The Final Move

by Victoria Denault

  I can’t help but laugh at that. Luc does too for a minute but then he gets serious again. “Callie is a warrior. When she loves you, she’ll do anything for you.”

  I swallow and try not to let the dark feelings in my heart take over. “But she doesn’t love me. She doesn’t love anyone. She doesn’t want to—that’s the problem.”

  “Nah, man, that’s all an act.” Luc shakes his head. “She loves everyone.”

  He walks back over to his locker and I try to make sense of his words. Callie loves everyone. Including me? That makes no sense. Or does it?

  Chapter 39

  Callie

  I meet Rose at the hotel the Barons have put Luc up in until he finds something more permanent. She comes bounding off the elevator full of energy and kisses my cheek.

  “Donna and Wyatt are picking up Conner and meeting us there,” I inform her as we jump into a cab in front of the hotel. “Are you nervous?”

  “No. I’m excited. He’s nervous,” she explains happily.

  “He’ll be great,” I assure her, even though she doesn’t need it.

  “So…” she starts, letting her sentence trail off.

  “We’re not having sex anymore so you don’t need to lecture me,” I blurt out, knowing that she’s been dying to talk about Devin and me since she got here yesterday. “And I’m moving out, so it won’t happen ever again.”

  I glance over at her and she looks disappointed, which confuses me. She pulls out her phone and starts to dial. I don’t ask what she’s doing but then she hits speaker and I hear Jessie’s voice fill the car.

  “Hey, Rosie! Are you with her?”

  “Yep. You’re on speaker.”

  “Seriously?” I roll my eyes and glance at the cabbie, who is trying to act like he’s not paying attention, but he’s smiling ever so slightly. “Are you guys holding an intervention here?”

  “Pretty much,” Jessie confirms.

  “I just told Rosie it’s not going to happen again,” I repeat firmly as we stop at a red light. “I’m moving out and then we’ll go back to being friends.”

  “Callie, I hate to break this to you, but take it from two girls that know,” Jessie announces through Rose’s iPhone. “Once you’ve had the monkey sex, you never go back.”

  I laugh out loud at my sister using my personal term for crazy, hot sex. It just bursts from my lungs and it sounds more nervous than amused.

  “You two are crackheads,” I announce and try to contain my giggles. “I did Devin when I was eighteen and I walked away. I can do him at twenty-three and walk away too.”

  “How, exactly, can you say you walked away when you came back?” Rose wants to know, a small smile on her face. “It may have taken five years, but you ended up in his bed again.”

  “Technically, it was on his couch…and then my bed, but never his bed,” I correct her snidely because I don’t know what else to say. Rose is right. Technically, I slept with him and came back—two nights in a row. And now I have to fight the urge to do it again every waking minute of every day.

  I glance at the cab driver again in the rearview mirror and he rolls his eyes. I shrug as if to say “whatever.” I honestly don’t care what this old guy knows about my sex life. He’s a New York cab driver. I’m sure he’s heard worse.

  “Couch sex,” Jessie says longingly. “Couch sex with a Garrison is good sex.”

  “Back on track here!” Rose commands, sounding like the schoolteacher she’s studying to become. “I don’t care if you sleep with Devin a hundred more times.”

  “Rosie! We’re supposed to be on the same team here!” Jessie argues. “Remember? The Don’t Touch Devin Again Because You’ll Break His Heart team?!”

  “It’s too late for that, Jessie,” Rose tells my sister, turning her pink-glossed lips toward the phone she’s holding up. “You should have seen them yesterday! They touch each other without even knowing it. And they give each other little looks and smiles and they share Conner. And Conner loves it!”

  “Oh my God,” is all that comes through the phone.

  I feel my whole body get rigid. “Okay, wait a minute! Do NOT bring Conner into this.”

  The driver pulls to a stop in front of the Barons arena. I throw twenty dollars toward him and scramble out before he can give me change. Rose scurries to join me, slipping a little on the icy sidewalk. She’s still got the damn phone in her left hand, with Jessie on the other end, and so she grabs my arm with her right one.

