Page 27 of No Pucks Given
Walking into my home, it felt weird after about two weeks away. Especially seeing all of Stephanie’s stuff around. It mademe miss her so damn much. At least she liked her new tutor and kept on top of all the assignments assigned by her school.
As Lou set up shop in the guest room, I settled in on the couch with my iPad, trying to go over the latest script. It was the usual way of highlighting my dialogue. This week seemed like it was going to be an easy one. I mostly had to lie in the hospital bed while people talked about me as if I wasn’t there.
My phone rang out for a FaceTime call with Carter. My face lit up with the thought of being able to see him. I immediately clicked open the phone.
“Hey, Carter," I greeted.
His downturned lips crushed my spirits. His eyes moved back and forth. “You moved back to your house. Did anything happen at the hotel? Where’s your bodyguard?”
For the first time since meeting him, I understood why Natalie would complain about how he could be obstinate and a bit disapproving. He was clearly displeased with my moving back. But he knew I didn’t like being at the hotel.
While I was unsettled being here by myself, it was nice to be back at the house again.
“Nothing happened, and Lou is upstairs setting up all his cameras and etcetera.”
I rubbed the top of my thumbnail with my finger, not wanting to show him that I was afraid. No. I would pretend that everything was normal.
“Shiv. You don’t need to lie to me. If you’re not comfortable, that’s okay. You know I would be there with you if I could.”
He didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know. I loved that he was concerned about me, but I didn’t want to live in a hotel when he was out of town. He would be coming home soon.
“I would love for you to be here. I’m fine. I just miss you and Stephanie.”
Carter relaxed on his bed. “I would love to be there too. Just two more days.”
Two days still felt like a lifetime away, but this is life with a professional hockey player. It was worse than a long-distance relationship with an actor on location. With acting relationships, it was just a long time away, but with Carter, he would come in and out of town.
At least Carter took the time to call or text every night thus far, so absence didn’t have to make the heart grow fonder. Seeing his big heart was what showed through.
Suddenly, there was a knock in the background. He looked at the door. “Fuck. The guys want to go out.”
“Go have fun. We can talk later when you get back," I said. He stayed put and smiled until the banging got even louder. He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to miss out on team bonding when I’m okay. Besides, I need to work on my lines.”
He forced out a smile. Then, he kissed his fingers and placed them on the screen. “I love you, and don’t be afraid to call. Even if you’re just lonely.”
I hated that he added that undertone. We both knew he was trying to tell me that it’s okay to call if I got scared.
The guys pounded on his door again, and there was muffled shouting.
“Love you too. Go before they knock the door down.”
Chapter 26
Carter
Coming home from the road trip and seeing just how broken Siobhan was since her photos had been smashed, I knew I had to do something special. My first instinct was to ask Natalie to help organize something, but that seemed wrong. I can’t use my sister to woo the woman of my dreams.
The trickiest part was the rules laid out by Lou and her new security team. We needed to keep her safe, and they seemed to believe our relationship was a bit of a trigger for everything. So that meant not going out in public. We’ve had to vary our routines and start using rental cars, which meant I needed to woo her at home.
Even before entering into a secretive relationship, I wasn’t someone who would kiss and tell or even bounce dating ideas offthe guys in the locker room. At most, I would just bring a girl back to my room in front of Spence. This meant having to find inspiration on my own. Since I wasn’t going to start reading my sister’s romance novels for inspiration, it meant I had to turn to Pinterest or TikTok.
While Pinterest was more old school, it seemed like the quickest way to find ideas I could actually use without being distracted by other things the algorithm liked to serve me, like hockey trick shots, workout routines, or recipes I would never ever make.
Right away, I found a few articles about date nights in. The one that caught my eye was the fondue and s’mores night. That sounded like fun.
As I looked online to secure the fondue pot, I found a place that had everything available, and it would take only fifteen minutes to set up. It sounded perfect. They even had a game attached, called the Game of Fondue. It sounded perfect.
I ordered a bunch of dog beds that looked like massive pillows. That way, I could create a bit of a pillow fort for the two of us.
