Page 126 of Outlaw Heartstrings
Our limbs get tangled up in the sheets as we cuddle and talk about nothing and everything. Easton’s upcoming hockey season. The next romance novel I’m looking forward to. The father-son reading challenge that’s around the corner. We just…hang out.
Until my growling belly chimes in and kills the vibe.
Easton chuckles, glancing at the bedside clock. “Shit—it’s almost eleven o’clock.”
I draw my palm down his chest. “We really lost track of time, huh?”
“Room service?” He reaches for the menu beside the bed.
“Yes, please,” I mumble, clenching my stomach when it growls again as I scan over the breakfast options. “But maybe a shower first. I feel sticky everywhere.”
“Yes. Hygiene,” Easton says. “I’ve been dying to kiss onyou properly. But I’m scared I’ll injure you with my morning breath.”
I fall back into the pillows, cackling as Easton nimbly hops out of bed, big cock a-swinging.
“Order for us,” he commands me. “I’ll go brush my teeth then we can shower together.” He flashes me a wink, then turns for the bathroom.Mmm…look at that hockey butt go.
“I’m so lucky…” I whisper up at the ceiling with the widest smile on my face.
I just lost my virginity to the kindest, sweetest, hottest man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. And I think he’s crazy about me.
My good mood is short-lived, though. I get a notification on my phone. It’s followed by three more dings before I can even locate my device on the floor beside the bed.
The string of text messages on the screen turns my morning upside down.
Raya: Is that you and Jagger???
Attached is a screenshot of that photo Easton took of Jagger and me in the bumper cars at the fair.
Raya: Easton is back in Fairy Bush?
Raya: You let him meet Jagger?
Raya: How could you let that man around my kid?! I trusted you with my secret. How could you betray me like this?!!!!
What? I betrayed her? What is she even talking about?
If my sister had sent me these messages a few weeks ago, I would have been drowning in guilt. I would have been ashamed of my actions. I would have been questioning all of my decisions.
But after getting to know Easton the way I know him now, and seeing what a good man he is? After falling headover heels in love with him? Raya can go kick rocks for all I care.
I love my sister. Of course I do. But I won’t allow her to bully and guilt-trip me anymore. My fingers fly across the screen as I tell her just as much.
Me: The nerve of you to try and chew my head off after you’ve been ignoring my attempts to reach out to you for weeks now. Hell—you have ignored your parental responsibilities for YEARS now, leaving it all on my shoulders. My doormat era is over, Raya. And it’s time for you to grow the fuck up.
I hit ‘send’ on the message without feeling an ounce of remorse. That’s how I know I’m a new woman.
And then, with the tap of a button, I block her ass.
45
EASTON
After breakfast, Alba went with me to the short session I had scheduled with some of the professionals on the Saints team staff. They poked me and and they prodded me until they were satisfied. Then they put me in skates and sent me out on the ice.
All in all, things went really well, and having Alba standing behind the plexiglass with that hopeful look in her eyes, only encouraged me to put my all into it. The team’s professionals repeated what they confirmed to me weeks ago—I’ll be back in the game at the start of the season.
When all is said and done, I stroll out of the building with Alba’s hand clasped in mine and conflicting thoughts warring inside my head.
