Chapter 35

Stephanie

“Will you go with me to talk to my dad?” I ask suddenly.

Sebastian blinks, like he’s coming out of a daze. “Woman, you can’t kiss me like that and then ask a serious question.” He groans and then sets me on my feet. “Let’s get some food and then we can talk.”

A few minutes later, we’re sitting at the table eating. “Oh my word; I am suddenly starving.” I look at the table and take in the bagels, muffins, sausage, bacon, yogurt and granola, omelets, breakfast potatoes, and fruit. “Do you think we have enough food?”

“I, uh, might have panicked and ordered everything I could think of,” he admits. “I just wanted you to be able to eat whatever sounded good.”

My heart softens. “Thanks, Sebastian. This looks amazing; I’m so hungry. I can’t believe you were able to get all this so fast.”

“I might have thrown my name around...just a little bit. I don’t normally do that,” he hurries to add.

“Riiight.” I take a little bit of almost everything. “Man, I don’t remember like anything of the past few days. Is that how it was for you?”

He scowls. “Yeah.”

“Why are you scowling?” I can’t help but ask.

“Because you shouldn’t be dealing with a concussion, not for a family fun game.”

I take in his words and remember something I heard Brielle say. “Was William the one that hit me?”

His face darkens. “Don’t say his name.”

“Oh. Got it. So, was it he who should not be named that hit me?”

He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Yes. But don’t worry. The guys and I took care of him.”

I stop with my muffin halfway to my mouth. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Sebastian, what did you do to him?”

“Do you really want to know?”

That gives me pause. “Maybe not. I don’t want to be culpable and get sent to jail for accessory.”

He grins. “Yeah, it would make it pretty hard to date you if you were in jail. You’d make a really cute jailbird though.”

I raise an eyebrow and shake my head. I finish my muffin and wipe my hands on my napkin. “I’m going to see my dad today. I’m going to tell him that he was way out of line. I’ve already made my decision; he needs to stay out of it.” I stand up to take my plate to the sink, but a hand around my wrist stops.

“Is that decision me?” He’s grinning, but there’s a vulnerability to him that I don’t like. I don’t want to be the one that puts it there. I place my plate on the table and step between his outstretched legs.

“I’ve made my decision, Sebastian.” I let myself run my hand over his strong jaw; his eyes close, and he breathes heavily.

“Are you sure?” he asks in a voice that sounds pained.

“I’m sure.” I sit on his leg, and his eyes search mine.

“You sure that’s not the head injury talking?” he whispers in a husky voice.

“No, this is all me.” I run my hand over his jaw and then around to the back of his head and through his hair. He groans low in his chest.

“When can we get married?” he grunts out.

I laugh before leaning forward to place a kiss on the side of his mouth. “Definitely not yet.”

“Why not?” he nearly growls again.

“Because Brielle and Aiden are first.” I kiss him on the other corner of his mouth. His hands find my hips and pulls me closer.

“You’re such a tease,” he says in a raspy voice.

“Yeah?” I ask, kissing him on the underside of his jaw. “Is that so?” I kiss down his neck. He groans a low, tortuous groan that makes me smile against his neck. His hands tighten on my hips.

“Are you going to kiss me for real?”

“I thought this was for real,” I tease him, still kissing his neck. I kiss back near his ear, and his entire body shudders. Then he snaps. He stands, easily bringing me with him. He lifts me against him and plunders my mouth. The teasing I did to him is nothing like what he does to me. He moves us until my back is against the wall, and then he continues to pillage my mouth. I’m lost in everything that is Sebastian Hart. Heat floods me, and my brain fires synapses at me until the sensations almost become too much. My hands rove over his muscular chest, and his hands run over my back.

He pulls back first, and we’re both gasping for air. I”m pleased to see that he’s at least affected as much as I am. “I knew that kissing you would be as exhilarating as the sport I play for a living.”

“Sebastian Hart, did you just compare kissing me to hitting a puck?”

He grins. “Kissing you is way better. It’s like when I hit that puck into the net.”

“That’s only slightly better, you know.”

He kisses me again, tenderly this time. “I know, Baby. That’s the only thing I have to compare it to.” His face turns serious. “I want to go with you today.”

