Page 82 of Let It Be Me
“I’ll wait for you by the locker room,” she tells me with a smile.
“And we’ll see you tomorrow,” Pops confirms as we head towards the door.
“Yep. We’ll both be there.” I confirm as we get off the ice. They wave me off and I file with the rest of the team to the locker room where music blasting greets us.
Anderson stands in the center of the room and the music turns off. “Well, this season didn’t end how we all expected. But you all played more as a team this season than last. I’d say practice tomorrow but now you all have four months to be normal people.” He nods towards our captain who huddles in the center.
“This season was a good one. Again, not the way we all hoped it would end. But I’m proud of us.” He finishes his short speech and puts his hand in the middle. We all move forward and place our hand on his. “Blue Jays on three. One, two, Blue Jays.”
“See you tomorrow, Riley,”the guys call out as I sling my bag over my shoulder and head to the hallway.
I send them a wave over my shoulder and push out of the door. Sarah’s smiling face greets me when I’m in the hallway and it’s funny how I look at her and have my entire future with her laid out at my feet. She bounds over to me and wraps her arms around my waist and my arm falls around her shoulders. Together we walk down the hallway and towards the parking lot.
“So what now?” Sarah asks with humor in her voice.
I wave to a couple of the security guards as we step outside. “Food and then sleep.”
“I meant with hockey, ya goofball.”
“I know.” I tell her and kiss the top of her head. “I have ameeting next week with Derek to go over my contract and Tyler to discuss brand promos.”
“I love Tyler. He’s exactly who I would have picked for your publicist.”
When Sarah and I parted ways in terms of our working relationship, I had her and Jeff help me out with finding a new publicist and agent. Tyler was the top recommended publicist and my agent, Clay, is more on top of the ins and outs for my career than I ever thought anyone could be. It’s different from my last team. These guys have my back and don’t try to use me for monetary gain. Plus, Clay is married with two kids and Tyler just moved in with his boyfriend of three years.
“Yeah, him and Clay are great for me.” I tell her and open up the passenger door for her.
Sarah hops up and turns, sitting on the edge of the seat. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”
“I do,” I say and roam my eyes over her heart shaped face. “But it’s nice to hear every once in a while.”
Her smile is soft and she shocks me by pulling me to her by the pocket of my hoodie. Our lips meet in a kiss that’s full of passion and longing. I crowd her on the seat and angle her head to deepen the kiss. Her tongue licks at my bottom lip before I open and her tongue tangles with mine. I slow the kiss down when she whimpers and it’s a reminder that we’re in the parking lot. Although I know she doesn’t mind, judging by our outdoor escapades, but not here.
“Let’s go home and finish what you started,” I say, and peck her on the lips one final time for maneuvering her legs in the truck and shutting the door. Rounding the back, I toss my bag inside and hop in the front seat. Barely waiting for my car to warm up, I peel out of the parking lot with only Sarah and our bedroom on my mind.
30
RILEY
Ilean against the bathroom door frame and watch Sarah apply her makeup. It’s finally Kamryn and Mason’s wedding day. And all week I’ve watched my girl run around Cincinnati like a chicken with her head cut off. Making sure her dress is altered to perfection, her speech makes sense, and that our timing from her house to the football field where they’re having the ceremony hits no snags. I’ve reassured her that we can’t avoid snags or bumps in the road to get to our destination. But her perfection tendency knows no bounds.
Her hair is in rollers and she’s wearing a navy blue robe that Kamryn gifted her with it sayingTeam Brideon the back in gold, despite her marrying them. I watch as she expertly applies color to her eyelids and pink to her cheeks before running a brush coated in black that somehow makes her eyes look bigger.
“Hey, baby,” she says, finally noticing my presence.
“Hi, beautiful,” I greet and walk over to her. “You look stunning.” I say and smile bigger when she snorts, noticing my eyes taking in the rollers in her hair. “Rollers and all,” Isend my point home by lightly kissing her on the cheek and then moving off to the side to finish watching her get ready. Damn, I really love this woman.
She looks over at me and down to what I’m wearing. “Is your stuff ironed?”
“Blue, relax. Yes, it is. It’s in a garment bag in the closet.”
Sarah blows out a breath and turns back to the mirror. “Okay. I’m almost done and then we can head out.”
I don’t respond to her, because she doesn’t need my words. Sarah is an action type of woman and that’s what has made our relationship as strong as ever. It came from realizing that her last relationship was full of empty words. Slowly, without her knowing it, I undid everything she thought she knew about relationships by showing up in the way that she needed.
I take her free hand and kiss her on the back, leaving her with a wink before heading back out to her bedroom. My phone is just going dim from a text and I pick it up to see a text from Momma.
Momma: 1 image attached
