Body Check (Blades Hockey, #4)

by Maria Luis

Sometimes romance isn’t cuddle sessions and lingerie—it’s clinging to the edge of the mattress and praying you don’t topple over when your wife decides to hog the entire bed.

We aren’t married, not anymore. But I won’t forget what you’re doing for me, Holly. I needed this and I needed you. When you need me next, don’t hesitate to ask. We’re family, even if it’s not the way we always envisioned, and I learned a long time ago to never take family for granted. Jackson.

Sometimes, in my weak moments, I can still feel Holly slipping the ring onto my finger. Can still see the way she smiled brightly, and whispered fervently, “Always you, Jackson.”

Truth: letting Holly walk away is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Truth: I may have brought up divorce first but only because Holly had lost her spark, her luster, and I wasn’t enough anymore to rekindle her fire. Lie: I’ve moved on.

“But you can’t make a life out of relying on someone else’s happiness to fuel your own and make you feel complete, even if that happiness is your husband’s.”

“But when I finally had something of my own to show, I may as well have been married to a ghost.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, “I’m so fuckin’ sorry for making you feel like I didn’t care. That I wasn’t proud of you and everything you’ve done. That you felt, even for one damn second, that you were taken for granted . . . and that when you were no longer there in reach every moment of the day, you weren’t worth my time anymore.”

“I wore it because I want it yanked around my hips while you make me come all over your dick. After all, you promised that every other round would be on you.”