“Don’t you have practice?”

“I do, but it’s not until tonight. Do you think we could go and get back by seven?”

“We could, but you don’t have to,” I tell him.

He kisses me once more and then lowers me to the floor. “I want to.”

“Okay. Well, I’d love your company on the drive. It’s going to be a long time in the car today.” I back away from him. “I’ll grab my stuff and then we can get going. Thanks for breakfast. It was amazing, and thank you for taking care of me.”

His eyes soften. “Of course, Baby. You did the same for me.”

I smile as I walk toward my bedroom. “Can we stop for coffee on the way?” I ask, turning back.

He gives me a knowing smile. “I was already planning on it. I’m going to get a shower; I’ll be ready in a few.” He leaves, and I do my best to clear that thought from my mind. I do not need to picture Sebastian in the shower. Too late. I shake off those thoughts and head to my room. There’s a brightness to my spirit as I tidy up my room and make the bed. When I think about the conversation I need to have with my parents, it dims slightly; but I don’t focus on it for long. I choose to focus instead on Sebastian and our growing relationship.

I hear him out in the living room, so I make my way out. He doesn’t see me when I get to the living room, and I stay quiet and watch him. He’s pacing the floor and talking into his phone. “Yeah. I get that. No...no.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Fine me then.” He sighs again. “Okay, yeah. Bye.”

“Seems like that went well,” I say, letting him know of my presence.

He spins around. “Ready to go?”

I study his face. “You aren’t supposed to go with me today, are you?”

His face clouds over. “It’s fine.”

“Sebastian, I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. I’ll just go by myself. Please don’t worry about it. I don’t want you to have to pay fines or whatever else they’ll do to you for missing today.”

He’s in front of me a moment later. “I’m coming with you. End of story.”

“But—”

He puts his finger over my lips, effectively quieting me. “You’re the most important thing to me, not a sport. And I want to do this with you. I don’t want you to go by yourself. Please don’t ask me to stay behind.”

I stare up at him. “Are you sure?” He nods. “I just don’t want you to regret this at some point.”

“Stephanie, I will never regret any time I spend with you. You’re my life; you come first. Hockey is just a game. Very soon, you’re going to be my family. The stakes are only going to get higher if we have kids together. If I can’t figure this out now, it will be worse then.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Let me work through this; I’ll take whatever repercussions come my way. I want to be with you today to talk to your dad.”

“I just don’t want you to regret anything,” I can’t help but repeat.

He shakes his head. “Stephanie, my beautiful Stephanie, how could I regret any time spent with you?” He lowers his lips and touches them to mine. The kiss is gentle and filled with love, so different from our kiss in the kitchen earlier. I sigh against his lips, and he pulls back. “Let’s get on the road.”

It’s not until we’re in his car a few minutes later, that I finally come to my senses. “So, kids, huh?”

He glances over at me and grins. “Lots and lots of kids.”

“Just how many are you thinking?” I ask.

“At least ten or so.”

I turn to him. “It’s a good thing I know you’re joking.”

“Am I?” His eyes twinkle. It’s quiet for a little bit as we drive, and my mind tosses around everything he’s said. “Did I scare you off?” he asks after a little bit. “I’m just messing with you,” he says as he takes my hand in his. “Talk to me.”

I stare out the window before I look over at him. “It’s just everything we talked about before...about me being a mom.”

He stays quiet for a few minutes before squeezing my hand. “Because of the way you were raised, I know you’re going to be a good mom. You’re going to work overtime to make sure your kids never feel the way you did growing up, and that’s good because their dad is going to be a professional hockey player. It’s going to take a lot of effort on both our parts to make it work and to make sure our kids always feel like they’re the most important thing, outside of our relationship of course.”

I think through his words. “I wonder if it would work for me to write full time instead of teaching so I could be at home with them.”

“Is that what you would want to do?” he asks, glancing over at me.

“I don’t know. Would you be okay with that?”

“You can do anything you want to do, Love. You can’t make me love you any more or less based on anything you do. If you want to transition to writing full time because you want to, then go for it. I’ll support you one hundred percent!” He glances over at me. “You don’t like teaching anyway.”

I turn shocked eyes to him.