“I thought so. Do you like movies?”
I eye him. “Yeah, why?”
“We should go to one. Thursday. I have a game tomorrow.”
“Oh. Um—”
“I’ll pick you up at six,” he says, watching me. “And you can tell me about this NYU.”
I look away shyly. “It’s a college.”
He nods. “That’s a big school?”
Why am I turned on by the fact that he doesn’t know that? “Yeah, I graduated from there.”
“Ah, okay. Wow, that’s awesome. You’re very smart, then?”
I grin. “I’m all right.”
“I bet you are very smart. I will need to take you up on helping me learn.” He winks, and my heart skips a beat. I want to help him and also slam my face into the table. I’m unsure which will lead to more pain. “So, we go?”
Should we go? I’m sure Elli will be with Shea, and then I’ll be at home with my computer. We have no events this week, not until Saturday and Sunday, and everything is during the day. I mean, there is really no reason not to go. I like him well enough. He’s damn cute, and I like having sex with him. Something that could really make my week.
“Only if you take me home.”
His eyes stare into my soul. “I was going to.”
“I mean tonight.”
He nods, so fucking confident and gorgeous. I can see his chest puffing up, the passion in his eyes. Hot damn if he doesn’t turn me on. “I was going to.”
Breathlessly, I bite my lip. “Then, yes.”
“And I’ll stay.”
“Stay?”
“Yes. I have a bag in the car.”
I wait for the freak-out to come. The flight sense. But it doesn’t appear. Instead, I can only feel sheer desire. “Who said anything about needing a bag?”
He grins. “My breath is awful in the morning.”
I can’t help but grin back at him. “Is it?”
“You’ll see,” he says, polishing off the rest of his taco. “Now, eat up so I can eat you up.”
Oh man, I need to keep my wits about me with Jakob Titov before he knocks me clean on my ass.
Something no man has ever done.
It’s Been a Week
Jakob
“Dude, you’re always talking to her. She’s going to think you’re desperate.”
My way of thinking is this—I tease him so he realizes his feelings. I love Shea, but he’s a bit dense. He’s used to being all about himself. I want him to see that now, he’s all about a woman.
“No, she won’t. I just like talking to her,” he says defensively as he dries his balls. “So, shut up.”
I grin. Exactly what I wanted him to say. I want him to get defensive. I want him to fight for what he wants. When you’re the captain of a National Hockey League team, women tend to throw themselves at you. Shea has a plethora of women doing that. “You’ve seen her every day since Sunday. You are smothering her!”
His eyes narrow to slits. “I am not! And this coming from the guy who’s basically stalking what’s her name.”
Now, I’m glaring. I talk about Harper enough for him to know her name. Plus, he’s dating her best friend. Elli loves Harper; I’m sure she talks about her too. “Harper, but I love her. It’s different.”
His jaw drops, and I know I’ve surprised him. But really, the only thing I’m surprised by about my comment is that he didn’t realize it. I mean, I’ve only talked about Harper all day and all night. On the ice, off, all the time. The girl is it for me. She makes me absolutely senseless, and I love how proud she is. I love how she doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. She just does Harper, and that turns me on. I want a girl who loves herself and knows her worth. I really appreciate the fact that she is making me work for her. I don’t want it to be handed to me. Yeah, she gave me her body, but I’m working for her heart. I’ll get it. I’m wearing her down, and it really excites me. I want her to know what I know and fall completely and utterly in love with me.
Shea, though, he doesn’t seem to be processing what I’ve just said. “Oh my God. Really, dude? It’s been a week!”
I smile proudly, confidently. “I know the one when I see her.”
He seems very confused by me as he stands, wrapping a towel around his waist. “You know what? Before you try to give me advice on how to date girls, get your love life squared away.”
As he walks away, I say, “I got my life squared away. I’m in love with an NYU graduate who is beautiful and smart, and I’m not the least bit embarrassed to say so.”