  “Callie, he looks at you like you’re his second mother. And Devin looks at you like you’re the love of his life,” Rose says in a low, soft tone. “And I hate to break this to you, big sister, but you look at Devin like…like you’re in love with him.”

  I stop dead, fans in Barons shirts bustling by us, and spin to face her so fast my knitted hat flies off my head.

  “Rose, you’re completely delusional,” I say in a heated, angry growl. “I’m not kidding. You want to be a romantic fool, fine. I have always supported you and loved you anyway, but don’t you dare try to make me one too. I know better.”

  “Callie!” Jessie yells through the phone. “What are you afraid of?”

  “Afraid?” I repeat like she’s an idiot, because right now she fucking is. I yank Rose to a less busy part of the area outside the arena. “I’m not afraid. I’m smart. You two think it’s all shits and giggles? Look at Mom. She died alone. The man who was supposed to love her—our dad—left her. And us. Lily was supposed to love us. Excellent grandma she turned out to be, huh? She cared so little she left us alone as soon as she thought she could do it and not get arrested.”

  “Luc and Jordan would never do that,” Rose states in a flat, firm voice. She’s completely one hundred percent confident in her boyfriend and Jessie’s future husband.

  “They both fucked up,” I remind them heatedly, which I know is harsh, but I’m furious. I’m shaking, raging, furious. “You spent half your life pining after Luc before he figured out he loved you, and Jessie…Jessie spent years with her heart in pieces. I barely got through both your heartbreaks, which is why I don’t want to go through my own. Devin wants this perfect little family, and I’m far from perfect. If Ashleigh couldn’t live up to it, how can I?”

  “Devin seems to think you’re pretty perfect,” Rosie comments calmly.

  “Shut up!” I bark and take a deep, ragged breath. “I’m going to watch my friends play hockey now. And if either of you bring this up again, I swear to God I will disown you. Bye, Jessie.”

  I don’t wait for a response. I just start storming toward the entry gate as my vision blurs with hot, angry tears. I can hear Rose calling my name and it makes me walk faster. Damn them. I’m so upset with my sisters. I feel betrayed. I’ve always had their backs. I’ve always supported what they wanted, even when I didn’t think it was the right thing to want.

  “Callie, please!” Rose grabs my arm and forces me to stop walking. She turns me to face her and I snap my eyes shut. My cheeks are damp, and she makes a whimper at the sight of my tears and pulls me into a hug. “We’re sorry.”

  “When Jessie was still clearly in love with Jordan after all he did to her, after all those years, I supported her,” I say in a shaky, whispery voice. “I talked to him. I told him he had to go for it. I wanted her to be happy.”

  “I know. And we want you to be happy,” Rose promises in an earnest voice. “That’s all we want.”

  “I am happy. I’m happy not ever putting myself in the position to be heartbroken. I don’t need a guy. I don’t need Devin.”

  “But do you want him?” Rose asks me in a small voice.

  I hesitate. Do I want him? That’s a loaded question and I know it. She hands me a tissue from her bag and I snatch it from her and wipe at my eyes.

  “Because he wants you,” Rose states flatly. “I would bet my life on it. And I know you think love is just a way for stupid people to inflict pain on themselves. But it’s also pretty fucking awesome and completely worth the
risk.”

  “Are you done?” I ask, regaining my composure. “Because I’m done talking about it.”

  “One last thing,” she says simply, as she loops her arm through mine and guides me toward the building entrance. “You have always seemed happy with your life. But I have never seen you look or sound happier than you are around Devin these last few months. Thought you should know.”

  I give her a hard stare but say nothing. She just smiles and kisses my cheek.

  Chapter 40

  Devin

  We won 4–0. A shutout, so Loops is thrilled. I scored a goal and not only did Luc not score on his own net, he assisted on my goal and got one of his own. Definitely a great debut as a Baron. I was grinning ear to ear when we headed back into the locker room after it was over.

