Page 94 of Pucking Forbidden

“I’m done playing it safe when it comes to you, Julian Wilder,” I interrupt, my heart hammering, but my voice absolutely unshakeable. “I want this. I want you.”

Julian hesitates another moment before shaking his head

“I don't want to lose you either,” he admits. He closes his eyes, pressing a desperate, hot kiss to the center of my palm.

“Then we don’t tell anyone,” I insist, my voice steady as I look up into his dark eyes. “We don’t tell my grandfather. We don't tell the team. We don't have to figure out the whole world right now, Julian. For now, we can keep it just between the two of us.”

Julian goes still, his heavy chest rising and falling against my hands as he processes my words. The harsh, defensive line of his jaw softens, his eyes sweeping over my face as if searching for any hint of hesitation.

A slow, dark heat bleeds back into his gaze. He brings his large hands up to grip my waist, his fingers digging into my skin.

“Just you and me,” he roughs out, his rumbling voice sending a delicious shiver down my spine. “No one else gets a piece of this. If we do this, Hadley, it stays locked behind closed doors. You understand me?”

Relief washes over me so fast, my knees feel weak.

“Just the two of us,” I agree, a bright smile curling my lips. “We’ll figure the rest out together.”

The tension melts out of Julian’s frame, and a wicked, familiar glint sparks in his dark eyes. Before I can even process the shift, his hands slide under my thighs, lifting me effortlessly into his arms. I let out a small gasp, wrapping my legs around his waist as he carries me back toward the tangled white sheets of the bed.

He deposits me gently onto the mattress, hovering over me, his massive body blocking out the rest of the room. He leans down, his mouth brushing against the shell of my ear, his voice dropping into a quiet, teasing rumble that sends a violent shiver straight down my spine.

“What happens in Vegas…”

“Follows us back home,” I finish before he can.

He laughs. His mouth slides down my throat, his hands firmly anchoring my hips to the mattress. He moves down the length of my body, his touch deliberate, reverent, and entirely unhurried. When his tongue finds my heated folds between my thighs, every thought vanishes into pure, blinding static.

I fall apart. My fingers tangle in his dark curls. My back arches off the bed as he brings me to an explosive, shattering climax. As I cry out into the quiet room, I know by the fierce, possessive way he holds me that he never wants to let me go.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: PLAYING WITH FIRE

HADLEY

The shift back to reality comes faster than I expect.

After getting in late from Vegas the night before, Monday morning comes too early. My duffel bag is still sitting half-unpacked on the tile floor of my small entryway. My phone rings. The ringtone echoes through the quiet space, making me jump. I don’t even have to look at the screen to know who it is. My chest tightens instinctively.

When I grab the phone and see that it is, indeed, my dad calling, my heart starts to race.

“Hadley,” his voice booms through the speaker. “How are you? I haven’t heard from you all weekend.”

“Oh, yeah…” I stammer. “I’ve kind of locked myself down, studying all weekend.”

The lie feels like it’s trying to choke me on the way out, but if I tell him the truth, he’ll freak out. That I spent a weekend in Vegas with a bunch of hockey players isn’t exactly something any dad would want to hear from his daughter…it would make my dad go absolutely nuclear.

“Well, I’m proud of you for your diligence,” he replies with a soft chuckle, which only makes me feel shittier. “Speaking of school, we need to talk about your summer schedule. I spoke with a colleague of mine there in Denver, and they have an opening for a legal clerkship that would look exceptional on your applications to law schools in the fall. I told him you’d call him tomorrow morning to set up the interview.”

My stomach does a slow, sickening flip.

“Dad, I’m still figuring out my course load for the summer term,” I murmur, trying to find a foothold without sparking his temper. “The business prerequisites are getting a lot more intense, and I wanted to make sure I have enough time to actually study.”

“You’re a Sullivan, Hadley. You have the intellect for it,” he says, his tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. “A little hard work won't kill you. This is the avenue to success. You don't want to end up drifting without a solid foundation. Call him tomorrow. Let me know how the interview goes.”

I sigh, knowing if I agree now, he’ll leave me alone about it. I can just make the phone call and figure out how to wiggle out of it later.

Or…I don’t, and I just do the damn clerkship.

“Okay, Dad,” I whisper.