“And you’re slightly less intolerable in my eyes too!” June announces, obviously having reentered the room to berate me in a way that tells me she cares.
We don’t need lengthy conversations about how each of us is feeling. We instinctively know what the other needs.
Twin love at its finest.
“Fuck off, JJ.” I half laugh, half sniff down the phone.
Walking over to the large window overlooking Seattle on a bright morning, I think about where my girl is right now, praying she’ll stay here and not force me to chase her to Vancouver again. Marley and dickface Greg probably don’t have room for my ass on a permanent basis.
“I love hockey, and I will always love it. But watching my girl’s dreams end while I continue with mine? Yeah, no, that’s never going to happen. Every time I stepped onto the ice, I’d be thinking about the long nights Drew had worked herself into the ground. How she commanded a conversation with a brand and the caring way she looked after her clients’ needs. She’s incredible, Mom.”
“You actually are your father.”
Despite the sick feeling of dread I can’t rid from my gut, I burst out laughing right as there’s a knock at my front door.
“Why do you say that?” I ask.
Mom just blows down the phone. “You’re a boy obsessed with a Rottweiler attitude and a powerful woman has you on your knees for her. Just make sure you don’t go and get her unexpectedly pregnant—your father has a habit of doing that too.”
Drew
There’s this moment in between Will opening the door and us locking eyes for the first time in several days that melts away all the tension pulling at every muscle in my body.
“Hey,” I say quietly. “I was hoping you’d be home.”
He doesn’t hesitate, stepping forward and dragging me by the hips until I’m pressed against him, only my black suit dress separating our skin since my jacket is unzipped. He’s bare-chested and wearing dark green athletic shorts with the number twenty-five stamped across his right thigh, and I watch as the lines creased into Will’s forehead disappear.
“You once asked me if there was anything I couldn’t do.” He loops his hands under my ass and lifts me until we’re nose-to-nose. “Turns out, I’m fucking terrible at waiting for you, Drew.” He spins us around and kicks his front door shut, walking us over to the kitchen counter, where he sets me down and cups my face in his hands. “Do you know how difficult it’s been to keep away? I’m not built to give you space. I’m built to serenade the shit out of you.”
I throw my head back and giggle. “You’re being very presumptive, William.”
A rogue grin spreads across his face. “In what way?”
I drop my eyes to his tented shorts, thick biceps twitching when I run my palms along them. “Pulling me into your body and standing between my thighs in such a provocative way. I could be here to break up with you for being a careless douche and putting us both through hell.”
His top lip quirks, perfectly aware that I’m messing with him. “Then tell me to stop touching you.”
I say nothing, and he moves his lips closer to mine.
“Tell me not to kiss you.”
I inch my mouth forward.
“Say you aren’t mine, and I’ll step away and let you leave.”
My breath hitches, and he notices.
“No, you won’t. I don’t think you’ll ever be able to let us die.”
Somehow, his lips move even closer to mine.
“Is that what you truly believe? That I could never let you go?”
My body hums right before I whisper, “Yes.”
“Such a clever fucking girl.”
Will’s lips caress mine, languid movements of his tongue unraveling any last knots of anxiety. I came here to talk when, really, all I want to do is kiss him. I needed to be back in his arms after the worst few days of my life.
