I don’t want the first time I kiss him to be like this. In the dead of night over the center console of my truck. I want to be able to take my time. Appreciate him. Devour him in the way he deserves.
“When can I see you again?” I ask.
He pulls out his phone and clicks on his calendar app. He reads out his game schedule, and the nights he’s off are the nights I’m on shift, or he’s with his parents, who will be visiting for the holidays from California.
“I’m sorry. My schedule is all over the place,” he says with a frown.
“No, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out.” I reach over and place my hand on the side of his face. My thumb grazes over his cheek, and he leans into my touch. I don’t think I can wait twelve days to kiss him. Maybe I can taste him now and take my time with him when I see him again.
But as this thought runs through my mind and my hand moves to grip his chin, a car horn blasts from behind us, and we both jump apart.
“Fuck! That scared the shit out of me,” Elliot exclaims, turning around to look through the back window.
An airport transfer service driver is waving his hand angrily at me through the mirror. Doesn’t he realize this pull-in is big enough for several cars? Fucking asshole.
“I better go before he starts getting angry,” he says in a low voice.
Sighing, I offer him a smile. “I’ll text you.”
He climbs out of my truck, and I watch him disappear behind the glass doors before pulling away, counting down the days until I can see him again.
Chapter Nine
Elliot
“Don’t let me eat any more cheesecake,” I announce, dropping down onto the couch next to Jackson and Hayden. I rub my hand over my stomach and groan. “If Coach puts me in the net against Nashville, I might pop the second I have to make a save.” I mimic making a glove save in slow motion until I’m lying on my side, then make an explosion with my hands from my stomach.
Jackson snorts under his breath. “How many servings have you had?”
I hold up three fingers, then flop back against the arm of the couch. I’m not moving now. They’ll have to carry me out when it’s time to go home. “It’s just so good. Alex makes the best cheesecake.”
“That would explain why I wasn’t able to get a look in,” Hayden mumbles, but he’s smiling, so I know he’s not mad. “You ate mine.”
“I did not,” I say with a gasp, then point finger guns at him. “But snooze you lose, Cassie baby.”
Laughing, my agent shakes his head before taking a sip of his whiskey.
It’s New Year’s Eve, and my teammate Adam Kendrick and his wife, Maria, are hosting a party. Usually, I’d love spending time with my teammates and their other halves, but tonight, I’m counting down the minutes until I can leave because I want it to be tomorrow already.
Why is it when you’re looking forward to something, time seems to slow to the pace of a tortoise? Because that’s how it’s felt since the night I went for ice cream with Hunter almost two weeks ago.
And it’s not like I haven’t been busy. I’ve been busier than a bumblebee during the height of summer, but it’s still been the longest time.
We had one more game at home before wrapping up for a three-day break. My parents flew in from California, and we all crowded in at Blaine’s apartment to enjoy Christmas Day together, where we were also joined by our teammate Zach, his boyfriend Carter, Alex’s brother Jacob, and our previous team captain, Ethan.
Then two days later, we had a game in Dallas, where we lost 5-2. I blame all the dessert Alex made for impacting my reaction speed—and why I can’t make the same mistake with the cheesecake tonight—because I was like a sloth in front of the net, with swiss cheese for pads. After the game, we hopped back onto the plane as we were playing against Seattle at home the next day.
I’ve been working overtime in the gym to burn off all the food and working closely with the Thunder’s goalie coach, Terry, to make sure I was in tip-top shape to face New York. Thankfully, the hard work paid off, and last night, I got a shutout. Something I made sure to celebrate by dancing around the locker room while pretending to ride my pads like a pony.
I’ve been texting with Hunter, and the other night, we spoke briefly on video chat until they had to respond to a call. He’s been working extra shifts so his colleagues could spend more time with their families over the holidays, and fuck, did it make my feelings for him quadruple.He’s such a good guy.
Blaine asked me earlier if I was eating my feelings, and maybe I am, because when I haven’t been at the arena, I’ve been surrounded by happy, loved-up couples.
And all I’ve wanted is to find out if Hunter was about to kiss me when he dropped me off or whether I imagined it.
How can I be feeling like this already? I know Blaine fell hard and fast for Alex, but I’m not like Blaine. I’m not confident and so sure of myself that I can do random hookups or flirt with people easily. I’ve only had sex a total of two times. The first time was back in college, and the second was during my first season with Vancouver when I felt pressured by my teammates. They kept teasing me when I was the only one who wasn’t bringing people back to my room on the road. Both times I had sex were so fucking awkward, I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
But I’m so drawn to Hunter. Not only in a sexual sense, but in an “I want to know everything about him and be around him” kinda sense. I don’t think I could have sex with him like, tomorrow, but I can see it happening in the future. He makes me feel safe in a way I haven’t felt with many people before, and that in itself scares me because I have never felt like this about someone.I don’t know how to handle all these emotions swirling inside me.
