He leaned in closer. “And it’s a good thing this game starts late and we’re staying in Dallas tonight.” He winked before he walked back to his locker to grab his goalie mask.
Coach smiled. “You can have five minutes in the team office.”
Joy blasted through the hard knot in my belly, pressing outward, easing the bruises covering my body. “Thanks.”
“Be a chimp!” Cruz bellowed.
“You idiot! Mac needs to be one of those bonobos,” Adam said.
“Nah, a gorilla,” Maxim said. “You said they were good with the ladies, remember?”
I pushed through, and then the heavy metal doors slid shut behind me, shutting off their argument.
Keelie stood there like a rabbit caught in headlights. She tilted her head back as my palm slid along the back of her neck, and I kissed her. She gripped my arms and kissed me back. When we pulled apart, I rested my forehead against hers.
“I’ve been worried,” she breathed. “And upset.”
I lifted my head, scowling at the cameras turned in our direction. I tugged her toward the door. “Coach said we have five minutes.”
Chapter57
Cormac
Keelie trailed behind me as I clomped into the small space. She turned to face me before I shut the door. “I was wrong to run off. You’ve never done anything, not once, to make me question you. I let my past nearly take my future from me. Fromus.”
Her jaw trembled, so I cupped it. “I’ll always be there for you, pretty girl. Just you. We’re together. A team.”
She rose up on her toes, and I dropped down so we could kiss again.
“I’m selling my house and moving in with you.”
I smiled. “Or you can rent it out and have another income stream. But yes, I want you with me.Always.” I leaned in closer and ran my nose along her cheek. “I asked Ida Jane to go ring shopping with me next Friday.”
She gasped. “That little sneak! She didn’t say anything.”
Voices jostled outside the door. I was pretty sure the guys were crowded around it—so much for them pretending they were above emotions. They’d been all up in my business from the moment I got involved with Keelie.
“I can’t hear!”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. That was Cruz. He hated being left out of anything.
“Because I swore her to secrecy,” I told Keelie.
She pursed her lips. “I guess that explains why she was so sure I’d misinterpreted the scene between you and Shannon.”
More grumblings outside the door. My guess was the guys were jockeying for position. When the door squeaked open, I shot a scowl toward the huddled mass of players. Nik waved back before the door closed again.
“Shannon’s a memory. You, though, you’re my future.”
Keelie blinked up at me. I loved her sky-blue eyes and dark-honey hair. “Will you ask me…now?”
“Is that what you want?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
I dropped to one knee with an awkward grunt. Kneeling in skates wasn’t the easiest action. “Keelie Marie Hayes, will you make me the happiest man ever and marry me?”
“Say yes!” Maxim called as the door opened again. He leaned over Naese, trying to get a better view of us in the small room.
