“I want you.I want you to be mine,” he says, and there’s a confidence in his voice that grounds me and makes my worry evaporate.He pauses to kiss my hipbone.“Also, my birthday is July twenty-fourth.”
“Okay…” I say as he kisses my other hipbone.
“I sent you pancakes for your birthday, but this…” He pauses and licks me slowly from the bottom of my slit to my clit.“This is what I want for breakfast on my birthday.Placing my order now.”
And then he lowers his head and goes to work.I moan, overwhelmed by the sweet sensations his tongue is causing.He doesn’t let me come, so I shove him back on the bed and suck his cock until he’s about to come, and then I move away.We’re playful and happy, but the teasing pushes us both past our limits, and when he finally slips on the condom, flips me onto all fours, and slides into me, we don’t last long.Our orgasms hit hard.
“That’s got to be a ten,” he mumbles as he drops the condom into the wastebasket by the nightstand.
“An eleven,” I confess, and he fist pumps lazily into the air.The tattoo catches in the light from the kitchen.I stare at it.“You’ve got a piece of me on you forever.”
His eyes flutter open, and he looks at me, his dark eyes unblinking and the smile on his face confident.“I want all of you forever, Lola.”
His arms wrap around me, and he pulls me into his chest.Everything stills at the very same time, everything feels… wild.And free.I’m disoriented in the best possible way.“I’m sorry I had to figure out some stuff first.I’m sorry I couldn’t sweep you off your feet the way you deserve.”
“We found a way to be with each other in spite of all the bullshit, and that’s all that matters.”I kiss his collarbone.“I wanted you whatever way I could get you.”
A few minutes later, when I think he might be asleep, he whispers, “I’m going to win the Cup, and I want you in my jersey and in my arms when I do.”
“What if it doesn’t happen this year?”
“Then just like with sober sex, I won’t stop until I get there.”He squeezes me tight.“I think I’ve proven that I get what I want in the end.”
“Guess I have to buy a Richard jersey then.”
And for the first time in my life, hockey becomes my dream too.Because there is nowhere I’d rather be than in his arms, on the ice, and everywhere else.
Epilogue
Playoffs, 1st Round…
Theo
Jesus Christ, how is this harder to do sober than drunk?I mean, fuck.I feel like I’m ninety years old, and it’s only game five of the first round.I groan as I lift myself off the bench in front of my cubby.Callan looks up at me with concern in his blue eyes.“Everything hurts.Playoffs sober is not for the weak.”
He smirks at me.“I don’t think it’s about being sober.It’s about the fact you’re old.”
“Fuck off, rookie.”I laugh.“I’m only twenty-eight.”
“Yeah, well, that’s past mid-life in this career.”
He’s right.I’ve got probably about seven years left if I get really lucky.My dad had won a Cup by now.The thought is stupid, an unnecessary comparison.I am not my dad.I’m me.I have my own path.Drunk Theo was all about beating everyone in the family at everything.Sober Theo wants peace and to focus on the actual scoreboard in a game, not the mental one in my head.Oh, and Lola.I definitely want Lola.
“How’s my sister?”
“What?”I yank my jersey over my head.
“I never see her anymore.She basically lives at yours.”Callan says.“So I’m checking in.”
“She’s there a lot because her work is walking distance from mine,” I mumble and still feel sheepish about the fact that I’m dating his sister.I mean, he seems cool about it, but still.“And she goes to Ocean Pines to sit Randie all the time.”
“And drives back to yours nine times outta ten,” Callan says, and I shrug.“You know you guys can sleep at our apartment.I’m not some weird caveman that will try to murder you if I see you in my house after dark.”
“Good to know,” I chuckle.“But I think it’s more that she’s avoiding seeing your hook-ups.”
“I don’t do that anymore,” Callan’s tone is harsh, and it makes me stop dressing and stare.“I mean, I’m focusing on hockey, so you’re safe.”
My eyebrows are still raised as he shoots me a quick smile.It looks forced.I wonder what’s going on with him and make a mental note to have Lola check in with him.“Right now I just wanna win this game and get to round two.”
