Page 74 of Trade Deadline

I carry the washcloth back into the room, wiping away the come that's starting to dry on his stomach and the lube from between his cheeks. I quickly swipe it over my abs before I toss it onto the bathroom floor and crawl back into bed.

He curls his body into mine, his head fitting perfectly beneath my chin, and it almost makes me burst with emotion.

“This is probably a really inappropriate time to bring this up, but… I met your parents today.” Alex quietly announces.

I’m startled by his admission. “What? They’re not supposed to fly in until tomorrow.”

Elliot didn’t mention they were coming, but they’ve done this before and snagged tickets through Coach to surprise us.

He chuckles. “They must have come early to surprise you or something, but I instantly knew who they were. Your mom was screaming about staying away from her son, and whenever a puck got past Elliot, she would shout that it was goalie interference.”

I laugh because I know exactly what my mom’s like. She’s been the same since we started playing hockey.

“Oh yeah, my mom gets very invested. Was she arguing with every single call the officials made?”

I feel him nod against my chest. “Yeah, especially that hooking call. I thought she was going to run down and jump over the boards at one point. She was going on about how they need to go get their eyesight checked because even the astronauts in space could’ve seen that was hooking.”

“Yep, that’s my mom; she lays into the officials pretty hard.”

“They seemed lovely, though.”

“Did they not realize it was you?”

He shakes his head.

“She’s gonna go crazy when she finds out she sat next to you the entire game and didn’t get to quiz you.” I can just picture my mom’s face when she sees Alex on Christmas Day.

“She’s going to quiz me?” Alex lifts his head, his eyes wide in horror.

Another bubble of laughter escapes me.

“Maybe; she’s super eager to meet you. She’s been asking a lot about you.”

Because she wants to know all about the guy who captured my attention and may have captured my heart.

And I know he’s going to capture hers too.

* * *

The followingmorning is spent in bed, exchanging lazy kisses and mind-blowing hand jobs.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so content. Watching the December sun trying to peek through the clouds over Lake Michigan, all while being wrapped up in the most incredible guy I have ever met.

His fingertips idly trace shapes over my abs while his head rests on my pec. His soft breaths against my skin give me goose bumps all over.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day, about how you had your heart broken.” He looks up at me with kind-hearted eyes. “Will you tell me about it?”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

I haven’t spoken about it since I was drafted, when Ethan pulled me to one side, as he must have picked up that something was troubling me.

“I met Kelly in freshman year. She was the girl every guy wanted and everyone wanted to be friends with. I met her at a frat party, was instantly dazzled by her, and as soon as she found out I was on the hockey team, she was all over me.” I rub my jaw, feeling my palm begin to sweat. “I was too dumb to see it then, high on the fact that I got the girl. I thought I was in love, thought she was gonna be my end game, but as time went on, the cracks began to show. She’d yell at me for the smallest things, like being late to meet her because I got caught up in practice, or how people would look at me in bars. Like I could control that; I was on the hockey team, of course people were gonna look at me. I tried to make it obvious I was only interested in her, but she wouldn’t have any of it. Every away game, she’d blow up my phone, asking me who I was hooking up with, even though I wasn’t and hadn’t given her any reason to doubt me.”

I look out the window at the lake, trying to fight off the tightness in my chest from reliving feelings from years ago.

“I was arriving home from an away game; we’d just had our asses kicked big time, and all I wanted to do was lose myself in my girl and forget about it, so the second I was off the bus, I dumped my stuff at home and rushed over to her house. She didn’t hear me arrive. She was in the lounge with her friends, and I heard her…” My teeth clench, and I swallow the bitter taste in my mouth.

I tell Alex what I heard her say that night, running my fingers in soothing circles on his arm when he snarls. “What a bitch.”

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