Goal Line (Madison Howlers #4)

by Camellia Tate

  It was also definitely funny. Devon could appreciate that. Funny and delicious was a great combination, obviously. “Maybe if you play your cards right, I’ll take you to a cheese festival one day,” Devon teased. A second date was a bit early for that big of a commitment. But Devon thought it’d also be nice to have someone to bring. If Annie wanted to, of course.

  Swinging her hand in his, Annie looked up at him. Devon was glad to have the bubby, outgoing version of her back. “One day, that sounds like ages,” Annie teased. “I suppose you can’t go taking just anyone. Not if there are really hundreds of types of cheese.” The way they seemed to be on the same wavelength made Devon smile.

  “But what if I don’t like all of the cheeses?” Annie asked, widening her eyes dramatically. “If that’s going to be a dealbreaker, it might be safer for me not to come. Stick to cheddar and mozzarella and things I already know I like.”

  “You’re allowed to dislike some cheeses,” Devon promised. “Not all cheeses are for everyone, I accept that.” It was sad, of course. Especially for the people who weren’t keen on all cheeses, but Devon got that not everything could please everyone. “Besides, that’s just more cheese for me,” he pointed out.

  “Have you got a food you’re a little bit obsessive about?” Because yes, Devon would only describe himself as a little bit obsessive about cheese. It was hardly his fault that cheese was so delicious.

  “Well, chocolate, obviously,” Annie answered easily. Devon nodded. Between Annie’s recommendation of low-fat hot chocolate and her choice to have fictional food from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he had kind of guessed that one. “And sweet potato casserole, but only at Thanksgiving. It was the only thing Sawyer and I used to be allowed to help with.”

  Annie glanced up at him. “He’s thirty now,” she said. “He and his wife live in Green Bay, near my dad.” She gave a giggle. “Sweet potato casserole is still the only thing he’s allowed to help with when they host Thanksgiving. Charlotte’s too sensible to let him near anything else.”

  It wasn’t the first time Annie had mentioned her brother. Devon got the sense that they had grown up close. “Do you still do the holidays with your mom, and your sister?” Annie asked. “Or are there team traditions that you have to do, for luck?”

  “No, we have holidays together,” Devon answered. There had been talk about going skiing at Christmas, but Devon preferred to see his mom and sister. He saw the guys pretty much every day, while he didn’t see his mom and sister that often. It was still more often than a lot of others did, of course, but Devon was extra close with his family.

  Unlike Annie’s brother, Devon was allowed to do a lot more than make just one dish. He doubted he was a lot better at it. Growing up, he and his mom had often had cheap foods, out of packets. Now they still often had very non-traditional foods for others, but very traditional for them.

  He didn’t quite know how to explain all of that, though. “What’s your favorite holiday?” Devon asked instead.

  “Fourth of July,” Annie answered, without any kind of hesitation. “My dad’s always been in business, pretty high up.” That made sense, Devon had gathered that Annie’s family were well off. “Whatever company he was in, they’d usually have a Fourth of July barbeque,” Annie explained. “There’d be loads of other kids to play with, and hot dogs and burgers. I’d cheer Sawyer on at some kind of pick-up game.”

  She gave a small shrug. “A lot of other holidays revolve around cooking and family,” she said, holding up her free hand to count on her fingers. “Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays. Fourth of July was the only one where I didn’t feel like I was missing out by not having a mom.”

  That Devon could understand. There hadn’t been a lot of times he had felt like he needed a dad, but events where other people’s dads were had always been a bit tough. At least until Devon had been old enough to understand that it was fine to only have a mom. Still, he gave an understanding nod and reached to give Annie’s hand a squeeze.

  “Do you still feel like that about the holidays?” Devon certainly didn’t. He did recognize that not everyone thought the same way he did. And people had different experiences. Still, he hoped that Annie wasn’t sad every year Christmas rolled around.

