22. Sabrina

Chapter 22

Sabrina

I was still irritated when we got back to the hotel. I was at the All-Stars, for God's sake. This was supposed to be fun, not a chance for my ex to mess with me.

But where he went, bullshit followed, and I shouldn't have even been surprised that he was here.

"You know what?" I looked at Lila as I unbuttoned my suit jacket in our room. "I'll bet you anything he begged to be here."

She raised her eyebrows. "You think so?"

"Oh, yeah." I sat on one of the beds. "He couldn't give a fuck about our league. In fact, he hates that it even exists."

"So why would he want to be here? If he doesn't—" She stopped. "You think he volunteered just so he'd have access to you?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," I muttered. "He was pissed that I left while he was at an away game and wouldn't talk to him except through my lawyer." I rolled my eyes. "He probably knew he'd stress me out just by being here."

"That's a lot of effort just to fuck with a woman who doesn't want you," she said dryly.

"I know, right?" I sighed. "But I don't think his ego has ever recovered from me leaving. Especially the part where I changed my name back."

"I take it he was angry about that then?"

"Oh my God." I rolled my eyes and wiped a hand over my face. "When he saw that I'd filed a petition to change my name, he blew up my phone for like a week."

"Was that something your lawyer would show him? Or something he dug up on his own?"

"I'm pretty sure he dug it up. Ugh. I wish he'd just… I don't know. Get over it. Get some therapy. Just move on and leave me the fuck alone."

She laughed humorlessly. "Why do I get the feeling he's not someone who would get therapy?"

"Oh. He's not. But hope springs eternal, right?"

"It really does." Lila watched me for a moment. Then she sat beside me and touched my forearm. "Listen. We've got the rest of the night to ourselves. Why don't we go out, eat some good food, and have a good time?" She grinned as her shoulder rose in a half-shrug. "Maybe he'll even see us and realize how much fun you're having without him."

My laugh felt better than anything had all damn week. And a night out with Lila? Perfect, regardless of what my ex thought. "That sounds like a great idea. Where do you want to go?"

"Um, well…" She pursed her lips and took out her phone. "There are some nice places near the hotel. We might have to make a reservation, or we could just walk in and take our chances."

"Let's just take our chances." I shrugged. "Doesn't need to be anything fancy. I'm happy to eat in the hotel bar, honestly."

Lila met my gaze. "Are you sure? I'm sure we can find something nicer."

"Do you want do?"

"I'd like to," she said cautiously. "But if you're tired or…" Chewing her lip, she trailed off.

I thought about it, then rolled my shoulders. "You know what? Let's find something nice."

The way her face lit up made my breath hitch. Did she… Did she want to go somewhere upscale with me? Or did she just not want to settle for the hotel bar?

I mean, going to a nice restaurant together didn't necessarily mean going on a date.

But it also didn't necessarily not mean that, either.

As I freshened up to go out, a conversation drifted through my mind.

"It took her four dates to realize we were even dating," my teammate Carly Nelsson had laughed. "I swear, every woman I know who's dated women has the same story."

Okay. Maybe they did. But Lila wanting to go someplace nice for dinner didn't mean she was trying to take me out on a date. Neither did taking me to lunch to get my mind off my asshole ex. Or hitting the ice with me so I could think about something other than him.

She came to the All-Stars with you, doofus. This is what you want.

I studied her as she fixed her hair in the mirror beside the TV.

Was I reading too much into this? Was it wishful thinking?

Yeah, I'd asked her to come with me because I wanted her and hoped she reciprocated, but I was so bad at this. So new to dating women. Not that men had been any easier to read, but that didn't stop me from feeling utterly clueless or hoping Lila was taking the lead.

Maybe…

Maybe that was what she was doing? By suggesting dinner out?

"We were halfway through dinner," Sara James had said, rolling her eyes. "And she suddenly asks, ‘wait, is this a date?'" She'd facepalmed. "Um, duh? How much clearer did I have to make it?"

