Page 292 of Playing the Pucking Game
Fuck, she’s so beautiful.
The second she notices my attention, she shakes her head, but there’s a grin playing on her lips.
“Yeah,” I muse, barely aware that Fletch is still standing there. “So fucking worth it.”
I take off with my sights set on only one person.
Fuck, it’s been that way for years; I just didn’t know what it all meant.
It doesn’t matter how long I’ve known her, how many years have passed. If she’s in the same room, I always seek her out. If she’s close, I always gravitate to her.
She’s…she’s my home. I just had no idea.
Having turned around to organize some paperwork, Parker startles when I crash against the board in front of her.
But the second she looks over her shoulder and I catch a close-up of her dazzling smile, it’s like everything falls away.
We’re not standing here in the arena surrounded by people; it’s just the two of us.
“Hey, pretty girl,” I shout, probably loud enough for people to hear, but I'm done caring.
She ducks her head, her smile turning coy.
“What did you do, Lincoln Storm?”
It’s rhetorical. She knows exactly what I did all those weeks ago when I went to Esme.
Was I being presumptuous? Massively.
But was I also a hopeless fool with a teenage dream I was hoping might finally become a reality? Also yes.
But I figured, what was the harm?
If nothing happened, Esme would be discreet about it. And if it did? Well, I was already armed with everything I needed to ensure we both had long futures here with the Vipers.
Should I have told her before now to stop her worrying? Maybe. But it would have been too soon. She needed to be ready to take the next step herself. I knew she’d get there. Just like I know she’ll tell me she loves me when she’s ready. I know she does. I’m pretty sure, like me, she always has. I feel it in her touch, see it in her eyes.
“You’re mine, Parker Donnelly. Nothing is going to get in the way of that.”
I cringe as a whistle blows. “Storm, get your ass over here,” Coach bellows.
Parker laughs, and it’s like music to my ears. “Go,” she encourages, waving me off.
I blow her a kiss before pushing backward and skating toward where everyone else is waiting.
“Fucking hell,” Coach groans when he sees the state of my face. “Anything I should be worried about?”
“Nah, Coach. I’ve got this all under control.”
“Have you heard anything from him?”I ask Parker the second she joins me in the car later that afternoon.
“Nope,” she says, popping the P. “And I didn’t go looking for him, either. I figure he needs to focus. Me turning up during their practice time wouldn’t have gone down well.”
“Pfft, what does he have to focus on? He already knows he’s losing tonight.”
“Linc,” Parker warns.
Reaching over, I take her hand in mine and twist our fingers together.
