Page 42 of My Best Bet

“JP and Ali?” I whispered to Mer.

She bit her lip. “Maybe. She’s a couple years younger though, don’t let him corrupt her.”

My face cracked. “Only two years. And JP’s a saint, babe.”

“Ha!” she burst out, coming to a stop in front of me. She arched an eyebrow. “I could use many words to describe the three of you, and ‘saint’ would not be one of them.”

“What? That hurts.” I skated toward her.

She skated backwards, escaping me. “You’re troublemakers.”

I pushed harder and grabbed her up in my arms, making her laugh. “What does that make you? Because you love getting into trouble with me.” I dropped a kiss on her lips.

She wrapped her arm around my neck and sighed. “I do. It’s so bad, but I really do.”

“That’s my girl.” I winked at her and dropped her back on her blades.

At one point, everyone started abandoning the game to go warm up by the bonfire leaving only me and Mer skating under the stars.

The songSomewhere Only We Knowby Keane lightly played while she pulled into a layback under the stars and snow, holding my beanie so it wouldn't fly away.

Her spinning in the make-shift spotlight with the snow-covered pine trees as a backdrop was the most beautiful scene I’d ever taken in. I was filled with awe. I was filled with love.My angel.

She stopped spinning and gave me a lazy smile before looking up into the sky and throwing her arms wide.

“I love this,” she announced.

I love you.

Woah, wait. I shook my head out.Did my brain just go there?

I stood there in shock as the snow floated down between us.

I loved her.

I really fucking loved her.

I was pretty sure no one else had ever felt this kind of connection. This kind of love. I’d been feeling it for a while now, I just never really called it what it was until right then.

I almost laughed to myself because I was so fucking happy.

This was probably why my mom warned me against dating. She was afraid I’d fall hard and lose focus on hockey. She thought Mer was a distraction, but that just wasn’t true. Mer motivated me to focus even more on hockey. Sure, I loved the game, but now I wanted to make it my career so we could have the good life together.

The way my parents looked at each other and laughed when I talked about Mer, they thought I was talking about fleeting teenage feelings. They just didn’t understand.

Ilovedher.

Wow, I thought that would scare me, but I just felt a bubble of happiness fucking bursting inside of me.

And I suddenly needed to tell her, but I had to keep it cool. I couldn’t just blurt it out at her. This would be our only first time hearing it, I was sure of it. I’d never say it to another girl, and I’d do my best so she never heard it from another guy.

I couldn’t mess this up.

Grabbing a puck with my stick, I did a couple tricks as I got closer to her. She immediately picked up a stick and tried to get the puck away from me and I couldn’t help but crack a grin. She could probably kick my ass at skating, especially when it came to edge work, but damn, she was such a beginner when it came to a stick and puck.

“I have something to tell you,” I said softly.

“Yeah? What is it?” She swiped with her stick and almost took out my shin.

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