Chapter 30

THIRTY

Claudia

I’ve just come back from a bathroom break when I notice a humongous bouquet of different colored roses on the desk I’ve been using. I can’t help but smile, knowing they have to be from Anders, and I’m just about to lean over to smell them when a familiar voice speaks from behind me.

“I didn’t know what your favorite color was, so I got a variety.”

“Anders!” I whirl and nearly bump right into his chest.

“Hey, beautiful.” He wraps his arms around me, and I tilt my face up for a kiss.

The moment our lips touch, magic filles the air and I tremble from the electricity.

It’s been a month since I’ve seen him, but now that he’s here, it feels like yesterday.

He smells good, too, making me want to stand here and bask in his warmth.

But I can’t.

“What are you doing here?” I finally whisper, suddenly remembering I’m at work.

“I called earlier, to ask if it would be okay for me to drop by and surprise you—I didn’t want to just show up—and Randy said it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Oh!” I gaze up at him adoringly. Could he be any more perfect? “I’m so excited to see you—but aren’t you supposed to be at the arena?”

He lifts one shoulder and makes a face. “Eh. Told Coach I needed to run a quick errand. I have about an hour before I have to get going.”

“I told him you could have the afternoon off,” Randy says, coming up behind us.

“Oh, that’s okay!” I say quickly. “I’ll see him at the game later on and?—”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He waves a hand. “You’ve been putting in twelve-hour days and you’re way ahead of everyone else in the training program. Go. Have a great weekend. I’ll see you Monday.”

I open my mouth to protest but then decide against it. “Thank you!”

I quickly log out of the program we use, close my laptop, and pack up my things, regretfully leaving the roses behind since we probably aren’t going to my place at any point.

“Thanks for the tickets!” Randy calls after us.

I turn to Anders as the elevator doors close behind us. “Did you bribe him with tickets?”

“Absolutely not.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes. “I asked if I could come surprise my girlfriend with flowers since I’m in town, he said absolutely, and then when he met me downstairs to walk me past security, we started talking. That’s when I offered him the tickets.”

“I hope they’re not where mine are,” I say, grimacing.

He chuckles, shaking his head. “I’m not stupid. They’re on another side of the arena. Ice level.”

“Oh, you pulled out all the stops, eh?”

“You’re worth it.” He bends his head to kiss me again and I latch on to his lips greedily. All the talking and teasing and sexting we’ve been doing the last month catches up to me and I moan into his mouth.

“I wish we had time, baby,” he says as the elevator doors open.

“I know. Dammit.”

He chuckles and slides his hand around mine as we walk to the parking lot.

“Am I taking you to the arena?” I ask him.

“It’s only two o’clock,” he replies thoughtfully. “I have a little time…”

“You said you only had an hour.”

“I may be reconsidering that timeline.” His eyes meet mine as we stop in front of my mother’s Mazda SUV.

“We can’t go to my place,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “My parents are cool but there’s no way…”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t work for me either. I’m just afraid if we got to the team hotel, we’ll be seen and then Coach will know I’m not where I’m supposed to be.”

“I don’t want you to get into trouble!” I protest.

“Is there a decent hotel nearby?” he asks.

“Sure. Lots of them. There’s a Holiday Inn about two blocks from here.”

Our eyes meet and he cocks his head.

“That where we should go?”

“I’m not the one whose Coach might bench him for being late.”

“Not gonna happen. Let’s go.” He gets into the passenger side of the SUV, and I realize I’ve never driven him anywhere before.

But I don’t hesitate to jump in and drive to the hotel.

Thirty minutes later we’re ripping off our clothes, kissing and touching as I fumble to roll the condom down his big, beautiful erection. Then he pushes me onto the bed, crawls on top of me, and he’s inside me. No foreplay, no working up to it, just slam-bam-thank you-ma’am. But I like it. Need it. A month without him touching me is just too damn long.

“Harder,” I hiss, dragging my nails down the middle of his back.

“Baby, I’m not gonna last,” he groans.

“Me either.” I’m so close, all I need is a little more pressure and I’m going to go right over the edge.

