19. Hayden

Cassidy walks downstairsand behind the bar with her hair up in a ponytail and I smirk at the mess I made of her. Her lips are puffy and pink from sucking on my cock, her cheeks are flushed, and there"s still a little cum in her hair that her ponytail doesn't hide.

She makes a perverse picture, and it's tempting me to drag her back upstairs, to sink inside of her and give her the orgasm I withheld that I know she's dying for.

And if in the end she can't walk and I have to carry her home, even better.

But I know I"ve pushed her to her limits for right now, so I let it go, this urge I have. This need to possess her in every way possible. She"s under my skin, inside my soul, and I"ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.

Cassidy"s tense as she pours a draft beer and slides it across the bar to a customer, her eyes flicking toward Roman, who"s sitting in the back corner like he's plotting something. It pisses me off that she"s giving him her attention instead of me.

"You know," I say, once the customer"s paid and moved on. "If you won"t let me pay Roman off, I could help in another way."

She narrows her eyes. They're still too bright, almost feverish. I wonder how wet she is and if the cum I shoved inside of her with my tongue and fingers will get her pregnant. "How?"

I let my gaze drift over her face and down to her lips before coming back up to her eyes. For a second, I think about saying nevermind. She'll freak out, guaranteed. But I say the words anyway, because they feel right. Because I'll make them happen, even if she says no. "Move in with me."

Her mouth drops open, and she blinks at me. "What?"

"You heard me. Move in with me."

She shakes her head and starts to turn away, but I grab her hand and pull it toward me, lacing our fingers together and holding on tight, even across the bar. I don"t tell her that I"ll burn her apartment building to the ground to get her moved into my house if I have to, but it"ll be easier if she agrees on her own. Either way, it"s happening.

It's fucking happening.

"Hayden..."

"Think about it," I say, rubbing the inside of her wrist with my thumb. Her breath catches before she tries to tug her hand free. I only grip her harder. "I have a huge house and I"m not using half of the rooms. You could save your rent money to pay Roman back faster." She"ll be moving into my room, but I don"t want to scare her off, so I don"t tell her that.

Her eyes turn to slits, and I know I said the wrong thing. "I"m not moving in with you just to get my ex to back off." She tries harder to yank her hand out of mine, but I'm not letting go. Not of her hand, not of any part of her—ever.

I speak slowly, quietly, though I know she can hear me over the noise in her bar. My eyes are focused on hers and I"m not blinking when I say, "You should know what's about to happen, so here it is—you"re going to fall in love with me, have my babies, and give me the rest of your days. Minimum. I won"t accept anything less."

She blinks. Opens her mouth. Closes it. Does it again. Huffs out a breath. Then I let her pull her hand free to give her the space I know she needs. I don't want to give it to her, but this isn't about me. It's about taking care of her.

Which is fucking weird, by the way. I've never put anyone's needs ahead of mine before. I didn't think I'd like it, but there's a warmth in my chest that suggests maybe I didn't know what I was missing until I met Cassidy Bennett.

"How about we skip the part where you fight me and move straight to the part where you give in?"

She turns back to me with her hands on her hips, shooting fire out of her eyes in my direction. "You"re delusional."

I grin at her, knowing she"s not going to win this battle. "Maybe. But that changes nothing. I"m going to get my way in the end. I always do."

Cassidy shakes her head and walks away from me toward a customer who just moved up to the bar, but I can see her thinking it over. She"ll come around eventually. She has no other choice.

When she comes back over, stubbornness glints in her eyes and I resign myself to the fact I"m not winning this battle tonight. She opens her still-puffy lips and says, "If you think I"m just going to agree to move in with you, it proves you don"t know me at all. And I"m not moving in with someone I don"t know."

I dart forward over the top of the bar, grabbing her hand again and pulling it toward me until she"s forced to bend across the bar toward me or lose her balance. Regardless of what she needs, I need to be touching her for this conversation. "You"re right. We don"t know each other that well yet, but we will. Soon enough we"ll be sharing a bed, a life, a family. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable."

She chews on her bottom lip. The tiny wrinkle she gets between her eyebrows when she's trying to figure out a comeback for whatever crazy shit I've just dropped on her isn't going anywhere. Eventually, she pulls her hand out of mine and turns away from me again. I fucking hate it when she does that, takes her focus off me. But before she can hide it, I see the blush on her cheeks and the way her eyes glimmer. She wants this as much as I do, but she"s stubborn and prideful and won"t admit it to herself, let alone to me.

As much of a pain in the ass as it is, I love the way she fights me.

My girl puts on a show as she leans over the far end of the bar to grab a bottle of whiskey for a customer, and her ass is the star. I adjust myself, feeling the pinch of my broken zipper against my hard shaft.

She"ll cave sooner or later.

But I might have to play dirty to make it happen.

I"m sitting in the back of the bar with Torin, King, and Saint, watching Cassidy work and wondering what I need to do to get her to move in with me. She"s got fire and passion and a backbone that won"t bend.

But with the right pressure, it just might break.

She"s perfect.

"What"s your deal with the hot bartender?" Torin asks as he leans back in his chair and watches Cassidy. My fingers curl into fists as my jaw clenches. The need to rip his eyes from his skull is riding me hard, but I'm keeping the storm of violence contained—for now. "You two dating or something?"

My eyes are locked on Cassidy as she moves behind the bar. She"s mine in every sense of the word, but I don"t know if she"ll want people knowing yet. The thought of her not telling people about me burns like an itch under my skin. "Or something."

He grins at me. "Good for you, man." He takes a sip of his beer and then leans forward again. "So tonight, the game..."

I nod, knowing what he"s asking. "Yeah, we keep playing like we did, we"re going to keep winning."

"How can you be so sure?"

I look up and meet his gaze. "Because we have to." It"s not just about pride. This is a shot at the playoffs. And we need it. We need that shot at the Cup. It"s all we"ve been working for since the season started. Since our careers started. Since pee wees when we looked up to NHL players like they were our superheroes.

Torin nods and takes another sip of his beer. "You think we"ll get there?"

"I do," I say, momentarily distracted away from Cassidy. "Especially if more of the guys get onboard. Did you see that hit Saint leveled on their D-man? Fucking brutal and picture perfect."

Saint grins and holds his beer up to clink with mine. We do and then I take a sip, my eyes drifting back toward my future wife.

Torin and Saint are recapping the game, but I keep my attention focused on Cassidy as she walks around behind the bar. Sometimes it's hard to look at her, and the ache in my chest when I'm not touching her makes it hard to breathe.

But I"ll give her the illusion of distance. Let her think she"s won something before it all comes crashing down around her and she only has me to turn to.

I"ll be waiting with open arms. And then I"ll never let her go.

"Dude. You"re obsessed," Torin says, pulling my attention back to him as he grins at me. "It"s funny as fuck, the Hitman falling apart over some chick."

I shrug and take another sip of my beer, stamping down the inferno of irritation that just flared up at his insinuation Cassidy"s nothing more than a quick fuck. "She's not just some fucking chick. She's it. Get me?"

He nods like he understands, but he doesn"t. He doesn"t know what it"s like to find someone who makes you feel alive in a way you didn"t know was possible. Someone who doesn"t try to fix you, but comes and dances in your dark instead.

Cassidy"s everything I never knew I needed.

And I don't know how I'm going to survive this upcoming road trip without her.