The door to the suite bursts open, and Leo jogs in, arms full of every food item the arena sells, mouth full of what looks vaguely like a hot dog.
“Ammph. Dimmsssitnnn?” he says, which I roughly translate to, “Ah man, did I miss it again?”
“Yes, Leo. For the thousandth time in a row, you mistimed your food run.” I pluck a piece of cotton candy off his cone and snag a pizza roll and some nachos. Even if I am teaching Teddy how to cook my favorite recipe tonight, that’s hours away, and I don’t want to show up hangry. I’m also not sure we’ll actually make it to the cooking portion of our plans tonight since I insisted we use his kitchen this time.
“Shh, they’re talking about that terrible call the ref made last night. I wanna hear this.”
While the rest of us are perfectly happy to enjoy the crowd’s ambiance, Leo insists on turning the TV volume all the way up so he can hear the play-by-play. I can admit I’ve learned a lot over the years, even if I’m still not able to tell when one team is offside. Or what being offside actually is.
“Here’s Nikki Santori with a steal, Santori trying to split the defence, what a spin move, he scoooooresss!”
Popcorn flies as Leo jumps up to hug Mama, and Nonna and I do our lucky handshake that we made up years ago for every Rising Tide score. It’s usually a good sign when the guys get off to a hot start, and hopefully, tonight is no exception.
By midway through the third period, it’s obvious the opponent was no match for us. Gabri has had a monster night on defense, Nikki has two goals, and the new goalie has a shutout so far. He’s not as animated on the ice as our last goalie was, but he’s definitely intense. I’ve never seen a goalie get a roughing penalty before, but Williams smacked the hell out of an opposing player he felt was encroaching on his space. He’s not afraid to defend his territory, that’s for sure.
“Are you coming with us, patatina? We’ll see the boys in the tunnel, then go have our pizza.”
Smooth, Ellie, be smooth.Nonna winks at me, and I take a deep breath.
“Not tonight, Papa. It’s bingo night at the retirement home. I promised I would be their emcee.”
Just a little white lie.Ididpromise to emcee, but not tonight. Tonightisbingo night, though. Both statements are technically true. Papa is still eyeing me when Mama pulls him along out of the suite.
“Come, Dante. I want to see if they have any quesadillas left before the game ends! I need a snack for the car.”
My family finally files all the way out one by one, and I wait until the game ends to grab my bag with my change of clothes and head to the restroom. Just as I’m pulling on my boots, my phone vibrates.
Teddy:Finished with work for the day
Teddy:You have no idea how excited I am to see you?
Teddy:I know you’re teaching me to cook, but I have something to confess
Me:Oh?
Teddy:There’s no way anything you make will be sweeter than the taste of you, pretty girl. See you soon?
Chapter 11
The whole teamwas still buzzing about tonight’s win when I left the locker room, but even a loss wouldn’t have ruined my mood. Not when Ellie is coming over to my condo. After our last date, it’s clear what we’re both looking for tonight, and I’m equal parts excited and nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve had sex. I tried the whole “puck bunny” thing for a while in college, but it eventually got old.
The first time I heard a teammate mention fucking some bunnies after the game, I was mortified. Puck bunnies weren’t so much a thing in high school, so I had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn’t until I had a couple of women on my lap that I realized they were talking about humans, and I could continue my friendship with said teammates.
It was thrilling for a season, but eventually the same mundane sex with the same superficial women became dull. It was a means for release that became more of a hassle than it was worth. I never liked having people in my space and messing up my routine, even for sex. It was harder to hide it in college when all the guys were going crazy, but over the years, my teammates in New York started settling down one by one. Well, not Thatch. He very much still enjoys the attention and variety.
I had gotten used to nobody messing with me about being single, but this new team has a few more bachelors. I’m lucky to have found a girl like Ellie with pure intentions. She’s as kind and smart as she is beautiful. I don’t look like such a weirdo by disregarding the advances of girls when I’m out with the guys if I’m dating someone.
I’ve just finished laying out all the ingredients for our homemade pizzas when the doorbell rings. The promise of pulling her into my arms has me racing to let her in, and I’ve barely gotten the door open before I’m doing exactly that. She opens her mouth, but I cut off whatever she was about to say with my kiss. The need for her lips on mine is as intrinsic as air, and with her body melting into mine, I feel like I can breathe for the first time since I saw her last.
I break our kiss only to look into her beautiful eyes. “Ellie...”
“Teddy,” she says, smiling up at me before reaching up on her tiptoes and gently pressing her mouth to mine again.
She’s working so hard to reach me that I can’t stop myself from picking her up, and her legs wrap around me instantly. She’s holding on to me like a damn spider-monkey, as if I would ever let her go. I think about setting her down on the kitchen island, but quickly remember a buffet of ingredients is scattered across it.
Fuck, we’re supposed to be making dinner…
I don’t want my girl to be hungry, but she doesn’t seem to care about the pizzas either. She’s kissing me like I’m the only meal she’s interested in, and she’s certainly the only thing I want to devour tonight.
