Page 68 of Lucky Sucker

He lifted his head and forced eye contact with me. “Listen here,” he said, forcing his brows into a cute little scowl. “You’re allowed to feel things. You should feel them. It’s what makes you know you’re not a monster. So, wallow, feel sad, but I know you’re gonna be able to pull yourself back from it. It’s just who you are. You’re sweet, kind, so full of love and light that this is just a little bit of darkness that will vanish when you stop holding onto it.”

Tilting my head to look at him. I couldn’t believe he’d said something quite so—profound? I didn’t know what, but it influenced me. Like a knock to the head, or the first spike of icy cold water from the showerhead. “Just let it go,” I whispered.

“Well, don’t start, I only just got those lyrics out of my head.”

I leaned in to kiss him. “You are the most perfect guy. You know what to say, you know how to say it, and best of all, you let me exist with my feelings, all of them. I don’t feel like I must hide them away from you.”

“You’ve never had to hide them from me.”

“I know, I’m just now appreciating it.”

It was a surprise that I was so guarded considering I wasn’t playing on the defense. I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. This was one of the lowest points so far, after having a high hitting season, to fail at a conference that didn’t even matter. It was almost hilarious the stock I’d put into it.

“Thankfully winter break is almost here, so we can go rest, relax, and something else beginning with an R. I don’t know what, but yeah,” he said.

“That’s true. Two weeks of bliss together. It’ll be the first time we’ll be spending the night for fourteen nights all in a row.”

Wren was giddy, trying his best to tickle me. “Ok, now, I know what will make you feel better, how about we go to the museums and get coffee, and cakes, apparently there’s a really good bakery nearby.”

“Yeah, let me go check with coach to see if he’s got any plans beforehand,” I said, shuffling out from under him. “But I think cake is a good call right now.” I headed to the hotel door, stretching out my limbs. I should’ve been on the ice, getting a workout in against the other teams.

As I opened the door, I heard whispering voices. And down the hall, Liam stood with Dom pressed against the wall. I nearly called out to them, trying to diffuse the situation before I saw them kissing, and then slide into an open hotel room.

“Wren,” I whispered, stepping back into the room. “You are not—well, you are gonna believe what I just saw. I—I don’t know how I never saw it.”

“What? What? Is everything ok?”

I kept my voice low. “I just Liam and Dominic kissing out in the hallway. How did you even know that?”

Wren’s slack jawed expression stared up at me. “Oh. I didn’t know they were, but I—I mean, I see things. You know, people act normal around me because nobody usually notices me when I’m there, so they don’t stop what they’re doing.”

“You saw them kiss before?”

“Not exactly, but I saw them touching each other. Like their bums, I just thought it was one of those greetings people did. And my mind was already going wild thinking they were a couple, so I—”

I could only laugh at the situation. Wren had written thousands of words all about Liam and Dom, and here they were acting it out for him, although he wasn’t the one who’d seen, and I doubt they’d seen me sneak back into my room.

“I think they make a cute couple,” Wren said. “Does that mean there’s no training then?”

“I guess so.”

He hooked his arm around mine, squeezing it tight. “Perfect! Since we have all day, I’m going to add more things to the list.”

Before he could get too carried away, I copied his squeeze, pulling him in close. “You’re adorable. But we don’t have to do too much, I’d still like to mope a little, if I can.”

“Mhm, ok,” he said. “How about I let you hold Bloo today?” He tried his best to pull me over to his bag, but I was planted. “He always helps me when I’m sad. You’ve just got to—uh—move.” He heaved with all his strength.

* * *

Everything seemed to slide into perspective once we were back in Maplehaven and everyone was headed home for their winter break vacations. The town was an otherwise ghost town, and once I left with Wren, I don’t think anyone was going to be here. Fresh snow dusted everything, from the tops of houses, to the sidewalks where nobody had walked. Seeing it got me giddy because I knew the lake in Pineberry Falls was going to be frozen, and I’d packed two sets of skates.

In large hire car with snow terrain ready tires fitted, I parked outside his house and beeped the horn twice. The front door swung open. Wren stood there with a large coat on and the furry trimmed hood up. He waved at me and pointed to the small suitcase behind him. I knew it was going to be heavy with the way he tugged out of the house and locked the door behind himself.

“How much have you packed?” I asked as I went to fetch it for him. I gave him a kiss, his face already cold from the first contact with the cool air. “The car’s warm, go get in it.”

“We’re gonna be away for two weeks,” he said. “And I need clothes, yarn, my stuffies, and onesies. So, they don’t fall under actual clothes, because I’m not wearing them outside.”

“You know we can clean the clothes, right,” I called after him as he raced his cold body to car. There were seat warmers, which was necessary for the weather, and tires perfect for the snow. I attempted to pick the suitcase up but he really had packed it with almost every item of clothing he had.

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