“I love you, Chloe. Okay? I fucking love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything in my life. I’ve never felt like this before. My heart races whenever you’re near, and sometimes even when you’re not, just because I’ve thought of you. My entire body tingles whenever I touch you, even if our hands barely graze. And whenever I see you enter a room…” He grins, almost like he’s picturing just that. “Shit, I don’t know. It’s like time slows down, you know what I mean? Like one of those cheesy scenes from those rom-coms you’ve made me suffer through. You make me want to jump on top of tables and serenade you in the middle of the cafeteria to a really bad song, and we both know how awful I am at singing. You make me want to be a better person, and I’ve never really cared about doing that before.”
He bends down ever so slightly, until our eyes are level and he’s not looking down at me and I’m not looking up at him. We’re on the same level. The same page, even.
“You are it for me, Chloe. From the second you rolled your beautiful brown eyes because I called you that nickname you hate, you were mine. And even though this night didn’t go how I planned, if I’m lucky, you’re going to follow me into that room and let me prove to you just how much I mean those words. Just how much I love you.”
I don’t know what to say. Or maybe that’s not true—I do know what to say.Of courseI do, but it doesn’t feel like enough. Not in this moment. This moment needs more. It needs action. It needsmeto make a decision—and I’m ready to do just that. With shaking hands, I take the keycard from Callum and hold it up to the scanner.
This time, when it turns green, I push on the door handle. I reach back, taking my boyfriend’s hand, and I lead us into the room.
CHAPTER 14
KELLER
I’ve always hated road games for as long as I can remember. I hate hotels, I hate sitting on planes, and I hate trying to coordinate everything else in my life around them.
That hasn’t changed in all my years playing hockey, and now that we’re on the last leg of a nine-day trip, I am more than ready to get this final game over with and go home. Sure, it’s not like Chloe will be there waiting for me in my apartment, but at least she’ll be a lot closer than she is now, and that’ll have to do.
Despite how heavy the last night we spent together was, the next morning, it almost felt like it had before.Almost.
Usually, we’d spend the last few hours in bed, me buried between her legs, but that wasn’t the case this time. Instead, we had coffee at the table while I explained to her how to get Percy to take his meds with the least possible chance of bodily harm. Then I kissed her—without asking permission this time—and I left.
I had hoped we would talk while I was gone, but I didn’t expect to be spending so much time on the phone with her.
“How was the morning skate?” she asks after we get our daily Percy chat out of the way.
My pet sitter ended up being sicker than she thought, so I told her to take this road trip off with pay, and she was more than happy to do so. Luckily, Chloe didn’t mind stepping in and taking care of the cat full-time. I was glad to have her there…and to have a reason to talk to her.
Our calls started because of him, but they soon blossomed into more, which turned into texting, too. Aside from sleeping and games, I’m not sure we’ve gone more than a few hours without talking.
“Not bad. We’ll need to move a little quicker if we want to beat the Carolina Comets, though. They’re too damn good on the puck. They never sit back, so that means we’ll need to think faster.”
“Isn’t that the team Lawson’s brother plays for?”
I’m surprised she knows that. “Did Lawson tell you that?”
“Yes, but so did Wikipedia.”
I chuckle. “That’s fair. Wait, what does Wikipedia say about me?”
“Nothing I don’t already know. Though interestingly enough, it mentions nothing about us.”
“Hmm,” I say, though I’m not entirely shocked by that. I’ve never been interested in sharing personal details and always try to keep interviews about hockey or keep my answers light enough that people aren’t asking follow-up questions.
“I’m guessing that’s why your teammates never knew you were…”
She doesn’t say the word married, and I try not to read too much into that.
“Probably. Though I expected Lawson to do a deep dive and find it out. He’s nosy as hell.”
“I don’t think he’s that bad. He’s clearly smitten with you.”
“He would be smitten with a damn banana if it gave him enough attention.”
She laughs loudly, and Ihearher clamp her hand over her mouth. “Oops. I definitely got stares for that one.”
Stares? Is she not at her hotel?
“Where are you?” I realize quickly I’m not automatically privy to that information anymore and backtrack on my question. “I mean, if you want to tell me, of course.”
