“Why not?”
“Because I’m trying to stay off Coach’s shit list.”
“Not that. Why can’t I date your daughter? Maybe she’s my dream girl.”
I rub my forehead with two fingers. “I don’t have a daughter.”
He presses me with a hard stare.
“If I did, then I’d let you date her,” I relent. I’m proof that when you meet the right girl, the past shit doesn’t matter. “But I’d be keeping a close eye on you.”
One side of his mouth pulls up into a knowing smile. “Couldn’t blame you there.”
In Dallas, we go to the arena for a light practice first and then to the hotel.
“Declan’s swinging by. We were going to hang and have a drink here, or we can go downstairs,” Ash says as I’m about to call Scarlett.
“Whatever.” I pull out my headphones. “I’m gonna take a walk and call my girl.”
I slip on my headphones and FaceTime her as I leave the room.
Her face fills the screen, and Scarlett hits me with a smile that makes my chest warm.
“Hi, gorgeous.”
“Hey. Are you at the hotel or the arena?”
I tilt my phone to show her the hallway of the hotel. “We just got here. What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to go out with Jade.”
Jade’s head pops into view. “Hey, Leo.”
“Hey, Jade. What sort of trouble are you two going to get up to?” I take the stairs down to the first floor and sit in one of the chairs adjacent to the lobby.
Jade disappears as fast as she appears.
“She’s saying goodbye to Sam before we leave,” Scarlett answers when Jade doesn’t.
“You need to go?”
She shakes her head. “Uhh… that was my polite way of saying she’s going to give him a blow job. We have a few minutes.”
She shifts the phone, and I get a glimpse of the tight green dress wrapped around her.
I bark a laugh. “Fuck, I miss you already. You look nice.”
“We’re going to this bridal runway show.” A slight blush creeps up her face. “It’s for Jade’s column.”
“You better sit far away from the stage then so you don’t show up the models.”
She rolls her eyes, but her smile doesn’t falter.
“A few minutes, huh? I can work with that.”
Her eyes darken. “You’re in the middle of a hotel.”
“But you aren’t.” My back is to a wall, and I hold my phone closer to me so no one else can see the screen.
With a hesitant smile, she pulls the fabric of her dress down until the black lacy bra she’s wearing is the only thing blocking her tits from view. “Damn, baby. You’re so gorgeous.”
A shadow falls over me, and someone clears their throat. I look up to scowl at whoever has invaded my space and stare straight into Coach Miller’s irritated face.
“Coach. Hi,” I squeak out, “I was just talking to Scarlett.”
“Oh my god,” she mumbles. I take a quick glance down to make sure she’s righted her dress before I show him the screen.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Hi, honey.” His face transforms when he speaks to her, but slips right back to irritated when he speaks to me. “When you finish here, can you grab Maverick and Tyler for a quick line meeting?”
“Absolutely,” I say a little too eagerly.
Scarlett laughs. Glad one of us can find the humor in this situation. Damn, that could have been hella awkward.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I say. “Have fun with Jade.”
“Good luck.”
I don’t know if she means with Dallas or her dad.
31
DITTO, BABY
SCARLETT
Our first outing as an official couple comes on a Saturday night after a home game. Butterflies flutter in my stomach as we walk in to Wild’s, hand in hand.
Ash is the first to see us, and he stands from the bar and hugs Leo, slapping him on the back and smiling at me. “Miller!”
“Hey, Ash.”
He rests a hand on his hip and keeps smiling at us. “So happy to see you two out. What do you want to drink? I’m buying.”
We grab drinks, and when Tyler and Maverick get up to play pool, we take their seats at the bar.
It’s still busy with fans from the game, which means the guys have people coming up to them constantly. Leo takes the attention in stride. He shakes hands and makes small talk with anyone who approaches, but he never turns his back to me.
When we get a moment by ourselves, he runs his hands up my bare thighs and rests them on my hips. I wore his favorite black skirt tonight, and I love the way he can’t stop touching me.
“Wanna play darts?” he asks, voice low and husky.
I shake my head.
“Pool?”
“Not unless you do.”
His head moves side to side. “Not particularly.”
“We sort of got in a routine of celebrating on our own, and now it’s all I can think about.” Sex… it’s my new favorite way to celebrate.
“I promised Ash we’d hang for a bit.”
“Okay.” I tilt forward and brush my boobs against his shoulder.
His eyes darken. He stands, drains his beer, and pulls me to my feet. “Pool. Let’s play some pool.”
Laughing, I follow along. If Leo thinks watching him lean over and shoot a pool stick is going to make me want him less, he is mistaken. The man is seriously fine, and he’s all mine.
I glance over my shoulder as I line up to take a shot and catch him punching Tyler next to him.
“Eyes off her ass.”
“Dude. I wasn’t looking,” Tyler says with a chuckle but moves off to the side.
“Aww, let them look, baby. I’m only leaving with you.”
He grumbles under his breath.
Fully-clothed celebrating isn’t so bad either, I suppose. If nothing else, it’s delayed gratification for the naked celebration I know is still coming.
And, I enjoy hanging out with the guys. Now that my dad knows they all seem more relaxed around me.
