Chapter 24

Eliza

I swear this is the loudest game I’ve been to.

I sit in my peepaw’s box with my feet up on the ledge, a cup of cheese on one knee and a half-eaten pretzel on the other. Clara sits on one side of me, and Peepaw is on the other side. Though, at the moment, he’s in the back, schmoozing it up with some important people. I stuff a piece of pretzel into my mouth and watch the Bears dominate on the ice. We’re down, but they’re playing damn good hockey.

It’s kind of funny how much I enjoy the sport. I never thought I would, but even before I started dating—well, got married to—my hockey husband, I enjoyed everything that hockey is about. The atmosphere, the smell of the ice, the food, and especially, the hot-ass guys on the rink. There is something about a hockey player that makes my heart race. Or maybe it’s all Coleson Katz that has my heart doing flips. One thing is for sure; I didn’t get all gooey inside watching Louisa’s fiancé play.

Probably because Coleson is such a huge presence on the ice and demands my attention. He’s everywhere at once, and even though he’s hard-hitting and swift, he’s also graceful. I’ve always enjoyed watching him play, but now that I’m married to him, I find myself more invested in everything he does. I even have his stats up on my phone, just to make sure he is where he needs to be. I want so desperately for him to make it to the NHL, and I know he will. Even if it means losing him as mine. That’s a given anyway, but damn if I hope he’ll decide he wants me.

That’s the most dangerous feeling of all—hope.

I exhale, wishing I could somehow get him to fall for me just as I’m falling for him. No matter how confident I want to be, I can’t help knowing he won’t. I think his parents did a number on him, and while I assume he knows I’m nothing like his mom, I think it might be more than that. I’m not sure what, but when I figure it out, I’ll do everything to make him realize we have something huge between us. Something that would be a crime to ignore.

Last night has been on replay in my mind since he rolled out of bed. I had hoped he would want a repeat performance, but he hasn’t. He went to sleep before I even made it to bed, after teaching me how to make a bunch of drinks. God, how I wish I could have tasted him before he left for his game.

I’ve never wanted to suck a man’s dick so much in my life as I want to suck his.

My body warms at the thought, but then I feel Clara’s gaze on me.

“Yes?” I ask, not meeting her gaze.

“Just looking you over, making sure you’re okay.”

“I’m just fine,” I say, taking a long pull of my beer.

“No regrets?”

I shake my head. “None at all. I am happy, Clara.”

She presses her lips together, concern in her beautiful dark blue eyes. “It just happened so fast. We don’t even know him.”

“I know,” I say sadly, aware that they may never know him. I don’t want them to like him, or fall for him like I am, and then have it all end. The “I told you so”s would be in abundance, for sure. “But he really is wonderful.”

“His repu?—”

“Is just that. A reputation that he’s working to fix. He is more than that, and he treats me very well. Once things calm down between him, Peepaw, and Elliot, we’ll all go to dinner so you can see how happy we are.”

Clara doesn’t seem very convinced, but she doesn’t say that. She only nods, leaning into me. I rest my head on hers, kissing her temple. “You just deserve all the happiness, and that’s all we want for you, Liza.”

I smile against her hair. “And I love you all for it. I am happy, I promise.”

Will that be the case in a year? Not at all. But until then, I’m going to keep up the ruse, and I’m going to enjoy my hot hockey player. I may even get him to fall for me—though, it’s far more likely that I’ll be eaten by a bear.

Just as my gaze lands on said hockey husband, I watch as he passes the puck in a clean, direct way before his teammate scores. Clara and I come out of our seats, screaming along with the crowd. My cheese cup and pretzel go flying, but I don’t care. A chant encouraging the boys starts, and I can’t help but join in. I’m smiling so hard it hurts. That’s Coleson’s ninth assist of the preseason, and not to toot my husband’s horn, but those are damn good numbers going into the regular season. He’s kicking ass.

I’m so damn proud.

“Oh, Katz must have scored.”

I look up to see Peepaw lowering himself into the seat beside me. I send him a hesitant smile. “He had a fantastic pass. Andrews scored.”

Peepaw nods, looking out at the ice. “Surprising that he passed to Andrews with all the drama going on between them.”

