The Pucking Wrong Man: A Hockey Romance (The Pucking Wrong Series Book 4)
Chapter 14

I huddled behind the dumpster, every nerve on edge.

I’d had to stay late at Charlie’s, and by the time I’d gotten out…all the shelters had been closed…or full. Having someone shut the door in your face was not something I wanted to relive.

Which was why I was here. In an alleyway that was damp and reeked of rotting garbage. It had been the only place near the dance company I could replace to hide though. I wanted to be able to get up early and shower in the locker rooms before classes started so I couldn’t be too far away.

This was also a better part of town, and the streets were well lit—so less chance of danger.

Or at least that’s what I was telling myself.

I shifted my bag under my head, double checking that none of my meager belongings had rolled out as I used it for a pillow. Pulling my thin blanket tighter around me, my body trembled with exhaustion and fear. Each noise—every rustle of leaves, every distant shout—made me flinch. My heart pounded in my chest. This was how I’d felt growing up, first with my father, and then with Michael. I never knew what was going to happen when Michael would come into my room or when my father would lose his temper in a drunken rage. I’d hated feeling so vulnerable then, and I hated feeling so vulnerable now.

How did I end up here?

I tried to trace back the twists and turns of my life, every step that had led me to this godforsaken place, how I could have done better.

I could have told Camden, a voice said inside my head.

But I pushed that thought away. Now, more than ever, I was sure I was saving him from me. I was huddled against a pile of trash for fuck’s sake.

He deserved so much better.

A gust of wind blew by, and I wondered if maybe I would just freeze to death tonight.

Winter was the worst time to be homeless. Even in Texas. The humidity and the cold felt like icy knives seeping into your bones.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I finally let a tear escape.

No one would even care that I was gone.

How incredibly pathetic was that?

Twenty-one-years old, and the only person who might give me a passing thought was my childhood tormentor.

A dog’s bark pierced the silence, loud and close. My eyes flew open as my breath caught in my throat, and I pressed myself against the cold, filthy wall. “Please, no,” I whispered to myself, my voice barely audible as I peered down the alleyway, searching for where the sound was coming from. “Not now.”

The barking grew louder, more insistent. I closed my eyes again, trying to calm myself down. It was just a stray. Or maybe someone immune to the cold was out walking their dog.

Nothing to be afraid of.

I wasn’t in a cage. I was hidden. A dog wasn’t going to attack me.

I tried to steady my breathing, but the panic clawed at my insides.

A sudden noise—a can tipping over—sent a jolt of fear through me. I peeked around the dumpster again, eyes wide. Nothing. Just shadows playing tricks on me. I forced myself to breathe, each inhale and exhale a battle to regain control.

“You’re stronger than this,” I whispered fiercely. “You have to be.”

I wrapped the blanket around me tighter, its threadbare fabric offering little warmth and comfort. My mind drifted back to the safety of the shelter, flawed as it was. At least there, I had a roof over my head, a cot to sleep on. Here, I had nothing but darkness and fear.

A rustling sound made me jump, my heart leaping into my throat.

It was just a squirrel or something…right?

Or a rat.

That thought made me slightly queasy. I could just picture waking up and replaceing a rat gnawing on my leg.

Not that I was going to get a wink of sleep tonight.

Silence descended, the kind that felt heavy with unseen threats.

“Please,” I whispered under my breath, not sure who I was begging. “Just let me get through this.”

The tears continued, stinging my eyes and freezing against my cheeks.

The barking had stopped, but the fear lingered. I curled up tighter, trying to make myself as small as possible. Every muscle in my body ached, but I couldn’t afford to relax. Not here. Not now.

Just let me get through this…

Camden

Tapping the steering wheel anxiously, my gaze was focused on the alley she’d disappeared down.

My poor little dancer. It was freezing tonight, the cold wind whipping in the air, scattering dead leaves and debris with it.

Fifteen minutes was about all I could take. Any more, and I’d be worried she was getting hypothermia.

I would have just appeared immediately…but that would have been suspicious, right?

