Chapter 27

"That looks painful," Toby remarked.

I placed the icepack on my hand and suppressed a wince. "Nothing I can"t deal with."

The pain was easier to deal with than returning to Opal Springs with a swollen hand and being yelled at by Kage Foster. Even after I told him what happened, he was still unimpressed with me. I got the usual lecture about saving the aggression for the ice. With a small hint that suggested he was actually proud of me for defending Marley and Eden. As if I would have stood by and let them be raped.

Toby leaned his shoulder against his locker and crossed his arms. "So Marley forgave you after you defended her honour? And paid for a shit load of stuff?"

"I don"t know if she's forgiven me, but we travelled back together," I said. "She let me drive her back to her place. And we"re meeting for lunch."

"I"m coming too," he said, with no hesitation.

"I figured you would," I said. "That was why I told you."

I didn"t want to have to choose between Marley and Toby. The sooner they figured their shit out, the better.

Toby clapped me on the shoulder. "You"re a good man. I wish I"d thought of stalking her."

"I wasn"t stalking her," I said.

I grabbed out a T-shirt and pulled it over my still damp hair. In spite of my hand, Kage insisted I take part in training, even pushing me harder than usual. Apparently he had a sadistic side. I didn"t mind. Training hard made me feel more alive than sitting back and watching.

"I was following her around to make sure she was alright. Stalking is something people do when they"re fucked up in the head."

I didn"t really give a shit what they called it, the fact was, if I hadn"t done what I did those guys would have touched her. Seeing them near her made me red with fury. When that prick sat beside Marley and talked to her, I wanted to rip his head off and shove it up his ass. I considered approaching, but from where I sat, a few tables away, she had the situation under control. If she hadn"t, I wouldn"t have hesitated to deal with him then and there.

"Of course it is," Toby said. "Let me ask you something. How did it feel to punch both of those dickheads? I know you worry about getting violent off the ice."

I should have known he"d understand what was going on inside my brain.

"It felt good," I admitted. "Defending her and her friend felt good. Those pricks weren"t innocent, defenceless people. They deserved everything they got. Giving that to them, while she watched… I"d do it again."

"Of course you would," he said. "We"d do anything to take care of her. You, me and Oliver." He turned so his back was against the locker. "What the hell do I do to get her to forgive me? It seems unlikely some other asshole will try to have a go at her."

"No, and you"re not asking someone to," I said firmly.

He turned his face and grinned. "I wasn"t even thinking that."

I snorted. "Sure you weren"t. Don"t do it because she will never forgive you and I"ll be forced to punch the living shit out of you."

"As if you could," he scoffed. "Don"t stress, I wasn"t really gonna do anything like that. But, what do I do? I feel like you have a laundry list of grand gestures over me. What have I got? Apart from my good looks, amazing personality and huge cock."

"You could try being yourself?" I suggested. "Apologise for what we did. Grovel if you have to."

"I"m not beneath grovelling, but I"ve never had to do shit like that. I don"t know where to start." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Sounds like you need to read more romance books," I said. "When the men in those fuck up, they often have to grovel. Apparently readers swoon over the perfect grovel."

"So, in order to get her to forgive me, I have to become the perfect book boyfriend?" Toby sounded sceptical. "Only, in real life. Wait, you read romance books?"

I shrugged. "They"re entertaining. And I like the smut."

"Huh, that figures. I might have to try one. So, any tips for the perfect grovel?" He looked over at me again.

"I"ve read that some women like it when men beg on their knees," I said.

"Beg on their knees, hmmm? I"m not beneath doing that either. I might try some other stuff first." He frowned. "You think Oliver is coming up with ways to grovel? His grovel game might be better than mine."

"Considering he was the one who tampered with her birth control and came up with this whole plan in the first place, his grovel game is going to have to be first-class," I said. "I feel like it"s going to be harder for her to forgive him than us."

"You might be right," Toby said. "But that doesn"t mean I get to be a slouch. I am going to lunch with you and her and then I"m coming up with the best grovel you"ve ever fucking seen."

I clapped him on the shoulder. "I wish you luck, my friend. Let me know if you need any help setting anything up. Or keeping her occupied for a few hours." I wanted to do more than hug and kiss her. I wanted to show her how much she meant to me. And how much the baby growing inside her meant to me.

"I"m sure that would be a hardship," Toby said sarcastically. He sighed out his nose. "They say the course of true love isn"t easy. They weren"t fucking wrong. Not gonna lie, I"m happy things between you and me are easier." He leaned over to lightly brush his lips over mine.

Our mouths still touching, I laughed softly and said, "Maybe I should have made you grovel."

"You just want me on my knees," he said.

