We collapsed together, chests heaving, slick with sweat. Adan peppered soft kisses across my shoulders as we caught our breath, still joined. After a few blissful moments, he carefully withdrew, making me wince at the loss. He disposed of the condom before gathering me in his arms.
“That was perfect,” I said dreamily.
“It was. Seeing how much you enjoyed it, maybe we can reverse roles next time?”
That was my Adan, never backing down from a challenge. He was competitive even in this. “Only if you want to.”
We lay tangled together as the morning sun painted golden stripes across the bed. Reality was starting to creep in—Adan’s phone buzzed constantly from wherever he’d dropped his pants: probably teammates and family and agents all wanting his attention.
“What happens now?” Adan asked, voicing what we were both thinking.
“You go to Detroit tomorrow. Start your NHL career.”
“And you?”
“I’ll finish my contract, and then…” I took a breath. “Then we stop living separate lives.”
“Yeah?” He propped himself up to look at me. “You’d come to Detroit?”
“I’d go anywhere. Detroit, Sweden, the moon. Wherever you are.”
“Even with me not being royal?”
I laughed. “I don’t care and neither will my family. Half of us have married commoners—a term I hate, by the way. Though my family will want to meet you properly. Fair warning: my mother will try to adopt you immediately.”
“And my mom will try to feed you until you burst. We’ll call it even.”
His phone buzzed again, more insistent this time.
“We should probably deal with reality,” I said reluctantly.
“Probably.”
But neither of us moved, too content in our bubble to face the outside world just yet.
“Was it worth it?” Adan asked suddenly. “The wait? Everything we went through?”
I cupped his face, making sure he could see the truth in my eyes. “You’re worth everything. Every day of distance, every moment of wanting what I couldn’t have. I’d do it all again if it meant ending up here with you.”
“Good answer,” he said, kissing me softly. “Though let’s never do that again.”
“Never. From now on, we face everything together.”
“Together,” he echoed.
His phone rang this time: not a text but an actual call. With a groan, he rolled away to find it, giving me an excellent view in the process.
“It’s Tank,” he said, looking at the screen. “Probably wondering if I’m dead.” He answered with, “I’m alive, I’m fine, I’ll see you later.”
Tank’s voice was loud enough that I could hear it. “Bro, where’s the trophy?”
“I’ll get it in a minute, Mom.”
“What do you mean, get it? Where is it? And where the hell are you?”
Adan hung up and tossed the phone aside. “Five more minutes,” he said, crawling back into bed. “Then we’ll face the world.”
“Five more minutes,” I agreed, pulling him close.
