Page 26

26

RILEY

I place kisses up Sarah’s sleeping body. It’s Christmas Eve Eve and I’m excited to have off for the next few days. But we need to get in a light skate before I know the majority of us don’t leave our couches–or beds for that time. She throws her arms around me and tries with all her might to drag me back to bed.

“Blue, I can’t. I have to get to practice.” I say and press kisses to her cheek and neck.

She unwinds her arms and relaxes back into the bed with her eyes still closed. “Fine.”

I kiss her on the forehead and eyelids, then leave the door cracked. God bless our schedule for not having a game these next two days. And when I pull up to the practice arena, we all look equal bits upset that we had to leave our beds and the women in them.

Weirdly, we all walk to the locker room at the same time. One of the vets pulls the handle to the room, but it doesn’t give.

“Are you guys sure we have practice today?” Noah asks us .

“Yeah. Coach told us after the game and texted us.” Carter, the vet, says.

A whistle from the opposite end of the hallway causes an almost comical sight from us. “This way boys.”

We all look at each other suspiciously before doing what Anderson says. All twenty-three pairs of feet shuffle the opposite direction of the locker room and ice, trailing after coach and the film room.

“I know you all were expecting to practice today. But my wife very sternly told me that you all deserved something less strenuous.”

“So we’re not practicing today?”

“Nope!” Coach says and stands up in the front of the film room.

“No offense coach, but I left a smoking hot girl in my bed for team bonding?” Max asks.

“Oh, great, we have our first volunteer. Gharety, up here.”

Logan snickers next to me and I have to bite my cheek to keep from laughing. Max drops his duffle where he’s at and walks up to the front.

“Since we’re not practicing,” we all grumble, groan, and suck our teeth. “I know I'm the worst. The front office has requested team holiday photos that they’ll post on socials today. After we’re done you all can head home and enjoy these next three days with your loved ones.”

One of the interns pulls out bins of overflowing holiday attire.

Anderson claps his hands together loud enough to make us jump. “Let’s get a move on, boys. I have two daughters and a wife ready to watch holiday movies and drink hot chocolate with.”

We all get into gear and find what we want. A red photo backdrop is set up on the far wall and one by one, we take our pictures. Several of them until the photographer says they have what they need.

“So, hot girl in your bed, huh?” Logan jokingly asks Max.

“Yes, and no you can’t join.”

Noah and I stop in our tracks and slowly turn to face them both. Not that we’re against sharing but this is the first time either of us have heard about them sharing.

“It was one time!” Max claims.

“Twice,” Logan corrects him.

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Noah says, referring to Logan.

“Well, happy holidays to you both,” I say appreciatively. “And may your balls get jingled.”

I turn and start my walk to my car with Noah falling in step. Logan’s groan is laughable but he and Max soon follow. We say our goodbyes and I peel out of the lot once my car is warmed up for more than ten seconds.

When I get back to the condo, I realize I’ve only been gone for about an hour and hopefully Sarah is awake and ready to eat. The girls circle my feet when I walk back in and it’s clear that my girl is in fact still in bed. After feeding them, I head back to our room and strip out of my street clothes and down to my boxers before climbing back under the covers to cuddle with my girl.

I wake back up with a human-size weight resting on top of me. Since we were set to have practice at an ungodly early hour, I glance over at the clock and see it’s not even noon so it’s the perfect time to start brunch .

Sarah’s fingers are teasing the tattoos on my side and I wrap my arms around her.

“Max and Logan have shared before,” I say and her tracing halts its repeated pattern.

“Hello to you too,” Sarah teases. “And when you say share , you mean…”

I snort and run my fingers through her hair. “Oh, yeah. That’s not what I expected to learn today.”

“Huh.”

“‘Huh’ what?” I ask and lightly pinch her side.

“It’s just weird that it’s the quiet ones who are always the freakiest.” Sarah trails off and I think she’s about to move on from the conversation when she surprises me. “You’ve never wanted to share with anyone?”

“If you’re asking if I want to share you, then the answer would be a ‘Fuck no’.”

“Easy, macho man. I wasn’t asking with me. I was asking more before like in college?”

My heartbeat slows back down. “Um, no. I was very hesitant in college. Like, I was a virgin until my second year. And then I just stuck to the occasional party hookup because it was easier. Once I made it to Columbus I tried to actually date, but that…dating as a pro athlete had its challenges.”

“The money,” Sarah voices what we’ve already talked about when we originally started fake dating.

“Yeah. What about you?” I ask and twirl a lock of hair around my finger.

She adjusts her position and turns her head the other way, kissing me on the chest as she does. “No. I lost my virginity in high school so I wasn’t as reserved as apparently you were. But my first week I met Kamryn, I was out of our dorm more than I was in it. I had a thing for athletes, still do apparently. Plus, I really liked sex. I ignored the labels the other girls would give me because I refused to ignore my own pleasure.”

“So is that where you learned that one trick?”

Her arms slide under my shoulders and anchors herself to me. “Nope. That was a spur of the moment thing. Sex requires a lot of trust and I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever met or been with. But I do have other tricks up my sleeve. So I promise this relationship will never be boring.”

“That night we first hooked up, is that why you were okay with us foregoing protection?”

