Our team congratulates each other, about to line up to slap hands with the Boston players when Preston swings at Kellan. My mouth falls open in shock as I watch the horror unfold in front of us. Bex gasps, covering her mouth with her hand.
Preston lands a punch to Kellan’s jaw, backing him up against the glass. Kellan attempts to dodge Preston’s fists, though he takes more hits than he misses. But Kellan eventually gets a clean hit on him. Bex cries out as if she’s in pain when Preston’s head turns to the side as Kellan hits him hard in the nose.
Before it escalates further, both teams are surrounding them, their teammates clawing at their jerseys to pull them apart. The linesmen force their way through the crowd, but even they can’t stop Preston as he takes one final shot that spews blood from Kellan’s nose and mouth.
From this vantage point, I can see Preston’s skin is covered in blood. He stares down at his knuckles after Kellan’s body slumps to the side, forcing his teammates to catch him. But the madness doesn’t end there. Nope, Preston spins around to face his teammates and ends up elbowing a linesman in the face.
“Oh my God,” Bex says with tears streaming down her face. “What the fuck did he just do?”
Drake’s dad shakes his head and lets out a deep breath. “He just killed his career,” he growls, his voice so deep and scary it sends a chill down my spine.
Chapter Eighteen
Drake
After the game, I take a shower and find my dad waiting for me outside the locker room. He’s leaning against the wall, his thick arms crossed over his chest. Even at his age, he’s still in game-ready shape.
“Drake,” he says, raising his hand to beckon me with his finger. I rush over to him, and he slaps me hard on the back, then he pulls me into a hug that could crack a rib. “Good game, buddy.” He sighs, holding me for what feels like a long time before he releases me from his death grip.
“Everything okay, Dad?”
He sighs again. “Yeah, just wanted to check on you. After what Preston did…” His voice trails off as he shakes his head in disappointment. “His career is over. Alex will have to pull a lot of strings to get anyone to look at him after that stunt he pulled. What was the fight about? It looked personal.”
“I have no idea.” It’s the truth. “Preston said he kept getting in his face, so he laid his ass out.”
“Don’t ever do anything stupid like that. My name might go a long way, but it won’t dig you out of a hole that size. Promise me you won’t make the same mistake as Preston. We have too much riding on your future.”
My entire life has been a series of events leading up to a professional hockey career. I’ve never planned for another future. Hockey is it for me, plain and simple.
“I wouldn’t think of it,” I admit.
“I’m proud of you.” He pins me down with his intense gaze. “You looked good out there. The Senators won because of your last save.”
I roll my shoulders. “We did it as a team.”
The corners of his mouth stretch into a wide grin.
He wouldn’t be happy with me if he knew the shit I’ve done over the last few years at school. Getting called out by The Queen for dick pics wasn’t my finest moment. Almost losing Taylor over it—that was an all-time low. The thought of disappointing my dad hits me like a punch to the gut. My dad’s here because he worries about me. Seeing Preston throw his career down the drain must’ve kicked his parental fear into high gear.
He cups my shoulder with his big hand and squeezes hard. “If you need to talk about what happened tonight, you know you can come to me, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, I know.”
“Your mom really likes Taylor. So does Chloe. She invited her to the house for Easter dinner.” He drops his hand to his side. “She seems like a nice girl. So does her friend. From what I overheard of their conversation, Bex is the reason Preston started that fight. Don’t let women get in the way of your career.”
“Taylor isn’t getting in the way of anything, Dad.” My tone is defensive, maybe a little too aggressive. “If anything, my game has improved since I met her.”
“You’re still in the honeymoon period with her. Once real life kicks in, all of that will change.”
“It didn’t for you and mom,” I challenge.
He stuffs his hands into his pockets and shrugs. “Your mom is different. She turned my life around.”
“Taylor has done the same thing for me,” I confess.
“Do you love her?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“Love makes you do stupid things. Look at what Preston just did for Bex.”