Shea looks over his shoulder at me. “You’re insane. That girl doesn’t even have you on her radar.”
I’m offended. “The fuck she doesn’t. I’m all over that.”
Shea rolls his eyes, shaking his head as he leaves to go to wherever he is going. I’m unsure of his destination, but I’m dressed and ready to go. I say bye to some of the guys. I look forward to seeing them tomorrow. We play tomorrow, and I’m hoping I can convince Harper to come. I want her to see my second love. To know what makes me tick. I’d love for her to meet my parents, but I’m just lucky she didn’t kick me out of her bed the last couple mornings. To my surprise, I haven’t left her condo much. Only for the rink and when we go places together. It’s been really nice. Normal for me. The normalcy I crave. After such an awful childhood, I want love and a life that is worth living. I didn’t get my parents until later than I needed. I wish I’d had that example my whole life, the way they love each other. But thankfully, I didn’t need long to catch on.
Harper and I can be what my parents are. I just need her to get on board.
When I push open the side door that leads to the players’ parking lot, I feel a slow grin cover my lips when I see Harper leaning against my car. She’s wearing a tight gray sweater dress and heeled black boots. She hasn’t put the purple color back in her hair since we’ve been talking, and I don’t think I miss it. I love her hair, dark and styled to perfection. When she smiles, though, everything else fades away.
Every single word I said from before about Harper rings true. I love her.
I love her so damn much.
I don’t say anything as I close the distance between us. When I circle my arms around her waist, she comes up against my chest, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. “Hey, you,” she says against my lips just as I drop them to hers. I kiss her, feeling every single emotion well up inside of me. I don’t know what she is doing here, and to be honest, I don’t care one bit. I’m just glad she’s here. She pulls back first, grinning as she runs her thumbs along my cheeks. “Well, hot damn, I’ll wait for you more often if that’s the way I’m greeted.”
Ah, I love her country accent. Elli’s is way more out there, but Harper’s hits me in the feels. I squeeze my arms around her, kissing her top lip. “I want it to be every day.”
She giggles against my lips, leaning into me. “Stop. You’re making me blush.”
“Good,” I say, kissing her cheeks that have filled with color. “Tell me you’ve come by to go to dinner with my parents?”
She laughs against my nose. “No way. Came to make you take me to lunch, and you said you’d replace my coffee table. It broke the rest of the way today.”
I grin before reaching out to my Jeep to open the back. She tears her gaze from mine to look inside and find the exact coffee table we broke the first night we were together. She looks up at me with a dreamy expression. “Or we can get takeout and go back to my place to put this together.”
“And maybe break it again?”
Her eyes darken and sparkle with desire. “Maybe.”
“I love that word.”
“Yeah?” I nod, and she bats her lashes at me. “Maybe I’ll do that thing you like.”
My groin tightens, and I am well aware what she is speaking of, but I need more. “Like come to my game tomorrow?”
I’d say she is surprised by my question, but she recovers well. “Your game?”
“Yeah, tomorrow at seven. I can get you tickets—”
She moves her fingers through her hair. “Elli has tickets. She’s been begging me to go to a game.”
I lean into her, pressing my nose against the side of hers. “Can I beg you?”
She looks at me through her lashes. “Maybe.”
Ah, that word. From those lips. “I want you there. I want you to see how passionate I am about my work. When you showed me your photos, I was amazed by your talent. Let me amaze you.”
She takes a deep breath. “You already do.” Oh, the grin on my face is unstoppable, and she smiles shyly as she slides her fingertip along my jaw. “Which is why you’ve woken up beside me with that awful breath.”
I laugh. “And I appreciate you for dealing with my breath. But let me show you what else I can do.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she nods slowly. “It doesn’t mean anything if I go. Like I keep saying, we aren’t together.”
I roll my eyes. Yes, she has said this a time or two, and no, I don’t believe her at all. “What did I tell you about that? I don’t want to hear your lies.”