Page 14 of Pipe Dreams
“No. That it finally happened, and it was just as amazing as I knew it would be.”
“That’s because I love you.”
Her eyes opened wide. “Mike.”
“What? I can’t say that? Like it isn’t fucking obvious? There’s probably nobody in your office who doesn’t know.”
Lauren looked stricken. “The gossip is going to be awful.”
“Maybe. But do we care?”
She cupped his face, one thumb testing the grit of the stubble on his chin. “I might not even notice, so long as I have you.”
“Mmm.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, then slowly pumped his hips one more time. “Good answer, Lo.”
She smiled against his lips, and they got lost in their kisses again for a little while. “I’m not going home tonight,” he announced. “I want to lie in your bed and taste every inch of you.”
Lauren made a little happy noise in the back of her throat.
He traced the pretty curve of her cheek with his nose. “Would this be a horrible time to ask if you’re, uh, on the pill or something?”
She tilted her chin to give him better access to her neck. “Lucky for you, I am.”
“Good to know.” He kissed her again, because it was so incredible to be able to do that. “Obviously I’m a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later kinda guy.”
“I noticed that,” she whispered. And when she smiled at him, it was with the same smile he had held in his heart since the first week he ever met her.
FIVE
LAGUARDIA’S MARINE AIR TERMINAL, NEW YORK
APRIL 2016
Lauren paced the airport terminal with her clipboard, checking off each player as he arrived. The airline had warned her that they needed to push back from the gate at precisely noon, because a storm moving into the area would likely shut down some East Coast airports this afternoon. Yet with ten minutes left before boarding, there were three names unaccounted for.
So she paced, worrying.
Between the play-offs and Lauren’s regular job at Kattenberger Technologies, she was putting in fourteen-hour days. And in the wee hours of the past week she’d somehow written the last sections of the senior essay she’d turn in next month.
Meanwhile, in a move that surprised every sportswriter in America, the Bruisers had won both of their Brooklyn games against the D.C. team, which made the series 3–1 in Brooklyn’s favor. So now it was back to Washington for game five. They could actually win the entire series tomorrownight, if only she could get all the players onto the freaking jet.
A fresh-faced athlete she didn’t recognize walked through the sliding doors next and looked around.
Lauren pounced. “Are you Silas?”
“That’s me,” the kid said just as several of the other players swarmed.
“Dude!” “Silas!” “Long time no see!” There were back slaps and high fives all around.
Lauren checked off Silas—a backup goalie she’d never met—on her list. Apparently he’d been on the roster earlier in the season but got sent down to the minors six weeks ago.
She tapped her foot while a few more players greeted the kid, and then ran out of patience. “Silas, I’m Lauren,” she said, elbowing her way toward him again. “I’m filling in for Becca while she’s out.”
“Nice to meet you, Lauren,” he said, giving her a sweet smile and a handshake.
Aw, at least the kid had manners. “Here is your team ID,” she said, handing over a laminated badge that would get him into the stadium in D.C. “And your boarding pass. If you have any questions, you’ll find me in your Katt Phone under Lauren. And welcome back to the Bruisers.”
“Thank you, miss,” he said, taking the documents. “It’s good to be back.”
