Steele (Arizona Vengeance 9)

Three women nod sagely, understanding my plight.

“I think I can talk a little bit about fear,” Clarke says, and all eyes go to her. “I had been burned badly in a past relationship, and I was terrified to let myself fall for Aaron. I was afraid of getting hurt again, and I was afraid to trust.”

“Clearly, you’re together now and very happy according to reports that reach my ears,” I reply with a grin. “So, what made you decide to go for it?”

“Simple, really.” She leans in like she has the biggest secret to tell. I slant in a little bit closer. “I realized I loved him, and the risk wasn’t in my trust being broken but in me living life without the man I loved. It was a no-brainer.”

“Hmm,” I say, jerking back slightly. That does seem pretty simple.

“Do you love Jim?” Mollie asks.

“Wholeheartedly,” I admit with no hesitation. “That never stopped, even when I asked him to leave.”

“Then you’re back together,” Willow says in that same self-assured tone she used on me only moments ago. “You just have to pull the trigger and accept it.”

“It’s food for thought,” I murmur, wondering if I should just go for it.

Maybe.

I’ll have to think about it.

“Well,” Willow says, slapping her hand on the table. “Since we’re here until Monday, count me in for brunch.”

When everyone looks my way, Brooke asks, “And you?”

Suddenly, I find myself wanting to become a part of this group of women. Within just moments, they managed to swing my guarded suspicions of their motivations. They gave me some clarity on my issues with Jim.

“I have to check with Lucy,” I reply. “It’s our day together.”

“Get Jim to hang with her,” Pepper suggests.

I shake my head. “It’s a game day. He has specific things he does from the moment he gets up, plus he’ll be heading to the arena possibly before we get back. Not that Lucy needs a babysitter. She’s fine to stay by herself. I just want to make sure it’s okay with her.”

“Make sure what’s okay with Lucy?” Jim’s voice comes from behind me, then he’s plopping in the chair beside me.

He smiles and nods his greeting to the group. “Ladies.”

“We want Ella to come to brunch with us Saturday to help plan Mollie’s wedding,” Clarke explains.

“I’ll hang with Lucy while you brunch,” Jim replies, his eyes coming back to me with an easy smile on his face.

I frown. “But it’s game day.”

Just like tomorrow is also a game day and I have no expectations at all that Jim will think to text, call, or send me flowers for the hell of it. I mean, even if he has been doing that the last few weeks, his pattern for years is to isolate and be one with the game all day. I’ve always given him that latitude.

“No problem,” Jim says, causing me to jerk my chin inward. “We’ll hang until it’s time to go to the arena. If you’re not done, I can bring Lucy with me. You can pick her up there.”

I’m speechless for a moment. Game days are the only times I gave Jim absolute impunity to ignore me in any way he deemed fit. He was in game mode from the moment he woke up, but now he’s going to hang with Lucy so I can go to brunch?

Taking my silence as acceptance, Jim grins and plants a kiss on my mouth. “There. It’s settled.”

“Awesome,” Pepper exclaims.

“But if you’ll excuse us,” Jim says gallantly, taking my hand and tugging me from my chair. “I want to take my wife on a Ferris wheel ride so we can see the city of Phoenix from the top and then make out.”

The women snicker, except for Willow. “Right on.”

And just like that, Jim once again proves he wants to be a different kind of husband and I’m left to ponder Clarke’s words, wondering if I shouldn’t just let go of my fears.CHAPTER 14SteeleEveryone’s dressed and ready to battle the L.A. Demons tonight. We can hear how loud the home crowd is from down here in the bowels of the arena, as this has become our biggest rival in the league. It all stemmed from just a little under a year ago when Tacker was goaded by one of the Demons’ players, Lars Nilsson, and lost his shit on the ice. He attacked Lars and rendered him unconscious, earning a ten-game suspension.

Shit like that happens all the time and fans don’t usually hold on to those things, but in this instance, it has spread far and wide that Lars was trying to provoke Tacker on the ice by callously talking about the plane crash that killed Tacker’s fiancée.

Tacker was piloting, so he suffered enormous guilt and wasn’t in a great frame of mind. Yeah… no one on the Vengeance minded the way he retaliated, even if it cost him and us a suspension.