He brushes off the excess tree bark, leaving our names perfectly etched into the side.
This tree was a significant part of the beginning of our journey, and now it will forever hold the story of us.
thirty-four
Fletcher
The last few weeks have felt like such a blur between Tate and me finally confessing our feelings and us getting closer and closer to a title our hockey team has been craving forever.
Life almost seems too perfect. I’m just waiting for something to go wrong. But we all seem to be in a really good place, aside from Cam kind of resenting Declan and holding a little bit of a grudge toward the guys on the team who knew about him and Ember the whole time, i.e., me, Jere, Jaxon, Zeke, and Brooks.
Other than that, I have everything I want going for me right now.
And I feel on top of the world.
“Do we have to go to that party?” Tate wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my back. “Can’t we just stay here all day?”
“The guys would kill me if I didn’t show up,” I sigh. “Trust me, if I could stay in bed with you all day, I would choose that every time.”
She presses her lips into my back before I turn around to face her.
Her hair is still messy from this morning, and she’s still wearing the t-shirt I was wearing when I came over here last night.
But she’s never looked more beautiful.
“As long as you show up, it doesn’t matter when you get there, does it?” She raises an eyebrow, swinging her head to flip her hair to the side.
“What’re you plotting in the head of yours?”
“I think being fashionably late isreallyattractive.”
“Is that so?” I stare at her lips before meeting her eyes again.
“Mmm-hmm.” She nods, taking a step closer to me, my bare chest pressing flush against her body. “Especially because I really like kissing you.”
She pushes up just slightly, her lips brushing mine but not fully kissing me.
“Among other things.” I can feel her smirk against my lips as she drops down to her feet. “But, hey, I get it. If you want to go to this party, then I’ll go get ready.”
She turns around but doesn’t get far. I grab her wrist, twisting her body around and pulling her back into me. My lips crash down on hers with no hesitation.
Fuck that party.
I have the girl of my dreams standing in front of me, wearing nothing butmyt-shirt, telling me how much she likes kissing me. How much she likes sleeping with me. I’d be an absolute idiot to just let her walk away.
My hands tangle into her curls, walking us back into her doorframe. My hands roam down her back, running over her ass, until I reach her thighs, tugging them up and around my waist.
Our bodies fit together perfectly as if we were meant to be together. I swing us around, off the door frame, and into her bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us.
The second my knees hit her mattress, we collapse on top of it, our lips never parting. Her nails dig into my back, and she moans as my hips grind into hers. Her tongue runs against my bottom lip, and I don’t hesitate to give her entry. And once she does, she takes complete control of my mouth. Her tongue slides against my own as she rolls us over so she’s on top of me.
I love seeing Tate like this—
In control.
It suits her.
I run my hands up her legs until I reach the hem of the t-shirt, bunching it up between my fingers before pushing it up her body. I sit up just enough to pull it over her head and whip it somewhere into the bathroom.