  I keep glancing over at him and smiling while I talk to reporters. I can barely see him, as his own wall of microphones and digital recorders surrounds him. When the reporters are finally ushered out, before we even have a chance to shower, Luc and I head into the hall. Rose, Callie, Conner and my parents are there. Everyone looks exactly how I feel—proud, excited and relieved. It couldn’t have been a more perfect game.

  Mom and Dad both hug Luc, but his eyes are on Rose the whole time. She’s got tears in her eyes. She wants to be the big girl but she’s so thrilled for him she’s like a kid who got a brand-new bike for Christmas. When my parents stop praising him, Luc and Rose grab each other and hold on for dear life. It’s ridiculously touching and I suddenly long for that kind of deep relationship—again. I want that. My heart aches just a little bit.

  “Daddy!” Conner calls, pulling my focus away from Luc.

  Callie has scooped him up in her arms and he’s smiling and reaching for me. I walk over and take him. He hugs me for a second and then his face wrinkles up. “Daddy, you stinky!” he proclaims and reaches back for Callie.

  She lets out a belly laugh and takes him back into her arms again. I give her a smirk and she winks at me. I’m overwhelmed with the urge to reach out and hug her, so I do.

  “Great game, Hockey God,” she whispers in my ear, and kisses my cheek softly before adding loudly, “You ARE stinky!”

  Conner giggles and claps his hands.

  “Fine! I’m showering. Relax!” I hold my hands up and walk backward to the locker room.

  My parents drop Conner back at Ashleigh’s and meet us at a local pub to celebrate. A few teammates come out too. It’s a relaxed but joyous night. Everyone is so happy. I can’t believe how good I feel, and as I watch Callie joking with my teammate Alex and my dad, I know that she’s the only thing that would make me feel even happier.

  A few hours later my mom and dad decide to call it a night. I head to the restrooms as Callie is making her way back from them. We cross paths at the edge of the dance floor as the music changes to something slower. Spontaneously, I grab her wrist and pull her onto the floor and into my arms.

  “We’re doing this now, are we?” she asks with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Why the hell not?” I counter and give her my best cocky smirk.

  She laughs and her fingers deliciously scrape the back of my neck. “Why the hell not?” she repeats softly.

  I pull her closer. She feels just as fantastic as I remember. My thumb makes lazy circles on the small of her back.

  “So about this moving thing…where is your new place?” I ask casually.

  “Soho,” she mutters.

  “What street?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  I pull back a little and look at her. She looks over my shoulder. “Don’t move out.”

  “Devin.”

  “Don’t move out.”

  “I have to.” She shakes her head as if arguing with internal voices as well. “Jessie texted me during the game. I guess the NBC crew focused on us a few times during the game.”

  “Yeah.” I nod. When a player’s family is at a game—especially their first game on a new team—it always makes the telecast, and usually the Jumbotron in the arena too. I had seen them up there on a TV time-out.

  “They said it was the Garrison family, including Luc Richard’s girlfriend and Devin Garrison’s wife and kid,” she says and pauses. “You have to fix that.”

  “It’s over with. No one probably even paid attention,” I say with a shrug. “It’s okay.”

  “But Ashleigh is going to freak out,” Callie insists.

  I assume she would be concerned that people think she’s my wife because she hates the idea of it for herself, but her concern is Ashleigh, which shocks me.

  “It’s all good,” I assure her and smile. “I’ll tell them you’re my hot nanny.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s much better,” Callie retorts, unamused. “So when news of your divorce gets out, they’ll think I’m the skank who did it.”

  “Cal, Ashleigh is the one with the boyfriend, remember?” I counter calmly. “You’re not the skank.”

  She settles down a little bit at that and goes back to grazing her fingers against the back of my neck. It’s making me hot for her. What else is new?

  “You don’t have a place yet, do you?”

  “Do we have to talk about that again?”

  “Yes,” I reply curtly. “Because until you have a place and I see it for myself, and approve of it, you aren’t moving out.”

