Page 58 of Breakaway

It’s a long time before either of us move. She’s boneless, whining when I pull out, taking the toy with me. I pull on a pair of boxers, so I won’t accidentally flash my siblings if either comes home, then head to the bathroom down the hall for a washcloth. Penny’s in the same position when I come back. I gather her into my arms, and she kisses me tiredly, resting her head on my shoulder as I wipe her clean.

“Pretty girl,” I breathe. I kiss her again, long and slow, enjoying the weight of her against my chest.

“Feeling more relaxed?” she asks.

“I feel like I could go out on the ice tomorrow and get a hat trick.”

“Good. I’ve wanted that for ages, so thank you.” She snuggles even closer. “Is it okay if I...”

I wrap my arm over her middle. “You’re not leaving right now.”

“Oh, no?” she says teasingly.

“Not when we have The Return of the King to get to, finally.” I slide off the bed again and rummage around in my dresser for a sweater that Penny can wear, since she came over in basically nothing, and toss it to her before going over to my gear bag.

She pulls the sweater over her head. “Please tell me that Aragorn gets even hotter.”

“He does,” I say, mostly to hear more of her sweet laughter. “Heads up.”

I pull the bag of gummy bears out of a side pocket and toss it to her. She catches it, her eyes lighting up when she realizes what it is. “Gummy bears?”

I scratch the back of my neck. “Just remembered that you like them.”

Her smile makes my breath stick in my throat.

“That’s sweet of you.” She rips the bag open and pops one into her mouth. “Is anyone home? Can I use the bathroom first?”

A couple minutes later, we get settled in bed with my laptop balanced atop a pillow in front of us. Penny climbed into my lap when she came back from the bathroom, so we’re a tangle of limbs, but I don’t mind. As far as viewings of Lord of the Rings go, this has been my favorite, and I’ve seen these movies nearly a dozen times.

Penny puts a couple of gummy bears in my palm. When she turns to kiss me, her breath smells like sugar. “Thank you,” she says. “Even though they’re smelly. Why were they in your gear bag? I doubt my dad wants you guys eating candy on the bench.”

“I always like having a snack around.” The truth is I bought them and put them in my gear bag for a moment just like this. I knew she’d smile, and I wanted to see that smile happen because of me. I got exactly that, and while I’m glad we fucked—I really do feel more relaxed, ready to buckle down and focus on beating Merrimack—it’s that smile I’ll be thinking about as I take the ice tomorrow.

I press play on the movie. “I forbid you from screaming when the orcs are onscreen.”

“But they’re just so gross!”

Chapter 32

Penny

I don’t plan on going to the game against Merrimack, but Dani, Allison, and Will invite me and Mia, and it sounds like a better Friday night than staying at the library late, so I pull my coach’s daughter privileges to get us seats in the front row, right behind one of the goals. On the way into the Markley Center, we bump into Sebastian and Izzy, who are going to the game with Izzy’s friend from the night of the Haverhill party, Victoria—apparently Victoria hooked up with the goalie, Aaron Rembeau, and they might be dating, but she’s not sure and wants to stake her claim—and two friends of Sebastian’s from the baseball team, Rafael and Hunter.

In a weird twist of fate that I’m almost—but not quite certain—Cooper has nothing to do with, we all have seats in the same row, so by the time the game begins, we’ve morphed from two groups into one large one, ready to party. Rafael and Hunter are twenty-one, so they bring back beers for us to share, and Mia smuggled in not one, but two flasks. As McKee skates out in royal purple, sticks raised to acknowledge the cheers and shouting, I take a big gulp of whiskey. It burns going down, but I’m holding my own... at least until I see the “C” on Cooper’s sweater.

It’s a bad idea, a terrible one, but I jump to my feet all the same and pound on the glass, shouting his name. He sees me—all of us, really—and skates over.

Sebastian gets the question out before I do. “He made you captain?”

Cooper looks dazed, honestly. His hockey sweater is crisp, not a thread out of place. My father had to have just given it to him in the locker room. Cooper and I are friends now. If he knew about this already, he would have said something. He glances down at his sweater, like he’s just noticing the “C” for the first time.

“Yeah,” he says. “Didn’t say much. Just said I earned it and handed it to me.”

“Congrats, man,” Sebastian says, thumping on the glass with his palm. Mia and the rest chorus their congratulations.

“This is amazing!” Izzy says. “Mom and Dad are going to flip!”

“Sounds like my dad,” I say. I’m busy drinking in the sight of him—with his pads on, he looks formidable as fuck, and I want to climb him like a tree and knock the helmet right off his head so I can pull his hair—but then the referee blows the whistle, ruining the moment.

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