“Is that Ash’s girlfriend?” I ask Leo when I see his friend at the bar kissing a pretty girl with legs that never seem to end. Her blue hair is twisted into a braid that falls down to her ass.
“Sort of. They have a mutual interest.” Leo’s lips twitch.
“Sex?”
“And hockey.”
“Hockey or hockey players?” I ask.
“The latter for her.” He shrugs. “Her name is Talia. I’ll introduce you if they come up for air.”
As I look around, I realize very few of the guys have girls with them.
“Does no one have an actual girlfriend?”
“Well, I do,” Leo says, getting an eye roll from Tyler. “And Maverick does.”
At his name, Maverick looks up and shakes his head. “Nope, not me.” He raises his left hand and shows off the wedding band on his left ring finger.
“You’re married?” I ask, unable to hide the shock in my voice.
He grins. “Yep. Three months now. She’s coming up next weekend.”
I did not peg him for the type that’s settled down at such a young age. “I’d love to meet her.”
“We can probably give up an hour or two of sex.” He nods to himself like he’s thinking it over. “Yeah, let’s do it. Party at my place next Saturday.”
Leo and I stay for one more game of pool and then head out. It’s cold outside, and the wind is gusty. I pull my coat snug around me, and Leo’s big hand shields mine as we hurry to his car.
We make it home, but not all the way inside before Leo takes me in his arms and kisses me hard. He sets me on the hood of his car, and his fingers slide under the hem of my sweater. I shrug out of my coat and then work on his jeans. We might have strung out the delayed gratification a little too long.
“This skirt is my favorite,” he says as he steps between my legs. It has but
tons up the front, and he loves undoing them. I lean back as he works his way from the bottom up. When he gets high enough to realize I’m not wearing any panties, his gaze snaps up. “Fuuuck, baby. You’ve been naked under here all night?”
I nod.
“And bending over the pool table?” His eyes are like saucers.
“I didn’t bend over that far.”
He hooks an arm around my right leg and pushes me back onto the hood of his car. He wastes no time covering my pussy with his mouth. I’m too keyed up, too high on this connection between us. My orgasm builds quickly, and he doesn’t let up even when I warn him I’m close. Leo knows exactly how to get me there and exactly what pace my body and soul needs at any given moment.
He takes me over the edge with my heart racing and my body tingling from head to toe. He kisses his way up to my stomach and then pulls back to stare at me.
“Now, this is a fucking vision. You naked on top of my car.”
We get in the hot tub next, where I return the favor, bringing him to orgasmic bliss with my mouth. He slides into the water from where he was sitting on the edge, and I sink down in front of him so that my shoulders are under the water. I press my chest to his, and Leo’s arms circle my waist.
His hair is messy, and water drips down his chest.
“That first night, I thought about what it would be like to photograph you like this. You are very sexy all wet and naked.”
“Ditto, baby.”
I wrap my legs around him and place my head against the left side of his chest. I can hear his heart beating at the same rhythm as mine. Neither of us speaks for a long time; instead, we just hang on to one another.
There’s something very reassuring about getting to that point with someone where you don’t need to say a word to know you’re on the same page. It’s too soon to talk about love and forever, but those are my thoughts as he holds me in the dark. For the first time in a long time, I’ve found someone that I can see a future with. It’s exhilarating and absolutely terrifying.
The next day I go with Jade on another writing assignment. She has a meeting with a hotshot wedding planner for an article, and I convinced my sister to join us and do some shopping for the baby.
“I saw photos of my favorite celebrity couple on Instagram this morning,” Jade says as she pulls into the parking lot. “I rescind my concerns.”
“Not necessary. If it weren’t for you, I might not have had the balls to ask him straight up where we stood.”
“And is that place you’re standing heading toward wedding bells?” Her eyes light up. “I could do a story on you two. It would be epic!”
“Slow your roll there, Katie Couric.”
“I’m just saying, Vivian is the wedding planner, so you might want to book her just in case.” She pulls into a parking space and cuts the engine.
My phone pings. “Cadence is here.”
“Okay. This shouldn’t take long. She could only fit me in for thirty minutes. I’ll call you when I’m done and catch up. Don’t buy too much adorable baby stuff without me.” Jade heads off in one direction, and I go the other.
My phone rings before I’ve reached the door. I stop and move off the sidewalk, expecting Cadence or Jade, but it’s Rhyse’s number flashing on the screen.
My pulse thrums loudly. I must hold my breath because when I finally exhale, my lungs burn.
I keep staring at his name while it seems that everything else around me ceases to exist. I answer out of sheer curiosity. If I don’t, I know I’ll wonder. And I don’t want to waste any more time wondering about Rhyse.
“Hello?”
“Scarlett.” I can hear the smile in his voice. “Hi. Hello. I wasn’t sure if you’d answer. How are you?”
“Good. I’m good.” I fall silent. This is too weird. The polite thing would be to ask him how he is, but Rhyse and I haven’t been on polite, speaking terms in months. Our breakup wasn’t exactly messy, but it was final, and neither of us bothered to keep in contact. We were at a stalemate, and there was nothing left to say.