  “Excuse me?” She stops moving with me and stands perfectly still, her body rigid. Her hands drop from my shoulders and land on her tiny hips.

  “You’re a part of my family and have been for years,” I tell her and grab her hands, pulling them from her hips and holding them tightly. “You aren’t moving into some crappy hotel or some sketchy rental because you were too scared of your feelings to find a proper place. You want to run scared, fine. But be smart about it.”

  She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

  “And for the record,” I add softly, leaning in so our faces are inches from each other, “you can run all you want. I’m pretty fucking irresistible, and even if you’re not across the hall, you’ll still have trouble staying out of my bed.”

  I kiss her cheek softly and slowly; then I let her hands go and walk away.

  Chapter 41

  Callie

  I barely had an entire drink all night, but as I walk home from the bar with Devin, I have to question my mental state right now. I feel pretty fucking intoxicated. That’s what being horny as hell does to me, I guess. What the fuck was that on the dance floor? He’s so fucking cocky and full of himself—and it’s the hottest thing ever. It’s one of the things—besides the physical height, muscle, hazel eyes with flecks of amber and gray and thick, dirty-blond hair—that attracted me to Devin even as a teen.

  He has this air about him…a strong confidence. Like he’s not as great as he appears, he’s actually better. It wasn’t there when I first moved to Brooklyn, thanks to Ashleigh. He was still attractive in a different way then. I can honestly say that seeing him vulnerable was a turn-on and I’ve never thought that about a man before. But now—on the dance floor—was the first flash of that other quality he’s had his whole life. And it was so sexy and manly and just…He left me standing there in the middle of the dance floor with wet panties. He barely talked to me for the rest of the night and now I’m following him back to the townhouse and I’m completely and utterly on fire for him.

  Tonight is going to be hard to get through, knowing he is right across the hall. I try not to stare at his perfect round ass as I follow him wordlessly up the path. He opens the door and allows me in first. We both kick off our shoes and I drop my purse and head upstairs. He goes into the kitchen.

  In my room I shut the door and peel out of my clothes. I hear his feet on the stairs and walk to my door. I lean my head against it and wait to hear his bedroom door open and close, but the sound doesn’t come.

  Where did he go?

  Suddenly every part of my body and soul is praying silently that he’s about to come into my room. Oh Go
d, Devin, please do it, I think despite the fact I know I shouldn’t. Please just barge in here and rip my thong off, pull your perfect dick out and fuck me blind. Please. I crack open my door, unable to control my overwhelming need to figure out where the hell he is and what the fuck he’s doing.

  He’s standing with his back against the railing of the stairs directly across from my door. Our eyes connect.

  “Tell me to come in,” he demands in a low, gravelly voice filled with lust.

  I don’t say anything. I just slowly pull the door wide open so he can see me standing there in nothing but my black lace push-up bra and matching black thong. His eyes sweep over me slowly and fully before holding my gaze again.

  “Tell me,” he demands again.

  “Come in.” It’s barely a whisper and it quivers with need.

  The next thing I know, our lips collide and he’s pushing me back onto my bed, his long, muscular body on top of me, and his hands everywhere. His tongue controls my mouth—owns it. Oh God, it feels amazing.

  “Devin, I fucking missed this,” I admit shamefully.

  “Your own fault,” he whispers back as his full, wet lips move to my throat and down my chest. “I would deny you nothing, Callie.”

  He’s licking and kissing the flesh on my bare stomach now. It’s a glorious feeling and as he keeps heading south, I tangle my hands in his hair. I feel his long fingers hook the sides of my thong and slide them down as he circles my belly button with long strokes of his tongue.

  As soon as I’m naked from the waist down, his torso falls in between my legs. I glance down at him; his beautiful face is turned toward my thigh, kissing the inside of it softly, his eyes closed.

  He opens them and looks at me as he turns, face inches from my core, and juts his tongue out. It softly licks my center and my head automatically bends back, pushing into the mattress beneath me.