Chapter 19

Ivan

With Chey in Australia,it was hard to think about anything else.

It should have been the opposite.

Without her to distract me, I should have been laser-focused on hockey and hanging out with my friends. Instead, all I thought about was her. How the smell of her shampoo still lingered on my pillow. How I missed waking up to her snuggling against me. How her smile lit up not just the room, but something deep inside of me.

When we were together, I felt different.

Better.

Stronger.

More content.

It made no sense because I was generally a happy guy anyway. I didn't need a woman in my life, though I certainly enjoyed having one, and I couldn't even articulate exactly what Chey brought to the table beyond the obvious.

Or maybe I could.

There had been a part of me that wondered what I'd done wrong when Marina left. Why hadn't I, and our relationship, been enough to make her want to stay in America? Had I let her down? Was I not attentive enough? Kind enough? Good enough in bed? There had been dozens of unanswered questions, especially in the beginning.

That negativity had eventually faded, but it occasionally still snuck into my psyche, making me wonder if something I'd done—or hadn't done—had driven the wedge between us.

With Chey, I didn't feel that way anymore.

She didn't just make me happy, she made everything around us seem better.

Of course, she'd been clear that she wasn't looking to settle down, so I couldn't help but worry that she wasn't feeling the way I did. I hadn't known there was a problem with Marina until she'd been ready to leave, so I obviously wasn't all that intuitive.

Chey had seemed frustrated that we were going to be apart for so long, however, and having to plan things so far in advance was frustrating to both of us. That didn't necessarily tell me anything about how she was feeling. For all I knew, this was nothing but a fun distraction for her.

And the sex was incredible.

That much, I knew.

Not that I was looking to get married and start a family just yet, but according to her so-called retirement plan, she wouldn't be ready for another six years or so, and by then I'd be thirty-five. A lot could change in that amount of time.

Logically, I knew it was too soon to be thinking about the future, but I already liked her more than I'd thought I would. The conversation we'd had just before she left for Australia seemed to indicate we wanted to spend as much time as we could together, but there wasn't a lot of it available. And of course, I hadn't had the balls to ask her if we were going to stay faithful to each other, if we were a couple, or what.

Deep down, I didn't think I had to ask.

She wasn't going to sleep with some random dude in Australia, just like I had no interest in hooking up with a stranger I met at a bar. Why settle for hamburger at a restaurant when you had filet mignon at home?

It was a dumb analogy, but it made sense to me.

I had the most beautiful woman in the world in my life, both literally and figuratively, so there was no way I would fuck that up for a one-night stand.

I wasn't sure what I would do if she decided to sleep with someone else, but I refused to think about that. The woman I'd been spending time with wasn't any more interested in that kind of thing than I was. I just had to man the fuck up and have a mature, thoughtful conversation with her about what we were doing going forward. Maybe I was a romantic fool, but what we'd been sharing the last few weeks was more than just sex and I wanted to make sure I was all in.

There was a lot to think about, and I'd never been insecure or unsure of myself in a relationship before, but I'd also never dated anyone like Cheyenne. I'd had girlfriends as a teen, and then I'd met Marina. She'd been my only serious relationship as an adult, and since then I'd stuck to one-night stands or casual dating.

Then Chey had blasted into my life like a hurricane, and I knew she was it.

Now I just had to convince her I was it for her.

That might be the hard part and the whole reason I was reluctant to have a serious conversation this early in the game.

Okay, I needed to think about something else.

Luckily, we were on the plane heading for Dallas, and there was another poker game happening.

"You ready to lose some money?" Connor had a gleam in his eyes. "I've been playing online. I think I have the hang of it now."

I arched a brow at him. "You think you're up to the challenge?"

"Only one way to find out."

Jensen was the dealer and I peeked at my cards.

Two queens were hidden, two kings were showing.

Two pairs were a nice start.

Connor seemed to be concentrating, his brow knitted as he studied his cards, thinking carefully before each round.

When I got the third queen, I managed to keep my face masked as I put my cards together in my hand and leaned back in my seat.

"So, who's going to the party?" I asked casually.

Jensen and Bailey had announced they were having it the night before Thanksgiving. All of us would be in town since we had Thursday and Friday off, and an evening game on Saturday, so the timing seemed to work. I hadn't yet had a chance to ask Chey about her schedule that weekend, and whether or not she had plans with her family, but I hoped she would be able to make it work.

"You know I'll be there." Canyon grinned. "And dateless, so ask Cheyenne if she has any single friends."

I'd planned to do that for Connor but hadn't considered Canyon might be interested in meeting someone. He was definitely one of the team Casanovas this season, so I hadn't figured he would be looking for a girlfriend.