  Annie shook her head. “No,” she answered. “It’s different now we’re grown up. Especially since Sawyer met Charlotte. Obviously, she’s not old enough to be like a mom to me, but I like having another woman around. It feels… cozier.” Having grown up only having women around, Devon wasn’t sure he knew what a holiday would feel like without them.

  “You haven’t mentioned your dad,” Annie said, giving Devon’s hand a squeeze back. “Or your sister’s. Are they… different people?”

  Devon almost laughed at that, mostly because of how Annie said it. If he hadn’t already known she’d come from a very different background than him, this would show it well. “My mom and dad had a short relationship. He didn’t want kids, she wasn’t his soulmate, so he left,” Devon shrugged. “Mom wanted me so she raised me.” There had been those few occasions when Devon had wished he had a dad, but most of the time he’d just been glad to have such a great mom.

  “Serena’s a tube baby,” he added. “My mom wanted another kid so she had IVF. She always said she didn’t need a man to have a kid and well, I don’t think she does.” She was a great mom and that was enough.

  “It’s not awkward,” Devon added. “I don’t think it’s embarrassing to have a single mom or anything.”

  “Of course not,” Annie said, frowning slightly. “Devon, it’s obvious that you adore your mom. I didn’t think for a moment that you were embarrassed.” She turned to him, her hand sliding up to cup the back of his neck, drawing him down into another kiss. Devon liked the way she had to lean her weight against him, unable to reach him without his support.

  When she pulled back from the kiss, Annie rubbed her hands over her arms. “I should probably go home,” she admitted. She sounded almost as reluctant as Devon felt. “But I’d like that third date,” she said, holding a finger up towards his face. “It doesn’t have to be a surprise like this was. I know it will be special, as long as you’re there.”

  That made Devon smile. He liked to hope that was true. They might have only been on two dates but Annie had done very well at making Devon feel special. He’d have to think of something good to do for their third date. Especially after being responsible for upsetting Annie. Devon wanted to show her that he liked her not just her name.

  “Let me walk you to your car,” he offered, turning his head to press a kiss against Annie’s hand where it rested on his cheek. The smile he got in return made Devon’s heart skip a beat.

  He could already tell that he was going to do everything in his power to show her how much he thought she was special.

  Chapter Five

  NOW THAT SHE'D had time to get used to the idea, Annie really didn’t mind that Devon had dated other women who shared her name. It had been a shock, at first, to think that her name mattered more to him than finding out what she was like. Devon’s explanations had set her at ease. After all, Annie had deliberately sought out other Devons. She hadn’t liked them only because their name was right.

  She was glad she was the first ‘Annie’, just as Devon was the first of her boyfriends to go just by that, and not a nickname. It made it feel new and exciting.

  As did dating a professional athlete. Annie couldn’t get the memory of Devon’s lips on hers out of her mind, nor the heat his body had radiated when they’d kissed goodnight on their last date. She wanted more. But she was enjoying not taking things too fast. Even if her female friends couldn’t understand why Annie hadn’t brought him home to rip his clothes off.

  Despite her assurances that he didn’t need to surprise her, Devon had refused to tell Annie what they were doing for their third date. Even when she’d begged! And even when she’d pointed out that she needed to know what to wear.

  Going on no useful infor
mation, Annie had dressed again in tight jeans that flattered her long legs and a sexy strappy top. She had a sweater in her bag for if they were spending any length of time outside.

  She met Devon as his car pulled up outside her apartment block. Annie didn’t want to subject him to her roommates just yet. Sliding into the heated seat, she leaned across to press a kiss against Devon’s lips.

  “Now will you tell me where we’re going?” she asked, her leg practically vibrating with excitement.

  “Most certainly not,” Devon answered somehow managing to mimic Annie’s excited tone. She pouted at being mocked, which only made Devon laugh. “You’ll find out soon enough, I promise,” he assured easily. As much as Annie wanted to know, she also realized she trusted Devon. Whatever it was, she couldn’t imagine hating it or anything.

  As it turned out, she really had no reason to hate it. Devon’s surprise date was at a chocolatier’s that Annie hadn’t even known existed in Madison. The store was filled with different chocolates! There were a few little tables at the back, one of which Devon had booked for them.

