He cupped my face and kissed me deeply. I swung a leg over his lap and straddled him, not caring who the hell walked by and dared to judge us. I parted his lips with my tongue and he opened for me, igniting arousal and an aching to be as close to him as possible. He kissed his way down my neck.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t think about it like this before,” he said. “I was so afraid of forcing you to choose between two things you love and I spent so much time agonizing over it that I never stopped for a moment to think of how we could actually make this work.”
I laughed and kissed him again. “There is no choice for me, Leo. Even without all these options and the private jet, I belong with you. That’s what home means.”
He cupped my face. “I want you forever, Sophia. I’ve known that you were the one for me since you showed up in my dorm asking me to rock your world.”
My head fell backward as I laughed. “Okay, then do me one favor.”
“Anything.”
“Ask me to come home with you this time.” I rubbed my face against his hand. “We’ll figure all of this out, but I don’t want us to ever think that the best way to support each other is to be apart ever again. Promise me that won’t happen and ask me to come home with you.”
“Sophia, I will never let you get on a plane again unless I know your return date.” He kissed me. “I want you to come back to Boston with me but only so that we can make wherever we are our home. Just stay withme, Hawaii.”
I smiled. “Will you keep looking at me with fireworks in your eyes?”
“For the rest of my life,” he said, kissing my neck.
“Then I’ll go anywhere with you,” I said. “But we need to take some time and look at those dates. I need to check them against Kennedy’s due date.”
Leo pulled back and looked at me with a quizzical expression.
“Kennedy’s pregnant,” I said, chuckling.
“Um, I read your dad’s books while I was crying in bed and I thought they couldn’t get pregnant naturally,” Leo said.
“So did they,” I said, laughing. “Surprise! I’m getting a baby sister named Izzy in less than twenty weeks.”
“Wow, okay,” he said. “We’ll factor that in. I’ll be here with you if I can, and if not, I’ll be waiting in Boston when you get home.”
“Maybe I could build a spreadsheet,” I said. “I can take what you started and plan out our locations and then overlay that with important events in both of our family’s lives so we can be at events that we feel are important.”
Leo smirked at me, and I felt my cheeks flush.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re so hot when you nerd out.” He nibbled at my neck and I giggled. “You can build as many spreadsheets as you want, Hawaii. As long as we’re both honest and we discuss what we want. No preemptively sacrificing for each other.”
“Deal,” I said. “You want to stay here for a few weeks since you’re already here? We can start finding a place and I can keep Kennedy offher feet for a little bit longer by helping at the cafés. We can go back to Boston in time to find a condo before training camp starts.”
“Yes,” he said. “That sounds perfect. Plus, I’m two weeks out of shape. Maybe Eric can help me out.”
I laughed. “Oh, he can. He’s been dragging me out of bed to work out despite a great deal of bitching on my end.”
“What else have you been up to the last two weeks? I feel like I missed too much of your life.”
“Besides crying and being a surly jerk to everyone? I wrote a second novel. Which Maggie loves,” I said with a shrug.
“You wrote a book? In two weeks?” he asked. “What’s it about?”
“An aspiring romance novelist who falls in love with a hockey player,” I said with a smirk.
He grinned, looking like the arrogant ass I’d interviewed in the fall. “You wrote a book about me, Hawaii?”
“I did. And Maggie said the sex scenes are sizzling. Even hotter than my first book.”
“Damn straight they are!” Leo held up his hand for a high five.
