Rules of the Game (Rule Breaker, #2)

by Jessa Wilder

“You’ll come help me get Piper back?” My head snapped back in surprise. Jax smirked and handed me my phone. “Of course I will. You two are fucking meant for each other. Now, chill the fuck out.”

“I love you, Piper. I’ll just change and be out in a minute.” I didn’t give a single fuck about hockey. The coach could kick me off the team if he wanted to. All that mattered was that Piper and I were okay.

I searched her face, and a lightness filled my chest. This girl was perfect for me. I brought my mouth close to the glass and huffed out hot air until a section the size of my head was fogged over, then drew a heart with a P + L in it.

Before I could step forward, I was hauled off my feet and pressed against a solid chest. “We’ll go right to the hospital, Pips,” Jax said in my ear, and my heart rate started to calm. I turned in his arms and met his wet eyes. “He has to be okay, right? He has to be.” I buried my face into his shirt, and he tightened his arms around me. He must have ripped off his clothes to be in his hoodie and joggers already. “He’s going to be fine. Just another day for a hockey player.” He tried to make a joke, but we’d both been around the sport long enough to know that a blow to the head had serious consequences.

“What happened? The last thing I remember was some asshole pushing you. “ I collapsed back in my chair, letting out a breath. “You were hit from behind and slammed into the boards. Lucas, you scared the crap out of me.” My chin wobbled, and Lucas interlaced our fingers. “You’re here,” Lucas said, eyes still searching mine, and tears spilled over my cheeks as a sob escaped my chest. “Are you kidding me? Don’t you ever do that to me again.” He ignored my words, cupping my cheek and brushing my tears away with his thumb. “I thought you were done fighting for me. You have every reason to be. But you’re here. Fuck, I’m so sorry, Piper. I should’ve told you.”

“Listen, we’re going to fight—that’s just a part of us, but we will always be together. We will always be worth fighting for. You will always be worth fighting for.” “Fuck, I love you.” His mouth crashed onto mine, and I hummed at the back of my throat as he swept his tongue against mine.

Jax came in first and immediately wrapped Lucas in a hug. “Thank fuck, man. I’ll fucking kill you if you do that to me again.”

“I’ll try not to take an illegal check to the back next time.” Lucas huffed out a laugh, but Jax turned serious. “I should’ve been there to stop it.” “Fuck off. It wasn’t even your shift.” Lucas pushed Jax away with a friendly shove, and both friends smiled at each other. “I’m fine. Probably head home tonight.”

“Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to look near death?” I stiffened at his joke. “Not funny.” He kissed my head and tucked me closer. “Get some rest. I’m taking you home today.”

I kissed my way up her body, taking my time with her nipples, and settled my hips between hers. She ran her tongue over my chin and mouth, cleaning herself from me, and my eyes rolled back into my head. I drove my cock into her, unable to stop myself, and held myself completely buried.

I gripped her ass, giving it a little squeeze before smoothing my palm over her stomach and placing a kiss under her navel. “How fucked-up is it that I’m a little sad that there isn’t a baby in here.” She laughed. “Pretty fucked-up.”

I kissed her again, slow and easy. “You have always been mine, Piper. I’m going to marry you. You’re just not ready for me to ask you yet.”

“Let me down!” Her voice was a high-pitched squeal, and I slapped her ass hard enough she sucked in a breath. “You’re going to pay for that.” “Looking forward to it, Killer.” I rubbed the spot where my hand connected, and just before I walked through the door, I heard Alex say, “So we all saw I won, right?”

“Piper, since the day you came crashing into my life, even my seven-year-old brain understood the world had somehow shifted. I spent the next fifteen years figuring out what that meant. But Piper, I know exactly what it means now. It means that life without you is meaningless. No amount of money or awards could come close to the happiness you bring me.

“I almost lost you, and it would have been the biggest mistake of my life because, Piper, we are meant to be together. If soul mates existed, you’d be mine. I’ve spent too much time afraid everyone would discover I was broken… You looked at the most vulnerable, shattered parts of me and loved me anyway. “I will mess up again, but I promise if you let me, I will love you more than anyone. That you will always be the most important person in my life, and I would gladly turn the world upside down for your happiness. I know we’re still young, and with graduation and the NHL coming up, things are going to be hard. But if the last years have proven anything, it’s that if anyone can do this, it’s us.

“Piper, I am deeply, irrevocably in love with you. Will you spend the rest of your life with me—”

My eyes caught on Jax. He was looking at Sidney while everyone was looking at us. I leaned into Lucas so he could hear me over the cheering. “I think Jax is in trouble.” “Oh, you have no idea.”

We’d only really gotten to know each other for a few months, but anyone who could make Jax look as sappy as that was already family in my mind. Jax had his work cut out for him to convince her of that. But by the way he was looking at her, he was more than happy to take up the challenge. I gave her arm a light squeeze. “I’m happy you came. Lucas told me you almost couldn’t make it.”

“No, no, no. We don’t touch that.” I gently lifted the remote from Marcus’s sticky fingers.

Crying

“I saw your family out there tonight. How does it feel knowing they’re watching you play?” The smile that took over Lucas’s face knocked the wind from me. “It’s the best feeling in the world.” “Better than winning the cup?” “Hands down, not even a question.”

“You better not be cheering on my opponent.” Jax came into the room, and walked up to Sidney until he loomed over her, tipping her head back before taking her mouth in a fierce kiss that had my toes curling.

“We need to get together more often. It shouldn’t take the all-star game to get you all in the same place,” said Sidney. She ran her hand along Jax’s thigh, and his eyes darkened on her. They weren’t going to last long.