Page 125 of Just Friends
“So what’s the plan for today?” I asked.
“It’s up to you. You’ve still got a little bit of time if you wanted to get your hair done, or get a facial or whatever.”
“Mmm,” I purred, “a facial might be nice, actually.” I looked at the clock and tapped my chin. “When do we have to check out?”
“Three o’clock,” he said.
“And what are we doing after we leave here?”
“Well, then we head back to Dallas,” he said, stating the obvious with a shrug.
“And you leave first thing tomorrow, right?” I asked with a note of sadness.
He nodded dourly. “Flight’s at noon, so I’ll be outta the house by nine.”
“Where are you going, anyway?”
“First Columbus, then Chicago, then St. Louis.”
I frowned. I guess that was the bittersweet thing about the WAG party—it was fun to be pampered for a day or two, but it also meant the hockey season was about to steal our men away. I was no rookie to Jax’s pro schedule—during the season, he was never home for more than a handful of days at a time—but now, of course, it felt entirely different.
“It’s just a few days, Pipes,” he said. “By the end of the week, we’ll be back in Dallas for the home-opener against Nashville.”
“I know …” I said, my head dropping.
But all I could think about was all the girls in those cities who were dying to hook up with a pro athlete. Over the years, he’d told me plenty of stories about the puck bunnies on the road. Those sometimes-funny, sometimes-scandalous tales took on a different meaning now. Now those starry-eyed girls posed a threat to me—because they didn’t care about or respect an athlete’s relationship; all they wanted was a night of meaningless fun with someone famous for bragging rights.
And Ihatedthat our relationship had to be tested so early. I so badly wished we could’ve started dating earlier in the summer or, heck, even aweekago—say, if we’d managed to talk things out after our first kiss.Anythingto give us more of a fighting chance.
Jax frowned as if he could read my thoughts. I frowned, too, because I realized he could plainly read my jealous fears, which only made me feel crazy. Last thing I wanted was to turn into a psycho girlfriend, and remind him why he’d never done relationships in the first place …
He stroked my cheek tenderly. “Hey. Pipes.”
“Yeah?”
He put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me snug against his side. “You’re the only one I want, you know that?”
I nuzzled against him, enjoying the warmth of his body. “You’re the only one I want, too.”
“Next week, during the home-opener, all I want is to look up and see you there, sitting with the rest of the girls in the WAG section. I wanna look up and see you sitting there.”
He could make me smile so easily. “I’ll be there. I promise.”
“Yeah? Good. Because the boys love you. The girls love you.Everyoneloves you, Pipes,” he said. He started to say something else, but he stumbled and gathered his thoughts. “Screw it. I’m a little scared to say this because it might be too early, but I don’t care. It’s how I feel.”
He clasped my hand, and the mood grew serious. We turned to stare at each other.
“Ilove you, Piper,” he said softly, reverently. “I really do.”
My heart wentthud.Those magic words vaporized whatever shreds of doubt or insecurity that might have remained.
“Is it too soon for me to say that?” he asked, brow wrinkling with his own fears.
I giggled and shook my head. “No. No! Not at all.”
“Really?” he asked with a nervous bite of his lip. “I don’t wanna scare you off or anything.”
“You won’t scare me off,” I said, lowering my voice, “because I love you, too.”