“How do you know it was for her? Lehane is a dick. He’s always been an asshole to Preston because he’s the best in the league.”
“Was the best,” my dad growls. “And I know what I heard. So did your mother and Chloe. That fight was over Bex. Just ask Preston.”
Confused, I cock an eyebrow at him.
When Preston threw the first punch at Lehane, I was confused as fuck. Now, it all makes sense. He would do anything for Bex. Every time he was on the ice with Lehane, the two were going at it.
But what does Bex have to do with Lehane?
Does she know him? I don’t know how, seeing as he attends college in Boston.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m not planning to start any fights over Taylor.”
She wouldn’t need me to defend her, anyway. My girl can kick some serious ass. She’s better trained than every guy on my team put together.
“We better get over to the hospital and see how Preston’s doing,” he says.
While the rest of us stayed behind to shower, the team doctor drove Preston to the closest hospital. His hand looked broken, covered in blood and a bone popping out of the side.
“I’m gonna ride over with the team. I’ll meet you guys there.”
My dad hugs me again, this time harder than the last before he takes a step back from me. “I miss having you around the house. There’s too much estrogen with your mom and Chloe. I want you to come by sometime this week to hang out.”
“I don’t miss walking in on you and Mom making out in the kitchen,” I joke, though I mean every word.
They’re so damn lovey-dovey it drives me crazy. No kid wants to see their parents tearing off each other’s clothes on a regular basis.
He laughs. “It will just be you and me. Promise.”
I say my final goodbye to my dad and take out my phone to text Taylor telling her I will meet her at the hospital. I need to see her. It’s only been a few days, and I miss her so fucking much.
My parents insisted I bring Taylor to their house in South Jersey for Easter dinner. We both stayed on campus for the short break, so it was easy to convince Taylor to come home with me. But now we’re here, and she’s in complete shock over the sheer size of my family’s estate, I’m wondering if I should have told Taylor about this place sooner.
“Holy shit,” Taylor says as I drive through the gates that lead to the main house on the compound. “Is this a mini version of the White House? Jeez, Drake.” Her mouth falls open as she stares out the window in awe. “I knew you were rich but damn…”
“It’s not my money.”
She shifts in her seat to look at me. “Did you get lost in here when you were a kid? I mean, in all seriousness, does this place come with a tour guide or a map?”
Pulling into one of the six covered garages, I laugh at her silliness. Yeah, we’re mega-rich, but I couldn’t care less about the money. As far as I’m concerned, none of it belongs to me.
“How about I give you a tour of my bedroom?” I lean across the center console to give her a quick kiss. “I have a really big bed you should check out.”
“Your bedroom must be more like an apartment than an actual room,” she quips.
“Nah, there’s only a bathroom, kitchen, and a butler who tucks me into bed.”
Her eyebrows rise and then she shakes her head.
; “I’m joking, you know. I have my own bathroom and a few other rooms that are mine…”
She smiles so wide it reaches up to her clear blue eyes. “But you don’t have a butler?”
“No, we have one. His name is Francis. If you’re lucky, he’ll let you call him Frank. He’s kinda old- fashioned.”
She leans back against the leather chair and chuckles. “You’re serious?”
I nod, stripping off my seatbelt. “Yep. My mom grew up with live-in staff. She doesn’t know how to do normal mom stuff.”
“Okay,” she says, dragging out her words. “Now, be a gentleman and come open my door for me. Or do you expect Francis to do that for you?”
Laughing, I shake my head and slide out of my Escalade. “No, that’s all me. You beat me to it.”
After my mom and Chloe give Taylor a tour of the house, they enter the living room where I was instructed to wait with my dad. My mom and sister are thrilled that I’m dating Taylor. They thought I would end up hooking up with puck bunnies and fucking off for the rest of my twenties.
