Page 19 of Unbreakable
“Eesh. I’m too busy thinking you’re perfect, Jeanine.”
I pointed at him. “Because if we’re twin flames, I’m you, and you’re me, you narcissist.” I got one of Dylan’s full belly laughs, the kind that made him throw his head back. He tugged us so we were chest to chest and kissed me. I pushed back enough to look up into his eyes.
“Why hockey?” I asked. “What put you here, in my warpath?”
Dylan got more serious, looking past me to the other side of the room. “You know, other than it being a great sport, and mebeing good at it,” he paused, “I think the ice is the only place I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself and the guys sitting on the bench. And the guys sitting on the bench are looking out for you, just like you’re looking out for them. If you’re on a good team, it all just gels. It’s safe, even though it’s inherently dangerous.”
“So you like the community of it.”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“Did people not have your back elsewhere?”
He winced and spoke to our hands, still sliding together and apart between us. “It’s not that they didn’t have my back. My parents would do anything for me. But that comes at a cost. I worried too much about making them happy because they invested so much in me.”
I squeezed his hand. “Makes sense.”
“But on your team, everything’s equal. Everybody has a role to play and does it.”
I flicked my eyebrows up. “I get it.”
“Alright, if you’re my twin flame and we have mirror problems and experiences, what put you here? Why theater?”
I rolled my lips, bobbing my head. “Probably the same reasons you like hockey, honestly. I love Temecula, and my parents were good to me growing up. But my mom was always overstressed and worked too hard on us kids and the winery, and my dad took a backseat to deal with the winery more. So when I’m there, it’s safe, sure. My parents love me and each other so much. But for them I’m always trying to be good, to manage how they feel. It’s more . . . a performance for them, whereas theater, I’m performing for me. I can be me on stage, even if I’m playing a character who’s nothing like me. That’s kind of the beauty of it. And you’ve got your supporting cast to back you up. You find and build chemistry, probably like your team.”
“I think your twin flame theory might not be far off.” He sighed. “My mom gave up everything for me. She changed her job so she could more easily get me to practice. When she wasn’t working, she was at home, making sure I had all my needs met. Don’t get me wrong, my dad went to all my games. He was always my cheerleader. But Mom did a lot. And I felt like I owed it back to them. But I forget all that when I’m playing the game.”
I shrugged. “Might be twin flames.”
He grinned. “I can think of worse people to be a twin flame with.”
“Dylan, I need you now.”
I straddled him in the driver’s seat of his SUV, which hadn’t yet left the arena parking lot. He had the seat shoved way back so we could both fit, and for the moment we were just making out and grinding. I was so turned on by seeing him work, by knowing that the guy on the ice was mine to fuck, to ride, to cuddle up to, to share silly midnight secrets with.
So yeah, we didn’t even make it out of the parking lot.
“Fuck yeah, baby, sit on this cock,” he said, unbuckling his belt.
I popped my hips up and unbuttoned my jeans, shoving them and my underwear down. Amber’s words from the game, and her pregnant belly, rang in my head. “You got a condom?”
Dylan grimaced. “Let me check my wallet.”
He shuffled around in the glove compartment and his wallet also came up dry. “Hand stuff?” he offered.
Looking at his cock there, begging for attention where it protruded from his lap, hand stuff didn’t sound as fun as me getting split by it. “Pull and pray?”
He smirked. “You sure?”
“If it worked in high school, surely it’ll work now.”
NINE
JEANINE
THEN
“It didn’t work.”
