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Chapter thirty-eight

Isabelle

“You better leave me some hot water,” I call through the open door to the en suite as I drain the last sips of coffee from my cup.

I can hear Kai’s chuckle over the sound of the shower. God love him, but he takes long-ass showers sometimes.

Today is not the time for that. I’ve got to be at the restaurant in half an hour, but Kai just got back from a team meeting and light practice, and jumped in the shower before I could remind him I was under a time crunch.

This is what I get for trying to surprise the man.

The regular season is almost over, and with a win last night, the Tridents won their division, securing their spot in the playoffs.

Gianni and I are throwing a celebratory dinner tonight at the restaurant. We’ve shut the entire place down, set up both inside and on the rooftop patio, and prepared a special menu.

Of course, spaghetti carbonara is on it.

I spent all day yesterday — until I had to be at the stadium for the game — preparing food with Gianni.

This morning I was there bright and early to get started on the bread and pasta dough.

I left to come home and change, leaving Gianni in charge of the rest of the menu.

But I stink of garlic and onions. Not normally a bad thing, but something I’d really rather eliminate before hosting the entire team and their significant others.

I set the coffee cup on the dresser that now holds both my and Kai’s clothing and make my way to the bathroom.

We wasted no time after returning from that fateful away series where I told him I was staying in Vancouver and moved my stuff into his apartment right away. The next day, I called Maria, who agreed to pack up and ship the rest of my clothes and belongings.

That was the easy call. One of the hard ones was to Vito, my former boss, telling him I wouldn’t be returning.

The hardest of all was to my dad. Despite his obviously disappointed feelings about his daughter deciding not to come back, he was cool about it.

Although, he did insist on a video call with Kai immediately.

When that happened, Dad had his hair slicked back and was wearing a pinstripe suit.

I burst out laughing while Kai looked at me with horror.

Yes, my dad knew all about twenty-year-old Kai’s fear that he was a part of the Italian mob. He assumed we were just friends back then but learned the truth when my decision to stay resulted in me crying in my room over losing Kai, instead of celebrating the monumental decision.

Once they started talking, they didn’t stop.

And after half an hour of feeling completely left out of the conversation, I got up and went to the kitchen to start making some lunch.

I’m fairly certain they talked for over an hour that first day, and still text regularly.

Dad is even planning a trip to Canada next year to watch Kai play.

“Seriously, Yamaki, hurry your ass up. I have to be at the restaurant in less than half an hour.”

He wipes away the steam. “You could always join me, save water, save time.”

I scoff. “If I get in there with you, I’ll be even later.”

“I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

I debate whether I can trust that or not.

In the end, I decide I’m in too much of a hurry.

I strip quickly, twist my hair up in a bun since, thankfully, it doesn’t need to be washed, and open the door, stepping in and using my hip to try and push him out of the way.

He goes to the other end of the shower, snagging the bar of soap he likes to use on the way.

I turn my back to him and wash my face before reaching for my body wash.

That’s when lips land on the base of my neck.

“Kai,” I say warningly. “You promised.” Shivers run up my spine despite the hot water.

“I promised to keep my hands to myself. I said nothing about other body parts.”

One other body part in particular makes contact with my lower back.

“That’s not fair,” I say, moving to turn around. But I’m stopped when he cages me in, placing his hands — not on me — but on the wall in front of me.

“Oops.” He kisses his way down my back, all the way to the curve of my ass. Which he bites.

“Kai!” I shriek, this time managing to spin around, intent on giving him shit for that. I realize my mistake the second I look down and see his proud smirk.

“See? No hands.” The second his mouth lands on my clit, I’m a goner. And I have no choice but to accept the inevitable truth. I will not be at the restaurant on time.

Much to my surprise, and a tiny bit of disappointment, Kai is good to his word and doesn’t touch me with his hands.

Instead, thanks to his wickedly talented tongue, he managed to bring me to orgasm within minutes before standing up, kissing my lips, and then leaving me panting and needy in the shower.

I had to wrestle with myself not to call him back in here to continue what he started, but I really want tonight to go well. So I manage to finish my own shower, throw on the outfit I preselected, and hurry out the door, only about ten minutes later than planned.

When I get to the restaurant, the staff are hustling, getting everything set up. Willow is also there and comes over to give me a quick hug.

“Girl, this is going to be amazing. Thanks again for hosting.” She turns to the side, where another woman is waiting. “This is Melody, from our events team. She’s who we have to thank for the decorations.”

