Page 46

CHAPTER 46

I WAS LOOKING AT PORN… VERY EMBARRASSING PORN

KAYDEN

Emory is only inches away from me when I blink my eyes open. Her eyes are closed, her mouth is open just a crack, and I can hear the long soft breaths rolling in and out of her lungs. Her copper hair is pulled back neatly into a bun. Even now there's not a single hair out of place.

I want to press my lips to hers. To trace my fingers from the front of that tank top down to her beautiful breasts. Slip my hand under her panties. Slip my fingers into her pussy and watch her as she wakes up with me inside her. But as I shift my weight, pain thuds in my head like a puck bouncing off the boards, and I'm reminded why I can't do what I really want to do with my girl.

But I can't help touching her. As I trail a finger across her cheek, I wonder what I've done to deserve her, and I can't think of a single thing. But she's here anyway.

She stirs slightly, and if I weren't so greedy, I would pull my finger away. But I can't. Not even when her eyes slowly open.

"Morning," she whispers through a smile. "How do you feel?"

"Like the luckiest man ever. Thank you."

"What are you doing?"

I finish drawing the line from her cheekbone to her ear and then down to her jaw. "Mapping our constellations across your freckles. This one is the lover. You can tell because it's holding a bow." I sweep an arc like a bow pointed down to her heart.

"I'm not sure you can make constellations out of freckles. Pretty sure they have to be made of stars."

I continue the line to her mouth and trace a finger along her lower lip. "The only stars that matter are the ones you look at when you dream."

She opens her mouth and takes in the tip of my finger, sucking it deeper and then rolling her head back, releasing it with a pop. "Okay Keanu. Did you miss my mouth?"

I grin and nod. "I missed your heart."

"I missed your ass."

"I missed your spirit," I continue quoting the scene.

"I missed your thumbs." She's giggling now. "You're so good with your thumbs."

"That's such a good movie. Let's just spend the day in bed and watch it over and over."

She's snuggles up to me, close enough now that I can kiss her, and I don't miss my shot. I brush my lips across hers, lightly at first. Then more. Possessively. And she responds by matching my energy before finally pushing away.

"We shouldn't. You need more time."

I rest my hand on her cheek. It's so warm under my palm, and I wonder how warm the rest of her body is for me. "We shouldn't what? Kiss or watch that movie? Because I feel ready for both."

"Either. You need to rest."

I lean in for another kiss, but she drifts back. "I've been resting for…" The words die in my throat. Since coming home, my life has been like watching an old film through grimy glass. My stomach knots as I realize I have no idea how long I've been back.

Her eyes flick to the phone on the nightstand and back to me. "A little over thirty-six hours since you came home."

"A day and a half? But that would mean today is?— "

"It's just past two on Monday afternoon. Welcome to the future, Kayden Bouchard." She laughs lightly as she rolls out of the bed and stands looking down at me.

"If it's Monday, you should be at work." I try to remember the practice schedule for the week. "I should be… watching film with the team. I think?"

She crosses her arms across her chest. "Be honest, baby. How do you feel?" I just now notice she's been whispering this entire conversation.

"A little fuzzy. I have a headache, but nothing like it was." I pause again. "There's a faint ringing in my ears, but I have to concentrate to hear it. And I'm cold. Lonely. Desperate for the feeling of a body against mine."

Her lips curl up. "Oh really? And would any body do, or do you have a specific body in mind?"

I make a show of reaching for her. "A very specific body that I want to feel next to me every time I wake up. Come back to bed, Nyx. I still have to map the constellations on the other hemisphere. Do it for science."

"For science?" she asks.

I nod. "Where would we be if the Medici family hadn't supported Galileo? Be the Medici family to my Galileo."

"Who am I to argue with your flawless comparison? Nerd." She rolls her eyes and laughs, and whatever brain fog I have evaporates at the sound of it. "I'm going to fix our lunch. Then I promise I'll stay with you for the rest of the day." She leans over and kisses my cheek. I try to pull her back into the bed with me, but she's out of reach before I can convince my body to move.

Even after she's gone, I don't take my eyes from the door, as if she might change her mind any second. But when she doesn't, I settle for rolling over and inhaling the strawberry scent clinging to her pillow. That's when I notice my phone on her nightstand.

I scoot across the bed, ignoring the bolts of pain the movement causes in my head. When I pick up the phone, I see dozens of notifications filling the screen. I swipe through the list, mostly all messages of support from my teammates. Then I see Sammy's text.

"That reporter is lucky Coach banned him from Sting property, or we'd let him know exactly what we think of him and that article. All the boys are ready to hold a press conference to tell the world the truth about you. Just as soon as you're better. We're not letting Williams get away with this."

Williams? I run through everyone I know, but I can't think of a single Williams. And what reporter is he talking about?

I open the browser and search for "Williams SLC Sting," and my heart stops when I see the top result. Dave Williams from The Salt Lake City Post. "Sting Star Loves to Puck Around, On Ice and Off." I don't have to click the article to know what it's about, but I do anyway. I can't stand to read more than the opening paragraph.

My pulse pounds in my ears. I should have known something like this would be coming after seeing that smirk on his face at the last press conference. But now? When things are perfect for the first time in my life?

"What are you doing?"

I jump and turn off the phone screen, setting it face down on the bed. When Emory still just stares at me, I slide the phone under the pillow. I can't let her find out about this article. Not until I prepare her. "Nothing." I try to look anywhere except at her eyes or the pillow.

"Mm-hmm." She sets a plate on the edge of the bed. It looks like a turkey sandwich with chips smashed down under the top layer of bread. Probably salt and vinegar. My favorite. "I believe you." She kisses me. "I believe you were up to more than that." She snatches my phone, stepping back just far enough that I can't reach her.

"Stop! I was looking at porn… very embarrassing porn. Nordic tree god porn. You wouldn't want to see that." But the look on her face tells me it's too late. My stomach feels like someone's pulling it into taffy. "I don't even know what that article says, but I know it's not true. Not since I met you. I need you to know that, Nyx. It's not true."

She sets the phone face down on the nightstand, moving the lunch plate next to it, and slides into the bed next to me. "I know it's not," she whispers as she brushes a finger across my temple. "I know it's not, your agent knows it's not, and the entire team knows it's not. Anyone who thinks even a sentence of that article is true doesn't know you, and not one of them deserves you. You're too good for them."

A tingle spreads through me as her soft lips kiss the center of my forehead, but then realization dawns on me. "You already knew about it?"

She nods.

"When?"

"Your agent accidentally told me yesterday. Since then, I've talked to almost all of your teammates. Even your coach. They all wanted to reassure me that it wasn't true. Like I needed to hear it from them. I know exactly who you are, Kayden. And I'm not letting these people get away with this. They're not going to do this to the man I love." Her voice is cold and detached.

"What does that mean?" The breath lodges in my throat as I ask.

She slides closer until her chest is pressed against mine. I wrap my arm around her waist, intending to hold her here for as long as I can. "It means these fuckers are going to regret not appreciating what they have."