“I have nothing to say about her,” he said, his eyes closing as he pressed his nose to hers. “I’m just so mad at her, but I can’t hate her.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“She constantly hurts me.”

“I know,” she said once more. “Want me to kick her ass?”

He smiled against her lips and shook his head. “Wouldn’t be worth it. She wouldn’t understand why. In her mind, she does right by me.”

“But she doesn’t. I know that, and so do you.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But why does her rejection still hurt?”

“It hurts because it matters. Unfortunately, she doesn’t realize what she is doing to you, and until you tell her, it won’t ever get better.”

“Is she worth it, though?” he asked and she shrugged.

“That’s up to you to decide. Either way, I support you, love you, and will stand beside you,” she whispered against his lips. “And when you’re ready, I’ll Spartan kick her in the face.”

Grinning, he shook his head. “That’s intense.”

“For you, I’d do an intense Spartan kick,” she promised. “Just to see that smile, I’d do anything.”

Closing his eyes, he gathered her in his arms and kissed her lips softly. “I love you, Kacey.”

“I love you too, Jordie,” she whispered, her fingers grazing over his neck. “Do you feel better?”

He nodded. “I do.”

More so than she could even fathom. Months of rehab and therapy and still the pain of his mother burned from one text. But all he needed was to hear Kacey say she loved him and that she’d Spartan kick his mom and the pain didn’t burn as bad. It still stung, but then he looked into her eyes, and he wondered why he even cared. That woman didn’t want him, but this woman—this beautiful, gorgeous angel—did.

And her love was way more than enough.

It was everything.

It was his saving grace.

“Is it okay to have sex now?” he whispered playfully against her mouth and she grinned.

“It was okay before, but I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too,” he admitted. “I honestly need you, Kacey. Really.”

“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,” she promised as the room went dark from her turning the TV off. “I’m yours.”

And he was hers. But instead, he said, “All mine?”

“Every single piece of me,” she said roughly against his mouth.

“Even this piece?” he said, cupping her pussy, and she gasped against his mouth, arching up in his hand.

“Especially that piece,” she murmured against his lips and he nipped at her bottom lip, feeling utterly perfect. The text from his mom was forgotten, and all that mattered was this woman who lay beneath him. And nothing could change that.

Not a text from his mom.

Not another woman.

Not the bottle.

Nothing, because Kacey was it.

And as her mouth moved along his, her hand covering over his heart, he knew just as he owned every single piece of her, she owned every piece of him.

Especially his heart.

“Hey, JT,” Erik Titov called from the blue line, catching Jordie’s attention from where he stood by the bench. He sent the puck to him and Jordie stopped it with the front of his stick, his brows coming together. Titov wasn’t on his line, nor was it Jordie’s turn to go. He was supposed to be waiting for a play from Coach. Glancing at Coach Baxter, he saw that he was going over different plays with the offense coach, Brady, while Tommy, the defense coach, talked with Adler and Sinclair. That left Karson and Jordie to shoot the shit while they waited since Fontaine and Paxton were passing the puck back and forth, waiting for some direction too.

They were still working out the kinks with the new additions to the team.

The final lines had been announced the day before, and Jordie would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised that the girl made the team and wasn’t sent down. Elli really liked her and believed in her. Coach was a little leery, and even some of the guys were too but, man, she could hold her own. Also, with a few trades, they had two new forwards and two new defense guys. They seemed okay, but Jordie hadn’t really gotten to know them much. He wasn’t one for change, and the team dynamic was certainly changing. Elli was building a team for the Cup, he could see that, and he was ready, no matter how much he didn’t like change. The team was full of some heavy hitters, and Jordie was excited.

But he still had no clue why Erik was passing him the puck. Looking back at him, he said, “Yeah?”

He smacked his stick to the ice, and Jordie shot it to him as he asked, “You and Kacey together?”

Jordie grinned as he nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“’Cause she’s been sitting there for the last week watching us practice, and she never did that before,” he said with a grin, moving the puck back and forth with his stick. “I wasn’t sure you knew.”

Jordie laughed as he looked up at where Kacey sat, her arms wrapped around her legs as she watched. When she saw that he was watching her, she smiled, which made him smile. She had been coming to practice all week, and he really liked that she was there. After killing him in the training room, she’d sometimes hit the ice with him before the rest of the guys did. It was fun, and soon, they had fallen into a routine. Morning sex, work, and then he would go to AA meetings or therapy, come home for dinner, playtime with Mena, chilling with Karson and Lacey, and more sex. It was great and easy, but today he was signing his contract before his AA meeting, and Kacey hadn’t said a word about getting a place together. He was a little worried, not that he’d let her know that.