I lean into his ear. “It won’t be a kiss, that’s for sure.”
He chokes, his knees nearly buckling under him. “And don’t think we’re not going to discuss how you scared the shit out of me earlier today. It’s time for another lesson, pretty-boy.”
I pull back, seeing his eyes wide as can be. My heart races, and I realize very quickly that, complicated or not, win or lose, I donotwant this to be over. This may have started as fake, but these goddamn feelings coming over me are pretty fucking real. And it’s time to stop fighting it.
51
jordan
“Vladster! We made it to the third round!!!” I say as I take my seat next to him, nudging him with my elbow. “Aren’t you at least a little excited?!” We never sit apart. Ever. He acts like he hates it, but I know he secretly loves me. I’m sure of it.I’m 91% sure of it…The damn man is so hard to read. He never shows a hint of emotion, even after a big win like this. Me? I’m ready to skydive out of the plane with excitement, whereas Vladi looks his normal, calm, cool demeanor, not a hint of excitement showing on his face.
“We are not done yet,” he says stoically. “I will celebrate when our names, specifically yours, are on the Cup. Mine is already on there from before I came to Milwaukee. But you and everyone else on this team deserve it. We play hard. We fight hard.” A ghost of an emotion flickers across his expression. “There is something special about this group.”
My smile widens knowing he does actually like us all. “Damn straight! You can at least smile about that, can’t you?”
He huffs a quiet laugh as a half-smile creeps up his face. “Perhaps,” he quips, putting his earbuds in before takeoff.
“Vladi, wait! Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” He removes the earbuds and shifts in his seat to face me.
Whip me, beat me, take away my charge cards…Vladi is talking! I force my mouth closed.I got an ‘of course’ out of him.This is monu-freaking-mental! Between the adrenaline I have from that kiss and the fact that Vladi’s willing to let me ask him a question, taking out his earbuds and everything, the plane doesn’t need to fly. I’m pretty sure I just grew wings and can fly us home.Calm down, Jordan.It’s only the man you’ve dreamed of being BFFs with being very nice to you.Focus and ask your question.
“How did you, um…how did you know you were in love with Maggie?”
I notice a flicker of compassion cross his face as he searches for the right answer. He is a man of few words normally, but I can tell he’s really mulling this over.
“I knew she was special from the moment I met her.” His eyes go out of focus, a darkness clinging to him. “But it took me a long time to realize it was love as I’d never experienced that before. You hear people talk about it. They write songs, stories, even poetry.Classypoetry, Jordan. But to feel it—it is something completely unexpected. It felt as though my heart was caving in and blowing up at the same time. It honestly took all my friends, Larsy, Zack, even you, for me to realize what it was I was feeling. When you feel it, you simply know.”
Well shit.All the emotions of today have tears forming in my eyes. “I’m…I’m your friend, Vladi?”
He doesn’t look at me, staring at the headrest in front of us. “You are my friend, Jordan. There are days I question your sanity, but…you were there for me when I needed you. You helped Maggie when she needed you. We are both grateful to have you in our lives. That is what friends are, yes?”
If I ignore the burning in my eyes, that means it isn’t real, right?“Vladimir, You’re gonna make me cry.”
“Donotcry. Let us get back to what we were talking about, yes?” I nod, zipping my lips and sitting on my hands. “If you ask me, someone racing through the arena between periods to make sure the one they care about is okay sounds a lot like what someone in love would do.”
I swallow down the knot clogging my throat. “Really?”
He slowly nods. “I told Larsy this once when he asked the same thing about Olivia. There’s a Russian saying: when love is not madness, it is not love. Risking your recovery time in such an important game, risking getting benched or fined, facingmy wrathif my defenseman was not back in time—you did whatever it took to make sure Kennedy was okay. That sounds like madness to me.” He puts his headphones in and turns on his music, ending the conversation on his terms.
I flop back against my seat, my shoulders dropping as if every care in the world melted away. If there is one thing I am crazy fucking mad about in this world, it’s her.I’ve been that way for months. And she’s seen the real me, and she’s still here. She wasworriedabout me. A warm breath catches in my lungs—I’ve never had anyone outside of my family worry about me. When I saw her crying today, it felt like my chest was crushing in on itself. She was hurting and it made me hurt just as bad. I bite my cheek.Vladi, as usual, is right.I love her. I was already 99% sure, but hearing it from Russian Yoda’s mouth means it must be true.
When we finally take off, my chest lifts with pride—we made it another round.My team truly is something else.But I have even more pride in the fact that the woman who was worried about me, the one I am crazy about, is the one flying this plane. Nothing can take my smile away. Without a shadow of a doubt, I am in love with Kennedy Kramer.
“Oh my God, I almost forgot to tell you,” Kenni says casually as we ride the elevator up to her apartment. “I caught Chadd and his creepy girlfriend dry humping each other on the plane tonight!”
“What?!” I whip my head around to make sure I heard correctly. “Holy shit! They were doing cock stuff in the cockpit? I don’t even feel like anyone can roll their eyes at me for making this joke; it wrote itself.”
She snorts as she playfully glares at me. “Technically, it’s called the flight deck now. They changed it because cockpit implied that you had to have a cock to fly it.”
My eyes go wide. “Oh shit, sorry I didn’t?—”
“You’re fine.” She laughs, placing her hand on my arm. “It really doesn’t bother me. Now we joke that when two women are flying it’s called the clit pit and it’s hijack proof since a man could never find it.”
I gasp, placing my hand against my chest. “Kennedy Kramer, did you just make ajoke? I couldn’t be more proud. However, I would like to point out thatIwould have no trouble finding it. Given I have the world’s best clit coach at my disposal. Oh my God, should that be on a mug? Like Michael Scott’s World’s Best Boss one? It should totally be on a mug.”
She cackles, falling against me. “If you get me a World’s Best Clit Coach mug I will drink out of it every morning.”