Rubbing a hand down my face, I wondered why it seemed like I was fucking all of this up again. One of the dogs rattled around in their crate behind me while I stared ahead desperately, picturing her huddled against the cold.

I thought I’d lost my mind when I’d found a woman who frequented Haven, and I’d paid her to plant the drugs under Anastasia’s bed. I’d snuck in the drugs with a food order I had donated to the shelter, and the woman had grabbed them and hid them while Anastasia was in the bathroom. She’d been all too easy to convince to help and didn’t ask any questions when I’d offered her the money…or when I’d also paid for her to stay at a motel for a month while she looked for a job.

But this…this was what crazy felt like.

Maybe I had a recessive psychopath gene that she’d sparked to life. A psychopath gene that was completely focused on her.

But psychopath me was going to make my baby girl’s life so good once I got her to give in.

Hopefully a lifetime of being a hero would make up for this little…pause.

Maybe that’s what “…” meant.

It was a psychopath pause.

Although, I wasn’t quite sure Disney had a psycho gene in him. Lincoln, yes. Ari, possibly. Disney?

Hard to picture.

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down, forgetting that I’d had Lincoln and Ari park around the corner out of sight.

Ari: I’m freezing my balls off right now.

Me: There’s a little thing called a heater in cars nowadays. You should try it.

Not that I was using my heater. I turned it off as soon as I parked. If Anastasia was going to be freezing, so was I.

Okay, so the two weren’t exactly equal, but I was trying.

Ari: Golden Boy doesn’t believe in heat. Or joy.

Linc: He literally has the heat on full blast, all the vents are pointed in his direction.

Ari: Not sure how he would know since his eyes haven’t left the video feed he has up of Monroe right now. She’s watching TV…how enthralling.

Linc: Stop looking at her!

Ari: Blake’s right next to her! What do you want me to do? Pretend the most gorgeous girl in the world isn’t on your phone right now?

Linc: Blake’s literally on your phone right now as well.

Ari: …

I blinked. Sometimes I couldn’t tell when they were kidding, but it certainly solidified that they were the ones to talk to about…watching someone.

Linc: So, what exactly is the plan right now?

Ari: Yes, please enlighten us. Because so far the whole night has been the opposite of what I was expecting.

Me: I told you they were really just dogs.

Something outside caught my eye, and I looked up right as a man passed the alley where Anastasia was hiding. He had a scarf covering half his face, and I didn’t take my eyes off him until he disappeared around the corner.

I couldn’t take this anymore. It was go time.

Me: Your mission is simple…if you choose to accept it (and you have to because I’m not sure what Geraldine is making Logan do right now). I’m going to let these dogs out…and you’re going to catch them.

Linc: Why does this not sound as simple as you’re making it seem?

Me: Well, I have no guarantees where you will have to go to get the “dogs.”

Ari: Now why did you type “dogs” like that?

Grabbing the tupperware container full of raw meat that I’d brought with me, I opened the truck door, firing off one more text.

Me: Game time. The dogs will be coming out of the alleyway between the deli and that laundromat. Be ready.

My phone was buzzing frantically as I went to stuff it back into my pocket. I quickly silenced it so she wouldn’t hear. They would have to figure it out.

I walked across the street, hovering by the entrance to the alley, before I carefully peeked around a corner.

She must have been behind the dumpster because I couldn’t see her from here—which was good because that meant she couldn’t see me.

I couldn’t think about the reality of her behind that dumpster or I would go crazy. The wind seemed especially cold right here, like it was trying to push her out of her hiding spot and into my arms.

Quietly, I threw some of the meat into the alley before I jogged back to my truck, dropping small pieces of meat on the way like a cannibal’s version of Hansel and Gretal so the dogs would know where to go. Once back at the truck, I cleaned off my hands with some hand sanitizer to try and block out the smell of the meat. That was all I needed, for Midas and Fluffy to make my hand a snack.

I needed that hand for many reasons.

The dogs had actually been quiet while I’d been sitting there, just the occasional whine the entire time. But they must have had super sniffers because they immediately started going crazy the second I opened the back door and held up the container.

Geraldine had originally believed that dogs should be fed what their ancestors survived on. So when she’d first gotten Midas and Fluffy—she’d fed them mostly raw meat.

