Garrett(63)

Tilting my head down and lowering my voice further, I ask, “So…I know you’ve got your mom visiting and all, but any chance we’re going to get some alone time this week?”

“Sure we will, although you’ll have to stay here. I don’t want to leave my mom to go stay at your place.” Olivia washes a plate, rinses it, and hands it to me to dry.

“And she won’t mind?” I ask dubiously as I help dry the dishes she washes.

Olivia turns to me and gives me an eye roll. “Please…you heard her. She said we’re grown-ups and she knows we do grown-up things.”

“Yeah, but I thought that was just her being wacky,” I say with a chuckle.

“She is wacky…but she was serious too. So, what days this week do you think you can come over to stay?”

“Definitely Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but Thursday we have a preseason game in Buffalo. But I’ll be back on Friday. And don’t forget…we have our first preseason game here this Tuesday night. Will you and your mom come?”

“I’d love to, and I’m sure she would too,” she says as she rinses the last plate and pulls the drain on the sink. She hands it to me and I dry it.

“Excellent, I’ll get you both tickets down on the ice.”

Olivia rinses her hands as I take the dried plates and put them back in her cupboard. “You don’t have to get us special tickets or anything.”

Throwing my towel over my shoulder, I turn to Olivia and pull her in to me. We wrap our arms around each other’s waists, and as I stare down at her, I become overwhelmed by her beauty. Her eyes, lips…her nose, and smooth skin. Fucking beautiful hair and a body that will always star in my fantasies. And yet the thing that gets me most excited about this moment is that she just said I didn’t have to do anything special for her. She doesn’t expect anything from me, and that’s one of the reasons I’m attracted to her.

Doesn’t mean I’m not going to do special things for her, but the fact that she doesn’t need that from me makes her even more stunning, in my book.

“I want you down on the ice,” I say as I lean down to give her a sweet kiss. “I want to be able to see you cheering me on. I’ve never had someone there just for me…I mean, outside of the times my family comes to visit.”

Olivia squeezes me tight and lays her cheek against my chest. “All right, then…I’ll be the one down on the ice screaming the loudest for you.”

I’ve definitely been anxious for the season to start. I flourish in the adrenaline and competition. Hockey season is the happiest time of my life. But I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a game more in my life than the one on Tuesday…because I know Olivia is my biggest fan and will be there to support me. It makes it a million times more exciting to me.





Chapter 18


Olivia


“If you look at your watch one more time with that annoying sigh of frustration, I’m going to smack you,” Stevie grumbles as he walks by on his way out to the front to help some customers.

I sneak another glance and see that it’s only three-forty-five P.M. and I have a little more than two hours left until I get off work. It’s Friday afternoon and the store is pretty busy at this time of the day. Our order list for the weekend is long so Stevie’s been manning the front while I’ve been doing all the arrangements.

Garrett flew back in today, and in fact, the team plane should have landed a few hours ago. We made plans to go out to dinner tonight, my mom insisting we go out on a date together since our time has been limited this week. I am so damned excited to see him that I can’t stop looking at my watch, which is moving at the speed of molasses.

This past week has been just amazing. It’s been such a comfort to have my mom here, and I’m sad she’s going to be heading back tomorrow. She promised to use the rest of her vacation time to come back out during one of my treatments, as she wants to be there for me when things are bad. I figure between her, Garrett, Stevie, and Sutton, I’ll be well taken care of.

Garrett did, in fact, stay at my house the first part of the week. He’d meet me there after I got off work, and my mom would have dinner ready for us. Then we’d talk for a while or watch TV, and eventually Mom would wander off to bed. Then it was on…the race to get inside each other’s pants while trying to be as quiet as possible. We learned very quickly that my bed was too squeaky, so Garrett fixed that by pulling my mattress to the floor and tossing me down on it.

One night, though…after Mom went off to bed, Garrett and I just stayed out in the living room and watched a movie. He lay behind me on the couch and wrapped one arm around my waist while the other cushioned my head. We were quiet for the most part, unless it was to make a comment about the movie, and every so often he would brush his lips against the back of my head. When the movie was over, he murmured, “It’s late. Let’s get some sleep.”