Page 69 of Perfectly Wedded

“Okay, husband,” she says, climbing the steps to the hot tub. “Move over and make room for me.”

With a quick whoosh, she drops the towel and climbs into the hot tub without hesitating this time. Though I try not to gawk, I get a glimpse of her yellow-and-pink floral two-piece, which makes my heart trip and stumble. She’s gorgeous. And she’s my wife.My wife.

Those words will never grow old to me.

She slides under the water as the bubbles float around her shoulders. Above us, there’s a beautiful sky filled with moonlight and stars, and in the distance, music plays from a local club. She scoots closer to me in the hot tub, her arm brushing mine.

“I’m surprised you want to sit next to me,” I say. “After everything I admitted.”

Part of me wondered whether admitting my attraction would make her run scared the other direction.

“Vale,” she says slowly, her shoulders wet with droplets. “As your wife, I want to sit close to you, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, looking at her, “but you might have to take my mind off the fact that you’re close to me in that gorgeous swimsuit.”

“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” she says, studying me.

“You know everything about me. Everything that’s important, at least.”

“I don’t. The Newlywed Game proved that.”

I lean my head on the back of the hot tub. “Okay, let me think. When I was ten, I rode my BMX bike off the roof of our house.”

Her eyes widen. “Tell me that didn’t end with an ER trip.”

I shake my head. “Not for me. But Brax wasn’t so fortunate.”

She grimaces. “Your poor mom. You’ve given her so much grief.”

“And gray hair,” I add. “At least I found a way to make her happy now that I married you. I think she likes you as much as I do. Given you’re my favorite person, that’s a lot.”

Her face turns to mine like she doesn’t believe me. “She does?”

“You’re so much better than the previous dates I brought home. Most of them weren’t serious, but Mom was scared I’d end up with someone who only wanted me because I’m a professional athlete.”

Sloan tucks hair over her shoulder. “Well, I married you for your insurance, which isn’t any better.”

I shake my head. “It’s not the same thing. I wanted to marry you more than those other girls.”

“You’re a good person, Vale,” she says. “I feel really lucky to have you in my life.”

“I know you mean it as a compliment, but it feels like you’re putting me on a pedestal I don’t deserve. Or somehow, you think you’re not a good person. But you are. Even when you were laid up from your injury, you always found a way to make people feel like they belonged somewhere. You invited the team over for dinner or helped Jaz with one of the hockey team events. It’s like you know how to bring people together. That’s a gift.”

She plays with a strand of loose hair. “That’s because I’ve never felt like I belonged. So I had to create the family I didn’t have.” She stares into the dark sky. “After Mom died, I lost half of myself. Then Dad remarried, and it seemed like I finally had a shot at a family again. Things were good for a few years, until their marriage fell apart, and Dad just drifted off into the sunset, like a lone cowboy. He never thought about his responsibility to me.” She looks at the bubbles in the water, lost in her thoughts. “That’s why I like to have people around me. It feels like I’m getting back the thing I’ve lost. Even coaching makes me feel that way.”

“I can tell. Every time you come home from practice, you seem different,” I say. “You’re not just investing in your skaters to win, but because you care about them as humans. You treat them as equals. That’s special.” I put my hand on her face and turn it toward me. “You’re special.”

She shakes her head. “I talk too much. I’m loud and intenseand my emotions are the same. I’m too much for some people. I think that’s why my dad never visits, honestly. He wishes I was different. More like him. Less like me.” There’s a slow ache beneath her words. Like she wishes she could fix the past—or herself. But there are some things you can’t change.

“I wouldn’t want you to be different,” I say, touching her chin so she’ll meet my gaze. “I like you the way you are. All your big emotions. Everything you say.”

She smiles. “You might not be saying that after we’ve been married a year.”

“Do you want to make a bet on that?” I lift an eyebrow.

She considers this. “No, because you’re a very patient man, Vale MacPherson. You just haven’t seen the worst yet.”

I laugh. “I don’t think there is a worst when it comes to you.” I sink a little deeper into the water so we’re on the same level. “It’s your turn to share an embarrassing story.”

---