Chapter 11

Cheyenne

It turnedinto another late night, and I felt bad because I knew Ivan needed his rest. He hadn't seemed interested in leaving, though, and we stayed until the event ended, which was after midnight. Gabe and Connor took an Uber back to the hotel while Jensen, Bailey, Ivan and I went to a little place I knew that had great champagne cocktails and comfortable, private seating in the back.

"This is nice," Bailey said, looking around. "I've never been here."

"It's a place for locals," I said. "Stevie lived around the corner from here when she first moved to New York, and we used to come all the time."

"Speaking of which, she and Damien didn't show up tonight," Ivan said. "Did you hear from her?"

She shook her head. "No. Which is kind of weird. I'm sure they wound up doing something else, but I'll check in with her tomorrow."

"Well, tonight was fun," Bailey said, resting against Jensen's side. "We should go out like this more often."

He threaded their fingers together. "Any time you want, baby. You know that."

She whispered something that made him smile and he pressed his lips to hers.

They were so in love, it made me a bit envious.

It had been a long time since I'd been in love.

And frankly, I wasn't sure if I'd ever been truly in love.

The forever kind of love.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Ivan asked me.

"I did. How about you?"

"It was nice. Being with you and our friends was the best part, though. I'm a pretty simple guy. I'm not much for red carpets and all the glitz."

Red carpets and glitz were literally my whole life.

If he wasn't into it, how could we even pretend to be a couple?

It's all I know," I admitted after a moment. "I've been modeling since I was an infant. I was the Australian version of a Gerber baby, and my mom got me into pageants at three."

"You've lost your accent," he said. "At least, I don't hear it."

"Acting and voice lessons."

"Wow."

"I did pageants until I was thirteen, and that was when a modeling scout discovered me. I had my first big contract within a year, and we moved to L.A. It's been nonstop ever since."

"You've never had a—forgive me for saying it this way—normal life?"

I chuckled. "I guess it depends on your perspective. This is my normal. I wouldn't know anything else. That's why I have retirement planned at thirty. At that point, I need to try something else. I don't know what that's going to look like, but I know I don't want to keep modeling."

"What about acting?"

"Thirty is old in Hollywood. Like I've said before, if someone offers me a leading role, I'm not going to say no, but I'm not going to go looking for parts either. I was thinking maybe getting into photography and writing my memoirs, about growing up in front of a camera. Calling it something like that… ‘my life in print' or something."

"That sounds interesting. Have you always wanted to write?"

"I don't know. I want to take a writing class. I got my GED, so although I have the equivalent of a diploma, I only went to high school for two years. I might even try to go to college. I don't know anything yet. I have so many things I want to do, but modeling leaves me very little time to do anything else."

"Doesn't that get old?" I asked quietly. "Don't you ever want to just relax?"

"I do relax. I guess I shouldn't make it sound like my life is horrible. I have a great life. I travel all over the world and have seen things most people only dream of. I have wonderful friends, I have all the money I could ever want and get to take care of my family, which means a lot to me. My parents sacrificed a lot to move to L.A. when I was thirteen, so it makes me feel good that I can take care of them now."

"I take care of my mother too," I said. "She took a huge risk when she left Russia, and my father didn't give her a dime."

"Different but similar," she said. "So, while yes, I get tired sometimes, I take great vacations and being able to do nice things for the people I love makes me happy."

"I only take care of my mother," I said, "but she loves her job so she still works. I just made sure her house was paid for and she has money to travel and do things most teachers can't afford."

"My dad still works too, but it's the same type of thing. He would be bored sitting home all day. I paid for their house, and I pay for someone to help my Gran since she's mostly alone in Australia. There's lots of family around, but not anyone to do her shopping and take her to all her appointments. I have someone clean for her, stuff like that."

"Will you go back to Australia when you retire?"

She furrowed her brow. "No, I don't think so. This is home now. I've gotten my US citizenship, and my parents love where they live. What about you? You'll move to Buffalo to be near your mom?"

"I guess it depends on if I'm married or not, what my personal life is like when I retire. Ultimately, if for some reason I can't move to Buffalo, I'll try to move my mother to wherever I am. Probably not until she retires, though. She loves her students."

"She sounds great. I hope I get to meet her someday."

"She would like Saylor. She'll come to L.A. for the team's moms' trip in January, so maybe we could arrange for them to meet."

"For sure." She leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'm tired."

"Me too." I slid an arm around her.

"We should get going. I know you have a game tomorrow."

"Yeah, but no morning skate, so I can sleep in."

"I don't have to be at my shoot until two."

"We can stay out a little longer if you want."

"It's nice being here with you." She tilted her face up and I'd never seen a more blatant invitation to be kissed.

Was this it?

Was I about to kiss the most beautiful woman in the world?

I let my head drop so our lips were barely a millimeter apart. I touched mine to hers, lightly, waiting for a response, and she returned the pressure.

God, she was sweet.

I hadn't been expecting this, but there wasn't a chance I'd turn down the opportunity to touch her.

I kept my kisses light, pressing my lips to hers over and over without taking it any further. We weren't alone, we were out in public, and it had been a long night of drinking. I also wanted to savor this, enjoy every second of our first kiss, without rushing or letting my hormones override my good sense.

She seemed to be on the same page, her lips pliable against mine but in no hurry to deepen the kiss. She seemed content to keep things simple, getting to know each other in a new way. Normally, I would have had her on my lap, digging my fingers into her hair as I pillaged her mouth. Instead, I was nipping her lips and taking the time to intermittently stare into her eyes.

And it was honestly a delightful change from my norm.

"Guys, sorry to interrupt." Jensen's voice was apologetic. "But I think we're going to go. It's getting late and tomorrow's a game day."

"Yeah, of course." He was right, and I reluctantly pulled away from Chey to look up at him. "See you tomorrow?"

"I'll be sleeping in, but I'll text when we're up and around."

"What are you doing tomorrow, Bailey?" Chey asked, smoothing down her dress as she stood up. "You want to hang with me when the boys leave for the arena?"

"Oh." Bailey looked surprised but happy. "Yes, thank you. I'd love that."

"I've got a photo shoot at two, and you can come with me until you have to head to the arena. I don't know what time I'll be done, but you're welcome to hang out, and if we're done early, I can ride with you."

"That would be fun. I hired a car service to take me to New Jersey. I'm not a fan of New York subways and trains."

"Same."

They smiled at each other, exchanging numbers as they made plans for the day.

"I'll text you when I'm up and functional."

"Perfect."

"We'll get a cab," Jensen said, "so you can have the limo."

"Oh, no reason to do that," Chey said, glancing at me. "We might as well all leave together since it's so late. I'll drop you guys off and then head to my hotel since I'm staying downtown."

"Great, let's go."

"I'll text the driver," Chey said, typing on her phone. "He said he'd stay close but you know how it is with traffic… oh, good, he's around the corner. We can head outside." She slipped her hand into mine and the four of us headed for the exit.

I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or relieved in this turn of events. The truth was, as much as I liked her, I didn't know if we were ready to take things any further than a few chaste kisses and handholding. The physical part would be easy, but I never wanted her to think she was some kind of notch in my bedpost. There had been lots of casual sex in my life, but something told me it could be different with Chey.

And there wasn't a chance in hell I'd fuck that up by moving too fast.