“And Ford doesn’t?” she asks.
I really don’t want to spend the night talking about my best friend’s sex life. “Ford is complicated. I know the way he comes off, but he’s a really good guy. He’d have my back no matter what. One day I know he’ll figure his shit out and be the guy I know he can be.”
“You’re a good friend.” Her fingers run along the length of mine.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you left me naked in bed to make sure he was all right. I could’ve run, you know?”
I slide my face down her neck and kiss her like crazy. “Is that so? You were gonna run from me? Good thing I’m faster than you.”
She giggles, and I capture her lips in a searing kiss that makes me feel like it will never be enough. The feelings I’m developing for Saige are scary if I think too hard about them, but when I’m around her, all I want is for her to never leave my side.
“I want to be caught anyway.” She kisses me one more time.
We watch the flames from the bonfire for a while, a comfortable silence falling over us.
“Come home with me,” I say.
She turns around, her forehead wrinkled. “What? I’m at your home now.”
“My childhood home. We fly to Chicago next week. After the game, I’m heading home to see my family.”
“What? But—”
“I know it’s soon, but you were coming to Chicago anyway and I’d love for you to meet them. They rarely get out here, and other than in the off-season, I only see them once or twice a year.”
“Meet the parents?”
“Don’t worry, Phil and Barb are nice midwestern folk.”
She stares into the fire. “I worry we’re moving too fast. Like you’re going to wake up and be sick of me. Regret what we have or feel trapped.”
I hate that she has these negative thoughts, thanks to that dipshit Jeremy. I’d like to kick his ass for making her think she has to worry about shit like this.
“Not gonna happen.”
She turns around and gets on her knees, the blanket falling off her, leaving her skin glowing with the reflection of the flames. “You chased me, Aiden. What if that’s all this was?”
I push a piece of her hair away from her face. “Is that why you’ve been running? Because you thought I was all about the chase?”
“No. I just didn’t want to get hurt, but listen, it happens all the time. Once you get what you wanted, it doesn’t have the same appeal as it once did.”
I pull her down to me and situate her so we’re lying on the blanket, pulling the other one over her in case anyone walks by. “I chased an NHL career my entire life, and guess what happened after I got drafted?”
“What?”
“I fucking loved it and I still do until this day. Sure, being in the slump sucked, but I still loved playing.”
“That’s different. There’s no substitution or competition for that. There isn’t some other hockey league at the same level that’s going to steal your attention away.”
I place my finger next to her chin and nudge her to look at me. “My attention will always be on you.” I take her hand and place it over my heart. “Feel this? That’s what you do to me. Nothing is going to change. I wasn’t in it for the chase, Saige. I was in it for the win.”
She bites her bottom lip. “Promise?”
I kiss her briefly and hover my lips over hers. “Promise.”
She snakes her hand around my neck and drags me down to her. Before either of us can come up for air, I’m sliding over her, between her legs, and pushing inside her. I’ll spend a lifetime convincing her she’s the one for me if that’s what it takes.
Saige is still at my house the next day when I have to get to the game for warmups and a team meeting. We went back to her office this morning to get her car, then swung by her place to grab some other things for her to spend the night again.
I set the glass of white wine on the bathroom counter. “Don’t you want to sit with the wives and girlfriends?” I ask, wanting her to be there and get to know everyone.
She shakes her head. “We’ve been over this. You need to remain single on social media. Believe me, people are scoping that area for anyone new.”
I wrap my arms around her from behind and look at her in the mirror. “I want the whole world to know you’re mine.”
“We know and that’s enough.” She pats my hands. “Remember, you put me in charge of your social media and I’m telling you what’s best.”
“But—”
She swivels around in my arms. God, I love her naked. No better sight in the world. “But nothing. This is what’s best.”
I blow out a breath and leave her to turn on the shower. Might as well get ready for my game. She is the professional in this area, but I can’t help but feel annoyed that I have to live according to what a bunch of strangers might think.
“Now, Mr. Drake.” She picks up the wine glass. “Why don’t you get in the shower?”
I step in and admire her walking toward me. Even after how much sex we’ve had over the past twenty-four hours, my dick still salutes her. “This is the best sight of you throwing wine at my face yet.”
She tosses the wine at me and steps inside the stall, kissing me.
“Thanks,” I whisper, and she licks the side of my face.
“You do know this doesn’t help your game, right?” she murmurs against my skin.
I playfully smack her ass. “Shame on you. First rule of being a hockey player’s girlfriend is that you buy into all the superstitions they do.”
“If you say so, my lucky number thirteen.” She pats my cheek and steps out, but I pull her into the shower with me and she squeals.
“Lucky is the keyword,” I say before shutting the shower door and pressing her back to the tile.
An hour later, I’m dressed in my suit and she’s still lying around in a robe, tempting me to stay.
“So after the game, we’re ditching and coming back here,” I remind her.
Tedi and Tweetie have already initiated some sort of get-together that I said no to while Saige said maybe.
“I don’t want to leave Tedi alone.”
I blow out a breath. That means we’ll all be getting together after the game. “I want to celebrate.” She opens her mouth. “With you and only you.”
She giggles. “You’ve had me all day and all night.”
“Yes, and it’s not enough. I’m insatiable when it comes to you.” I wrap her in my arms.
“We’ll talk after the game.”
“Fine.” I kiss her, my body fighting with my brain for me to stay. “See you at the game. If I win, will you do a striptease tonight?”
“If you lose, I’ll do a striptease. If you win, you can tie me up.”
I groan. “Fuck, Saige, now I’m hard again.”
Her hand goes between my legs and massages my half chub, quickly shifting it into raging hard-on mode. “I like you hard.”
“I’d like not to play hockey with a hard dick.”