Page 52 of Rule 5: Never Crush on the Captain
“Well, I fell for one of my D-men,” I say.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“You better be talking about me.”
“I absolutely am.”
The space between us becomes narrower and narrower, until we’re breathing in the same air.
His lips are so close, his cheek brushes against me, and my breath catches as I brush against his stubble.
Vinnie isn’t who I expected falling for, but that doesn’t make my feelings for him any less powerful.
I want to kiss him. I want to delve my lips against his mouth. I want my tongue to brush against his. I want his fingers to go everywhere on me.
But there are still a few things to clarify.
“So, you want to be my boyfriend?”
I watch him carefully, ready for any stiffening, any sign that this is not actually what he says, that I’m jumping ahead again.
“I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend before,” he admits instead.
“Never?” Shock turns to sadness. “But you’re thirty.”
“Are you calling me old, McAllister?”
I give a startled laugh. “I wouldn’t dare. But didn’t you want a boyfriend?”
“I wanted you.”
“Vinnie...”
“I just never met someone whom I wanted to have more with. Well, maybe I could have imagined it with some people. But the risk never seemed worth it.”
“I’m sorry,” I say softly.
“Things are different than they were when we started.”
“I know.” His smile turns blissful, and maybe he’s also staring into a happy future for the two of us. “Besides, I turned my sexual frustration into becoming a great hockey player.” He leans his forehead against mine. He brushes his nose against mine. His fingers rest against mine. “What I want is you.”
“Despite all the complications?”
“If you’ll have me.” He steps away. “And I understand if you don’t. If you just want last weekend to be last weekend.”
“I don’t,” I say quickly.
“No?” His eyes have that sparkle again. Maybe he’s feeling what I’m feeling, that bubble up of hope through his body, just like the emotion has filled up mine.
All the aches and pains and worries and doubts have been filled with happiness. And maybe, just maybe, that happiness will stretch out and soar up and fill us forever.
For as long as we both shall live.
The words enter my head, and I smile. Maybe we’ll get there someday.
The fact that he wants to be with me, even though I’m nothing what people expect for him, means something huge. He knows what he’s getting into.
