“I know.”
“I need you to know that my entire life, hockey has been my identity. It’s been everything to me, but you…you’re my choice. I’d rather lose hockey than never tell you that.”
Tears flooded my eyes and my chest hurt as I reached up and placed my hand on his.
“I don’t know what is going to happen after, but I can’t go into that operating room without telling you that I love you too. I’m in love with you and have been pretty much since the night you found me on the ice, and I am done pretending that I’m not.”
I turned in his arms, tears spilling down my cheeks as I looked up at him. “You’re an idiot.”
“What?”
“I fell in love with you weeks ago, and you’ve been torturing us both, pushing me away, telling me to be with someone else because you were too afraid to admit it?”
“Terrified.”
“Of what?”
“Of finding something that I loved more than hockey, and the moment I kissed you the other night, I knew I’d found it.”
Tears blurred my vision once again as I looked up at him. “Just kiss me,” I whispered.
His mouth crashed against mine, desperate as my hands ran through his hair, pulling him closer. Evan groaned as he slid one hand up my back so he could grip my hair, tilting my head back, kissing me deeper.
“God, Bianca…I want you so bad.”
“Don’t stop,” I whispered, kissing him.
“Come with me,” he whispered, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me down the hall to his room.
The moment he closed the door, he turned and pulled me against him. He brought his lips to mine, kissing me slowly, his tongue washing through my mouth. His kiss wasn’t as demanding as before. This time it was slow and claiming.
My body melted against his, my hands sliding up his chest and around his neck as he kissed his way down my neck.
“God, Evan…” I moaned, taking a deep breath as a shiver ran through my body.
“I know…” he whispered.
I felt his fingers play with the zipper at the back of my dress.
“Can I?” he questioned.
I shyly nodded.
I felt the zipper descend, the cool air in the room hitting my hot skin, then his fingers trailing down my back. He peeled the fabric of my dress from my shoulders, sliding it down my arms, until the dress pooled at my feet.
I watched his eyes dance over my body and felt his hand at my back, making quick work of the clasp of my bra, which he removed, his eyes again trailing over me.
“You are so beautiful…it almost hurts to look at you.”
I helped him remove his shirt, careful not to disturb the sling the hospital had placed his shoulder in, and dropped it to the floor, then unclasped his belt, dropping his jeans to the floor as my eyes brushed over him. I’d seen him shirtless, hundreds of times, and while the attraction had been there, this was different. This was just for me. I licked my lips as he dropped his boxers to the floor, giving me a chance to take all of him in. Then he stepped closer, pulling me to him.
We both moved to his bed and climbed in, both of us getting comfortable. He tried to support himself on one shoulder, but I stopped him.
“Just lay back,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his as I straddled his lap.
“I want to see all of you, to have all of you, the real you. Not the version you show to everyone,” he whispered between kisses.
He sat up, his mouth tracing a path to my throat and then across my shoulders. I threaded my fingers through his hair. His rough hand cupping my breast, his thumb running over the nipple before moving to the other. Then he sucked them into his mouth.
