Page 29 of Hat Trick
"Because I look like this, and not like that." She replies, motioning towards herself and then the retreating puck bunnies.
"Not all hair and makeup?"
She huffs a frustrated sigh at me. "Luca, we both know I'm a five on a good day. You should be seen with someone who is a ten."
I shake my head at her. "Emily, you have no idea who I should or should not be with." I say. What I want to say is"You. You, Emily, is who I should be with. For real. Not pretend. And every day. Not just today."
But I don't. I'm still trying to give her the time and space she needs to fall in love with me.
The boys have warned me off of her repeatedly.
"It'll complicate things."
"You can't give her the time or attention she'd deserve."
"What if you broke up and still had to live together?"
My bigger fear? What if while we're playing it safe, she finds someone else? And then I have to watch the girl of my dreams kiss, hug, and sleep with someone else. The mental image of some other man between Emily's legs, kissing and sucking and worshiping what's mine sends a fiery hot wave of jealousy through me.
"Woah. What just happened?" Emily asks, bringing her hand to my thigh and squeezing it. "You went really hard there."
Fuck the boys and their stupid rules. I'm going to make sure I'm the only man Emily's thinking about. I slip my thumb up under her shirt and rub sweet little circles on the skin of her stomach. With my other hand, I gently grip the bottom of her chin and turn her face so that she's looking directly into my eyes.
"I don't want hair and makeup. I don't want puck bunnies. I want sweet. I want kind. I want soft. I want someone waiting for me at home, smiling, when I come in after a long day at practice. I want someone to wear my jersey to my games." I pause for emphasis. "I want you."
The subtle twitches and movements of her face belay the mental gymnastics going on in her brain and I smile. She could never play poker. I smile against the crook of her neck.
"I know you're not there yet. And I'll wait. But for tonight, I need you to be my girlfriend in case any more bunnies show up." Relief is evident in her blue eyes as they sparkle back at me.
"Oh my God, Luca! Am I your bunny beard?" She grins up at me mischievously. The laugh that rips from my stomach is full and welcomed and has her bouncing against my lap. I grip her hips and slide her slightly down my thigh so she can't feel what her touch and her scent are doing to me. Admitting my undying love for her was a lot. Rubbing my hard cock against her thigh might just put her over the edge.
The bartender sets our drinks in front of us, and we each grab one, ready to head back to the table. Gabe is playing peek-a-boo with Annie on his lap, while Carter feeds her cut up fruit. We pass out our drinks before I slide in next to Carter. But not before grabbing Emily's hips and sitting her on my lap.
Gabe's eyebrow raises.
I nod towards Mandy and Tasha hovering around the rookie table at the back. Mandy's in Matty's lap while Tasha is bent over Daniel, breasts resting on his shoulder, giving Kenny, sitting opposite, the view of a lifetime.
"Emmy here's my bunny beard. Pretended to be my girlfriend so Mandy and Tasha would leave me alone. Now we've got to keep up the act." I smile, moving Emily's hair off of her shoulder so I can kiss it. I revel at the goosebumps that appear on her skin after my kiss. It makes me want to drag my tongue across them.
Carter peers around us. "Poor rookies. Don't know what they're in for."
"So they really were old friends of yours? How long did you date for?"
Gabe scoffs. "Luca doesn't date. He..." Carter coughs loudly, cutting off the crude word Gabe was going to say. He shoots daggers at him and then nods at Annie meaningfully. "He...hooks up."
I bristle. "I date. I just haven't in a long time." Fucking Gabe giving Emily the wrong idea about me. A part of me wonders if he isn't ruining my chances with her because he wants her for himself. I saw the way he looked at her at the family day. Was I going to have to fight my best friend for my future wife?
I take a swig of my beer while Emily sips on her glass of wine. Carter and Gabe get into a separate conversation about Coach and our next game, but Emily's watching me. I slide my thumb up under her shirt again and resume running circles over her soft skin.
Emily takes my other hand and laces her fingers through mine. "I know what it's like when you've changed. Or...at least...want to change, but no one around you believes it. They get it in their head that you're one way and that's it."
She takes the breath out of my lungs. That's exactly how everyone sees me - my family, the guys, the media. I was the Titan's resident playboy. 'Commitment-phobe' my mother had called me. 'Perpetual bachelor' the tabloids said. 'Manwhore' the meaner publications said. Even in the locker room the boys always joked about me hooking up with bunnies. I hadn't picked up a bunny in years, but that was my reputation and it followed me around like a bad stench.
And spending years being told I'm one way, when I'm really not, I started feeling guilty that Iwasn'thooking up with bunnies. Even though deep down I knew that wasn't what I wanted anymore. I'd spentthe last few years in this limbo of 'am I?' or 'am I not?' and I really hated feeling like I didn't know myself. Or that, worst yet, I did but no one else did.
I squeeze Emily tighter against my chest. "Thank you," I whisper to her. I've never felt so seen. In a matter of seconds, she had taken the two parts of me that were opposites and stitched them back together. I am both - Luca the manwhore, and Luca, someone's future husband. Luca the manwhore was my past. Luca, someone (hopefully Emily's) future husband is who I am now. The rest of the world would catch up, but at least one person sees me - Emily.
I zone out the rest of the pub for most of the night. Husbands need to be steady, consistent, loyal, caring, and empathetic. I already am most of those things, I think. I just need to show Emily that I am.
