Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

HANSLEY

M y team is bummed. We go out anyway, and celebrate a fucking amazing season. I’m so damn proud of them. They worked their asses off and we made it all the way to the Frozen Four. I’ve never seen a team deserve that championship more than mine.

Denver just played a better game.

Hakeem demands that we study all of Denver’s games as soon as we get back. The team agrees, but I’m not going to hold them to that. For a quarter of them, this is their last year at RDU. Including Hakeem. I’m touched that they feel so strongly about it that they want to keep pushing to get better this year in preparation for next season when they won’t be here.

The school year is wrapping up, though. It’s time for them to concentrate on their finals next month. For those graduating and not continuing with hockey, I may not see them again once we get back. Like Leo. He’s got the talent, but he doesn’t want to stay in hockey. He wants to work with his family on the farm.

Maybe I should hold a get-together at the end of the school year. My backyard is big enough for my team. That night as I lay in my hotel bed and stare at Lemon’s face on the video call on my phone, I tell him this and he’s immediately ready to help me make it happen.

I love this man. Every time I look at him I see how far we’ve come; together and separately. My entire life has changed from what it was when we met for the first time seven months ago. But Lemon’s changed the most. He’s more open now. More willing to smile. The kindness he shows his team has begun to extend to staff, as well.

He’s constantly surprised by the way people are nice to him. That proof helps me drive home that they’ve always liked him. They’ve always admired him. They’ve always wanted to be friends. He doesn’t always believe me, but the more it happens, the less of an argument he puts up.

My lawyer called me right before the game to tell me my divorce was finalized. I’m officially a single man. No longer married. It’s a weight off my shoulders as much as it is a huge sadness. I’m not sad because it’s done. I’m sad because I know how much Jessica struggled with this entire thing.

It’s not her fault. None of it is. And yet, she’s the one suffering the most.

Especially since pictures started popping up more and more of me and Lemon. The world continued trying to figure out who the ‘mystery woman’ was for months, something Lemon thought was hilarious.

But the picture that changed it all was taken earlier this month while my team played the semi-finals. I’d dragged my man with me to the game because we all enjoyed his presence. As I always do, I brought Lemon to the bus, his hand in mine. I kiss him right before he gets on the bus and I stay outside to make sure my team is all accounted for, as is their gear.

A series of pictures from that moment went viral. Suddenly my cheating scandal was a real thing and there was a face to the figure I’ve been seen with.

Lemon was horrified, slightly hysterical, and filled with apologies. Even when I told him I’m not sorry, he was beside himself. What probably made me truly fall in love with him was when he asked if Jessica would be okay because she’d see it too, and he didn’t want her to be even more upset.

That he had been concerned with my wife in that moment meant a whole fucking lot to me. It proved that while this man thinks he’s selfish and self-centered, he has a really big heart. He’s not only aware of how other people around him feel, but is also concerned about their feelings.

Jessica wasn’t surprised at all. The public revelation didn’t make her more upset since I’d already said I wasn’t going to stop seeing him.

That didn’t stop the slander of my affair all over social media. Honestly, I let it be. My lawyer released a statement on my account stating that my divorce with Jessica has been underway for several months now and I’m definitely free to date during that time.

I’ve chosen not to comment on it at all. Because, quite frankly, denying that I had an affair is an outright lie. Nothing I say would matter, one way or the other. The media will write whatever they want, regardless of whether it’s true or not. So I haven’t bothered to say anything at all.

Instead, I confirmed my relationship status with Lemon online and watched as the media went up in flames. Quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. As long as they stay off our property and away from our workplace, they can say whatever the fuck they want. It doesn’t do anything but entertain them, so if they have that little going on in their life that’s meaningful and they want to make up stories about mine, that’s fine.

We have an early flight home in the morning and I stay up far too late just staring at my boyfriend as he sleeps. He told me all about watching the game with Alka and Declan. It was difficult not to grin hugely as he did.

Yes, I want him to get along with them because they’re good friends. But more than anything, I want him to be comfortable making friends. He doesn’t have to share mine, I just want him to know that there are a lot of people who would love to be his friend. He’s not a kid anymore. He’s not in high school or college. Lemon is an adult at this very unique university with one of the best communities, if not the best, I’ve ever seen.

