Page 78 of Defensive Zone

Laughing, I turn to face Carter, sliding my hand to rest on the base of his spine.

“Surprise,” I say, my voice just above a whisper.

“Mhm, this is an awesome surprise.” A soft smile is on his lips as he wraps his arms around my waist.

“Wait, didn’t you come with Elliot?” I ask, but before he can reply, the sound of plastic wheels rolling against the hardwood echoes down the hall.

Carter snickers guiltily, like he knows he’s been caught.

“What did you do?” I give him a pointed look.

But he doesn’t get the chance to answer because Elliot appears. He’s managed to fit his tall, lean frame onto a ride-on unicorn—all six foot one of him sitting on a children’s horse.

There’s a ripple of surprised laughter as Peyton scolds our goalie, “You better not be scratching my floor with that thing, Olsen!”

“Hey, it can’t be a party without a pony,” Elliot calls out and rides the damn thing into the kitchen with Isabela hot on his heels, squealing in excitement.

“What… How… Do I want to know how you ended up with a unicorn?” I ask.

“We had some time on our hands, and somehow we ended up in the toy store, and I dared him to ride it there.” He shrugs. “I didn’t think he would buy it.”

I roll my eyes and sigh. “Carter, please don’t dare Elliot to do anything because he will do it and then take it a step further.”

“So I’ve learned.” He chuckles and leans in to nip my bottom lip. “Thank you for organizing this for me. I really appreciate it.”

“Always. You only turn thirty once, and I know the next few weeks are going to be hectic with the playoffs, so I wanted to do something nice for you.”

His eyes shine with fondness as he tries to hide his bashful smile by tugging his bottom lip between his teeth. “I love you.”

No matter how many times he says those three little words, it always makes my heart skip a beat. We’ve exchanged them so many times since we became friends over twenty years ago, but now it’s different. It’s… more.

It’s that big love that not everyone gets to experience in their life—an all-consuming love. It’s knowing someone so thoroughly, you’re almost one. Where you can read each other’s thoughts and feelings without speaking a single word. It’s trusting that person—yourperson—with your life, knowing they will hold your heart in their hands like it’s the most precious thing in the world. It’s getting lost in someone, knowing that you’re already home. Because they are your home.

It’s everything, and every day that I get to share those three little words with Carter, I thank my lucky stars that I’ve been given the chance to love him the way I’ve always wanted to love him.

“I love you too.”

He captures my lips in a sweet kiss, then entwines his fingers in mine as we make our way into the kitchen. Jacob, Ethan, and Jackson have heated up all the food, laying the trays of various pasta dishes on the island, along with so many snacks, you can’t see an inch of the countertop.

“It’s not that I’m not grateful for all of this, because this is honestly one of the greatest birthdays I’ve ever had, but if I have to eat another bowl of pasta, I think I might cry.” Alex chuckles.

“Welcome to the hockey life, Alex!” Maria sings, raising her glass of soda.

We all load up our plates and hang out in the living room, exchanging stories from the road and embarrassing tales, and once we’ve filled ourselves up with the amazing food, Ethan helps Jacob carry out the two cakes he made, one for each of the birthday boys. There are a couple of candles stuck in the top, and we gather round to sing happy birthday. Carter wraps an arm around my shoulder, swaying slightly to the song.

“Make a wish!” someone calls out when it comes to an end.

Alex and Carter blow out the candles, and the room erupts into hoots and applause. Carter takes the cake from Jacob and drags his finger through the frosting of his cake, bringing the digit to my mouth. His dark eyes shimmer with heat as I suck the sweet chocolate frosting off his finger before he leans in and kisses me.

“Mmm,” I hum against his lips. “So, what did you wish for?”

“You.” He kisses me again, and when he pulls away, his lips tilt up in a devilish smirk. “And that we can flip fuck later.”

When we get home a few hours later, Carter’s birthday wish comes true.

“Oh, fuck yes, this was a good wish,” he moans, his hands gripping my hips tight as I bounce on his cock. “You feel so fucking good, Zach. Happy birthday tome.”

“It’s not your birthday until tomorrow,” I grunt out.

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