She’d stopped when she realized these two dogs, in particular, became almost feral every time they ate it. Kind of like how cats reacted with catnip.

I didn’t know a lot about dogs, but I was pretty sure that not all dogs had that kind of reaction.

Luckily for me, Geraldine’s did.

Fuck.

I shook my head at myself, still a little flabbergasted I’d turned into this person.

What the hell was I doing? I’d just thrown raw meat into an alleyway to scare a poor girl into moving in with me. I could still picture her panicked eyes the night we’d seen that first dog. How she’d whimpered and held onto me for dear life.

And now, here I was siccing her worst fear on her.

I’d make it up to her. I knew I would.

Still, I was going to be committed if anyone ever found out.

Well, I would probably be imprisoned first. But the temporarily insane defense was going to be an option at my trial.

That was a certainty.

I let the dogs out of their crate, narrowly avoiding getting my arm bit off as Midas snapped his teeth in his eagerness to get out. Apparently, he’d already gotten a whiff of the meat.

“Fucking hell,” I growled, jumping back as they flew from the crates and jumped onto the street, growling and whining—their noses glued to the ground as they sniffed out their feast.

What was the next part of the plan? My mind was completely blanking. I’d just unleashed a couple of crazed animals at my soulmate’s hiding place…

I was still for a moment, and then I shrugged.

Ends to means or whatever that saying was.

The dogs picked up the scent and took off toward the alley, gobbling up the meat as they inched closer and closer.

Anastasia was probably freaking out just from hearing them.

Don’t think about that.

Grabbing my water bottle, I splashed some of its water on my hair, because I needed to sell this next part. I was supposed to be out for a run—or at least that was going to be my excuse for being around.

Anastasia’s scream tore through the night air.

Guilt lurched through me. The only screaming I wanted her to do was in my arms.

That didn’t sound much better.

Screaming in my arms as she orgasmed.

There. That was normal.

Perfectly normal.

No psychopaths anywhere.

I rushed toward the alley, coming to a halt when I saw Anastasia hiding behind the dumpster.

“Anastasia?” I cried, pretending to be shocked that I was seeing her there.

She was curled up, tears streaming down her face as she rocked back and forth. Her fists were clenched in front of her as she stared horrified at Midas as he tore into a piece of meat, Fluffy snapping at him to try and steal it away.

I winced.

“Hey!” I growled, hoping that Geraldine was right that the dogs wouldn’t actually eat me. Taking a step out of Anastasia’s sight line, I rolled the tennis ball with meat juice and peanut butter down the street, right past their noses. They’d just finished the meat and immediately ran after the tennis ball, disappearing from view.

My eyebrows raised. I couldn’t believe that worked.

Now they were Lincoln and Ari’s problem.

Another loud cry snapped my attention back to Anastasia.

“Anastasia,” I called again, softer this time, my hands up as I approached her slowly. She was plastered against the dirty brick wall, her eyes wide and terrified as she stared at me unseeingly.

“Anastasia, it’s fine. Everything’s fine, baby girl. They’re gone.”

She shook her head, pulling her faded gray blanket up to her chin as she whimpered.

“They went after something else. There aren’t any more dogs out here.”

I was literally holding my breath as she shakily stood up and carefully looked around, searching for the animals. I had to clench my hands into fists to stop myself from holding her.

That would come.

I followed her gaze, relieved that the dogs hadn’t circled back. Hopefully Linc and Ari had caught them by now.

Hopefully neither of them had been mauled while doing it.

I’d never hear the end of it from Ari, and Linc…yeah, I wasn’t going to think about that.

“Come here, baby girl,” I said, proud of how sane my voice sounded.

A second later, she flung herself at me, her whole body trembling as she buried her face into my chest.

“How diiidddd you replace me?” she gasped, her words shaking from the cold as they left her pretty mouth.

“Out for a run and I heard those dogs going crazy. We’re only about a mile away from my place. A better question is though…what are you doing in this alley? Were you trying to sleep here?”

