So I said to him the three words that felt more real than anything while I palmed the small of his back, repeating the words I’d said moments before. “I love you, Reindeer.”
That smile the size of the solar system stayed strong but the emotion in his eyes quadrupled. “I know.”
The arrogant ass. “You do?”
He kissed the corner of my mouth. “Ja.” Rey kissed the other side. “You always have.”
I snorted. “I don’t know about always—“
“No. Always,” he insisted.
“You haven’t always cared for me, and I can live with that.”
“You’re a better person than I am, and I haven’t loved anything the way that I love you, schnecke. I would say we’re tied,” he argued. His smile was gentle, his skin bright and flushed. “I’ve been waiting every day of my life for you. Your honesty, your loyalty,” he punctuated each of my traits with a kiss to a different part of my face that had me grinning like a freaking fool. “Your competitiveness, your fierceness, your kindness and this body… I would do anything for you. Lie, cheat and steal. There is nothing I wouldn’t do. Understand?”
I didn’t, not completely at least. I didn’t have a lot of self-esteem issues, I was good with myself but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I figured. I never wanted to become a cocky asshole.
I could love one, but I didn’t want to be one.
“Sort of,” I answered him honestly. “Are you really not staying on with the Pipers next season?”
“Absolutely not. I’m staying with you.”
“But I don’t even know where I’m going,” I reminded him again with the least amount of panic I could muster.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll go somewhere, and you aren’t going alone,” he assured me.
I blew out a deep breath and scrunched up my toes against his leg hair, making him jerk. “What about your house here?”
Rey dropped another kiss, ignoring what I was doing. “I’ll sell it.”
I let out a shaky exhale I couldn’t hide into his neck. “I’m a little scared.”
“Don’t be.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Remember that idiotic question you asked me in the car? About what would happen when you can’t play soccer any longer?” He didn’t wait for any acknowledgment. “Nothing would happen. We would have a different adventure to go on. You are my best friend, my love, my playmate and my teammate. You’ll have a team with me wherever we are, with whatever we are playing.”
For a man who didn’t talk much, he really went for the knockout when he tried. Jesus Christ. Tears came into my eyes, and I couldn’t even bother blinking them away. “I guess we’ll figure out everything, right?”
He nodded. “I won’t let you give up.”
I smiled at him right before pulling at his leg hair again, earning a grunt that time. “I’ve never given up on anything. I’m not about to start now.”