Page 83 of Lucky
She watches me carefully.
“This rink is where I’ve always felt the most like myself,” I admit.“And lately… that’s started to shift.Because I feel most like myself when I’m with you.”
She doesn’t say anything at first.Just squeezes my hand.“I’m not as good with words as you are, but what touches me most is that I feel completely safe expressing my feelings to you.They might be hard to get out, but I don’t fear your dismissal.And that’s something I’ve never had with a man before.I feel safe with you and that right there tells me that this is the most real thing I’ve ever felt.”
♦
As the creditsroll, I pull her up from the blanket.After a soft kiss, I advise her, “I’ve got something else to show you.”
She motions to all the stuff left behind.“Do we need to clean up?”
“Nah.My man Vince said he’d handle it.”
“Who’s Vince?”she asks as I lead her out of the suite.
“Someone we’ll have to name our firstborn after since he helped set up this epically romantic date,” I quip, and then inwardly cringe.Did I just proclaim we’re having children together?
Luckily, Winnie snorts as if it was a joke, but I’m not so sure it is.How can I even be thinking of that right now?Part of me wonders if it’s because she’s my first real relationship.Am I so enamored, I’m not even considering that there could be someone better?
Wait!Fuck no… it won’t ever get better than Winnie.
Regardless, I let it go as I lead her back down to the ice level and through the tunnel.I open the wooden gate and she plants her feet at the edge, pulling back against me.“I’m not going on the ice.It’s slick and I’ll fall and probably split my pants and that’s not a sexy look and then you’ll dump me.”
I bark out a laugh and tug her forward.“Stop being a drama queen.I’m a pro on the ice, after all.I’m not going to let you fall and split your pants.”
She comes without hesitation, confirming what I already knew—that she trusts me.We carefully walk along the perimeter, one of her hands on the boards and the other clutching mine.We get to the Titans’ bench and I lift her up and over the short wall and then follow behind her.
We sit and she leans forward, crossing her forearms along the boards.“It’s so quiet,” she observes.“Some might say eerie, but it’s peaceful.And the hush is so at odds with the noise of a game.Almost otherworldly.”
“And you say you’re not good with words,” I tease, rubbing her back.
We sit together at the edge of the ice, quiet.She studies everything, lifting her gaze to the stands and bending back to check out the rafters and hanging banners and retired jerseys.
“I was terrified the first time I stepped on this rink,” I say, staring out over the ice.I feel her eyes on me.“Felt like the lights were going to swallow me.But I skated out anyway.I survived.I got stronger.And I built a life here.”I glance over at her.“I want to build something with you too.Off the ice.In the real world.”
Winnie doesn’t respond right away.She just turns to me, eyes luminous.She leans in and kisses me.
It’s soft.Slow.Certain.
Her hands curl into my jacket and I pull her gently into my lap, arms wrapped around her waist.
We sit like that for a long time, wrapped up in each other, both of us fully accepting that something deep and real has settled between us.
Eventually, she whispers, “You’re not going to start reading me old hockey stats now, are you?”
I laugh, brushing a kiss to her jaw.“Nope.But if you want me to tell you the first time I ever scored in this building, I could make it sound really dirty.”
She groans and snuggles into my neck.With her warmth pressed close, the arena around us silent and still, I understand what’s most important.
No camera.No likes.No noise.
“You about ready to go?”I ask, and she lifts her head.
“Where are we going now?”
I grin at her mischievously.“I’m taking you to Orgasm Town.”
CHAPTER 27
