Page 51 of Blocked Shot
They settle deeper onto opposite ends of the worn leather couch that had clearly been part of the family for years. On intermission they switch to the weather channel, the announcer droning on about the intensifying storm, but Jake barely registers the warnings. He’s too aware of Natalie’s sock-covered feet inches from his thigh, the way she occasionally glances his way.
“Tell me about your family,” Natalie says suddenly, turning toward him, her eyes warm with curiosity.
Jake glances at her, a slow smile tugging at his lips. “What do you want to know?” He’s an open book with her.
“All I know is that you have a younger sister who just had twins and that your parents retired to Arizona a few years ago. That’s barely anything.”
“Barely anything?” Jake teases, raising a brow.
Natalie rolls her eyes and grabs a small pillow, giving him a playful thump on the shoulder. “Don’t deflect.”
Jake chuckles, hands up in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. My parents are solid. I had a good childhood. Grew up in Indiana, where if we were home, the garage door was always open. That kind of place.”
He pauses, a soft grin tugging at his mouth as the memories come flooding back.
“Hockey was everything—mine and my sister’s. Every winter, my dad would build a rink in our backyard. Nothing fancy, just wood boards and a hose and a lot of freezing his ass off. But it worked. We’d be out there for hours, me and Charlotte, shooting pucks under these giant floodlights until Mom would finally come outside in her robe, yelling for us to come in before we froze solid.”
Natalie smiles at the picture he paints. “That sounds amazing. Do they visit you?”
Jake hesitates, his fingers idly tracing the seam of the couch. “Yeah, usually. But not this year. My dad’s knee has been giving him trouble, and they spent the holidays with Charlotte and the twins in California.”
He pauses, debating whether to say the next part. But this is Natalie.
“Also, I haven’t exactly invited them since I moved to Hartford. I don’t want them to see me… you know, wash out.”
The weight of his confession sinks between them. He doesn’t need to look at her to know she’s watching him with her soft, doe eyes. The last thing he wants is her pity.
He forces a grin. “It’s fine. It is what it is. They’ve seen me play plenty of times. My dad’s getting up there, but he still yells at me from the stands like he’s the coach. It’s actually kind of embarrassing.”
Jake finally turns to her, and for a moment, he forgets everything—his stalled career, his doubts. All he sees is Natalie, her quiet strength, the way the dim light catches the curve of her cheek.
“They would love you.”
She blinks, caught off guard, and a delicate flush creeps up her neck. She reaches up and twists the chain around her neck, a little tick he knows she does when she’s nervous. A flicker of panic hits him.Too much, idiot.
But then she looks back at him, eyes shimmering, and when she speaks, her voice is soft but sure. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
Jake leans back, shifting again, though this time it’s not just his ribs making him uncomfortable—it’s her, or rather, how badly he wants to close the space between them. His expression grows thoughtful as he looks at her. “You didn’t have to do all this, you know.”
She meets his gaze, her own steady but softer now. “Yeah, I did.”
For a second, neither of them says anything. Her lips part slightly, and his eyes flicker there before he catches himself. She’s stunning, and his desire to touch her, to run his hands down her tight curves, to fist her hair and draw her close, burns hotter with every passing second.
Jesse’s sister, he reminds himself for the thousandth time. The same reminder that has become a mantra every time he catches himself admiring the way her eyes crinkle when she laughs or how she bites her lower lip when she’s concentrating.
He looks away, breaking the moment. “Guess I’m stuck owing you one.”
Natalie rolls her eyes. “I’ll put it on your tab.”
Jake chuckles, shaking his head. “Something tells me that the tab’s getting long.”
She bites her lip, hiding a smile. “You have no idea.”
And damn if he doesn’t want to find out exactly what she means by that.
CHAPTER 25
JAKE