It's a very different world than the one that hardened him and made him erect barricades around his heart. In this little slice of the country, he’s safe to be who he is and trust there are people around who like him just as he is.

I think the entire team stayed up far too late since we climb on the bus together like zombies. Exhausted. It’s silent as we head to the airport. Silent as we lounge around the terminal and wait for our flight. Silent as we climb onto the plane and get comfortable.

Behind me, I hear, “Yo, you have a leech on your neck last night, Sethy?”

“Yes,” Seth says. “Don’t be jealous that you haven’t experienced the power of a leech suck.”

I cringe with laughter, shaking my head.

“Damn, Hakeem. Share that mouth.”

“I offered two years ago, and you said no. Your time has passed.”

“Oh my god,” someone else murmurs.

“We’re on a plane,” one of my boys hiss.

“I’m sure they’re all familiar with leeches and how they suck,” Seth mutters. “Besides, I didn’t bring it up.”

“Seth’s love bite is completely explained, but let’s talk about the real mystery in the room.”

“Oh no.”

“Please don’t.”

“Damari, Braxton, and Ryan all have leech bruises and Damari has a very loud bite. Is that from a wolf or something?”

“What about the scratches on Ryan’s arm? Those look… intense.”

“Stop,” Damari pleads.

“It’s the numbers that have me intrigued.”

“Like, is this a threesome, or is there a mysterious fourth player out there and if so, what’s the pairing configuration?”

“Coach,” Braxton whines.

I chuckle. “Boys,” I call out, trying to contain my smile long enough to poke my head over the seat and give them all a warning look. “Cool it. We’re in public.”

“Yes, Coach,” I hear in a sloppy chorus of no one being in unison.

I watch for a moment longer as they lean close together and snicker. Put their earbuds in. Wrap up in blankets. Then I sink back into my seat and look at Denis, amused.

He looks a little flushed, but before I can ask, I realize that he’s trying very hard to cover his neck and all visible skin. I raise an eyebrow as he glances at me and the man blushes madly.

Chuckling, I lean in and murmur, “Find someone to commiserate with last night, Denis?”

Denis glowers. “The season’s over,” he says defensively, his voice so low that I barely make out the words.

“I don’t care one way or another. Cute that you’re trying to hide, though. Just be glad they’re exhausted because you wouldn’t be able to hide it otherwise.”

“Monday is going to be fun,” he mutters, hunkering down in his seat.

I give him a grin and he rolls his eyes. Yep.

“Really, if you weren’t all barbarians and insisted on marking your lovers, no one would know,” someone says behind us, and I give Denis a pointed look.

He huffs and closes his eyes.

For the record, it doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s right as we get off the bus at RDU that Hakeem sees and points with a wildly excited grin. “What are you hiding, Coach Denis?”

Denis gives him a warning look, but it’s already too late. The entire team pauses what they’re doing to look at Denis, who flushes and tries to hide. I’m not close enough to hide him behind me as the team looks between Denis and the unmatched three with marks as they try to decide who fucked who last night.

“Okay, okay,” I call, gaining everyone’s attention. “Leave them alone.”

“I’d like to point out that this doesn’t prove who was with who,” Braxton says defensively. “It just means we all had fun with someone last night. For all you know, it could have been with someone from Denver. I’ve never left a mark on my lover before.” He shrugs.

Now the team is super intrigued as they consider each other and ask invasive questions.

“I think that was less helpful than you thought it would be,” Hakeem mutters.

“Not really. None of you know who gave me this,” Braxton says, pointing to his neck. “You can speculate all you want, but I’m not a biter and I don’t leave hickeys. So what’s that tell you?”

“That there are more players in this than we thought!” Leo shouts.

“Did you really fuck with the enemy?” Seth asks, horrified.

Braxton shrugs.

“Dude, let’s just say we all fucked away our feelings last night and be done with this conversation,” Matty suggests. He’s one of my quiet players so that he’s getting himself involved is curious.

