Page 193 of Rebound
I put my arms around his shoulders. “My family is your family. You are officially a Callahan now, and you never have to wonder if we love you because we do. But no one more than me.”
I arch up onto my toes to kiss him.
“Oh, gross. It’s bad enough I have to put up with him at work. I don’t want to see this.”
I pull away as Drew closes the front door behind him.
“It’s what people in relationships do,” I tell him. “You’d know if you’d ever been in one.”
“I’ve met your exes, you’re not exactly an expert because you got it right one time,” Drew says.
“Since I married him, it’s really the only time it counts.”
I smile up at Roman as Drew rolls his eyes. He slaps Roman on the back, and they give each other a man nod. The bellrings and I rush towards the door, opening it to reveal Kita on the other side carrying a glass tray of something that smells delicious.
“Kita, thank you for coming!” I gush.
“Thank you for inviting me. I don’t know anything about hockey, but I wasn’t missing the chance to celebrate Roman.”
I close the door behind her and take the glass dish, putting it on the foyer table.
“Kita?” Roman is very surprised to see her. I help Kita remove her coat and she walks over to Roman to give him a hug.
“Lavinia invited me. She said we were celebrating you making a very important assist or something,” Kita says. “How are you feeling? Did you eat the Kapusniak I made?”
“I did, and it was delicious,” Roman says. “Thank you.”
Kita pats his cheek. “You’re a good boy.”
Roman blushes at that as Drew coughs to cover up a laugh. I introduce Kita to Drew and my family and just as I’m done, the rest of the team, Elena, Sage, and Coach arrive. My parents love hosting, and they have catered this dinner so they’re not at all overwhelmed by the amount of people in their home.
Roman pulls me aside as everyone is talking.
“Do you think we need to buy a house?” He asks, watching our friends and family.
“I think the first step is for us to live together,” I say with a laugh. “If you recall, my legal address is still the apartment I share with Jules. It’s where all my things live.”
“We need to fix that as soon as possible. We’ll start packing up tomorrow,” Roman says.
“I can’t move into your apartment,” I protest.
“Why not?”
“Yeah, why not?” This comes from Jules, who’s walking in the room with a bottle of champagne in her hand. “You are married.”
“I can’t leave you,” I say.
“Jules can come as long as she doesn’t mind living with cats,” Roman says. I love him even more for offering that invitation.
Jules wrinkles her nose. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I don’t want to live with newlyweds in a small space. Especially the two of you, who make sexy eyes at each other in public places. Control yourselves.”
At dinner, there’s so much laughter and chatter it’s hard to hear everyone and get a word in. I sit next to Roman, one hand on his thigh and his hand resting over mine. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by everyone I love. People who’ve always shown up for me and supported me.
I look at Roman and my heart fills with so much love I can’t contain it. I spent so many years thinking about him. There would be days when I’d be doing something routine and suddenly remember him, wondering to myself if he ever thought of me.
It always filled me with an overwhelming sense of sadness that he probably didn’t remember me let alone think about me. I wish I can go back in time and tell that Lavinia to be patient because we’re going to get our man and he’s going to be as perfect as we knew it.
Roman glances at me, smiling when he sees me watching him.
