Offside (30 page)

“Dude there’s like five minutes left.”

“Anyone get hurt?” He fired over his
shoulder, already pulling off his shirt.

“What?”

“Who’s winning?”

The guy smiled. “The team with the hot chick
at center.”

By the time Logan was dressed and his skates
laced up the clock was ticking. He eyed the board at the end of the
rink as he ran toward the player’s bench. The entire left side of
the arena was filled with familiar faces. He spotted young Kendall
and her teammates jumping up and down beside Mr. Talbot and his
wife. He saw Duke and Jackie Everets, Gerald and Bobbi.

Herschel and Trent—hell even Trent had made
it out. His parents were there, having arrived just after him and
he saw them chatting with Connor.

Logan yanked open the door and moved onto the
bench, his eyes on the ice. Billie circled center, waiting for the
other team to complete their shift change. Shane and Danvers were
on D, while Strombley and Dearling were on wing. It was a good
line. A fast and hard line.

Well, except for Dearling.

“Holy shit, the princess decided to come out
and play.”

Logan ignored the ribbing coming from some of
the guys and glanced at the scoreboard once more. The game was tied
and there was ten seconds left.

Billie circled once more and rolled her neck,
her eyes drifting over to the bench. He gazed at her, his chest
tight, throat nearly closed up.

She saw him and for a moment, time did that
weird thing where it stopped. She exhaled and nodded as the referee
said something but she didn’t take her eyes of him.

The players were in position.

He nodded, hands gripped to his stick, every
muscle in his body on fire with the need to react—to do
something.

Time sped up.

Billie bent low, her legs spread wide, hands
on her stick, ready to pounce.

The opposing team had pulled out all the
stops. He recognized at least two hot shot former Jr. players. Guys
that had cut their teeth in Canada. Guys that had most likely just
missed the cut to play in the big league.

He also saw Seth.

Logan chewed on his mouth-guard. He didn’t
like this set up. He wanted to be out there to take care of the
Longwood situation once and for all. He put his glove on the door
handle, but the puck dropped before he could do anything.

Billie won the draw, her clean, quick jab
sending the puck back to Shane, who passed it to Danvers.

And then she was on the move. The way she
skated was poetry in motion. Effortlessly. Gracefully. She wound
around an opposing forward, keeping away from the boards as she
skated toward center ice.

Seven seconds.

Danvers skated forward, but lost the puck at
center ice, a quick poke from the other team.

Four seconds.

The puck deflected off someone’s skate and
somehow Shane scooped it up and he immediately passed it up the
middle, while the wingers checked and fought to clear a path for
Billie.

Two seconds.

She was there, with Longwood on her ass. He
jabbed her legs, hacking at the back of her calves, the dirty
son-of-a-bitch, but she held on to the puck and let loose a hard
wrist shot that beat the goalies extended leg, to land behind
him.

The buzzer went.

The entire bench erupted in cheers and Logan
tossed his stick, but his grin faded when he saw that Longwood
wasn’t stopping and he was over the side of the bench in an
instant, screaming Billie’s name, but with the noise all around she
couldn’t hear him.

Longwood hit her hard and she didn’t have a
chance.

The fury that rolled through Logan when he
saw her crash into the boards was something he’d never felt before.
In that moment he understood what it felt like to want to kill a
man, because if he had his way, that’s exactly what he’d do.

His teammates went crazy, as did the entire
crowd.

Shane grabbed Longwood and hauled him away
but all Logan saw was Billie, crumpled up on the ice along the
boards.

And she was still.

The linesman stood over her, his lips moving
but Logan couldn’t hear shit from the roaring in his ears. He
reached her side a second later and fell to his knees, his heart in
his throat.

“Billie! Jesus Fuck. Are you all right?”

The linesman was yelling for a trainer, or
anyone with medical experience, while the referee was yelling at
Logan not to move her.

And all he could do was stare down at the
woman he loved. A woman he’d walked away from without giving her
the chance to explain and he knew that if something happened to
her, he’d never forgive himself. She would be his biggest
regret.

Something hot pricked the corners of his eyes
and he kneeled down, his voice hoarse.

“Billie, don’t you dare flake out on me
now.”

Was that a flutter behind her eyelids?

“Billie?” His hands were on her
shoulders.

Her eyes flew open. “You’re late,” she said
and then she winced. “Holy shit that felt like a freight train.”
She struggled to sit and yanked off her helmet. “Was it Longwood?
Because I’m going to—”

But she didn’t get a chance to say what she
was going to do.

Logan pulled her close and shut her up the
only way he knew how. He opened his mouth and kissed her, pouring
all of his hurt and anguish and love into one kiss. He held her
carefully, as if she was a breakable. As if there weren’t inches of
padding and equipment between the two of them. As if they were the
only two people inside the entire arena.

Because to him, she was the only one who
mattered.

When he finally ended the kiss and pulled
back, her mouth was bruised and her eyes were wet.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he said
haltingly.

“Oh, Christ,” Dearling mumbled, “Forest is a
pussy.”

Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. She
leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “I know how to take a hit,
Forest. I kept my head up and my shoulders squared, but…” She
exhaled softly and a shudder rolled through him as he felt her
warmth against his cheek. “But what I can’t figure out, is how to
ask you to forgive me. I don’t know how to explain what I did or
why,” her voice broke and he thought his heart was going to snap in
two.

“Shut up, kid, so we can get the hell out of
here and work on it together.”

He stood and helped her to her feet, as the
crowd clapped thunderously, yelling congrats and screaming their
approval. He watched her face glow as she smiled up at her father,
who thankfully was clapping and hollering along with the rest of
the Barkers—save for the missing in action, Betty.

Logan slipped Billie’s hand into his and
eventually was able to lead her from the rink. He kept his promise
too. He took her back to his place—after politely declining
Thanksgiving dinner with his folks—and it took damn near the entire
weekend for them to work out their issues.

It was the best long weekend they’d ever
had.

It seemed like a hundred thousand
multi-colored lights were draped across the top of the old arena.
They twinkled and glowed amidst the steady snowfall—their bright
colors somewhat subdued because of it. It had been snowing since
noon and now, six hours later, there was a considerable amount of
the white stuff on the ground.

There was a carnival atmosphere that
permeated the air—kids running and laughing, throwing snowballs and
ducking from the inevitable retaliatory missiles. Parents milled
about, snagging hot chocolate passed out by Kendall and the rest of
her teammates, while Frank Talbot and his wife replenished
supplies.

Billie wiped a snowflake off her face and
stood back, pride swelling in her chest at the sight of the newly
minted sign hung above the main doors, [i]
Barker’s School of
Hockey Instruction & Training
[i]. She still couldn’t
believe things had moved so fast. Permits had been fast-tracked,
the ice had installed and less than a month after the idea had
first taken hold, she was up and running.

“Looks good, kid.”

A warm hand slid beneath her scarf and gently
kneaded the back of her neck as a hard male body stood behind her.
She leaned into him—eyes still on the sign—and sighed. “Hmm, that
feels good.”

“Good,” he said, his other hand wrapping
around her waist as he moved in closer to her backside.

Billie smiled. “Just so you know, my
boyfriend isn’t exactly the type of man who likes to share.”

“Smart man.”

Shivers exploded along Billie’s neck as lips
grazed her bare skin. His mouth was near that spot—the one that
drove her crazy and she shifted slightly so that access was easily
granted.

“He is a smart man and I love him like crazy,
which is why I can only let you keep doing that for, maybe another
half an hour or so.”

When warm lips nuzzled her just below her
ear, she closed her eyes and would have fallen on her ass if not
for the large, strong…

“Jesus, why don’t you two find a room?”

Billie opened her eyes to a scowling Shane,
who stood a few feet away, hands shoved into his pockets, his wide
shoulders hunched forward in black leather. He shook his head and
turned to the building.

“Nice job, Barker.”

She grinned and grabbed Logan’s hand, from
where it was settled against her ass, and yanked him forward.
“Thanks. It’s pretty exciting.”

Several young boys arrived for the grand
opening—all of them with skates thrown over their shoulders and
sticks in hand. They waved to Billie and strode inside, several
girls following in their wake, along with a healthy dose of giggles
and shoving.

“Hey, Forest,” Shane said. “How come the
Pirates don’t have any puck bunnies?”

Logan linked his hand through Billie’s.
“Speak for yourself Gallagher.”

“Come on, Logan. Let’s go inside.” She
glanced at Shane. “You coming?”

Shane’s expression was unreadable and he
shook his head. “Nah, I just wanted to come by and congratulate you
in person. I’ve got a date.”

Billie was surprised but didn’t show it.
“Who’s the lucky girl?” Shane had been an absolute bastard for the
last two weeks—ever since Bobbie and Gerald announced their
engagement.

“A bottle of Jack and a little blonde bitch
named Pia.”

Okay, this was new.

“Who?”

“Shane adopted a dog.” Logan said.

“I didn’t adopt the damn thing, she just
won’t go away.”

“Okay,” Logan said. “Whatever you say,
Gallagher. Are you still coming over for Christmas Eve? Billie
here, is going to try and cook.”

“No,” Billie tugged Logan’s hand and they
started forward. “Billie is going to buy a bunch of pre-made food
from the grocery store and throw it in the oven.”

Logan grinned at his buddy. “Aren’t I the
lucky one?”

Shane nodded. “You are one lucky
son-of-a-bitch and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Billie watched him disappear into the dark
and snow and she shivered as Logan slid his arms around her.

“Do you think he’ll be all right?”

“He will,” Logan answered. “Eventually.”

“Good,” Billie said as she brought his hand
up to her lips. “Because I hate seeing him so miserable.”

Logan kissed her again and glanced up at the
sign. “I love you, kid.”

She grinned. “I’m not a kid, Logan Forest,
and if you’re real lucky, I’ll show you exactly how grown up I am
later when we’re alone.”

Logan led her inside the arena and just
before they were accosted by half of New Waterford, it seemed, he
ducked low, his warm breath caressing her cheek. “I’m going to hold
you to that, Barker.”

And he did.

The end

I hope you enjoyed OFFSIDE! For more
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Watch for Bobbi’s book, COLLIDE coming soon!
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