“Your mom brought a homemade pumpkin pie that she said was your favorite, so I made sure to pack an extra big piece,” Theo explains, and I grab his face between my hands and plant a kiss on him.It’s fast, and I pull back before either of us can deepen it, but judging by the way his eyes smolder, he wanted to.I like that more than I should.
I take the bag from him.“You are a king, Theo Richard, and not just on the ice.”
He grins.I walk over to the bar and offer him a soda or a juice.“I’m so full I couldn’t even add water to my stomach.”
He picks up the broom while I pull out the Tupperware and put it on the bar.I reach through the window to the kitchen and grab a plate stacked to the side.I don’t care if it’s piping hot, I’m going to devour it.I grab one of the rolled-up cutlery/napkin combos under the bar and start opening the Tupperware.I groan.“Oh my god, this is way better than the frozen Trader Joe's enchilada I was going to microwave when I got home.Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he replies and starts to sweep.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s fine.I need to move and hopefully burn off some of this dinner, or I’ll be slow as fuck on the ice at practice tomorrow,” he says and pauses to pull off his jacket.
I plate my food and will my heartbeat to calm the fuck down.I’m still freaking out, internally, over whoever was out there.My eyes keep lifting the windows and door.Theo’s eyes keep lifting to me.I pretend I don’t notice and take in the contents of the Tupperware once all the lids are off.“You brought me beans?”
“Those aren’t from the dinner.”He shoots me a sheepish smile.“I know you don’t eat meat, but I wanted to bring you a protein, and I had cooked a batch of my maple brown sugar baked beans earlier in the week.It’s a Richard family recipe.So I threw some in for you.”
“You…” I pause to fight the feelings growing in my chest.“You cook?Impressive for a hockey bro.”
“I just started.Since sobriety,” he explains as I head into the kitchen to heat the beans.He continues talking to me through the cutout.“I used to have all my meals prepared and delivered in Vegas.Learning to cook was a cost-cutting measure because I was pretty sure my NHL career was dead.I’ve been pretty good with my money, and have some solid investments, but I’m twenty-seven with hopefully a long life ahead of me so being frugal felt right.”
“And now that you’re back in the league and making bank?”I say, my gaze darting to the door again.Did someone just walk by?
“I have my meals delivered most of the time, but I’m still cooking on my days off.”The microwave dings, and I take out the beans and carry the bowl back to the bar.Theo’s eyes move to the door and back to me.“Now, how about you tell me about what has you freaked out?”
“Someone was outside staring in earlier when I first closed up,” I say and start eating, scooping some of the mashed potatoes into my mouth.They’re buttery, fluffy, and perfect.I swallow with a groan that makes Theo’s eyes darken.
“It was Pete?”
I shake my head and shrug at the same time while I take a spoon and plunge it into the beans.“I don’t know.I couldn’t see his face.I think… I mean, it could have just been someone looking to see if we were still open.”
“Lola.”He says my name softly, but in a tone that has me looking at him.He’s got a serious expression on his rugged features.“What does your gut say?”
“I think it might have been Pete,” I admit and feel a stab of panic.I scoop up the beans as a distraction and take a mouthful.The flavors explode on my tongue, sweet and delicious.“Theo, these are fantastic.”
He smiles proudly, but it’s fleeting.Carrying the broom, he walks over to the windows and looks out while I swallow another mouthful of the scrumptious beans.He glances at me.“No one’s out there now.But I’ll walk you to your car later.”
“Thanks.”
He goes back to sweeping, and I spear some of the green beans with a fork.We don’t talk while I devour everything he brought.When I’m almost done with the pie, Theo has not just swept the entire bar but wiped down the tables for me, too.He walks over, dropping the rag in the sink behind the bar and coming to a stop in front of me.I offer him a forkful of pie, and he hesitates but leans in and opens his mouth.It’s hot as hell feeding him and watching him chew, which is ridiculous.My panties are damp, though, so apparently I’m turned on by ridiculous.He leans in and swipes a thumb across my bottom lip when I finish the last bite.
“Whipped cream,” he says, showing me the whiteness on his thumb that he stole from my lip.I swallow and then open my mouth and suck the cream off his thumb, my tongue swirling around his skin.He swears under his breath, then, “You make me so fucking hard.”
Who says hook-ups can’t happen more than once?Is there a rulebook somewhere?If I don’t see it in writing, why do I have to listen?Theo wraps a hand around my waist and tugs me closer.“Tell me I’m not going home tonight.”
“You’re not going home tonight,” he replies before he covers my mouth with his.
Chapter16
Lola
The kiss is rough and deep and much more confident than his previous kisses.I liked his kisses before, but this is next level.He’s aggressive in a way that has my belly swooping like it’s in the front row on a roller coaster.
When we break apart, I realize I’m still holding the Tupperware the pie was in.I drop it in the bag he brought, and Theo starts shoving everything else in there, too.It takes five minutes, but then we’re out the door, and he’s holding my hand, pulling me toward his apartment.
When we get there, he drops the bag at the door and presses me into the wall beside it, his body covering me.A quick, sobering thought pokes itself into my brain—this isn’t supposed to feel this good.And I don’t mean physically, I mean emotionally.He’s not supposed to satisfy me both ways.That’s not how this no-strings thing is supposed to work.
His knee ruts between my legs, and I rub myself on it shamelessly as he tugs my jacket off my arms.Theo’s mouth moves to my neck, and my skin tingles and my heart flutters because he is as good at neck kisses as he is at everything else.I move my hand down, over his chest because his jacket is open, and across his abs to the fly of his pants.I quickly pop the button and slide the fly down.