Before Taylor stumbled into my life, that was the plan. I never thought I would find anyone I could confide in like I did with her. Most women would have laughed when I confessed my secret.
Taylor plops down on the couch next to me, and I slide my arm across the back of her neck. She cuddles up next to me, the heat from her body spreading warmth down my thigh. Because it’s Easter, Taylor insisted she dress up for the occasion. Wearing a long yellow sundress that scoops low enough for me to see down her top, and I can’t stop staring at her.
“Drake,” Chloe says, snapping me out of my Taylor induced haze. “Do you mind if we use your love life for inspiration for our next book?”
“Huh?” Confused, I snap my head in her direction. “What? No… What are you talking about?”
Chloe gathers her dark hair in her hands and rakes her fingers through it. “Taylor told us about how you guys met. Mom wants to use your story in one of our books.”
What the fuck? I can’t believe Taylor told her about how we met.
“Enemies to lovers romances are super hot,” she adds.
“We were never enemies,” I counter.
“You weren’t exactly friends either,” Chloe points out.
For my sake, I hope Taylor omitted certain details of our relationship. My family doesn’t need to know every detail of my life. I don’t even tell my teammates about Taylor and me. It’s nobody’s business but ours.
“She just didn’t like me all that much at first,” I admit.
“Can you blame her?” Chloe snorts. “You were such a bonehead.”
“What did you tell them?” I whisper the words against Taylor’s earlobe, and she squirms in my arms.
“Nothing major,” she says in a hushed tone. “Don’t worry.”
“But at least you redeemed yourself,” Chloe says with a smile. “You’re not a total lost cause.”
“My baby knows how to treat a woman,” my mom interjects. “He learned it from me.”
“You mean from me,” my dad says.
She turns to look at my dad, facing off with him. They share an intense moment before she turns to look at me. “Your father is a good cookie. I suppose some of his good qualities rubbed off on you.”
My dad hugs her hard against his chest. She’s tiny compared to him, his large body covering most of hers until he releases her from one of his death grips.
“Your mother likes to use real-life inspiration for her books,” my dad says. “But she’s not prying into either of your lives to do it.”
Mom scrunches her nose at him.
She tried to do the same thing to my dad when they were dating. He eventually caved and let her use some of his life in her books. Years into their relationship, he even let her write a book about his dark past in a biography, which helped a lot of people who were struggling with similar issues.
Chloe sits up straight and sips from her iced tea glass. No one ever challenges my dad. This is his house. What he says goes. And in this case, it works in my favor.
After we eat dinner, I give Taylor a private tour of the house. We end up in my bedroom located on the second floor, in the corner of the east wing. Chloe’s room is on the first floor, but she went out for the night. With my parents occupying the west wing, Taylor and I have this side of the house to ourselves.
“I still can’t believe you live here,” she mutters, staring up at the high ceiling. “Are those stars?”
I follow her gaze and nod. “Yep. When I was a kid, I wanted to see the stars from my bed. So, my mom hired a painter to recreate the sky at night.”
“Wow,” she says, unable to take her eyes off the stars above us.
The ceiling is painted a swirl of blues paired with dots of white paint to create the perfect constellation.
I lead Taylor over to the bed. “Lay back,” I order, and she does as I request.
We snuggle up next to each other and stare up at the ceiling. Then, I hit the button on my bedside table to dim the lights.
“Oh,” Taylor says. “This is incredible, Drake.”
I point my finger at the sky. “See those three stars?”
“Yes,” she whispers, curling up in the crook of my shoulder.
I hook my arm around her. “That one is called Alnitak, and that one is Alnilam, and see that last one? That’s called Mintaka. They form Orion’s Belt.”
She rests her head on my chest, eyes fixed on the constellation. “I didn’t know you were so into astronomy. You surprise me more each day, Drake Donovan.”
“Just because I’m a jock doesn’t mean I’m a dumb one.”