I put my hand out to the woman. “Hey Melody, nice to meet you. I’m glad we could make this work. Do you two need anything, or” — I gesture to the kitchen — “I probably should get in there and make sure my partner hasn’t gone rogue with the menu.”

“We’re all good.” Melody flashes me a thumbs-up, and Willow squeezes my arm one more time before I hurry into the kitchen.

“Hi G, sorry I’m late,” I call out over the noise of all the kitchen staff hard at work. Gianni looks up from the counter where he’s chopping vegetables and raises his eyebrows.

“As long as you have a good reason for being late, you’re forgiven.”

As I tie my apron around my waist, I move to his side. “What would count as a good reason?”

“Orgasms.” He waggles his eyebrows at me.

My blush answers for me, and Gianni’s head falls back as he laughs loudly. “Oh Bella.”

I hush him and move to the fridge to check on the food that’s already prepared. Partly because, well, I need to, and partly to hide my grin.

Two hours later and the restaurant is filled with baseball players, team staff, and their partners.

The guys have tomorrow off so they can enjoy tonight, which means wine and beer are being poured and there’s a lot of laughter and celebrating happening.

We decided to serve the food buffet style, despite Gianni’s protests, so everyone has plates and are helping themselves as they wish.

Gianni booted me out of the kitchen when everyone started arriving, assuring me he would handle anything food-related.

“If this is just to celebrate making the playoffs, what will they do if they win?”

I turn to find Paul beside me, two glasses of wine in hand. He passes one to me and raises his to clink with mine.

“Good question,” I reply after taking a sip. I’m exhausted, but at the same time, feel so energized. “Thank you for helping make this happen, by the way.”

Paul shrugs. “I did nothing except make sure the bills were paid. You and Gianni had this under control. Besides, haven’t you figured out we’ll agree to just about anything that helps convince you to join as partner?

” He winks just as Kai comes over. Even though I just saw him two hours ago, my heart fills with so much love just looking at him.

“Hey Paul, this is so great. Thank you.” Kai shakes his hand before turning to me and snaking his arm around my waist. “But can I steal my girl for a bit?”

God, do I love hearing him call me that. Not having to keep our feelings a secret from each other or the world is quite possibly my favourite part of what has changed for us over the past month.

“Of course.” Paul leans in and kisses my cheek. “See you later, Isabelle.”

He walks away and Kai circles to stand in front of me, taking my hands and draping them over his shoulders. “Hey, you know I love you, right?”

I nod as he smiles down at me.

“Good. And that’s never going to change. Never has, never will. Can I show you something?”

“Okay,” I say, confused by where he’s going with all this. I let him lead me into the back, to the small office Paul works out of when he’s here handling the business side of things. “Kai, what’s going on?”

He doesn’t answer right away, instead closing the door, muffling the sound of the party outside. I start to lean back against the desk, but when Kai begins unbuttoning his shirt, I push up to stand. “Babe, I love you, but we can’t do this right now,” I say, laughing as I move toward him.

But he backs off, shaking his head slowly with a knowing smirk. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Iz.”

I stop and stare at him, confused as he opens his shirt fully. Then I see it. Right beneath the line of numbers on his pec is a second row of numbers. Freshly tattooed and covered in a clear bandage.

“Kai,” I murmur, stepping closer and lightly touching the skin underneath the tattoo. “Did you just do this? Wait. That date.”

“Just left the tattoo shop half an hour ago. And yes, that’s the date you came to my game and told me you were staying. Forever to be known as the date my deepest wish came true, and my life with you could truly begin.”

“Oh,” I whisper, my lips trembling. I lean in and press a featherlight kiss right over the two rows of numbers. Two dates that define our relationship in such different but no less powerful ways.

“I love you, Iz. You’re my past, present, and future.”

“I love you, too. Now and forever.”

He sweeps me up into a kiss that I wish could go on for eternity. A kiss that makes me reconsider my thinking that we couldn’t have a quickie here in Paul’s office.

This time, Kai’s the responsible one, setting me back down on my feet. “We should get back to the party.” As if on cue, his stomach rumbles and he grins. “I haven’t had any pasta yet.”

I laugh and start buttoning up his shirt. “Well, that’s unacceptable. Let’s get out there and make sure the guys haven’t eaten all the carbonara.”

“Eh, I have an in with the chef. If they did eat it all, I bet I can get her to make me some more.”

He slings his arm over my shoulders and kisses the top of my head as we move to the door.

“You have an in, do you?” I tease as we head back to the party.

“Yeah. I’m gonna marry her someday.”