Don’t ask. It doesn’t matter.“What drama?”

Way to practice restraint, Eliza.

Peepaw scrunches up his forehead. “Andrews is the best friend of the guy who found his wife with Katz.”

“Peepaw,” Clara warns. “His past is just that, a past. Just like Eliza keeps saying.”

“I’m just stating facts, my girl.” He tears his gaze from hers, his green eyes sharp as he looks at me. “Andrews hates Katz and doesn’t want to be on the same line as him. But Katz is a damn good passer and can score if Andrews would allow him. McCoy isn’t worried, but I feel like things might blow up soon.”

I press my lips together. “Coleson hasn’t complained about a teammate—or anything, really. He just loves playing and is always excited to come to practice and games.”

“I know, and he’s good,” Peepaw agrees. “Which is why he’s still here. He made some mistakes, but I can’t deny the fact that he’s been doing his very best since everything went down.”

I want to smile, but I can’t help but feel like Peepaw doesn’t mean what he says. “Yet you don’t like him.”

He shrugs. “As a player, I love him, and he’s going to do great for the franchise until he ultimately moves up.”

“As my husband?” I ask, and I hate that I’m holding my breath as my peepaw thinks that over. He presses his lips together and then looks out at the ice.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” he says softly just to me, and Clara leans in closer since she’s nosy as all hell. Peepaw sets me with a look, and my stomach drops. “Protect your heart, my Eliza. You’re too pure for him.”

I hold his gaze as Clara comes to my defense. “Peepaw, she’s an adult. She knows what she’s doing.”

I love my sister, I do, and I love that she supports me so blindly. Given that Peepaw knows I agreed to this for a coffee shop, I feel guilty for continuing to lie to Clara, Austen, and Louisa. I know I need to, though, because if they knew, they’d say the same thing Peepaw is saying.

“You don’t know him like I do,” I tell him, not breaking eye contact. “He’s really good to me, and this could work out between us.”

He only nods as he looks away. “I just hope he doesn’t break you.”

His words vibrate in my soul as I look back at the ice. My sweet baby sister taps my hand and gives me a small smile. “If you have anything to do with it, it will. You love harder than anyone I know. How could he resist that?”

Once more, my stomach drops, and I force myself to smile back at her. “I love you, Clara.”

“I love you.” She beams, her sweet blue eyes shining against her pale skin, and her smile hits me dead in the chest. Elliot and Clara are the only ones of us who weren’t subjected to the abuse or beaten by our breeder and the people who were supposed to love and care for us. Instead, while our breeder did whatever she did, my sisters and I protected Elliot and Clara. We raised them, we loved them, and I would get my ass beaten over and over, knowing that what I endured kept them safe. Just to see that smile on Clara’s face. I squeeze her hand, and she winks at me just as Peepaw curses aggressively.

I look back out at the ice to see that the other team has scored. I find Coleson just as he throws his shoulder into his teammate. They exchange words, and it’s obvious that Coleson is livid.

“What happened?”

“Andrews didn’t pass the puck to Katz when he had an opening. Something has got to change here,” he snarls as he yanks out his phone. He opens his email app, and then he is typing violently. I want to ask what he is doing, but I know nothing about the situation. I don’t even know what to say to help.

All I can do is hope Coleson is okay.

* * *

It’s well past midnight when I hear the door open.

I keep my eyes closed as I listen to Coleson throw his keys in the bowl by the door, and then he quietly steps through the apartment to the bathroom. His consideration not to wake me warms my heart, so I don’t dare let him know I’ve been waiting for him since I left the arena. I listen as he takes a shower, moves around the bathroom, and then comes out a little later. The closet door opens and then closes. I hear his heavy, bare footfalls against the hardwood as he walks around the apartment. The light from the fridge fills the space briefly, but then it’s off. When I look over to where he is, I see the doors of the fridge are open, but his hand is over the sensor.

God, he is sweet.

But then I notice he’s drinking my orange juice from the container!

