“I heard you charged out on the ice for me.”
“An exaggeration.”
She laughs, and it’s music to my fucking ears.
“Yes, I might have done that,” I say. “I told her it was my fault and tried to spare you from the fallout. Which it sounds like hopefully that worked. But I’m not to show up to the game Sunday, and I’m supposed to have my letter of resignation on her desk Monday morning. If I do that and go quietly, and aslong as you don’t change your mind about wanting me to be investigated, then she’s not going to.”
“I’d never want that. You know that, right?”
I gently stroke her hair back from her forehead. “I know, baby.”
“What are you going to do? I mean, you finally started to like coaching.”
But I like you more.“I know. I’ll figure it out. It’s not the first time I’ve had to start over with my life.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She’s quiet for a moment. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d still have a job.”
“Hey, no, none of that. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be a miserable fucking bastard with no purpose, no feeling, absolutely nothing. You brought me back to life, Lennon. Not this job, not even hockey, butyou.”
There are tears in her voice as she says, “I just never want you to resent me.”
I squeeze my arms around her. “Baby, I’d never resent you. Remember how I told you I was once worried about you resenting me because I was taking away your youth and you told me basically to shove it?” She chokes out a wet laugh, and I join her. “Well, I’m telling you the same thing now.”
“Alright, alright,” she relents. After a few moments, she says, “I heard you chewed Aubrey out.”
That would be putting it lightly. Not that she didn’t deserve it, but it was over the line. “Not my finest moment.”
“It was an accident.”
“It was her temper getting the best of her.”
“And yours didn’t?”
“It’s different.”
“How?”
“Because she was protecting her pride. I was protecting someone I love.”
Lennon freezes. Water drips from the faucet in softplinks.
This time when she tries to turn around, I don’t stop her. Not when I want to look into those hazel eyes of hers and see what color they look more like today. Not when I want to see her face and let her see mine, see the truth in my words, as I tell it to her again.
“I love you.”
Her pink lips part in surprise, and I watch my declaration sink in.
“You don’t need to say it back right now if you?—”
“I love you, too,” she whispers. “Damn, I’ve almost told you it before but I don’t know, I was waiting to see if you would first, but fuck”—she smiles as tears brim her eyes—“I love you.”
Hearing those three words from her — fuck, it’s sweeter than drinking a beer out of the Stanley Cup.
Water sloshes over the edge of the tub, but it doesn’t matter as she kisses me. Deeper this time, like we’re both trying to infuse our words into the kiss. My fingers dig into her waist to hold her steady, while hers tease the stubble on my cheeks. Maybe I’ll tell her one day that I started keeping the stubble just because she loves to touch it so much.
