“You’re perceptive.”
“Thank you.”
“I think I get it. You want to learn how not to give away your heart.”
“Right. Precisely. But I still want to be able to have fun and have sex. So maybe you and I can…”
“Fuck casually?”
I hold his gaze. “Yes. We’ll teach each other how to keep things low-key.”
“And then we’ll see each other for the rest of our lives, Haley. You’re best friends with my future sister-in-law.” Liam shakes his head. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
* * *
Liam
I don’t want to turn Haley down.
I want to take her to the nearest hotel and give her everything that she’s asking for.
But I don’t trust myself.
Because I actually like her. All of her, and not just the part of her she wants me to satisfy in bed.
I suck in a breath. “I don’t know if I can give that to you. I’ve never been a casual dater.”
She exhales, her cheeks pinkening as she says, “I find this whole conversation to be turning stereotypes on their head, don’t you?”
“Probably.” I raise my eyebrows. “Pro athlete turns down woman wanting no strings?”
She lets out an awkward laugh. “I haven’t had sex in over three years.”
I try not to show my surprise on my face. “Okay. And you want to have sex again, yes?”
“Right.”
“Why did you become celibate? I’m not assuming a lot to guess that it was by choice. I mean, you’re fucking mesmerizing.”
She lets out a squeak. “You never fail to surprise me, Liam.”
Not sure what she means by that, I continue. “You’re gorgeous inside and out, Haley. Your heart and mind turn me on as much as your body. So I can’t fathom you’ve had no opportunities to date someone if you wanted to. Which makes me think you haven’t wanted to.”
She circles her finger in the air. “I turn you on in more ways than just a physical attraction?”
“Inside and out,” I repeat, relishing the way her cheeks go from pink to red at my words.
“And yet, you don’t like my proposal.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I said it’s not a good idea.”
“Because we can’t make a clean break at the end of the trip and go our separate ways. I get it. The thing is, you live in Louisiana, and I’m in Montana.”
I don’t tell her I’ve thought about retiring. And that, when I do, I’m free to live wherever I want.
Hunter and I have both discussed the idea of relocating to Montana when we no longer play hockey. He and Winter will probably always be in Louisiana part-time due to Winter’s theater career, and we’ll always keep the Storm family house in New Orleans, but the pain that we associate with our hometown is something we all want to shed. My twin brothers have found a real second home in Montana, and the few times I’ve visited, I felt at home there too.
I don’t think now is the right time to mention this to Haley, though.
