Page 24 of Slapped Into Love

“Fine, but you’re getting the Cliff Notes version,” he grumbled. “Alec wanted to hit the Strip when Jason and Cee-Cee called it a night. Josie and Andrew bailed, too. So I was stuck hitting some clubswithAlec.”

“Stuck,” Isnorted.

“Yes, stuck,” he echoed. “Because it just made me miss you even more. I wasn’t in the mood to drink or party, so I headed back to the hotel early and ended up missing all theexcitement.”

I propped my chin on his chest and made my very best puppy dog eyes at him. “What kind of trouble did Alec get into? Was he arrested? Did you have to bail him out of jail so he didn’t miss thewedding?”

“Nope, he made the wedding alright.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Twoofthem.”

I jolted up, my jaw dropping while I stared at him. “Whose else gotmarried?”

“Alec.”

“Shut up!” I shrieked as I bounced on the mattress. “You’re pulling my leg,aren’tyou?”

“I wish I was,” he sighed. “Had I known that Alec was going to have such a wild night that it ended with him marrying some chick he’d just met, I would have sucked it up and stayed with him to at least try to be the voice of reason. But I didn’t know, so I got to meet his new wife at Jason and Cee-Cee’s weddinginstead.”

“Whoa,” I breathed. “Now I wish I’d kicked my friends out a day early and met up with you guys instead. I can’t believe I missedallthat.”

“In a way, I’m glad you weren’t able tomakeit.”

I hadn’t been expecting our playful conversation to head in that direction, and I slumped over in disbelief. My hurt must have shown in my expression because Ryan gathered me close. “It’s not that I wouldn’t have loved to hang out with you in Vegas, baby. I would. More thananything.”

“Then why in the world were you happy I wasn’tthere?”

“Because it opened my eyes to how much I missed you.” He pulled me onto his lap. “The only other times we’ve been in different cities since we started dating was for road trips when you weren’t able to make it. I missed you during those, too. But this was different because I wasn’t distracted by hockey. It was just me with my friends, feeling like I’d left a part of mebackhome.”

The hurt was washed away, replaced by fierce joy. “And I’m the missing partofyou?”

“Youare.”

“Because you love me?” Iwhispered.

“Yes.”

A huge grin spread across my face. “Could you maybe tell me instead of justsayingyes?”

“Only if you sayitback.”

“Together onthree?”

“Sure,” hechuckled.

“Three.”

I took a deepbreath. “Two.”

Andanother. “One.”

I tossed myself into his arms as we shared in unison, “Iloveyou.”

This countdown wasn’t a race, but we both came out winners intheend.

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