I’m not the only one that thinks so, as everyone looks at him. He doesn’t say any more as he turns away with his bag over his shoulder.

“That’s the most I’ve heard him say at once,” Damari admits, awed.

I chuckle. “Go get some rest, team. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

A rabble of ‘byes’ follows me as I leave them. I’m ready to get back to my man. To wrap myself in his arms and sleep for a while. I’ve come to hate sleeping without him.

Tossing my bag into the bed of my truck, I head home. My only complaint about living in Sun Haven is when I have to drive there without Lemon’s company. The minutes feel long. Like they drag. It’s so fucking slow. I could call him, but I want to drop my shit at home and then crawl into his bed for a while. We tend to lounge around in bed on Sundays. I’m hoping he’s there waiting for me.

The street is quiet, which is something I really love about this neighborhood. I park in front of the garage and grab my bag on my way to the front door. As soon as I open it, I get a big whiff of something floral. That’s not completely unusual, I have a lot of flowers in the beds around the house. When the windows are open, I often catch their soft scent.

But the windows should be closed. Unless Lemon opened them while I was gone? Maybe to air it out?

Just as I’m stepping through the door, I spot a vase of flowers sitting on the table at the far end of the entry. It brings a smile to my face. I didn’t put it there, but that at least explains the flower smell. As I’m ready to go with that explanation and drop my bag to head across the street, I spot something in the doorway. Is that…. a flower? That maybe… jumped out of the vase?

Frowning, I step further inside and let the door shut behind me. My bag drops and I walk toward the errant flower. But when I look through the door, my eyes widen. There are vases of flowers everywhere. And loose flowers everywhere. Flower petals too. They cover the entire area.

Standing a dozen feet away is Lemon looking at me sheepishly. He’s wearing my jersey, his legs bare, and biting his lip as he stares at me with wide eyes.

“I thought that you’d be really sad, and I wanted to make you smile,” he explains and then looks around nervously. “This doesn’t look anything like the pictures, and I think maybe I’m really sucky at this. I’m sorry it’s such a mess. I’ll clean it up.”

I’m speechless. He did this for me. Because he was worried I’d be sad.

Crossing the area, trying not to step on flowers, I wrap him up and kiss him deeply. His hands cling to me as I pick his sexy ass up off the floor. My hands slip under my jersey to find he’s wearing absolutely nothing else. I groan.

“When I realized how awful it looks, I thought I could distract you by being naked but I’m too self-conscious for that so… jersey?”

The vulnerability in his eyes that’s only ever there for me makes my heart swell. All this for me. Because he thought I’d be sad.

“Please say something,” he begs.

“I love you.”

His breath catches, his eyes widening. “What?” he squeaks.

Resting my forehead against his, I breathe him in. I can still smell his Lemony scent, even over the explosion of flowers. “I. Love. You.”

Lemon swallows. “You do? Really?”

I laugh and bring him down the hall. We’re getting back in bed, just like I wanted. There are flowers going down the hall too. And all over my bedroom. All over the bed. I’m grinning when I realize just how thorough he was.

Dropping us onto the bed, I pull my jersey off him and stare at his naked body on top of a bed of flowers. “Beautiful.”

He flushes. “You too,” he says, tugging at my shirt.

I let him pull my clothes off and drop them on the floor before I climb back on top of him. I kiss his collarbone, his chest, down his stomach. He wiggles and moans, but then he’s adamantly pushing me away.

“Wait, wait.”

Sighing, I let him push me off him and watch as he scrambles off the bed. He peeks out the door that leads to my personal patio where I have a hot tub and a small table with two chairs, before opening the door and holding his hand out to me expectantly.

There are flowers outside too. Covering the patio. The hot tub is open and he drags me toward it. He climbs in first and then waits for me to follow. I do, and once I sit, Lemon climbs on my lap.

With his hands tangled in my hair, he brings my face to his and stares intently into my eyes. “I love you too.”

I grin and wrap around him, hugging him tightly. I’m going to fuck the anxiety out of him, but first, I’m going to lose myself in his embrace. My absolute favorite place to be is in this man’s arms.

I hope to be here for the rest of time.