although the height difference isn’t as crazy as it is with Knox, but I don’t mind curling in a little. It just makes me feel like I’m shielding her, wrapping myself around her.

“I wish the game had gone differently,” I admit, because I want to be honest with her. “But I don’t regret defending you. I’m always going to do that. We all are.”

Lily pulls back and looks up at my face, frowning. “Did they not clean you up?”

“What do you mean?”

She sighs in fond exasperation and pulls away, then digs through her purse. “Hold on, I have some basic first aid stuff with me. It’s good to keep around when you’re running after a rambunctious kid, since you never know when they’ll get a scrape.”

She pulls out some supplies and then takes my face and tilts it down, and I realize she’s talking about the cut or scrape over my eye. I got it from the helmet when the other guy was trying to get me off him or something. The fight itself is a bit of a blur. I noticed it stung but didn’t even bother to look at it in the shower.

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Lily’s voice is warm but firm.

She takes care of that and then looks at my knuckles, which are a bit banged up since I took my gloves off to give the guy maximum damage. She can’t bandage them properly here, but she can clean them and put on some band-aids.

I watch her work, my heart swelling with love.

“You shouldn’t have done it,” Lily murmurs. “You shouldn’t have gotten into that fight. Especially over me.”

“How’d you know?”

“He was jerking his head toward me while talking to you.” Lily blushes. “And I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant, but… I don’t think you would’ve gotten into such a fight over something else, not so easily.”

“That’s not arrogant. That’s a fact.” I take her hands in mine to still them. “Lily, I’m always going to defend you. No matter what.”

She stares up at me with her wide blue eyes, and I can’t wait another second to tell her how I feel. The words bubble up in my throat. It’s not the sweeping romantic moment that you get in the books that Lily and I love. We’re in a random hallway in the back of the arena, outside of the locker room where all my teammates are, the lighting is crappy, and it smells like cleaning solution and sweat.

But it doesn’t matter. We could be standing in a palace full of rose petals and it wouldn’t make a difference to me. What matters is that Lily is here, taking care of me, and I love her, and she needs to fucking know it.

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