Page 4 of Let Me Love You

After all, I’m nothing, if not stubborn.

2

COLT

“Do you ever feel like we’re playing house?” Ash asks. She drags her hands along the gray sheet, smoothes out the material, and grabs a thick white comforter from the laundry basket.

It’s our first night living together. Officially. Sure, she’s slept over more times than I can count since I moved in, but our first official night? Without her place as a backup home base? Yeah. It’s tonight.

And it’s fucking amazing.

Ash felt too guilty to leave her friends before her lease was up, and I didn’t want to pressure her. She’s already endured enough pressure over the last few months. With all the NHL publicity, the puck bunnies, and LAU winning the national championship, let alone graduation and Ash finding a job as an elementary school teacher, the pressure’s been building. The guilt I’m experiencing over all of it is crushing.

But now it’s official. We’ve unpacked the last box. Her clothes are lined up in the walk-in closet next to mine. And for the first time since I moved in, the apartment actually feels like a home.

“Been wanting to play house with you for more than a year now, Sunshine,” I remind her.

“Well. I guess today’s your lucky day.” With a shy smile, she bends over, giving me the perfect view of her ass, but I snap out of it. Reaching for the opposite end of the comforter, I help her spread it across the king-sized bed.

“There,” she announces. “It looks good, don’t you think?”

“Looks great.” I round the edge of the bed and pull her against me. “You have good taste.”

And she does. The whole place screams of her. From the little touches of yellow to the drawer filled with girly shit I can’t even pronounce to the vanilla-scented candle burning in the bathroom.

I love it.

All the little things.

The way she’s been with me, even when she resisted moving in until now.

I moved in a few months ago, anxious to get away from all the partying at the Taylor House. Theo took it in stride, agreeing it was probably time to pass the party baton to someone else on the team once the season ended. But me? I was done. And when I saw Ashlyn’s eyes light up as soon as she caught a glimpse of the pond outside, I put a deposit down and moved in, anxiously waiting until after graduation when Ash could justify moving in with me.

“I still think you should’ve been a big boy and chosen your own towels,” she quips.

I clutch at my chest, feigning heartbreak. “And here I thought I was being a gentleman, letting my girlfriend have free reign to decorate the place however she wanted.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Speaking of being a gentleman…I think you should kiss me now.”

“Oh, you think?”

“Mm-hmm,” she hums. The sound shoots straight to my dick.

“Subtle, Sunshine.” I close the distance between us and slip my fingers under the hem of her white crop top. Her skin feels like silk. It always has. I’d assumed things would calm down with her after a while. That we’d find our routine. But it hasn’t. Every time I’m a lucky enough bastard to touch her, I savor it. Because if I learned anything from my dad’s death, it’s our future isn’t guaranteed. And I’d be a fool to waste a single second not appreciating every inch of Ashlyn Peterson, both inside and out.

Fuck, I love her.

My fingers flex on impulse, and I tug her against me, her curves molding to my chest as she rises onto her tiptoes.

“You’re all sweaty from moving,” she says with a laugh.

“You worked me hard today.”

“Oh, I did, did I?”

“Mm-hmm,” I growl, nipping at her bottom lip.

“Then I should probably clean you up, shouldn’t I.” It isn’t a question, but the soft curve of her lips makes my cock twitch as she tangles her fingers with mine and leads me into the master bathroom.

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