8. Gone. Done. Boom.

CHAPTER 8

GONE. DONE. BOOM.

STORM

After the game, I stop on the way home and pick up the ingredients to make my homemade pizza. I'll chill tonight, listen to music and read my latest book. But when I get into my building and step off the elevator with my arms full of bags from the grocer, the scent of something heavenly reaches my nose, perking me up. Per usual, I see Edith's door slightly ajar across from mine, and I hear voices coming from within.

Like clockwork, she appears through the doorway. "Oh Sebastian. You're home. Misty came over this afternoon and we baked."

"Whatever you made smells good. Please tell me it's my favorite cookie."

"Not today. But would you settle for fresh strawberry pie or blondie brownie bars?"

"Would I? You bet." God, this woman speaks my love language—if sweets to my stomach were a language. And if only she were about fifty years younger.

Misty appears in the doorway by her side. Could it be possible she's just as good at baking treats and speaks my language? Fuck yes. I hope with my entire body she is.

Not going to lie one bit here—the moment we shook hands in the elevator, I was gone. Done. Boom. Something hit me. And I can only describe it as that lightning bolt Duke talked about when he first met Phoebe.

I have to get to know this woman. I think I've already got Edith on my side, cheering for me, especially how she talks nonstop about her granddaughter every time she feeds me a plate of cookies, like she's brainwashing me.

Or maybe she's simply trying to win that ten-dollar bet with the card-playing ladies in the common room.

I'll help her win that bet, but something tells me if I get Misty all to myself, I'll be the real winner.

I don't hide my eyes, taking all of her in as she stands in the doorway. A quick scan of her body and I note she's wearing black again. Every time I've seen her, she's in black. No color. I wonder what that means. Only this time, her legs are bare with a sexy pair of strappy black heels.

The dress is slightly off shoulder with a v-neck, showing creamy skin dotted with freckles. I'd like to kiss each one of them. A diamond catches the light, drawing my attention to it as it hangs down at the end of a necklace between her ample cleavage. How I'd like to replace her necklace with my tongue.

She clears her throat, and I lift my eyes off her chest, snapping to attention. She arches a brow, clearly hesitant upon seeing me again. It's not like I gave her a good first impression. She's probably still thinking I'm some creeper who stalks the halls in the nude scaring the old ladies with my junk. Something in me wants to change her opinion of me, and fast.

"I'll tell you what. I'm about to make a homemade pizza. If you two haven't eaten yet, why don't we dine together? It'll be ready in about an hour." I wait with bated breath for their answer.

"Oh, we'd love to," Edith rushes to respond, talking loudly over Misty, who started in about not wanting to trouble me.

"Perfect. I'll come knocking on your door soon with the best pizza you've ever had." I wink and open my door, then quickly disappear inside so as not to give Misty any chance to back out. Suddenly, my evening is looking a whole lot brighter.

An hour later, I knock on Edith's door and she lets me in. It takes two trips from my place to hers, and I get everything set up. A crisp Italian salad with croutons I made myself, and homemade Italian dressing. And of course, a Margherita pizza. I normally top my pies with all kinds of meats and olives, but not knowing what these ladies like, I kept it simple.

Edith gushes over everything. "This is marvelous, Sebastian."

I proudly push out my chest like it's an award-winning feat to have cooked for them.

"I have a bottle of wine I've been saving for a special occasion like this. Let me get it and some glasses."

"That'd be great, Edith. Thanks."

Misty finally pops in from the hallway and takes a seat. "Wow, you made this?"

"Yep. Cooking is a hobby of mine."

"So you're a foodie?" Her hair is up in a high ponytail, with a few tendrils falling around her face. Gorgeous. Even better if her ponytail winds up wrapped around my hand sometime.

I shrug and sit down across from her. "I wouldn't go that far. Sometimes I just get a yearning for cozy comfort food, the kind my grandma taught me to make when I was growing up. My, um, mom passed away when I was young. So it was just Dad and I. Grandma was always there, though, and the best cook ever."

An audible gasp comes from her. "I lost my mother at a young age, too," her voice barely registers as a whisper but reaches to my ears fine.

"We have that in common." Our eyes meet, and finally, this close, I can see the green of hers framed perfectly by her reddish-blonde bangs. The allure of them dazzles me with a color I've never seen on a woman before.

A smattering of freckles like angel's kisses grace her nose. Her features are so soft and sweet, I can't look away. Until Edith returns.

"Here we are. Argh, my hands. Open the bottle, will you, Sebastian?" She hands it to me and sets the glasses down. Everyone in hockey calls me Storm. Hardly anyone in my life calls me Sebastian anymore, not since Grandma, but I like it, so I keep letting her use it.

"The pizza looks amazing," she says. I remove the cork from the bottle and pour for all of us.

"I appreciate the complements, ladies. I'm still getting used to this oven in the apartment, but it turned out all right."

I serve the slices next and we all eat our first bites in silence. But it's comfortable, and I almost decide to tell them my news about the Vipers potentially calling me up to play.

"It's so wonderful that you know how to cook. My late husband, Rupert, hardly stepped foot in the kitchen. It's a good thing he passed away first?—"

"Nana, don't say that," Misty admonishes.

"I just meant he would have starved to death without me, dear."

I chuckle. "I'll bet he enjoyed eating your cookies."

Misty snorts and raises her brows at me. Someone has their mind in the gutter. Does Misty have a dirty girl side? Fuck, I'm getting partial wood under the table sitting across from her.

"He loved my baking. I kept that man well-fed. And we all know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That's something I've tried to teach Misty through the years. When she finds a man, feed him well."

"Nana." She can hardly raise her eyes to look at me now, with a blush creeping across her cheeks. Adorable. Although I notice, she peeks at her phone. Suddenly she's scarfing down the pizza. She takes a huge swallow of the wine, too, which results in her coughing and choking it down.

"Slow down there, Misty. It's been a while since I've given anyone the Heimlich." Big D once choked on a pepperoni when I had the guys over for pizza. He's lucky I'm a big guy too and could wrap my arms around him, position my hands just below his ribs, and force that chunk out of his windpipe with one forceful push.

Although I'd be very fucking gentle with little Misty here, if she choked. Extremely gentle. I'd treat her like a fragile, precious thing in my arms. My gaze falls to her soft neck where I'd love to curl my hand around it, feel for her pulse to see if it rockets while I devour her lips.

"—wedding to attend tonight."

I snap out of my sexy thoughts about her and catch the end of her sentence.

"First a funeral. Now a wedding? You're a busy woman," I exclaim.

"She's a?—"

"I suppose I am." Misty talks over Edith and shoots her a look with a slight shake of her head, that seems to quiet her grandmother down. I don't know what that's about. "Oh, look at the time. I really must go."

"So soon? Can't you wait and enjoy another slice?" Edith balks.

"I don't want to be late and you know how L.A. traffic is. The venue is a half hour away, but it'll take me an hour and fifteen, bumper to bumper on the highway."

I'm catching on that she probably has a date. Yep, a plus one attending with her to this wedding, and for whatever reason, she doesn't want to say anything in front of Edith—or me. I'm a little disappointed to think she's not mine yet. Thinking back to Duke's advice, I need to get more aggressive and claim what I want. I need a little Misty in my life.