She lifted her head and met my gaze, shame coating her features. “I…I got kicked out of the shelter. It was a misunderstanding…but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she pressed her face back into my chest.

I closed my eyes, memorizing the feel of her against me, even as I willed my dick to stay down.

Nope, it was rising. Fuck.

Had to think of something else…Geraldine’s mouth when her teeth fell out in her water, and she hadn’t noticed and had kept drinking from the glass. With bits of spinach floating around that had been stuck in her teeth.

Oh good, that worked. I was limp.

That might have been a world record.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but then she nuzzled further against me, and I was having to reimagine the same scene over and over again.

I was thirty-one fucking years old. I had more control than this, damnit.

A dog barked in the distance, and she flinched, glancing down the alley in absolute terror.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” I said, beginning to lead her out to the street.

I half expected her to fight me, tell me she’d be fine on the streets or something insane like that. Which would have forced me to kidnap her for real and then it would have become a whole big thing.

The cold and the dogs must have done it though. Because she didn’t fight me at all, just cuddled closer as I led her away from the alley and to my…fuck…I couldn’t lead her to my truck. I’d told her I’d been out on a run.

“Let me get an Uber,” I murmured, keeping one arm tight around her as I pulled up the app.

Thank fuck. One was two minutes away.

“It will be here in just a minute,” I said soothingly as I glanced down at her.

It was all I could do not to kiss her.

I mean, my face literally started to go down, and I had to yank it back.

I couldn’t kiss her when I was trying to get her to move in with me. She’d go running for the hills.

“You’re coming to my place. I have a guest room that I’ve been told is very comfortable.” I was unable to keep the command out of my voice, so I tried to offset my tone with a winning smile.

I’d been practicing lots of different expressions today. Now that I’d become a psycho and forgotten how to do basic things like act human. I’d have preferred for her to sleep in my room, but as I kept telling myself…baby steps.

She bit down on her lip as she studied me, and I let her move away so that she could cross her arms around herself.

Right, it was freezing outside. I pulled off my Knights sweatshirt, and she allowed me to slide it over her arms and head.

It was huge on her, coming all the way to her knees. I pretended I didn’t see how she was breathing in my scent or that I wasn’t feral at the sight of her in my sweatshirt. I was pondering destroying all of her clothes though, so she could only wear mine.

A dog—not one of Geraldine’s because I would hope that Ari and Lincoln could manage two dogs by now—started barking frantically from around the corner, and Anastasia was once again plastered against me.

“Maybe just for tonight,” she whispered and in my mind I was doing an inner fist pump.

I kept my face completely blank though, like it didn’t matter to me either way.

“Got any stuff in there you need to grab?” I asked helpfully, nodding toward the alley. All she had in her hand was her small bag that I’d placed the tracker in earlier.

“That’s all,” she said in another soft voice.

Oh, little dancer, I’m going to make your life so good. Tonight is going to be nothing but a bad dream.

The Uber arrived, and I opened the door, nodding at the driver as I turned toward Anastasia.

“Let’s get you in the car,” I told her.

She hesitated again, but finally let me help her inside…right as something moving at the end of the street caught my eye.

Ari was sprinting across the street after Fluffy.

What the fuck was he doing? He should have caught that dog ages ago.

That was definitely not circle of trust behavior.

Something told me Linc had captured his dog already, though. Daniels would never…

I quickly slipped into the Uber behind her before she could notice Ari.

Anastasia’s hands were shaking in her lap, and there was a bluish tint to her lips from the cold.

I’d done this for a reason, I told myself.

If I hadn’t come up with this crazy plan, who knows what would have happened? She could’ve gotten hurt again at the shelter. Or some asshole who didn’t want to sweep her off her feet could have just snatched her away. Could have hurt her.

Could have stolen her away from me before we ever had a chance.

That’s what I kept reminding myself as the driver took off.

“Are you sure it’s okay that I stay?” she asked timidly, obviously sensing the tension threaded through my body.

I took a deep breath, trying not to come across like a psycho, even though I clearly was one. I wanted to tell her that I wanted her to stay…forever…

But instead I simply said, “Of course.” And held her for the short ride home.