The Penalty Box - Teagan Kade Page 0,30
a bottle of chocolate sauce and a blindfold?”
I stand in the middle of the room and place my hands on my hips, laughing. “You wouldn’t believe the kind of kinky options those two items are conjuring up right now.”
She walks past me and does a perfect forward roll onto the sofa, coming up into a sitting position and reaching for a giant bowl of Reese’s Pieces. Given the packets strewn across the table, she might want to look into shares. Two girls in bright spandex are wrestling on the TV. “You want to know what I want to conjure up?” she tells me. “A hole.”
I take a seat beside her, place my hand on her knee. “Rough day?”
I’m approaching with caution here. Clearly, she’s not in the best mood. I don’t think it was anything I did, which leaves, what? Something at the Academy? Fight with a friend?
She answers my own question. “My father’s goons showed up again today.”
The playful mood I was in darkens. “What?”
She pops a Reese’s Piece into her mouth, talks while chewing. “Blocked me in, told me they were taking me to see a wedding planner, believe it or not.”
I can’t believe it. I fucking knew that asshole wasn’t done with this shit. Worse, I realize I shouldn’t be letting Linnea get around campus alone.
I stand, pacing in front of the sofa. “Wait, so you’re saying they tried to take you from the street against your will?”
“That’s right, but they couldn’t. Too public. I told them to fuck off and they did, reluctantly.”
I’m seething, holding a fist in hand and squeezing my knuckles. I’d love to get Rex on the ice—just him and me. I’d check that fucker so hard he’d wind up in the back row. But Linnea’s my concern right now. She has to be. “Are you all right?”
She lifts her shoulders, appears to sink deeper into the sofa. “A bit shaken, but I don’t scare easily. There’s no need to worry. I did skip practice, though, which didn’t go down so well with Coach.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
She shrugs again. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to bother you with all this, drag you into my mess. You’ve done enough.”
“Our mess,” I correct.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty to worry about yourself, what with your brothers, hockey…”
I get down onto my knees in front of her and cup her face. “My brothers can handle themselves. You are my concern, Linnea.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. That’s when it occurs to me, the solution to everything. I tease and prod at the idea, but it’s only for a moment. It feels right, deep inside me, and that’s when I know I have to act.
I let my hands drop to her knees. “I’ll marry you.”
She half chokes on the Reese’s Pieces she just popped into her mouth, swallowing hard and reaching for her throat. “Say what now?”
“It’s the solution to everything. I’ll marry you and that will be the end of your father’s machinations.”
Machinations? Where the hell did that come from? I ponder.
“You’re crazy.”
I shake my head. “No, not crazy at all. I don’t think I’ve been as sure as anything in my life. Well, maybe Tampa Bay taking the Stanley Cup, but I’m telling you, I’m serious.”
“You’ve come ill-prepared if this is a marriage proposal.”
“I’m on my knees, aren’t I?”
“Plural, and where’s the ring?”
He pulls off his family ring and holds it out to me. “Not exactly your style, but call it an IOU.”
I take the ring and flip it over in my fingers. “Looks like an octopus.”
“It’s an elephant.”
“Elephant, octopus—same, same.”
I clasp her hands together, make sure I have her full attention. “So, what do you say? Will you marry me, Linnea Marsden?”
This time I can see her processing the question, planning out a future and testing to see if it fits. “You’re being totally sincere here? A random King brother isn’t about to burst in and proclaim this the prank of the century?”
I nod. “I’m serious. There will only ever be one One for me, and it’s you—ignoring the terrible grammar there. And yes, I know that sounds insane, but from the first time we met, I felt it, that pull to you, the rollercoaster sitting at the top of the hill before the dive—that’s the feeling I get every time I look into your eyes. Did I expect to fall for you like this? Hell, no. I didn’t plan for it, but holy shit am I happy I did.”
She relaxes and