“Yeah,” she breathes out as if remembering that night all too well. “I couldn’t explain it even if I wanted to. Or maybe I can. It was the surety in your eyes and your voice when you told me you were just tested and had the results on your phone.”

“I’m glad you trusted me enough for that.”

“Me too,” she kisses me on the chest and then her stomach grumbles breaking up the moment.

I pat her on the butt and slide her off my body with a chuckle. Rolling out of bed, I pickup my discarded pajama pants and step into them.

“I love you,” she sings from the bed.

“I love you too, angel.” I call out as I walk out to the living room. To my surprise snow flurries backdrop my balcony. I always get a childlike feel when snow falls around Christmas. The quiet, the smell, and the peace from that first flake.

“So where are we going?” Sarah’s muffled question comes from the closet.

While she hasn’t technically moved in, I have made space for her. She has a section that she’s slowly filling up in the closet and a couple of drawers in the dresser. Spots on the bathroom vanity hold all of the things she doesn’t need to make her beautiful and her soap, shampoo, and conditioner take up room in the shower. We’re here more than at her place only because of hockey, but once the season is over I'll be at her place more. Hopefully I’ll convince her to allow Sasha and Pixie to come with me. It wouldn’t be fair to leave them for my mom to take care of. I also remembered I have to cancel the lease on the abandoned apartment that I rented as I’m just throwing money down the drain which gives me hives thinking about it.

“Just the town square. They have light shows, games, hot chocolate stands scattered around, and a few more festive things. I figured this would be a fun thing to do before we lock ourselves away in here tomorrow.”

“What’s wrong with that?” She asks and her voice is crystal clear when she pops out in a thick dark green sweater and black leggings with thick Christmas tree printed socks bunched around her ankles.

“Absolutely nothing,” I say as I picture us doing nothing but eating and getting tangled under the sheets for the better part of the day. “Are you about ready?”

“Mm hmm.” Her vanilla scent floats behind her as she walks past me.

Out in the living room, Sasha and Pixie are decked out in Christmas sweaters that Sarah managed to find that fit. Her dressing them up won more points in my eyes. And Pixie actually let Sarah hold her, which is a big step. We give them an exaggerated goodbye before heading out.

Since the town square is a block away, we decide to use this as our daily walk. We haven’t done much in terms of exploring the city together and I feel like I dropped the ball on that. But chancing an outing during the season is just asking for a crowd and when I take Sarah on a self-guided tour, I want as little distractions as possible.

We walk through the square hand-in-hand. Or should I say glove-in-glove due to it being freezing and we both would love to keep our fingers. The town usually splurges on a snow making machine, but it’s been snowing on and off all week with snow starting back up this morning. The past years you’ve been able to hear conversations from everyone blending together. But with the snow that’s started falling steadily in the last hour, everything is silent. Sounds are muffled due to the fluff falling from the sky and with the smell of the falling snow mixed with the scent of hot chocolate and popcorn coming from different booths, it’s what Christmas in the city should smell like.

Sarah and I hit every booth. Her joy when she feeds the reindeer is palpable and I make sure to capture the moment in pictures and video. I realize that while she’s a few years older than me, we have lived completely different lives as she hasn’t lived the way I have. So as we continue through the Christmas festivities, I make another promise to give her a life full of adventure. And seeing this activity through her eyes is like experiencing my childhood all over again.

“Well look who it is,” a voice to the right bellows.

After feeding the reindeer, we moved off to the side for some more hot chocolate and to watch the family's ice skate.

“Mischa, hey. Other Anderson’s,” I joke and Sarah swats me on the thigh.

“Good to know you don’t change off the ice,” Jared drawls.

Mischa looks at me as she bends, holding the sleeping baby on her chest closer to her, to whisper not so quietly in Sarah’s ear. “You can still leave him. Move on with someone more mature.”

“I’m quite fond of him,” Sarah says with a wink.

“Kylie, don’t you have a Christmas movie to make your dad watch?” I ask, because I know Jared hates Christmas movies with a passion. I mean, the guy thinks Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

The curly-haired girl with a toothless smile and caramel brown skin, a perfect mixture of Jared and Mischa’s, bounces on her toes and swings Jared’s arm back and forth. “Daddy said after we feed the reindeer.”

Jared narrows his eyes at me with a silent threat to make me skate until I puke. Luckily I’m used to his empty threats and just sip on my rich hot chocolate.

“I fed them for the first time and they seemed like they could eat more than the handful I gave them.” Sarah announces.

“Really?” Kylie’s eyes light up. “Daddy let’s go.” His arm stretches as she tries to pull him away.

“Okay, babe. Let’s go let her feed the reindeer and then get out of here,” Mischa cajoles.

Jared’s eyes soften as he looks at his wife. It’s easy to see that she’s his number one. Apart from Kylie and little Benny, Jared has never softened like that.

“Have fun,” Sarah tells the family as they head towards the feeding pens. “She’s so cute.”

I boop her on the nose as she turns to face me. “So you do want kids.”

“Not at this moment. But definitely in the next few years.”

“Noted. What do you say we go back home and practice making said baby? ”

Her cheeks pinken deeper from my suggestion. “Okay.”

And that’s exactly what we do. Late into the night with the Christmas lights from the balcony twinkling in the back and early into the morning as the sky turns from a midnight blue to a dusky pink. Sarah and I practice until we pass out curled into each other.