Oh, that was a wicked blow.
Me: It won’t be hard for me. I must be a better actor than you.
Tink: Don’t be proud you’re a better liar than I am. That’s not a skill you should flaunt.
I wondered how she’d feel about me putting her over my knee and spanking the insolence out of her. Probably better not to try. I wanted to have children eventually, and I wouldn’t be able to do that if she crushed my bollocks in her hands.
11
BECCA
It wasn’tthat I didn’t like hockey, I had just never been into any kind of sport. But tonight, I had to show up for my husband. I was obligated to do this for Taylor; truthfully, I had no problem with it. It turned out that nearly everything he participated in was some form of charity. Funding for the new library? Taylor Savage was involved. After-school programs? You guessed it. Taylor Savage was there. He seemed to have a soft spot for underprivileged children and education, and God help me, I was having a really hard time holding on to my dislike of him. Especially given how charming he’d been at dinner with my family.
Sure, he was cocky and overconfident, but I wondered if that was all part of the front. If the Taylor Savage the public saw in interviews with NHL blogs or on morning news shows was really the same guy as the man who’d inserted himself into my life. I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t.
“What are you wearing?” he asked as he stood in the doorway of my bedroom.
I turned around and grinned at him. “You don’t like it?” I knew what all the WAGs did. They wore their guy’s jersey. It wasn’t a question.
I’d agreed to come to this function, which happened to be a teddy bear toss game for St. Jude Medical Center, so I was going to look the part.
“You’re wearing my number,” he said, a possessive note in his voice I liked way too much.
“So? I’m your wife. Don’t you think it would look a little weird if I didn’t?”
“Perhaps. I just didn’t realize you even knew my number.”
I glanced over my shoulder at myself in the mirror. Savage was written across my back, 19 loud and proud underneath. The navy blue and teal jersey complimented my eyes, if I did say so myself. “Taylor, I’m not that uninvested. Of course I know your number. And I know what position you play. And I know your stats are really really—”
“How many goals did I make this season?”
I rattled off the number like it was my own name.
His brows rose. “Impressive. How many assists?”
I told him that number too.
“You really are paying attention.”
“Yes. What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t support my husband? I even know how many times you’ve been in the penalty box. You’re a naughty boy, Taylor Savage.”
“You knew that before you married me.”
“I did. But if you want, I can change. Wear one of the other guys’ jerseys, maybe? I’m sure I could call Elles. She has a spare number 41 lying around—“
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“That’s what I thought.” I couldn’t stop my laugh. They were all possessive cavemen when it came down to it. Even if Taylor and I were married in name only.
“I have to go. Do you want to come with me? You can wait in the owner’s box. No one else is in there since Mav and Clara went back to Montana.”
“Sure. Scarlett was going to meet me later, but it seems silly for us to take two cars.”
“Aye, that it does.”
“Unless you’re planning to stay in Seattle tonight.” Why did part of me hate that idea?
“No, I belong here with you. Unless you... unless you don’t want me to come back.”