"Ready to go?" Lila asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I, um…" Oh my God, she looked amazing in that suit. And had she put on a touch of makeup, too? I shook myself. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready. Let's, uh…" I looked around for my phone and keycard, which I found on a nightstand. "Let's go."

I headed for the door, but those stupid, ridiculous questions kept beating on the inside of my skull alongside those stories my teammates had told. Were they going to keep pecking away at me all through dinner? Because that would help me relax and unwind.

I reached for the door but hesitated. "Uh. Before we go…"

"Hmm?"

"Is this, um…" I sensed her watching me, but I couldn't quite make myself look at her.

"Is this, what?" she prodded gently.

I swallowed hard as my cheeks burned. "I, uh…" Then I shook myself and laughed nervously. "Never mind. Never—we should get going."

Once again, I reached for the door. I still didn't get my hand on the handle, though, this time because Lila's gentle touch to my elbow halted the motion.

"We still have time." Her voice was softer than I'd ever heard it. "If something's bothering you, let's deal with it now instead of out there."

Okay, that made sense. And I wouldn't be any less awkward trying to ask in public. If anything, I'd be way more likely to just not ask, which was probably the best-case scenario, because if we—

"Sabrina?"

I closed my eyes and pushed out a breath. Then I turned to face her, and despite the fluttering in my stomach, I met her gaze.

Somehow, I found my voice, and I whispered, "When you suggested we go get dinner… just the two of us…"

Goddammit. So much for finding my voice.

Lila's eyebrows rose as she inclined her head. "Mmhmm?"

I swallowed. "Did you… Were you, like, just suggesting we go get something to eat? Or…"

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, and I thought some color rose in her face. "Or was I asking you out on a date?"

Hoping a mute response would be less embarrassing or awkward, I nodded.

Lila held my gaze, pressing her lips together as the pink in her cheeks deepened. "I… I mean, I kind of thought…" She gulped. "That's why we're here, isn't it?" She gestured around us.

"Um…" Oh. Fuck. This was what I'd wanted, yes, but now that it was happening—oh, God, I didn't know what I was doing. My heart was pounding harder than it had in the last minutes of our Olympic gold medal game. Lila was chewing her lip, studying me as if she were trying to figure out what to say to salvage the moment.

She took a breath and pushed her shoulders back. "Maybe I should phrase it like this—if I said I was hoping it was a date, and that that's what I kind of thought this whole weekend was—would you still want to go?"

I blinked, caught off guard by the bluntness. And by how oblivious I'd been to, well, everything. "I…"

"It's okay if you say no," she said quickly. "If you're not interested, and you don't want—"

"I'm not really interested in going out." I stepped closer and put a hand on her waist. "But I like the ‘date' part of the equation."

And then I kissed her, stifling a startled yelp with my lips a second before she relaxed against me. Her fingers slid up into my hair, and the barely audible moan almost melted my spine.

Lila's lips had no business being that soft. Her touch had no business being that perfect, her fingertips leaving goose bumps in their wake as she ran them through my hair. She was such a badass on the ice, but like this… wow. She was just so gentle and perfect. The few times in my life that I'd kissed a woman, it had felt right and magic in ways it never did with a man.

Kissing Lila Hamilton? Oh my God.

I ran my hands up her back, and her barely audible sigh turned my knees to liquid. Was this real? Oh, fuck. This was real. This gorgeous, amazing woman really was kissing me, and somehow… Somehow I wasn't fainting.

After an eternity, and still somehow too soon, she drew back. "So, um…" She sucked her lower lip into her mouth as she held my gaze with smoldering blue eyes. "Instead of going to dinner, you game to stay in and order room service?"

The shiver that ran through me had my toes curling in my shoes. "I like that idea." I drew her back in for another long, mind-blowing kiss. How was this woman so hot?

She broke the kiss again, and her eyes were absolutely on fire now. She was a little out of breath as she said, "As long as we're staying in, we don't need to be dressed up, do we?"

I licked my lips. "We don't need to be dressed at all."

Lila's eyebrows flicked up as if she hadn't expected that.

But then she grinned and started unbuttoning her blouse.