“It’s okay. Can’t blame him, at his age.”
“They all like you a lot, though. It’s not that. Hazel would go, and Vi…I’m not really sure about her.”
“Hey, don’t get down about it, okay? We’ll figure something else out.”
She pulls back and looks up at me with a sad smile. “Like what? Do you think the Blaze owner might like to relocate his team to Greentree Falls?”
“Yeah, that was my Plan B, smartass.”
She gives me a soft, sweet kiss. “We could always do long distance.”
I lean my forehead against hers. “Or…I can retire.”
“Erik, no.” She lays her palms on my chest and shakes her head. “You can’t give up your career for us.”
Smoothing a hand over her hair, I say, “You don’t get to decide that, Allie Cat. I do.”
“I like when you call me that. Reminds me of when we were younger, when things were simple.”
“See? I know how to help you relax. I’m kinda handy to have around, right?”
She blushes and says, “Yeah, you’re more than handy.”
“When are the kids gonna be back?”
She looks at the clock on her kitchen wall, which is red and shaped like an apple. “I told the girls to call me when they’re ready to come home, but I bet it’ll be at least an hour and a half.”
“Hmm…I think we can put that time to good use.”
I squat down and curl my hands behind her thighs, picking her up and setting her down on the kitchen counter. She takes my face in her hands and kisses me, pulling away after a few seconds.
“I went to that new bar place and confronted Jenna,” she says.
“Yeah, how’d that go?”
She just shakes her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry at someone. The girls wanted to spend time with her tonight and she lied to them at dinner and said she had to help with a baby shower.”
“Wow. That’s low, even for her.”
“She doesn’t get it. They’re not just awesome kids, they’re awesome people. And before long, they’ll be busy with adult lives of their own, going to college and having families. She’s missing out.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“I know. But I can’t…I won’t be like that, Erik. Not even a little. I need to be here with Max for his senior year. He said he could stay with his dad or a friend, but…I don’t want to miss anything. I’ve been at every football game, and I try to make every track meet when I can get out of work, and—”
“Hey, I don’t want you to miss anything, either.” I rest my hands on her waist, my fingertips edging up under the hem of her shirt, and she squirms.
“What?” I ask, lowering my brows.
“I feel weird having you touch my rolls. I’m not flat and firm like I was in high school.”
I smile and bend down to nuzzle her neck. “And yet I find you sexier than ever.” I slide my hands around to her ass and pull her against me so she can feel my erection pressing against her.
She exhales harshly.
“We’re gonna work this out,” I tell her. “This time, we’re not giving up on each other.”
“Is that what you think we did before?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
I unbutton her shorts and start sliding them down. She presses her palms to the counter and lifts her hips so I can get her shorts and panties off.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to in hockey,” I say, pushing my own shorts and underwear down. “I’ve won two championships, played in every arena, and competed against some of the best in the game. I’m ready for the next adventure, Al. Us. A family.”
I spread her legs a little wider and thrust inside her and we both groan.
“Oh god…” she says softly, throwing her head back. “God, you’re good at this.”
“At this?” I pull back and bury myself inside her.
“Yeah, that, and…talking me into anything while you’re doing it.”
“Don’t you think we need this all the time? I know I fucking do.” I grab her hips and pull her against me, setting a steady, deep rhythm.
“But…” she pants, “but you’re close to that…record…”
Christ, it’s sexier than I was expecting to fuck her on the counter next to the stove she cooks dinner on. She braces a hand on the kitchen cabinet behind her so her head doesn’t knock against it. She’s wet, the sound of my cock pumping in and out of her making it hard to keep control.
“How do you know about that?” I ask, my voice strained.
She moans loudly and grabs my shoulder, digging her nails in. “I…googled…you…oh, god, yes. Harder.”
I take my hands from her ass and use them to rip the front of her button-up shirt open, exposing her breasts. My hands go back to her ass and I resume fucking her, watching her tits bounce up and down in her red satin bra.
“Fuck…baby…” I grind my teeth, trying to hold back.
“Yes, yes, like th—oh, god, yes,” she cries, tightening her legs around my waist as she comes.
With an endless groan and a final thrust inside her, I come too. I kiss her shoulder, taking a second to catch my breath.
“You googled me?” I ask as I pull out of her, amused.
“Yeah,” she says, sliding off the counter to retrieve her panties and shorts.
“Sorry about the shirt,” I say, a little bashful, but not regretting it in the slightest.
“I don’t care about the shirt.” She grins at me, her cheeks flushed.
“That record is a longshot,” I say, stepping back into my boxer briefs.
“What’s it for, most shots? I don’t remember the exact wording.”
“Most shots on goal in a playoff career.”
“Erik, that’s incredible, that you could set a record one day.”
I shrug. “We’re stats obsessed in hockey. And it’s not entirely in my control. I’m on a good pace, but if my team doesn’t make it to the playoffs enough times in the next several years, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Allie goes upstairs to get a new shirt, and as she’s coming back down the stairs, her phone starts playing the sound of a teenage girl saying, “Is butter a carb?”
