Caged (Gold Hockey Book 11) by Elise Faber (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

“I’m not.” She swallowed. “Now, I have it on good authority that a certain sexy, bearded forward is . . .” She named a location that wasn’t too far away.

No fear.

Just rightness.

“Excuse me,” Dani said, pushing up out of her chair and moving to the door. “I need to go to him . . .”

“Dani?” Fanny called just as her fingers wrapped around the cool metal of the doorknob.

She stopped.

“For the record, no one is allowed to tell you how to feel. Not even me and my pushy self,” Fanny said with a smile. “And definitely not those asshole inner voices. Just . . . throw in some mental earplugs and listen to your heart. That will always give you the strength to make the right decision.” Fanny went to the door, warm brown eyes staring into hers, turned the knob, and opened it wide. “You got this.” A wink. “Plus, love and the power of the Gold are on your side.”

Dani released a long, slow breath and nodded.

Fanny smiled approvingly. “It’s just that easy, babe.” A beat. “Now, go on and tell that man what he means to you.”

Dani slipped into the hall, moving toward the place Fanny had mentioned, knowing there were a million other post-game things she should be doing, and number one of those was that she shouldn’t be walking out of the office she used while at this arena. She should be labeling and splicing and loading content onto devices, emailing it out to players and coaches so they had it before they could even think about wanting it. But tonight, as she took that first step, as she strode down the hall and passed the tunnel that led to the arena, the cool air of the ice hitting her skin, she paused and watched the men and women walk across the rink, repairing it, prepping it for the next game.

And she found peace . . . and courage.

Ethan could run, but she’d find him.

He could avoid her, but she wouldn’t stop showing Ethan she loved him.

So, yes, there was courage inside her.

Instead of pain and fear, anxiety and insecurity. Those sharp spikes that had lived inside her for so long, eased by Ethan but still hiding in the background, threatening, waiting, making it so she had to breathe carefully and move cautiously, lest she do either wrong and jab herself . . . they’d retreated, disappearing into the ether.

Permanently.

Because she loved Ethan.

She turned away from the rink, and with that simple thought on her mind, in a sort of perfect moment of symmetry, she spotted Ethan.

Dani watched as he, still in the bottom half of his gear, his strong chest and arms on display with a tight black undershirt, smiled and fist-bumped a little girl who was maybe seven, the Gold jersey she wore engulfing her from her neck nearly down to her toes. After they spoke for a few minutes, he gently reached for the little one, those hands giant on tiny shoulders as he spun her so he could use the marker her mom held out to sign his name.

That done, he handed the pen back, and they talked for a little while longer. But he didn’t seem to be in any rush, even though he had to be tired, had to be wanting a shower and to get out of that wet gear.

Finally, he took some pictures, got a hug and another fist-bump, and waved at the mother and daughter as they disappeared down the hall.

Dani waited, hardly breathing, and the moment the daughter and her mom were gone, Ethan turned, his eyes coming unerringly to hers, as though it wouldn’t have mattered if she possessed the ability to camouflage with her surroundings, he would have still known she was there.

Her lips parted on a silent exhale, her heart thumping against her ribs.

He walked toward her.

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.

Then he was there, towering over her even more than normal with the extra inches gained from his skates, and her nose was filled with the scent of salt and spice and . . . Ethan.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted.

His eyes gentled. “Sweetheart,” he murmured, his hand wrapping around her wrist in one smooth move—as though it were an unconscious action, as though he’d greeted her that way for an eternity, with his slightly roughened fingertips running along the delicate skin there. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have rushed you. I should have—”

Unbidden, her eyes burned, her throat working as she attempted to swallow the sob bubbling up in its depths.

She wanted this.

She wanted him.

“I love you, Ethan.”

“Sweetheart,” he said gently, his thumb drifting a little higher.

“I’ve been trying to find you all damned day, wanting to tell you that from the moment you left with your parents.” She grabbed his shoulders, shook him lightly. “I was surprised, yes,” she murmured. “And scared. And had a full-on panic attack.” She inhaled sharply, released it slowly. “Truthfully, I am still a little scared because what I feel for you is so big, so intense, so much more than I’d ever hoped. But I love you, so fucking much.”

Her eyes continued to burn, and in a heartbeat, she lost her battle with tears, one sliding down her cheek, a hot, liquid brand, then more streaking in their wake. “I thought I’d messed it up.” She sniffed. “I thought I’d lost you, and for one second, I wanted to give up.” She shook her head. “But I won’t give you up, even if you keep trying to avoid me and push me away.”

“I wasn’t.”

She blinked at the fierceness in his tone. “What?”

“I wasn’t trying to push you away,” he said, cupping her jaw. “I fucked up. I hurt you. I scared you. I needed to find a way to prove to you that I would wait.” He rested his forehead to hers. “I needed to make it up to you. To—”

She yanked out of his hold.

“You stupid, stubborn man!”

His mouth fell open.

“That