Page 55 of The Love Penalty

As soon as we get to his place, the cats immediately greet me. I spoil them and give them each their favorite treats before taking my bag to Robbie’s room. I hope he doesn’t think it presumptuous of me that I assumed we’d be sharing his bedroom. After his morning skate, he’s coming back here withlunch for the both of us and we have some time to hang out before we head to the game.

I’m a little nervous to be here for the party tomorrow. Since he’s inviting more teammates, we have to be careful around them and not divulge that we’re in a relationship. His inner circle of friends knows and they can be trusted, but we’re being cautious with everyone else.

I’m looking forward to some time to ourselves before the party. Robbie is so excited about it and has a whole menu planned out, so we’ll all need to help out and make sure everything is ready. While he apologized that it wouldn’t be just the two of us during my short trip here, I assured him it didn’t bother me. I know how much he cares about his friends and he shows his love by hosting them and making them food, which I think is adorable. And delicious. No matter how anxious I get, I’d brave anything for him.

THIRTY-ONE

Robbie

New Year’s

I was hopingfor more alone time with Olivia, but every time we’ve had a moment to ourselves, something or someone would intervene. First it was my brother Michael, needing to borrow some tools. Then, Ash, barging into my house like he owned it, complaining about not having a date to the party. Like he needs a date. He’ll pick up someone regardless. While the party is not a huge rager, it’s also not a small gathering. Every person I invited asked to bring three or more friends with them, so it will be packed in my living room. There will be plenty of hookup prospects for Ash.

“But I don’t want to hookup,” he whines at the kitchen island while Olivia and I mix together ingredients for various dips.

“Then what do you want?” I ask exasperated.

“A date. Like, someone to date. For longer than a few hours.”

“And you thought waiting until the last second was a good idea to find a date?” I deadpan.

Olivia sighs and elbows me. “Ash, did you have someone in particular in mind that you wanted to be your date?” she asks gently. The fucker just pouts and props his head on his hand with a heavy sigh. I give Olivia an exaggerated look of,Why the hell is he still here complaining?but she just rolls her eyes at me and moves next to Ash, giving him a hug.

He hugs her back tightly then notices me staring and smirks at me over her shoulder. Ass. She pulls back and puts her hands on his shoulders, giving him a stern look. “Ash, I think you need to tell whoever this person is that you’re pining over how you feel about them. I know it’s not easy to open up to someone like that, but if you just hang on to those feelings and don’t vocalize them you will regret it later.”

I’ve never seen Ash like this before, so whoever this person is must have really made an impression on him. He looks so sad as he says, “But what if they don’t feel the same way?”

“Then it’s their loss, because you’re amazing and you’re going to do great things. But also, you deal with it. You move on. It won’t be easy, but in time you’ll get over them.” Ash gives her a lopsided smile and hugs her again. No sign of a smirk on his face this time as he blinks back tears.

I wipe my hands, throw down the towel on the counter and join in on the group hug. “If you need a wingman, you know I got you, man.”

After the game that night,both Olivia and I are so tired we go straight to sleep. We wake up tangled up in sheets, both cats sleeping at our feet, and it’s perfect. I know she doesn’t like waking up early but she wanted to help me with food prep, so I reward her by waking her up slowly, kissing her softly, working her up until she’s panting and pulling me on top of her.

Soft morning sex with Olivia is even better than the tied up ribbon fantasy we recreated last week. We move in perfect sync and she digs her fingernails into my back as I bring one of her knees up to her chin. We find the perfect rhythm that has us both panting and whispering sweet nothings to each other until we’re falling over the edge, lips pressed together, swallowing each other’s moans of pleasure.

I’m hoping for more of these moments throughout the day, but soon after we start decorating and preparing food, my sister shows up to help. Even though she was supposed to come much later in the day. She must be bored. Jordan and Elias join us a few hours later and we all work together. The place looks incredible. Olivia and Alice put up lots of black and gold decorations and balloons. The dining table is decorated with a runner, some candles and greenery, and dozens of plates of party food. The kitchen counter houses all the alcohol, mixers, and other drinks. The cats are tucked away in my bedroom so they don’t accidentally escape.

“Where is Ash?” I ask the group but they all just shrug. I invited my closest friends early so we can discuss the All-Star week break and our plans to go to my parent’s cabin up North.

“Okay, we can fill him in later I guess. The cabin is ours for the whole week, I made sure my parents didn’t rent it out.We’ll have to get lift passes at the ski resort, and I’m assuming everyone will bring their own equipment?”

They nod and then I say, “Olive, we’ll rent you a snowboard and if you hate it, we have plenty of other things we can do. The resort near the cabin is huge.”

“Sounds good. Besides having to teach me, I won’t keep you away from the slopes, don’t worry,” she says in a chuckle.

“We’re not worried, we all plan to take turns and teach you,” says Elias.

We don’t chat for too long before people start arriving for the party, and within an hour the place is packed and roaring. Music is blasting, courtesy of Jordan, the self proclaimed DJ. I introduce Olivia around to various friends and acquaintances but try my best to keep my distance from her. It’s so hard to not reach over and grab her hand, or keep a casual arm around her shoulder, or lean in and kiss her perfect lips.

Ash shows up at some point and makes a beeline for the drink counter, lining up shots. I make my way over there and say, “Hey, man. Where have you been?”

“Hey Grandpa. I was home, getting ready,” he says, looking around the room.

“You okay? What’s with all the shots?”

“Liquid courage,” he says and downs all three in a row.

“That was kind of a waste of shot glasses, you could have just poured yourself a cup.”

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