EIGHTEEN
ALEX
Lainey’s eyes shutter.She regards me warily the same as she did two weeks ago. I want to wipe that expression away. I’ll protect her from everything if she’ll let me.
“Look at me,” I urge. “I realized something last week. Do you like me?”
“What? I thought we were only pretending,” she says in a small voice that makes me want to wrap her in my arms and never let go. “Until you kissed me for real. But I’ve heard about your reputation, I thought?—”
“No. That’s not why I kissed you.” I blow out a breath. I have to tell her this to make her understand what I’m trying to say. “At first, yeah. I just thought if word got around I was your boyfriend, people would leave you alone. I never made time for girlfriends because hockey is the majority of my life. I had no idea it was like this. I mean, I felt like I’d lost it because all I could think about was you.”
Her lips part as I grab my chest. I’m not done.
“I like you. In case you didn’t notice, I’m kind of obsessed with you.” I release another unsteady exhale. “Do you remember when I spent a week at your place before summer training camp?”
“Yeah.”
“I got up in the middle of the night for a drink and you were in the kitchen. You had a book under your arm and an old Flyers hoodie on.” Her cheeks turn pink. I hold her shoulders. “I really wanted to kiss you then.”
Lainey’s eyes widen. “You did?”
“Hell yeah. God, you looked hot in nothing but that hoodie.”
“I didn’t know you were watching.” She ducks her head, then hesitates before resting her hands on my chest. “Why would you like someone like me?”
“I like you because we fit. Just like this.”
Dropping a hand to grasp her waist, I tug her against me. She emits a cute little noise of surprise. I brush my knuckles along her cheek.
“We might seem like opposites, but it’s what makes us click together like puzzle pieces. I like that you get excited about your books and how hard you work. When you’re shy and stick close to my side, I like being the guy who gets to be your buffer between you and the world. It makes me feel good to protect you.” I take her chin between my fingers and hover my mouth over hers. “And I really like the way you sound screaming my name when you come for me. That’s when you know how to be loud. Just for me.”
Air rushes past her lips and her lashes flutter. She sways against me.
“Alex,” she whispers thickly.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I like you.”
“Good,” I say with the same conviction as earlier. “Because I want to be your boyfriend. No more pretending.”
Lainey gets what I mean this time. She grabs me by the lapels and pulls me down for a kiss. I smile into it, locking my arms around her. I could kiss her all night.
Her laugh breaks us apart. She hides her face against my chest.
I squeeze her nape, enjoying the easy access with her hair braided in a crown. “What is it?”
She shakes her head. I press my lips to the top of her head, finally taking in the room. The decorations are great and people are enjoying themselves.
“You’re amazing,” I murmur. “Look at this place.”
The praise gets her to peek up from my chest. “It came out better than I hoped.”
“You worked your ass off for this. Let’s go enjoy it.” Tipping my head to the dance floor, I lift my brows in question. “Dance with me?”
She blinks. “You know how to dance?”
An amused huff leaves me. “Don’t underestimate all the ways coach likes to make us train. We do all kinds of stuff to hone our coordination.”
