Page 36 of Fair Play
She laughs. “Kids are nowhere on the current life radar, and so what if you’re in your forties? You planning to retire from hockey and go wither away in your mountain cabin or whatever?”
She really is a smartass.
“No, but?—”
“Look, stop with the buts. I don’t care what Bodi wants. I love him, but he doesn’t get to rule my life. I definitely don’t care about the age gap—I happen to think you’re sexy as fuck, both inside and out. And I give zero fucks about how much money you have. That said, Idocare about your reputation and what happens in the locker room. I’m not taking that for granted. But no one has to know. Right now, we’re two people getting to know each other. Seeing what there is to see. If that changes, then we’ll discuss a game plan. Until then, we stay casual.”
“Honey, do you really think we can keep this casual? We can joke and dance around it, but the chemistry between us is so hot it’s about to light itself on fire. I’ve jerked off thinking about you every god damn night since we danced together at Blue Thunder and?—”
“You have?” She moves against me. “Because I had to name my vibrator Roman Emperor.”
My hands glide around to cup her ass. “Sweetheart, I need to be inside you more than I need to breathe, and we don’t have anywhere to go.”
She reaches up and puts her hands on either side of my face. “We’ll figure it out. The only question is whether or not you want to try. Do you want to see what there is to see or do we walk away now? We’re not past the point of no return. Not yet.”
Yeah, we are.
She just hasn’t realized it yet.
Chapter 13
Billie
They saya picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, I’m pretty sure a kiss is only worth one—and that word isyes.
Because Rome didn’t answer my question with a word, he just kissed me. As sweetly and passionately as anyone ever has.
He might not be willing to verbalize it but there was a promise in that kiss, an emotional, poignant promise. I just don’t know what he’s promising me.
All I know is that we walked the rest of the way to Santa Monica hand-in-hand only to find out that the rides closed before dark.
“Darn,” I whisper.
“We’ll come back,” he says softly. “Come on. It’s cold and dark out. Let’s take an Uber back to the car and then go get a late dinner.”
“Okay.”
I nestle against him in the Uber, resting my head against his shoulder. I love how solid he is, both inside and out. We haven’t had enough time together for me to know the man inside too well, but I’ve seen glimpses and I like everything I’ve seen.
In some ways, he reminds me of Bodi, just less knee-jerk crazy and more steady reliability. Like in the bar, when he saw a man hassling a woman he didn’t know. He reluctantly danced with me. Didn’t ask for my number or try to hook up—he just did the right thing.
It was the same when he went with Bodi to rescue me at the apartment. He had no idea what he was walking into but he went because his roommate—his new teammate—might need backup.
Not to mention coming skating with me today.
He didn’t have to.
He played this afternoon, so spending the evening roller skating was a big ask, especially this time of year when it’s chilly by the water and gets dark early, but he did anyway. Because he understood how important it was.
Those things tell me most of what I need to know.
The details don’t matter.
And that damn kiss.
It spoke volumes.
