Page 35 of Here Be Dragons
Shane walked to the door, his hand resting on the handle. He remembered this. He had been here before. He had walked out on Ava back in the Hamptons, and the feeling of dread from that moment started to creep into his mind again. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, too afraid to look back at her.
"Ava, I am being serious," he said. "I want to find a way to make this work."
"Me too."
He finally allowed himself to turn around and see her standing there. She was soft and warm and smiling in a way that made him realize that this time when he walked out the door, he wasn't going to be walking away.
"I'll meet you by the players' entrance," she said. "Don't leave me behind."
He smiled at her. "I promise I won't leave you behind again."
Shane walked out and headed back to the locker room with a stupid smile pasted on his face. A few of his guys gave him weird looks as he got undressed and headed for the showers. He didn't care. He was going to get ready as fast as he could, and then he was going to be with Ava. And that was all that mattered.
Epilogue
Ava pushed through the front door to her building, saying hi to the two desk clerks. They always seemed to greet her a little more enthusiastically than everyone else and she was pretty sure it was because her brother's company owned the building. Not that she would complain, of course. Living in Jack's building also meant she got a deal on her condo when she bought the first one here. He was very appreciative.
"Oh, Ms. Foster?"
"What's up, Miles?"
The desk clerk started pecking away at some keys on his computer. "A man arrived here earlier and I sent him up to your apartment."
A man?
"His name was.... Shane Taylor." Miles looked up from his computer screen. "He said you weren't expecting him, but he was on your approved guest list so I sent him up. I hope that was OK."
Shane was here? In her building? In her apartment?
"Um, yeah. That's fine, Miles." She gave him a warm smile. "Definitely wasn't expecting him, but you can send him up anytime."
Miles leaned over and quietly said, "I hope I didn't ruin his surprise."
"I'll act like I didn't know."
She pushed back away from the desk and gave him a smile before heading to the elevators. But the smile was covering nervous energy that was starting to seep into her body. She had talked to Shane a week ago after the Dragons were eliminated from the playoffs. He told her he wanted to sulk in Cleveland for a while before maybe coming to visit her for a few days.
Guess he was done sulking, which was fine with Ava. She hadn't seen him for at least six weeks. He specifically told her that while he did, in fact, love her (and she loved him), he needed to focus on the playoffs. She understood.
The back-and-forth long-distance thing was getting annoying. It wouldn't be for much longer though after the talk Ava had with her boss yesterday. The law firm was going to allow her to work remotely with only occasional in-person check-ins at the Detroit office. It was the reward she could cash in for being one of the top earners for the firm. It also meant she could move into Shane's place in Cleveland. The only issue with this plan was that she hadn't actually told Shane about it. Now might be as good a time as any considering he was waiting for her in her condo.
She walked out of the elevator trying not to sprint down the hall to her place. Nope, casual and calm would be better for now even though she knew that wouldn't last long. Ava slipped the key into her lock, opening the door to find two huge suitcases and a large duffel bag sitting in her foyer. It was definitely more luggage than what Shane usually showed up with.
"Hello?"
Shane's head poked out from her bedroom door. His hair was damp and he was wearing his trademark Cleveland Dragons track pants with no shirt. His face softened as he padded his way over to her in his bare feet.
"Hi."
He buried his face into the crook of her neck and pulled her close. Ava could feel the weight of the past week in his body, the pain of losing out again on the league championship. Ava was at the arena in Detroit two nights ago when the Pirates were eliminated from the playoffs. It was always a tough end to the season and she could tell the team, even her brother, carried it as if it was a physical weight on their shoulders. Shane was the same way.
His breath was warm against her neck, his skin still damp against her fingers. He smelled like the soap that she always left for him in her shower. He exhaled as if he was blowing off the stress from his body. Then he pulled away and gently kissed her forehead.
"I missed you," he murmured against her skin.
"I missed you too."
And she had. She really had. There was something different about Shane compared to any other man she had been with. There was something strong about him. He could keep up with her in a way no other man could, both in the bedroom and out of it. To be honest, the best times with him weren't even in the bedroom. They could sit and talk for hours about anything, debate any topic. And after years of being a single hockey player, Shane had perfected all kinds of chicken recipes that Ava loved to eat. His chicken piccata was her favorite, and she always made sure she had the ingredients on hand for when he visited.
