Free Offside by Juliana Stone

want a lift?” he asked gently, nodding
toward his truck.
    At first he thought she was going to refuse,
but then something seemed to break inside her and without uttering
another word, Billie hauled her bag into the back of his truck and
slipped inside.

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Billie kept her eyes averted the entire five
minutes it took to get home. She was raw inside and hated that
Logan had caught her when she was so vulnerable.
    The damage to her car had been bad enough.
Almost causing a brawl in The Grill had been bad enough—that’s what
an intentionally spilled beer would get you, but shit Seth had
totally deserved it.
    Hearing the taunts from some of the guys,
words meant to hurt, to humiliate and put her in her
place…[i] that [i] had been bad enough.
    But the smug look on Ed’s face when he’d
pulled up to tow her car had set the tone, and his snotty attitude
stung. Ed refusing to give her a ride home had just been the icing
on the cake.
    She sighed softly as her house came into
view, and ran fingers along the side of her temple. A nasty
headache was on the horizon—not because she’d drank too much at The
Grill. Heck, she’d barely downed a beer before the shit started
flying. After Longwood had gotten in her face for the second or
third time, and her second beer had ended up in his lap, she’d
pulled Shane away, afraid he’d get into a fight. The guy was on
parole and there was no way she was going to be responsible for him
getting into trouble.
    “So,” Logan’s voice drew her attention and
she shifted in her seat, though she kept her eyes trained on the
house. She was tired, sad, and on a good day Logan Forest had her
tied up in knots. She didn’t think she could handle him right
now.
    “Yeah,” she answered softly—not so much a
question, but a statement. A confirmation that things were that
bad.
    “Do you know who keyed your car?”
    She shook her head and swallowed, not
trusting an answer because all the hurt and anger inside, pressed
something fierce.
    “I’ll see if I can find out.”
    “Don’t bother,” she managed to say and opened
the door. Logan met her around back and she moved out of the way as
he grabbed her hockey bag and sticks and set them on the
ground.
    She watched the muscles stretch beneath his
T-shirt and the way his jeans cupped his butt as he bent forward.
When he straightened, Billie exhaled a shaky breath, suddenly so
weak she thought there was a good possibility she’d slide to the
ground like a limp noodle.
    Her blood sugar must be low or something.
When was the last time she’d eaten?
    “Are you all right?” he asked gruffly and he
[i] so [i] didn’t deserve the ‘I’m fine’ she snapped back at
him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
    For a moment there was silence. Nothing but
the gentle whistle of wind in the trees and the scatter of leaves
to the ground. A shiver rolled over her and she wanted to look away
from him, but she couldn’t. It was that damn superpower thing he
had going on.
    Her mouth went dry. It had to be.
    His eyes were intense, their depths shiny,
like liquid chocolate and that flutter in her belly began all over
again. Sweat broke out along her forehead and for a moment she
didn’t know whether to leave or stay or leave or…
    “I’m just trying to look out for you,
kid.”
    [i] Kid .[i]
    Something unraveled inside Billie. Something
hot and urgent and big. It swooshed through her like a tornado,
filling her up until there was nothing to do but let it out.
    She took a step toward Logan and glared at
him. The air crackled between them. She felt it like an electric
shot that went right through her.
    Billie was Indignant. Annoyed. Pissed.
    [i] Aroused .[i]
    Kid? Really?
    “I don’t need anyone to look out for me. I’ve
been doing just fine on my own for a long time now.” She paused and
tried to grab hold of the emotion inside her. “I’ve dealt with
sexism and small minds for most of my life. They may have loosened
their