"You ready to get wifed up?" I asked him.

He snorted. "Not hardly, but I'd think about it with someone that looks like Chey."

"So, it's just about looks?" I asked. "What if she's psycho?"

"I've dated less attractive psychos, so…" He shrugged and then folded his cards. "I'm out."

"I don't want to date a psycho," Connor said. "Why would you guys?"

A group of us all laughed.

"We gotta have this conversation after you've—" Canyon cut himself off. "You know, gotten a little more experience with the ladies. Once you've dated one, you'll understand."

"Have you all dated crazy women?" Connor asked in confusion.

I shook my head. "No. I've gone out on a single date with a woman who turned out to be a little on the crazy side, and that was the end of it. But I haven't been in a relationship with one."

"I have," Gabe said. "Hell, I married one. Trust me—beautiful doesn't equal good for you. Even if she's wild in the sack."

"What about Chey?" Canyon asked. "She a little on the crazy side? Come on, a chick that gorgeous? She must have some crazy."

I didn't want to have this kind of conversation about Cheyenne, but I honestly didn't have anything bad to say about her.

"She's great," I said. "Genuinely sweet and fun and—and believe me, I know how this is going to sound because I couldn't quite believe it myself—low maintenance. If she's not working, she's happy to hang out and do nothing. Watch TV or talk or whatever."

"It's the whatever I want to hear about," Evan Laurenz, a first line defenseman, said, grinning.

I shook my head. "That isn't going to happen."

"So, she's nice but lame in bed," Connor said, as if it were a foregone conclusion.

I gave him a look. "No, dumbass. That's not what I said. You hear any of the married guys on the team talking about their sex lives? We don't talk about the women we're in relationships with."

"It got serious fast," Canyon said, looking up in surprise.

"Three of a kind!" Connor said, slapping down his cards proudly and saving me from having to answer.

"Sorry, kid. Full house."

He groaned. "Son of a bitch. I was sure I had it!"

"Don't ever bet more than you can lose," I told him, scooping up the chips I'd just won.

"You suck," he muttered.

"That's what happens when you get cocky," Jensen told him, chuckling. "Playing online isn't the same as playing with people."

"Well, I'm going to get better," Connor said. "You'll see."

"And I'll happily take your money until you do," I said.

Most of the time, the buy-in was twenty bucks for as many chips as we could get by splitting up the amount we had by however many guys were playing. Once in a while we raised the stakes, but I wasn't worried about Connor's bank account. His ego was probably more in peril than anything else.

My phone buzzed and I hid my grin at Chey's text.

CHEY: I'm dying. I have never been so horny in my entire life.

IVAN: Same. And I'm surrounded by guys.

CHEY: I'm surrounded by octogenarians.

IVAN: We're in trouble.

CHEY: Speaking of which…Gran says hello, and she wants to meet you.

IVAN: Will she be coming to the US any time soon?

CHEY: Probably for Christmas. I'm trying to talk her into it. I can't do another fifteen-hour flight that soon.

IVAN: Does she like hockey?

CHEY: She does now! I've made her watch replays of the last two games. She's very irritated that she can't seem to follow the puck.

IVAN: It's not easy, but you've been doing great with it.

CHEY: I have! And you'll be proud of me—last few icing calls, I called them even before the refs.

I chuckled.

IVAN: Good job. Now you'll need to work on recognizing hooking and tripping.

CHEY: And goaltender interference. Harper gets really bent about that one.

IVAN: Yeah, we all get bent about that one.

CHEY: So, what are you doing?

IVAN: We're on the plane playing poker. What about you?

CHEY: Family dinner tonight. Then I start packing to come home!

IVAN: Any chance you want to detour to Philly or DC?

CHEY: You know… I might be able to do that. Let me see what the changes will look like with the rest of my week, and we'll talk about it again tomorrow.

IVAN: That would be awesome. Have you been having a good time, though?

CHEY: Yes, it's been nice. Other than getting mobbed when I arrived at the airport and needing guards to escort me out.

IVAN: Yeah, that must've been scary.

CHEY: Not scary so much as frustrating. I really can't go anywhere without being recognized anymore.

IVAN: I guess that's par for the course, yes?

CHEY: Probably. Anyway, I've got to run. But I'll check into a flight change and see what I can do.

IVAN: Call me later if you get a chance.

CHEY: Will do. Xoxo

I closed the phone and realized the guys were all staring at me.

"What?" I asked. "She's in Australia so the time change makes it hard to catch up. Geez."

"He's in love," Canyon said dryly.

I couldn't really respond to that because I was pretty sure it was true.