  He ordered a coffee for himself and, after asking, a hot chocolate for Annie. “You can get any chocolates you want, my only rule is that you can’t puke on me.”

  Annie looked around her with wide eyes. Part of her wanted to dash away from the table, examine every chocolate on every shelf. She wouldn’t even know where to begin making a decision. But that would be rude. And besides, there was a deeper part of Annie that wanted to stay as close to Devon as she could.

  “This is amazing,” she told him, setting her hand on his bare forearm, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips. “I promise I won’t puke. I’ve got to make a good impression on all the chocolates,” she teased.

  The waitress returned with their drinks. Annie closed her eyes and took an ecstatic sip of the hot chocolate. It coated her tongue in warm, rich flavors, making her give an almost indecent moan of pleasure.

  “Did you look this up just for me?” she asked.

  “I did,” Devon confirmed easily. Annie liked how sure she was that if he hadn’t, he would tell her. The way Devon said things, so straightforward and open, it made Annie’s body warm, just in the knowledge that he was honest. And, yeah, it also thrilled her that he had gone out of his way to figure out something Annie would like to do on a date.

  Chocolate was definitely a great choice.

  For a moment, Devon stayed quiet. With a pulse of pleasure, Annie realized it was so she could enjoy her hot chocolate. “Is it nice?” he asked with a tone of amusement when she set it down. “They have five different types of hot chocolate, so we might be here for a while.”

  “It’s delicious,” Annie answered, lifting a hand to wipe at the corner of her mouth. “You’ve done very well.” She leaned across the table, pressing a lingering kiss against Devon’s mouth. He tasted of coffee, dark and bitter. It was an intoxicating contrast to the sweet chocolate she’d been drinking.

  Half-turning, Annie cast an eye over the shelf of chocolates nearest to them. They were all filled, some with normal things like mint or caramel, others with more exotic flavors. Annie didn’t even know what yuzu or tonka bean were.

  Turning back to take another sip of her drink, Annie studied Devon over her cup. “I’m impressed you had time to plan this, given how much time you spend training,” she said honestly. She liked that some of Devon’s intense focus this week must have been on her. It made her feel… special.

  “I can use a smartphone,” he teased. Annie liked that, too, the way he joked around with her so easily. There was teasing but it never felt malicious. Then again, being a hockey player, she supposed he’d spent a lot of his life learning how to tease without being malicious. It was a type of bonding, Annie had been told by her dad when she’d first seen it. Chirping was all about bonding. She knew that teasing then translated to the same.

  It made her feel warm, and not just because of the hot chocolate. Devon, she liked to imagine, felt the same. The way he smiled at her at least made it seem like it. “Have you had a good week, since I last saw you?” Devon asked, drawing Annie’s attention back to the present moment.

  Gazing into Devon’s eyes, it was honestly hard for Annie to remember the week since she’d last seen him. She glanced down, not wanting to look or sound like an idiot who couldn’t answer a simple question. “Yeah, it was nice,” Annie answered, giving a small nod. “Someone on my course was celebrating their twenty-first, so we all went out for tapas and drinks.”

  It had been a bit weird, being twenty-six when everyone else was so much younger. “I had fun,” Annie added. She had enjoyed herself, she’d just had to brush aside the feeling of being somewhat out of place. “I never really thought before I came about how few other people there would be who were my age.” There were other older students, but most of them were older than Annie, having some kind of career behind them before they’d decided to take another degree.

  “That must be weird,” Devon nodded. “We have really mixed ages on the team, but that’s always been the case. So like, when I was seventeen there were people my age but also older guys.” Annie nodded because she knew how hockey teams were structured, how the ages of the player varied a lot. Up to a point, anyway. There weren’t a lot of older players.

  “I guess it’s weirder that everyone’s a guy. We have female staff, like PR and shit, but it’s not quite the same. I’ve always thought it’s weird not to really have female friends.” Devon shrugged.