He picks up speed and adjusts his hips, hitting that secret spot inside of me that makes me see stars, while simultaneously fusing his mouth to mine. My orgasm sneaks up on me and he swallows my screams with his kisses, pumping a few more times as he follows me into oblivion.

“Jesus.” He’s still breathing hard. “That was fast.”

I sigh happily. “But so, so good.”

“Yes. Yes, it was.”

He rolls to the side but pulls me into his arms, and I nestle right against my favorite place—the hollow of his shoulder.

“I knew I would miss you, but I wasn’t expecting… this .”

“This what?” He strokes his fingers down my back, making me shiver. “For me to be so desperate to get inside of you that I risk getting fined by my coach?”

“I told you not to get in trouble!” I say, smacking his hip.

“And I told you nothing was going to stop me from touching you.” He kisses the top of my head. “Besides, what Coach doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Although he’ll probably figure it out when he sees you after the game tonight.”

“Should I just meet you later at the hotel?” I ask worriedly.

“Baby, I’m teasing. It’s fine. Technically, I should be napping. But I’d much rather do this.”

I sigh and nestle deeper. “Me too.”

“Can you drive me to arena?”

“Sure. I was going to pick up my parents, so we could ride into the city together, but I’ll tell them you came in early and that we’re already together.”

“Okay. Their names are at Will Call so they won’t have a problem getting in. There’s a parking pass too.”

“Thank you.”

We lie there for a few minutes, basking in a comfortable silence.

It feels so good to be together again.

Like we just saw each other a few days ago.

Part of me had worried that things might be different after a month apart, but that definitely isn’t the case. If anything, we’re even more in sync than before, which says something.

“I guess we have to get going,” he says finally. “As much as I hate to move.”

“It’s okay.” I pull away and sit up, fluffing my hair. “Do I look freshly fucked?”

“You do.” He gives me a long, lazy once over. “And it’s fucking beautiful.”

“I need to fix that, though. I don’t mind looking this way for you, but I don’t want to show up to the arena looking like I just rolled out of bed—” I put a finger on his lips before he can respond. “—no matter how sexy you think it is.”

He laughs, nipping at my finger. “Fine. I’ll have you looking like this again later tonight, so I’m not worried about it.”

“I’m still staying at the hotel with you, right? I brought a bag.”

“Yes. We have all day tomorrow together, and you just have to drop me off at the airport early on Sunday so I can fly out to meet up with the team in Montreal.”

“Not a problem.” I pause, peering at him. “What do you want to do tomorrow?”

He laughs. “Is that a trick question?”

“We can’t do that all day.” Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, we can. “Okay, stop laughing… I know we can , but are we really going to spend the whole day in bed? You have to feed me at some point.”

“Absolutely. Let’s go out to dinner.”

“Or…” I hesitate.

“What?” He seems genuinely concerned. “Babe, if there’s something you want to do, I’m happy to do it.”

“My mom wanted to know if you’d come for dinner.” I manage not to grimace, because I’m not sure how that will go over, but to my surprise, he doesn’t even hesitate.

“I’d love that. Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “It feels like everything is moving at warp speed.”

He reached out to cup my face with one of his big warm hands. “Do you want to slow down?”

“No. But meeting the parents…that’s kind of monumental, isn’t it?”

“It is, but what’s the alternative? We’re not going backwards unless you tell me that’s what you want.”

“God, no.” I launch myself back into his arms, desperate for the heat of our connection. “I don’t want that at all. I want you.”

“I’m really glad to hear that because I want you too. And yes, let’s do dinner with your parents tomorrow night. It sounds lovely.”

“You haven’t met them yet.”

“Moms love me, and I’ll make sure your dad understands that I’ll never purposely hurt you. I’m a good guy, and I’m crazy about his daughter.”

“You’re a great guy.” I stare up at him. “Sometimes it’s a little hard to believe. Like, you’re almost too good to be true.”

“Nah. I’ve got plenty of flaws. But at my core, I think I’m a good human being. The other stuff, well, hopefully you can live with them.”

“You going to clue me in on any of it?”

“Are you kidding? And give you an excuse to leave me? No way.” He laughs, playfully tweaking my nose before getting up and heading for the bathroom.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say softly, even though he probably doesn’t hear me.

Because seriously…there is no universe where I’m the one who leaves him.