Page 78 of Tempting the Goalie
Luc settles into the chair next to mine, handing me a plate. “You okay?”
I hesitate. “Yeah,” I say too quickly.
He studies me for a second. “You sure? You’ve been quiet since you got back from fishing.”
I shrug, picking at the corner of my napkin. “Just thinking.”
Luc leans in, his voice low. “Do I need to worry about what you’re thinking?”
I glance at him, trying to find the right words, but they get tangled up in my chest.
“Not really.”
He watches me for a beat longer and nods. “All right. But later on, I’m going to figure out what is going on with you.”
We turn toward the table where everyone’s piling on food, laughter rising again around us. I try to focus on the smell of grilled fish, on Braden's sleepy smile in Eric’s arms, on the breeze blowing through the yard.
But Luc’s hand brushes against mine, and everything about his touch feels so good. It has to be that my brothers are wrong. There’s a reason they are all bachelors. They don’t understand what it’s like to have someone who knows you inside and out. Luc isn’t some stranger looking for attention, he’s Luc. The boy who used to leave sour keys in my mailbox when I was upset. The guy who tried to teach me how to play street hockey, unsuccessfully, and held my hair back when I had the stomach flu in grade eight. The one who always looks at me like I’m the center of his world and has always treated me that way.
Still, the echo of Phoenix’s voice lingers.It’s not him I don’t trust. It’s the world he’s going into.
Luc glances over, our pinkies brushing now, and I realize he’s doing it on purpose. A quiet reassurance, likeI see you. I’m not going anywhere.
“Want to take a walk?” he whispers.
I nod, grateful for the excuse to step away. We get up, and no one really notices. Elyna’s coaxing Braden into a stroller for anap, and Eric’s making fun of Asher’s playlist. Phoenix is still at the grill, arms crossed now, watching the scene unfold like he’s trying not to care.
Luc and I head down the path toward the orchard where the trees start. It’s quieter here. Cooler.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Luc says. “But I can feel something’s on your mind.”
“I’m thinking too much,” I confess.
“Look, Izzy, if this is going to work, we have to be open with each other,” he says, and I know he’s right. I was never open with West. Hell, I didn’t care to be. But now I care. My heart is all in.
I nod. “My brothers are concerned that once you’re in the NHL, everything’s going to change between us. That you’ll have girls throwing themselves at you. That it’s naïve to believe this. . .us. . .could work.”
Luc is quiet for a second. “Do you feel that way?”
I look up at him. “No. But I’m scared they might be right. Not because I don’t trust you. I guess, I just. . . I’m scared. After what happened with West.”
“Don’t compare me to him, Izzy,” he says, and I can see I’ve offended him.
“I know you would never intentionally hurt me, but I don’t know. . .” I say feeling frustrated. “I didn’t love West. I love you and you have the ability to completely incinerate my heart.”
His gray eyes fill with sympathy. “Baby, you have my heart too. I worry about us too. I worry that we’re headed back to school, and we have to leave the bubble we’ve been living in. I worry that you’re so smart and beautiful, and one day you’re going to realize I’m not good enough for you.”
“Never, baby, never.” I take a step toward him and caress his cheek. “I will always want you.”
“That’s how I feel. I’ve always loved you, Izzy. When we were younger it was a kindred love, but it’s grown into somethingdeep and real. I love being a hockey player, but hockey is a job to me. It isn’t my life. You are.”
“Oh, Luc,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulls me into him and we begin to kiss.
“I’ve wanted to be inside you all day. I missed you,” he whispers against my ear as his hands roam over my ass. “You look so hot in these shorts,” he says of the cutoff jean shorts I’m wearing.
I begin to kiss his neck as I run my hands over his chest. He’s wearing a black T-shirt that hugs his muscles and shows off his wide shoulders and a pair worn gray jeans that look sinful on him.
“I want you too, baby,” I say. We are both breathing hard. I need him as much as he needs me.
