Goldie grins. “Looking for your next career?”
“Everyone needs a backup plan that they never use.”
She scoots fully onto the bed and reaches for the dark gray sheet at the foot of the bed.
My dick stands straight up.
She’s staying.
She’s having a sleepover with me.
“I’m still leaving,” she says. “In a minute. But I’m cold.”
Her nipples report that she’s not lying.
I like her nipples.
They’re fucking delicious.
I help her grab the comforter too and make a show of tucking her in.
Covering her up to her collarbone and everything. While she’s also leaning against my headboard.
My dick might be showing off, but I can still be a gentleman.
For now.
“What’s your backup plan?” I ask her.
“For getting home?”
“If your Coach Goldie gig ever fails.”
“Trust fund,” she quips without hesitation.
I watch her without blinking, and she sighs as the smile slides off her face. “I’ve had to reinvent myself before. I can do it again.”
“You’re missing a littleoomphbehind that phrase.”
She lifts one bare shoulder, then readjusts the comforter tocover herself back up. “It sucks. The process, I mean. I know the other side of the work is good, butgod, there aren’t shortcuts.”
I grunt in agreement.
“When your life falls apart, there’s this moment of,that’s it. It’s over. You know?” she says quietly.
I nod.
Been there a time or two.
“But then there’s the next moment, when you put one foot in front of the other, and you keep going. You don’t know where you’re going, but there’s something ahead, and if you can get to it, even if it’s not what you’re supposed to get to, you made it far enough to look. You can stop. You can rest. You can get a bite to eat. And then you can keep going until you find what’s right. Because it’s out there. Whatever it is, it’s still out there.”
I shift to turn toward her. “You believe that.”
“I do.”
“Before we moved to Australia, I played hockey.”
“Aww, you must’ve been the cutest.”