“I’m in the States,” he says. “We have a race next weekend.”
“Austin?” I ask because, try as I might, I still remember his schedule.
“Yes, but I came early hoping to see you. I’m in Minnesota.”
“What?” I look around like his being in the same state makes him visible.
“I’m at the airport. Can I see you?”
“I’m not home, Rhyse. I’m out shopping with Cadence.”
“I’ll come there. Just give me an address.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The thought of facing him again makes me anxious. Not now. This is all wrong.
“Ten minutes, Scar,” he says. “There are things I need to say.”
32
THE FEELING IS NOT MUTUAL
SCARLETT
For months I dreamt about this moment—Rhyse calling me out of the blue and demanding to see me. In the dream, he’d fall at my feet and tell me how much he missed me, how life isn’t the same without me by his side. And then, of course, after playing tough, I’d take him back, and we’d return to our happy bubble, traveling the world together and making love in fancy hotels.
But now that it’s at least partially based in reality (he called and is on his way to see me), it feels more like a nightmare.
Cadence tries to distract me with cute baby clothes while I wait for Rhyse to drive from the airport. I try to pretend like I’m going about my day and just meeting up with a friend for a quick, meaningless chat, but I find myself staring toward the door of the baby boutique every time it opens.
“Are you finding out the gender?” I ask as I hold up a tiny tent that covers little boys while you change them so that you don’t get peed on.
She “ooohs” like a pee tent is the cutest thing. “Yes, definitely. I want to be prepared.”
I toss the tiny pee tents at her, and she laughs. That laughter dies, and my heart stops at the sound of a sports car outside. I know it’s him, even before I spot the shiny red Ferrari.
“Are you going to be okay?” Cadence asks.
“Yeah. I’m happy with Leo.” Saying it out loud, I realize how true it is, and I straighten my shoulders. “Maybe it’ll be good to get closure.”
“Good. I really like having you home. We should do this more often.”
I don’t point out that the reason we don’t has more to do with her workaholic schedule than anything else. I have a feeling that when the baby comes she’ll get a dose of the work-life balance she’s been missing.
My phone lights up with a text from Rhyse saying he’s here. I inhale a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I won’t be long.”
She squeezes my arm. “Okay. I’m here if you need me.”
I text him back and walk outside. It’s windy and cold, but the sun is out, offering a little warmth as I sit on the metal bench in front of the store.
My leg bounces with nerves as I watch him cross the street. I focus on breathing and keeping my heart rate under control.
He’s as handsome as the last time I saw him. His hair is dark and thick. Curly strands have been wrangled under a hat, boasting his team and sponsor.
His clothing—jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt covered with a black leather jacket—are simple, but every eye on the block follows him. He has that something about him that makes people stop and look.
I stand when he approaches. Do I hug him? Do we shake hands? This is so weird. While I’m still deciding, he steps into me with a broad smile and wraps his arms around me.
“Scarlett.” He breathes me in as he says my name.
I always liked the way my name sounded with his accent, and his scent is still familiar, as is the way the top of my head rests comfortably under his chin.
I pull back first and take a seat on the bench. He sits close and rests an arm behind me. “You look fantastic. It’s so good to see you.”
I still haven
’t quite figured out how to feel, let alone act, but there’s no sense in denying it, he looks good too, and I tell him as much.
He nods toward my camera bag. “Are you working as a photographer now?”
“Oh, uh. No. Not yet. I thought I might take a few photos of Cadence buying things for the baby.”
“Cadence is pregnant?”
I nod.
He beams at the news. “When is she due?”
“Next April.”
“That’s exciting. I bet your mom is over the moon.”
My stomach is in knots, and my palms are sweaty. I can’t make small talk with this man like he didn’t crush me just months ago.
“What are you doing here, Rhyse?”
“I miss you.”
Three words that I dreamt of coming from his lips so many times.
“Do you miss me?” he asks.
“No.” I can tell my response, as well as the hard edge in my tone, catches him off-guard. “I did at first, but I moved on.”
“I saw,” he says quietly. “The hockey player.”
“His name is Leo.”
“Right.”
“Is that why you’re here? You saw that I moved on and decided you suddenly cared that I left?”
“I never stopped caring, Scarlett. You knew I couldn’t chase after you.”
It’s true. I did know that. Still, I hoped he would.
“This is the first chance I’ve had to see you, and here I am.” His smile is crooked and tentative, and it hits me that he’s as nervous as I am.
“You shouldn’t have. Too much time has passed. I’m happy.”
“It’s serious then, with you and this Leo?”
I don’t answer right away, and Rhyse moves closer. “I love you, Scarlett. If there’s any part of you that still loves me too, then give me another chance.”
“What will your team say about that?” I ask and cross my arms at my stomach.
“I’ll deal with them.”
A flash of anger bolts through me, and I curl my hands into fists. Now he’ll deal with them? I get that people make mistakes, and maybe my leaving did help him realize what he wanted, but to have him just wave away the biggest reason we didn’t work, like it’s an easy fix, straight pisses me off. If he’d dealt with them six months ago, we’d still be together.
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