“What the fuck was that, Savage?” Coach says. “Drop and gimme fifty.”
Push-ups always suck, especially when you attend a military school and do them constantly. Push-ups on the ice? They extra suck. I catch a glimpse of Tate still on the bench. Yep, he’s planning Coach’s murder.
“Sir, yes, sir,” I call before I drop to the ice, but I can’t wipe the smile off my face.
So, Coach didn’t go easy on us. Guess that was his major fuck you to Tate for being there.
I’m pulled out of class by Officer Carter, but he stops in the hallway en route.
“He wants to talk to you again.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
Carter rakes his gaze over me as if I might be wearing the reason on my body. “We’re going to debrief afterward,” he warns me, his boots clicking down the polished marble hallway again. We end up in an empty classroom.
Tate’s there, leaning against the professor’s desk. To everyone else, his demeanor will come off as casual, but I’m not everyone else. I catch the tightness around his eyes and the tension coiling his muscles. Is he about to abduct me? He’s seriously giving those vibes.
I stand at attention since I’m still in the presence of an officer. Carter looks between us, still looking for something he doesn’t find. “I’ll speak with you later, cadet.”
Once he’s gone, I relax, but Tate hasn’t. “Everything okay?”
He curls his finger, and I look around, but go to him anyway. Tate’s big palm lands on my chest. He closes his eyes, breathing for a minute. “I hate this place for you. Give me one good reason you shouldn’t leave here with me now?”
“Griff.”
His eyes open, the steel-gray irises giving off a metallic pearlescence.
And danger.
Right, he doesn’t care about Griff like I do. I’m his priority—his only priority.
“How did it go with the commissioner?” I ask. Yes, I’m changing the subject, but I don’t miss the way his hand tightens around my wrist. I’m the object of Tate’s obsession, his husband, the man hecaresabout, but none of that’s going to keep the predator at bay if he thinks I’m in danger. If I remind him of the plan—his own plan—maybe he’ll calm down. I’m not against going with him, but only if Griff comes, too. Taking him out of this building with everyone already on guard isn’t likely.
“He’s going to put my name forth at the next meeting, right before the conference final.”
Giving a glance at the door, I let myself get closer, resting my lips against his jaw. “Good. That’s good, baby.”
“Isn’t ‘baby’ a forbidden term?” he murmurs while the fingers of his free hand find their way to my leather cuff. One hand over my heart and one over the cuff, Tate’s Ryan security blanket.
“It was when I thought I was just a sex toy.”
“You’ll always be my sex toy,” he growls. “And don’t think you’re getting my mind off what happened at the rink today.”
“Tate, we’re so fucking close. I’ll be fine for a few more weeks. What about Luke? He can’t know about your other life. Pulling me out of here’s going to open a can of worms.”
He huffs, nodding. “I know. You’re right. Just a couple more weeks and then you’re coming home with me.”
We haven’t figured out the “me playing hockey” thing yet but now doesn’t seem like the time to bring it up. Hockey might be one of those things I have to give up. If it gets me away from my father and Griff the future he deserves, it’s worth that, too.
“And then I come home,” I agree.
His face finally loses all the tension it held. “Mm-hmm. I’d better go.”
“Me too. Officer Carter wants to speak with me. FYI, I’ll be implying that you grilled me with vigorous questions about our training protocols.”
The tension might be gone, but the hesitation is there. “I’ll text you when I’m back at Shadowridge.”
All afternoon, I had the feeling Tate was going to drug me and slip me out of the college. I’d wake up in the back of his sexy Lamborghini, tied up. Fuck that would have been hot. But it would have caused other issues, so it’s for the best he didn’t.