His words made my pulse race and my cock twitch in response. "I wouldn"t be adverse to that, but if we don"t hurry, we"re going to be late for lunch. That will definitely not help your grovel game."

"Hell no it won"t," he agreed. "Lunch first, blowjob later. With any luck, we can have a nice little threesome."

"I"d like that," I said.

I"d like that a lot.

No one can say I didn"t learn my lesson when it came to keeping things from Marley. I texted her to let her know Toby would be joining us for lunch. I thought she might respond that he wasn"t welcome, but she just sent back "okay."

When we arrived at the coffee shop, her expression was guarded, but not unwelcome. She kissed me, but all Toby got was a brief smile before we took our seats.

"You"re looking as beautiful as ever," Toby said, smoothly making sure he was sitting next to her. And that he paid for her lunch.

"Thanks." She sat back in her chair and looked awkward.

"Let me start by saying I"m more sorry than you could ever know," Toby said. "You have to know I"d move heaven and earth to make it up to you."

"Would you?" she asked. She was clearly not planning to make this easy on him. He might end up begging on his knees yet.

"Yeah, I would," he said. "Whatever I have to do, just say the word. You forgave Cole; I"m hoping you can find it in your heart to forgive me too."

"Who says I forgave Cole?" She nodded in my direction. "Did he say that?"

"I think I said you don"t hate me as much as you did," I said. "We"re working on the rest."

"Hmmm, that sounds about right," she said. She turned back to Toby. "I don"t know what to tell you. This isn"t about you doing or saying exactly the right thing and magically everything is all right. Cole, doing the things he did, showed he really cared about me."

"I can follow you around, pay for stuff, then punch a couple of guys out," Toby offered.

"That gig is taken." I bit into a corner of my sandwich. "Get your own."

"Thanks," Toby said sarcastically. "Love you too." In spite of his tone, his gaze lingered on mine long enough to make my heart skip a beat. If we could make this work, I"d be the happiest defenceman in the league.

I toasted him with my sandwich and went on eating.

Toby snapped his fingers. "I have an idea. You"re going to love it." Instead of elaborating, he picked up his roll and tore off a chunk to put in his mouth.

"Don"t go punching people out until I have to forgive you to make you stop," Marley said.

Toby looked like he was about to choke on his mouthful, but swallowed and washed it down with a gulp of coffee. "Why didn"t I think of that?" He grinned.

"Because Kage Foster would have your balls turned into pucks?" I suggested.

"Totally worth it," Toby said easily. "Let"s call that plan B. Or maybe plan C, because you both like my balls so much." He wriggled his eyebrows like the cocky prick he was.

"Should I be worried he"s up to something?" Marley asked me.

"Probably, but for the record, I have no idea what it is," I said. "If it sucks, it"s all on him."

"Here lies Toby Glover, thrown under the bus by someone he thought cared about him," Toby said dramatically.

I chuckled. "No part of it wasn"t true, bro. I have no idea what"s hatching in that brain of yours." It probably involved orgasms. It was hard not to think about those around Marley. Even harder not to crawl under the table and lick her pussy until she screamed. Or suck Toby"s cock until he came down my throat. Maybe one and then the other.

"Something so awesome you"ll wish you thought of it," Toby said. "Stalking Marley will pale in comparison to this."

"Please don"t do anything stupid," Marley said. "Don"t get arrested and kicked off the team. Don"t get anyone else arrested either. And don"t add to, or subtract from, the population."

"Definitely not on the last count," Toby said. "There"s only one person in the world I"m ever having babies with, and that"s you. I went about it the wrong way and I suck. I"ll prove to you that I"m a good guy. You"ll never have another reason to mistrust me ever again."

She looked doubtful, but nodded. "I don"t know if you can do that, but I guess I can give you a chance to try." The expression on her face made it very clear that this was a last chance. We fuck up like that again and we were both out on our asses, as they say. Whatever the fuck that meant.

"I won"t let you down," Toby promised. He glanced up over my shoulder and frowned.

I turned around to look at what he was staring at. Oliver had stepped into the coffee shop and spotted us. His expression was difficult to read, but he didn"t seem angry, not yet. Nor did he look like he was going to get on his knees and beg for Marley"s forgiveness. Whatever it was he wanted, he moved through the tables towards us.

"Toby, Cole." He greeted us both with a nod. "Can you give us a moment? I need to talk to Marley."

"Of course you do," Toby drawled. "I have things to do. I"ll catch up with you all later."

I waited until Marley nodded that it was okay to leave her alone with Oliver. I picked up what was left of my sandwich and coffee and stepped a few metres away. Close enough to be there for her if she needed me.