Lord, he is gross. I almost scold him, but I refrain. He puts the cap on and then puts it back in the fridge before looking over at the bed. I quickly close my eyes, though I doubt he can see me. I listen to the doors close, and then I hear him set something on my nightstand. When I hear him move around the bed, I open my eyes to see a water bottle. I had forgotten to get one before I got into bed, and I’ll need it when I wake up since I always have dry mouth. He heard me complain about it earlier, and his actions just send warmth all through me.

How could anyone not adore him?

Coleson pulls the blankets back and gets in slowly. When he comes up behind me, he snakes an arm around my waist and brings me to his chest. I wiggle back into him, and he smiles against the back of my head.

Feigning a sleepy voice, I ask, “How was your game?”

“We lost,” he mumbles against my hair. “Bad night.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“No, it’s fine,” he says, nuzzling my hair. A moment passes, and then he whispers, “Can I take care of you?”

My body burns as he splays his hands over my bare belly. I’m wearing a small, slinky crop top and slinky PJ shorts. “You’re not tired?”

“I am, but I promised you daily orgasms.”

I can’t help but giggle. “You’ve had a hard night.”

“I have,” he murmurs in my ear. “But I want to feel you come undone, Wife.”

My heart slams into my chest, and when his mouth drops to my neck, no matter how much I want to care for him and make him feel better, my lips betray me. “Please.”

He growls against my neck as he nibbles and sucks. He slides his hand down my stomach into my shorts, and he cups me whole with his large hand. “I wonder how wet you are,” he whispers against my quickly heating skin. Before I can even try to be sexy and give a quip, he dips his middle finger into me, and I gasp. He pushes his finger through my wet folds and curls it inside me, groaning against my skin. “Mmm, my wife is dripping for me.” I arch back into him as he drags his finger from my entrance and up so slowly, I’m almost begging for him to touch my clit. He peppers kisses along the curve of my neck, my shoulder, before trailing his mouth back up, just as he presses into my clit.

I cry out his name, and he smiles against my skin. “Let’s see how loud you can get.”

His cocky tone has me panting. “Just for that, I’m not saying a word.”

He scoffs. “Challenge accepted.”

Oh, I’m super fucked. He circles my clit with his finger, my wetness making it easy for his talented fingers. He kisses my neck and nibbles at my skin. I feel my orgasm building, my pussy and clit throbbing as he continues his assault on my body. When he moves his lips to my ear, I squeeze my lips tight to keep from crying out.

I won’t let him win, but I realize very quickly I’m no match for him.

He rakes his teeth along my earlobe and whispers, “I spent all morning thinking of this tight little cunt.”

“Oh God.”

“Nope, not God, your husband,” he corrects, changing the direction of his circles around my clit. The pleasure is unreal, and the feel of his cock on my ass has my heart pounding. “After lunch, I had to go to the bathroom and stroke my cock to relieve myself. It took three times before I could finally stop thinking about this needy little cunt and how it looked when I buried myself deep inside you. How well you took me. How fucking good you felt.” He licks my ear, his voice so gravelly. “Come for me. I feel you almost there. Come, Wife,” he begs, his voice rough and dangerous.

I can’t take it.

“Coleson, please,” I moan, unable to keep it in.

He circles my clit faster, harder, as he demands, “Louder.” I moan loudly, arching into his hand, and then I fall over the edge into oblivion. Everything goes tight and I come so hard, but he isn’t done with me. “I said louder, Wife.” He presses into my clit hard, and I scream his name as the lights dance behind my eyes. His finger slows, but he doesn’t let up as I jerk under his touch. He kisses my ear, my neck, and then my shoulder. When he sinks his teeth into my shoulder, I cry out again, and I swear it feels like I’ll never come down from the high he’s given me. His finger finally stills before he kisses my jaw.

Against my cheek, he whispers, “That’s a good wife. Now, go to sleep.”

I frown. I feel his cock throbbing against my ass. “What about you?”

“I’m fine. Go to sleep.”

He kisses my shoulder again and then removes his hand. I look back just in time to see him lick his finger, and it sends desire coursing through my body again.

But then he rolls over, giving me his back.

I stare at it and blink in disbelief.

So this is how he’s going to do this.

Not giving in to his desires, but giving me mine?

Fine. Challenge accepted.