Page 160 of Lucky Shot
I pull her into my arms and kiss her. I’m vaguely aware of some chatter and laughter, then I distinctly hear Travis let out a whoop of excitement, followed by the rest of the guys tapping their sticks on the ice.
“Is that a yes?” she asks when I set her back on her feet.
“It’s a yes. Stay as long as you want. Stay forever.”
She squeals and presses her mouth to mine.
“Galaxy!” Coach yells. I can’t find it in me to feel bad, even as I turn to face him.
“Yeah, Coach?”
“Care to join us or are you taking the day off?”
“Sorry, Coach.”
“Gotta go,” I tell Ruby. I toss a wink at her before I finally take the ice. My teammates pat me on the back as I make my way to center ice.
Trav falls in beside me. “She stole my thunder. How am I going to top that?”
Laughing, I punch him in the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
35
RUBY
I wake up with Nick’s arm thrown over my middle. I snuggle deeper into him, and his arm tightens.
“You’re still here,” I say, voice still gruff from sleep. We crashed at the cabin after I got moved back in and then we celebrated…many times.
“Mhmm.” He pulls me against his chest. He’s warm and smells faintly of my perfume. His mouth travels along my neck and shoulder, dropping soft kisses that have me turning in his arms to celebrate again.
My stomach, however, picks this inopportune moment to growl. We skipped dinner last night in favor of sex and I have no regrets.
“You need to eat some breakfast,” Nick says.
“No. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“Me either, but I have big plans for you today so first…food.” He brushes his lips over mine, then gets out of bed. I shift, pulling the blanket up around my bare shoulders.
I watch him as he pulls on his boxers and jeans. “I could get used to this.”
He glances at me over his shoulder as he pulls his T-shirt on over his head. “Good. I like having you here.”
We haven’t talked through everything yet, but being here feels right.
“What happens when Aidan comes back?” I ask.
Nick looks to me like he needs more information to answer my question.
“If you don’t want to tell him yet or think it would be weird to have me stay at the cabin, I found some apartments?—”
Nick’s expression shifts from confused into some grumpy scowl that I can’t quite decipher. “I’m not hiding you from him. Plus, he already knows we had a thing this summer.”
“He does?” I ask, then wince at the implication.
“Yeah, I mean, we weren’t that subtle, so I guess I’m not shocked that he saw us making out at the rink.”
“Oops. Your fault. All that padding really does something for me.”
