Page 66 of Hat Trick
"I have a favor to ask of you." She looks up and sniffs away a tear. "Please let him take care of you. He's a good man, with a huge heart, who wants nothing more than to take care of the people around him. It would mean so much to him, and me, if you let him. Let him love you the way he wants to. And, personally, I think you deserve all the love that man has to offer you."
She sniffs again before nodding her head. She looks so defeated.
"Thank you. It'll be one less thing for him to worry about. You'll see." I pause a beat, wondering if I'm crossing a line, before I say, "I think he learned that from you. I think he learned how to love so fiercely because he watched you love him and his sister that way."
She gives me a watery smile in return.
Just then the front door swings open so hard it bounces back against the doorstop, making Nancy and I both jump. A furious Carter stomps through the door, leaving it open, before falling to his knees in front of his mom and grabbing her by the shoulders. He takes a beat to inspect her eye, which is now a sickening shade of purple. He grinds his teeth before taking a deep breath in and out.
"You're. Done." He says with a growl that sends skitters down my spine. I've seen intense Carter on the ice, but never at home. Fuck, it's hot.No. Focus.
She simply nods, hanging her head in shame. Carter turns his attention to Annie and scoops her up off the floor, burying his face into her belly. Luca and Gabe follow in behind Carter, pulling their luggage behind them. They drop it by the front door before pulling Nancy into hugs.
I sometimes forget how long the boys have known each other. Of course they see Nancy as a surrogate mother themselves. And she looks up at them with such love in her eyes, it clears as day they're her boys, too.
I'm about to step outside to give them some privacy. I feel like an outsider to their little family unit. But Carter's arm slashes out and grabs me by my shoulder. He's sets Annie back down on the floor and gives the boys a look. I don't know what the look says, but they nod in return.
Carter practically drags me to his bedroom and kicks the door shut behind us.
He unceremoniously throws me on the bed and the look of absolute fury on his face is starting to scare me.
"I...I'm sorry..." I stammer, not really knowing what I'm apologizing for. He grabs me by the ankle and tugs me towards him. I fall onto my back before he wraps his arms around my lower back and presses his body onto mine, his head on my chest.
Oh. I chuckle, threading my fingers through his hair. He closes his eyes and simply breathes me in.
"I missed you too." I smile before kissing the top of his head. I run my hands up and down his back, hopefully comforting him.
"I've been crawling out of my skin since I left you." He mumbles against my chest.
"Since you left?" I thought he was going to say since I called him.
He lifts his head to stare into my eyes. There's such a look of adoration and longing it takes my breath away.
"I love you so much, Emily. I can't imagine my life without you. I won't. Please, let me love you the way I want to."
My cells stop vibrating, every atom of my being is stunned. My heart forgets how to beat. My lungs forget how to breathe.
I guess we're having this conversation now? He's admitted to me in a post-sex haze that he loves me, but I've never reciprocated. I've been holding back.
And then the words I spoke to his mother, not half an hour ago, echo in my mind."Let him love you the way he wants to.""I think you deserve all the love that man has to offer you."
How is it so easy to see when I'm talking about someone else? Can I let him love me out loud? Do I deserve this man's love? His love is not a quiet one. It's loud and it's proud. It's a fearsome thing.
"I love you, too. Carter Rhodes."
He crushes his lips to mine, feverish, demanding. I thread my fingers through his hair, dragging him closer to me. Until the door opens.
"Hey, you gonna hog our girl all to yourself? We've missed her, too!" Luca pouts, plopping down onto the bed beside us. I giggle. Carter releases my mouth, but doesn't get his big body off of mine. Luca doesn't seem to care, though, and brings his hand to my cheek and pulls me into a deep, sultry kiss.
"Hey, sweetheart." He whispers as he smiles at me.
"Hey, handsome." I reply.
"Hey! I thought I was the handsome one?" Gabe complains, sitting on the other side of us.
"You're all the handsome one."
"That's a cop out, Princess." Gabe says, pulling me in for a kiss.