“What the hell is that?” I ask.
“It’s from Mean Girls,” she explains, laughing loudly at my befuddled expression. “The girls and I watch it all the time.” She looks down at her phone screen and frowns. “That’s Vi, they’re ready for me to pick them up.”
“Allie Douglas, I’m in love with you,” I say, kissing her. “And we’re gonna figure this out. I promise.”
“That’s all well and good and I believe you, but answer me this. Do I look freshly fucked?” She smooths down her hair. “Be honest.”
“Absolutely. Makes me want to fuck you all over again.”
She laughs and says, “I just don’t want the girls to know.”
“If they figure it out, they’ll survive.”
“Would you want to know if your mom had sex?”
I cringe. “Oh, hell no. Don’t even suggest it.”
She laughs and picks her purse and keys up from the kitchen counter. I hold the back door open and she’s about to walk out when she says, “Oh, crap. I need to clean the ass germs off the counter real quick.”
“The ass germs? That’s a thing?” I quirk a brow at her.
She takes a bottle of kitchen cleaner from the cabinet beneath the sink and sprays the surface I just fucked her on, then wipes it dry with a paper towel. She puts the cleaner away and throws away the paper towel, then gives me a sheepish look as she walks out the door.
“Sorry. This is what you get when you fuck a mom, I guess.”
I grin. “You’re a MILF, I dig it.”
I slap her ass and she laughs. I get in one more kiss before she drives away, waving at me.
And within a couple minutes, I already miss her.
* * *
Later that evening, I’m sitting on Aunt Jo�
�s back deck, a beer in one hand and my phone in the other. Mom and Aunt Jo both went to bed after we all played a game of Scrabble. Mom smoked us, of course.
It’s quiet out here, with just the sounds of nature and the occasional passing car. I take a long sip of beer and set it on the patio table, then find Jonah’s contact on my phone and call him.
“Hey, man,” he says. “How are you?”
“Not bad, what are you up to?”
He sighs heavily. “Okay. I went on a blind date tonight that one of my brother’s friends set up.”
“Doesn’t sound like it went that well.”
“No, it didn’t. I feel bad because she was a nice girl. Pretty, too. But I don’t feel right being on a date with anyone but Lily.”
“Does she know your situation?”
“Yeah, and she was really cool about it. But if I’m being honest, I hated every second and couldn’t wait for it to be over.”
“That’s okay. There’s no rulebook for widowers, you know? You get to feel how you feel about it.”
“Yeah…anyway, it’s good to hear from you. How was the rest of your birthday?”
“Probably the best birthday I’ve ever had. I’m sorry I ditched you guys that night, but I figured you’d understand.”
“Yeah, of course. Alexei told us about what happened between you and Allie back in college.”
“It was hard for me. I never really got over our breakup, but I learned to live with it.”
“Are you guys back together?”
I put my feet up on another of Aunt Jo’s patio chairs. “Yeah, we are.”
“And it’s good?”
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever had. Allie is…there’s just no other woman like her. She’s the one for me.”
“That’s how I always felt about Lily. From the first time I saw her.”
“I know. That’s why I called you, actually. I wanted to ask…if you’d been forced to choose between being with Lily and playing hockey, what would you have done?”
“I’d have chosen her, without a doubt.”
“Yeah. I’m feeling the same way.”
“You can’t move Allie and the kids to Chicago?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.”
Jonah pauses before saying, “Playing hockey is a dream, but dreams are temporary, man. Lily was my forever.”
“That’s how I feel about Allie. I wish I would’ve fought harder for her the first time around.”
“Sounds like you already know what you need to do.”
“Yeah, I think I do. And Jonah…I know I’ve said I’m sorry about Lily lots of times, but now that I’m back with Allie, I feel like I understand it in a whole new way. And I’m so fucking sorry, man.”
“Thanks, man. I miss her every day, but I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.”
“Thanks for coming up for my birthday. It meant a lot.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it.”
“Keep in touch, okay?”
“You got it.”
I end the call and take another drink of my beer.
Retiring from hockey won’t be easy, but I’m not leaving Allie again. Being with her makes me feel complete in a way I’ll never have if we’re apart.
Now I just have to convince her it’s the right call.
Twenty
Easy
When I arrive at Allie’s house for dinner that night and knock on the front door, Hazel opens it.
“Hey, Coach Zimmerman,” she says. “Come on in.”
“Hi Hazel. And hey…call me Erik when we’re not at the rec center, okay?”
“Okay…Erik.”
I can tell it doesn’t feel right to her, but she’ll get used to it. If things go the way I’m planning, she’ll be able to call me Dad one day, if she wants to.
The plan is to retire from hockey, marry Allie, adopt the girls and build a home here for our family. In that order. I’ve been thinking about it all day, and tonight after dinner, when we’re alone, I’m planning to tell her.
Hazel and I walk into the kitchen, and Allie looks up from her seat at the kitchen table, papers scattered all over in front of her.
“I’ve got a plan,” she says, her grin excited. “Come here, I’ll show you.”
