“Easy for you to say when he doesn’t control your financial future.”
I let out a sharp laugh. “Are you kidding? You think my dad doesn’t try to controlmewith money?”
Dakota cracked a grin. I was so glad to see his handsome smile again, butterflies fluttered in my stomach.
“I guess he’s probably pretty nuts about money with you too, eh?” he asked.
“Um, yeah. You havenoidea.”
Dakota hesitated for a moment, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. I could tell he was wrestling with his own conflicting emotions. “You’re not gonna get out of my car, are you?”
“I just found out you’re a professional athlete. And you just found out I’m the daughter of a billionaire.” I fastened my seat belt. “Like it or not, I’m not going anywhere, ’cause we’ve got some things to talk about.”
He grinned as he put the car in gear. “You know this might cost me my career, right?”
“You’ll be fine. He’s just trying to scare you away.” I waved at the road ahead. “C’mon, drive! Let’s go!”
Dakota accelerated down the drive, the heaviness inside me slowly disintegrating as the mansion shrank in my side-view mirror. Once we made it past the security gate, the open road stretched out before us, and we werefree—and Dakota gunned it, engine growling and tires screeching, as we peeled out and left my suffocating home behind.
“Woooooooo!”I cheered, an exhilarating rush of wind tousling my hair through the open window.
Unable to contain his pent-up frustrations any longer, Dakota let out a deep and primal yell. I joined him and screamed, too, our voices mingling in a cathartic symphony of raw emotion.
“Fuckinghell!” Dakota exclaimed. “What wasthat?!”
“Oh, the usual. Just my father being his controlling asshole self.”
“Is he always that big of a dick?!”
I shrugged. “As long as you’re doing exactly what he wants, he’s actually pretty nice. But the second you go against his plan, or make him angry … that’s what you get.”
“That isfucked,” Dakota said. “Okay. Like. Yeah, I’m an idiot. And I shouldn’t have lied. Of course I never intended for it to go thisfar. But dude,I’m not the only fucking player that went out to the bar that night. A whole bunch of guys came with me.” He let out a heavy sigh. “ButI’mthe moron who climbed on that bull, trying to make everyone laugh, and the rest is history.”
“Why didn’t you tell my dad that? It might’ve helped.”
“What, and make all the other boys undergo the inquisition, too?” He huffed. “I wouldn’t do that to my friends.”
Touched, I wore a frown. “You’re sweet, Dakota. You’ve got honor.”
“Pft.” He rolled his eyes. “Lot of good honor’s going to do me when I’m in the AHL.”
“The AHL is the minor league, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “What’s AHL stand for?”
“American Hockey League,” he said. “But us NHLers like to call it the Always Hungry League.”
I laughed. “Why? Because the pay is worse?”
“Oh, babe, it’s not just the pay that’s worse. It’s the rinks, the facilities, the hotels, the fact that you have to travel everywhere on a shitty, cramped, smellybus…”
“You know, I still can’t believe you’re a pro hockey player.”
“Me?I can’t believe you’re abillionaire.” He scoffed. “Shit, no wonder I had such a hard time talking you into this. Here I was, thinking I’m some big shot, throwing all this money at you … yet you didn’t even flinch! I couldn’t believe it.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “Hey, I tried telling you.”
“Uh!” He jerked his head, shooting me a wild look. “No, you didn’t. If you’d told me, it would’ve sounded more like this: ‘Hey, Dakota, there’s no amount of money you can interest me with, because I’m a freakin’billionaire heiress,and you’re just a lowly peasant.’”
“Peasant?!” I gasped with stunned laughter and gave his tummy a poke—which was a mistake, because I stubbed my finger against his rock-solid stomach. “I wouldnevercallyou that! I hope you know, I don’t think that way about people.”