  Annie nodded. “I have a lot of guy friends now,” she said. “But I didn’t when I was little. I think that’s just how some activities are, especially sports.” Annie had never wanted to play the same sports her brother did, but even if she had, she didn’t think there would have been teams for her. “I did gymnastics and cheerleading. Even dancing was mostly girls.” Devon already knew she’d done skating, which had definitely been exclusively girls at Annie’s ice rink.

  “I didn’t really make guy friends until college, the first time.” She gave a small shrug. Annie wasn’t ashamed to have been through college once before. She’d graduated with a good GPA, it wasn’t as if she’d dropped out. She’d just… sort of lost interest once she’d actually finished her studies. “And then when I started working, there were people of all ages. This is just the first time there’s been no one my age.” Annie knew twenty-one to twenty-six wasn’t a huge difference, but it still felt strange.

  “What did you do?” Devon asked curiously. “When you worked,” he clarified.

  For whatever reason, Annie hadn’t quite expected Devon to ask that. Most men she’d dated just didn’t... seem to care. She’d told him she was studying, of course. But Annie hadn’t quite considered that he might also want to know what she’d done before. It set a small anxiety low in Annie’s stomach. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed. It was just... well, she’d done a lot of different things. Annie knew how it sounded when she listed them all.

  The delicious smell of the hot chocolate fortified her, giving Annie the push she needed to provide Devon with an answer. “I worked in local government for a while,” she said. “And I was a receptionist, and a secretary.” She looked up, scanning Devon’s eyes for any judgment.

  “I tried training to be a lifeguard, too,” she admitted. That hadn’t lasted long at all. Annie had known, deep down, that she didn’t have the commitment for it. She hadn’t wanted to put other people at risk if she failed to pay attention to something important. “I’ve tried a lot of different things,” she said, trying to explain. “I just - I can’t seem to find that one thing that’s the right one. Like how hockey is for you.”

  She looked away, unsure she wanted to see what Devon’s reaction to that would be. When Annie did many different things, she never felt bad about it. But Annie wasn’t stupid. She knew what it looked like. In fact, she’d had a few boyfriends - and friends and family - point out how lacking in commitment her actions were.

  “Not everyon
e’s as lucky as me,” Devon said. It really wasn’t what Annie had expected. It startled her. Her gaze shot up, a small frown clearly visible. Whatever her expression must’ve seemed like, Devon mistook it for not understanding what he meant. “I loved hockey from the moment I stepped on the ice,” he explained. “It sucks that you haven’t had that feeling.”

  Annie felt her stomach flip over itself, a pleasant fluttering of butterflies filling her whole body as she met Devon’s eyes. He looked genuine, sounded genuine. She opened her mouth, about to ask whether Devon really didn’t think she should just ‘try harder’ - then thought better of it. Instead, she smiled softly, reaching out for his hand to hold across the table.

  She gave an eager nod. “I liked a lot of it, at least at first,” she explained, the words almost tumbling over themselves now in her eagerness. “But I didn’t love any of them. And that’s what you’re supposed to look for, right?” That was what Sawyer and Annie’s dad had, what Devon had.

  “Have you ever?” Devon asked managing to sound genuinely curious. “I mean, you say you liked it but didn’t love it, but how do you know that the like wasn’t more of a love?” The question didn’t quite make sense to Annie. If she had loved it, the way that Devon loved hockey, then she would still be doing it, right?

  Devon seemed to sense her confusion over what he had said. He paused. “When I first started playing hockey, I was so drawn into it that nothing else around me existed. Hell, even now when I play that’s the case. So I knew I wanted to do that. But I think differently from other people, I know that.” There, Devon gave a shrug.

  “Goalies are weird, it’s a well-known fact,” he clarified. Annie had definitely heard that before.

  “You don’t seem weird to me,” Annie answered, frowning slightly. “You seem… great. Strong, thoughtful, not judge-y.” It wasn’t something she was just saying, Annie truly believed that Devon was a good person. From everything she knew of him so far, how could she possibly think anything else?