I lean down to kiss her, then slide into the chair next to hers.
“Okay, so I printed out the Blaze schedule for this coming season,” she says, turning a piece of paper towards me. “I transferred it to this calendar app I found online. I highlighted the days you’ll be playing games in yellow, the weekends that we can come to Chicago in green, and the holidays where you don’t have a game and can hopefully come here in blue.”
I look down at the meticulously written schedule. She’s got every day between this August and next May accounted for.
“And I get two weeks vacation, too,” she adds. “I thought maybe the kids and I could spend their Christmas break in Chicago with you. And the girls and I will move there to be with you as soon as Max graduates. They’re actually excited about it.”
I nod, taking in her plans.
“It’s only until May,” she says. “It’s less than a year. If we do this, we can still be together a lot. And I can still be here with the kids for school stuff, and you can still keep working toward that record.”
I take her hand and bring it to my lips, kissing it. “Is this really what you want? Because I’ve been thinking, too. I’ve got all the money we’ll ever need. I can retire and move here.”
She smiles at me, tenderness shining in her eyes. “I love you for that. It means so much. But if we do it this way, nobody has to give anything up. You don’t really want to retire, do you? You’re only thirty, Erik.”
I hesitate. “I wasn’t planning on it, but if it’s that or you…I choose you.”
She leans over to kiss me. “I love you so much, Erik, and I don’t want you to have to choose. I can be at a lot of your home games. I know Kelly will help me with the kids when I need it. And half the season, you’ll be on the road anyway. I really think we can do this.”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding as I look over her schedule again. “I think we can, too.”
She gives a little cheer of excitement. “God, I’m so happy. And I hope you don’t mind, but I’m planning to order pizza for dinner. I was too focused on making this schedule to cook.”
“Pizza sounds great.” I pat her thigh under the table. “I’m down for this plan, but I do have one condition.”
“What?”
“I want you to quit your job at Fox Foods and let me help support you financially. When the kids are at school, I want you to be able to pursue a career you love. You can enroll in college courses or take some certification classes. Then, when the kids come home from school, you get to spend time with them.”
I watch her expression and I can see that she’s taking my offer seriously. “That would allow us to travel to Chicago to see you more often. We could visit every time the kids have a long weekend without activities. If you’re there, I mean.”
“I’m buying you a new car, too. For all that road tripping you’ll be doing.”
“My car’s just fine.”
“That’s part of helping to support you.”
Allie scrunches up her face in frustration. “I don’t want to look like your…” She looks over her shoulder to see if the kids are close by and then lowers her voice, “…ho.”
I laugh loud and hard at that and say, “Who cares what anyone says? We’re together, and that means I get to take care of you. I’m not negotiating this with you.”
“Oh, really?” She raises her brows in challenge and I wink at her.
“Really. You better get used to it.”
“Nothing fancy, though, okay? Just a sensible sedan that’s good in the snow.”
“You’ll find out what you’re getting when it shows up in your driveway.”
She rolls her eyes, still smiling, and takes her paper schedule back. “I need to upda
te the schedule so we can see what it looks like if I’m not working.”
I gently pull the highlighter from her hand and set it down, my eyes on her. “We can update it later. Let’s relax and enjoy our evening with the kids, okay?”
She nods and smiles while biting down on her lip. I lean over and kiss her just as Max walks into the kitchen.
“Get a room,” he mutters.
Allie gives him a stern look. “Is that how we greet guests?”
“Sorry. Hello, Erik, how was your day?”
“Hey Max, how’s it going?”
“Okay.” He laughs lightly. “I spent the whole day moving cinderblocks on the farm I work at, and I don’t think I’ll be able to move tomorrow.”
“You look like you got some sun.”
“Yeah, and I drank about a gallon of water because all I did was sweat, but the work helps keep me in shape over the summer so I’m more prepared for football training. I don’t think I’ve ever been as hungry as I am right now.”
“I’ll order the pizza right now,” Allie says.
“Hey, let me do it,” I offer. “Just tell me what you guys want.”
“I can eat a whole large pizza myself, please,” Max says.
“Where’s your favorite place to get pizza?” I ask him.
“Gas N’ Go has the best pizza in town. I know that seems weird since it’s a gas station, but that’s small-town life.”
“Nah, I get it. I lived here for four years. Gas N’ Go it is.”
“We have to go pick it up if we order from there, though,” Allie says. “The Italian place will deliver.”
“I don’t mind picking it up,” I say. “What do you guys want?”
“Max and I both like everything on our pizza,” Allie says. “The girls usually share a cheese pizza. Let me see if they want garlic twists.”
“Hazel, Vi!” she calls up the stairs. “Do you want garlic twists from Gas N’ Go or just cheese pizza?”
“Vi’s not here,” Hazel says. “I’ll just have pizza.”
“I thought you and Vi were coming home from the pool together,” Allie says.
“Vi left the pool at lunchtime to have lunch with Mom. Didn’t she text you?”
Easy: A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance Page 13
