I laugh through tears. “She did say that.”
“She did. And she meant it.” His voice is serious. “So I’m not breaking your heart. Because I’m not being haunted by your mom. That woman was terrifying.”
“She liked you though.”
“I know. Still not risking it.”
I settle against his chest, fingers playing with the pendant. It makes a tiny sound when I move it, barely audible but there.
“The team’s gone most of next week,” Roman says eventually. “Four games in six days. I hate the timing.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m going back to work Monday.”
“I know. But—” He stops. “I don’t like the idea of you being alone that much. Not yet.”
He pulls me between his knees, hands settling on my hips.
“Goldie offered to check on you while we’re gone,” he says. “And Jake has opinions about your eating schedule.”
“You told them?”
“I didn’t have to. Goldie cornered me at dinner.” He pulls back to meet my eyes. “Said she recognized the look.”
“What look?”
“The look of someone who wants to be in two places at once.”
Something in my chest warms. “What did you tell her?”
“The truth. That I don’t want to leave you.” His thumb traces my hip bone. “She said the wives have a whole system for this. Taking care of each other when the team’s gone.”
“I’m not a wife.”
“Not yet,” he says quietly, then seems to catch himself. “I mean?—”
“Roman.”
“Yeah?”
“Ask me again in a year.”
His hands tighten on my hips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I touch the necklace. “Right now everything’s too raw. Too fresh. We’re both still figuring out how to function with our grief. But in a year—ask me in a year.”
He studies my face, then finally nods, as if cementing this conversation in his head.
“Okay. A year. I’m going to remember this conversation. And in a year, I’m asking.”
“I’m counting on it.”
He kisses me then, his tongue sliding across mine before I feel him pull back, laughing slightly.
“So,” he says, backing me toward the bedroom. “About that massage.”
“You’re not getting a massage. Your IT band is fine.”
“But what if it wasn’t? Hypothetically.” His hands find my hips. “How would that treatment go?”
