Page 127 of Wicked Serve

“I thought I was your phone background already,” I tease.

“Yeah, but in this one you’re literally holding a koala. Our koala.” She lifts her sunglasses, squinting at me. “Is your background still that horrible picture of me ice skating?”

“You look cute.”

“I look like a baby deer in headlights.”

“And fawns are cute.”

She snorts. “Maybe you can upgrade with this picture.”

She holds out her phone to Lex, who shakes her head; Ralph brings out a proper camera. He takes a few steps back, setting up the shot. Isabelle fusses with my hair as Lovey discovers my leather bracelet.

“No, no,” she murmurs, pulling Lovey’s claws away. “He needs his lucky charm for next game if he’s going to clinch Hockey East.”

“Taking all the credit?”

She lifts an eyebrow as she smooths the collar of my white linen shirt. “So you do agree it’s a good luck charm.”

I steady the koala with a hand behind her head as I lean over to kiss Isabelle’s hair. Ralph’s camera clicks away. “You’re my good luck charm. I hope you know that by now.”

Her smile could outshine the sun. “You can be such a flirt.”

“Only for you.”

Only and ever.

I freeze, my mind echoing on the ever. Maren says something about smiling, and we face forward, snuggling this goddamn koala like it’s our kid. Maybe it’s Isabelle’s laughter, or the way the light catches in her clear eyes, or the fact I’m across the world with her just because I wanted to give her a brief respite from everything going on in her life, but the whole moment slows and expands and crystallizes like a work of art.

I love her.

The realization hits me so hard, I lose my breath.

I’ve never loved someone like this, but I recognize the truth of it instinctively. I don’t just care for Isabelle. I don’t just want the best for her. I love her.

“What do you think?” she asks.

I shake my head, trying to get my bearings. The words nearly spill out of me, but I stop myself. When I tell her this for the first time, I want us to be alone. I don’t want to share it with anyone, not even the toddler-size koala currently giving the love of my life so much to smile about.

But I feel it. I feel it in my fingers, my toes. My chest, beating a wild song. I thought life couldn’t get better than skating full speed with cold wind on my face, but I was wrong. Isabelle cut a doorway to my soul, and now that she’s there, I know she’s never leaving. No matter what happens in the future, she’ll be there. A drop of sunshine, just for me.

There are so many things I’m uncertain about, but she’s not one of them.

“I think that I want to keep doing things like this with you.”

She flicks my cheek playfully. “I meant about lunch, babe.”

“Well, I mean forever.” I pass the koala to Lex so I can pull my girl into a proper embrace, underneath the shade of the eucalyptus tree. “I want to travel the world with you.”

Her lips part slightly. Even though her cheeks are already flushed from the warmth of the afternoon, I swear they get pinker.

“Kolya,” she whispers.

Something must show on my face, in my voice, at the sound of that name from her lips. It doesn’t hurt. It just makes me feel lighter. For a long time, I thought I never wanted to hear that name again, but it means the world when it’s coming from her.

I kiss her. A soft, fevered touch that sends my heart into a sprint. Pressed close, I feel her intake of breath, the upturn of her mouth. I smell her citrus perfume, as bright and inviting as always.

After a moment, I ease away, one palm still on her cheek. She’s so beautiful, I can’t stand it. I’m about three seconds from sinking to my knees to swear fealty to her. Whatever she wants. Whatever I can do for her.

---