She chuckles, her laughter shaking through me. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just you constantly surprise me. Every time I think I have you figured out, you shock me with something else.”
I kiss her forehead, still staring up at the ceiling. “Just trying to keep you on your toes, woman.”
She presses her palm to my chest, peeking up at me. “I didn’t tell your family anything personal about us. I said you were not my favorite person when we met, but I left out the part about you sending dick pics to every girl on campus.”
I pull her on top of me and then grip the side of her face as I bring her mouth to mine. “The only thing that matters is that you’re here right now.”
She sticks out her tongue to glide it along my bottom lip. I groan in response, her simple gesture awakening a deep-seated need inside me. My cock lengthens in response, the carnal hunger taking over.
When her lips part for me, I slip my tongue inside her mouth, moving my hand to the back of her head to deepen the kiss. We’re all tongues and feeling as our hands roam over each other’s bodies. With Taylor wearing this dress, it provides me easier access. I tug on the right strap that snaps, and one side of the dress falls down to her stomach, revealing her breast.
Rolling the pad of my thumb over her nipple, I rip a few moans from her lips. She kisses me harder. Her aggressive pace matches mine as she flips open the button on my jeans. The zipper is next. Taylor can’t get my cock out fast enough. She pumps my shaft in her hand, sliding her thumb over the tip to rub some of my precum down my length.
Pushing her dress up her stomach and over her head, I throw it behind her. The mattress is custom made and large enough to fit six people comfortably. I can have her any way I want in this bed.
“I want to ride you,” she hisses. “But you have to help me.”
I know what she means. We’ve talked about her fear of having all of my cock fully seated inside her if she got on top. I want to feel every inch of her, but I also understand how hard it is for her to take all of me at once.
Taylor strips off her panties, and then quickly undresses me, piling our clothes onto the floor. Her eyes fall to the long, hard length of my cock. She wets her lips and straddles my thighs, rubbing her wet pussy against my cock to tease me.
“Touch yourself,” I growl.
Her eyes cl
ose for a second as she rolls her thumb over her clit, making slow, circular motions. She’s so wet she drips onto my thigh. Reaching between us, I slide one finger inside her. Eyes hooded, she moans when I make room for another. She’s so damn tight that even my fingers are too big for her. We work in harmony with Taylor still playing with her clit and me shoving my fingers as deep as they’ll go.
“Drake,” she moans, hungry for more.
Clutching her hip with one hand, I slowly remove my fingers from her pussy. She groans at the loss, and her eyes shoot open. When our gazes meet, I grip her hips with both hands and lift her up and onto my cock. I know how much she can take at first. Taylor’s still afraid of my size. She doesn’t say much about it, but I can see the hesitation in her eyes when I’m about to go too far.
“Hold onto my shoulders,” I tell her, taking charge of the situation.
She follows my order, her nails digging into my skin hard enough to leave marks. I push a few inches inside her at a time, careful not to hurt her. Taylor’s eyes snap shut when I slide her halfway down my cock. A hissing sound escapes her lips.
“You okay, baby?”
“Uh-huh,” she whispers. “Keep going, Drake.”
I thrust my hips to meet hers, easing in and out of her. Once I feel her body relax, I pick up the pace. She’s so damn wet and tight. My cock pulses as I break through her inner walls, but I’m not ready to come. With our bodies still joined, I roll us over, covering her body with mine. Slowly, I take a few more inches. Her pussy’s so slick I slide out of her and then slam my cock back into her wetness.
Her insides clench around me, a tremor shaking through her with each pump of my cock. Taylor comes several times, each of her orgasms bringing me closer to mine. After she comes down from her high, I pull out and flip her over. Spreading her ass cheeks, I lick my lips at the sight of her juices glistening on her pale skin.
With her face pressed to the mattress, Taylor looks over her shoulder at me, unable to catch her breath. She’s panting, her breathing becoming more erratic when I slam back into her.
Defending Donovan Page 15
