Page 45 of No Shot (The Toronto Tundra #2)

Bri

I can ’ t believe Penn scored. I haven ’ t smiled like that in a long time. It just felt good to see him get a bit of his spark back. Everyone sitting around us kept chattering about it. How he looked like he did in his first-ever games with the Tundra. Full of heart and brimming with energy.

I finish getting into my pajamas, a pink silk tank and short set that I love so much.

It makes me feel good to wear luxurious things, even when I ’ m the only one who sees them.

Part of me had hoped for a text by now, an acknowledgement that he did, in fact, see me, and I hadn ’ t hallucinated the entire three-minute interaction, but I ’ m okay.

We agreed on taking some space, so my showing up at the game to support him doesn ’ t mean we go back to normal.

I need to make progress and take strides to show him I ’ m committed, and I ’ m willing to do that.

Proof of concept—it has real-world applications too.

Knock, knock, knock, knock-knock.

My breathing stills as I blink in the mirror, struggling to decipher if that happened in my head or not.

Knock, knock, knock, knock-knock.

Okay, so I know ‘ my heart skipped a beat ’ is a little cliche, but I ’ m telling you, it absolutely did. Just now. That cannot be good for me, medically speaking.

I nearly sprint-hop over to the door, pulling it open in a whirl of motion .

There he is.

Penn Brooks, in a perfectly fitted black suit and pale blue dress shirt, filling the entire doorway with his tall frame. The boy looks damn good. A flutter of excitement makes its way through my body.

“ Don ’ t answer the door for strangers.” His voice is commanding, brimming with intensity.

“ You ’ re not a stranger,” I object.

His head tilts, amusement dancing in his eyes, a stark contrast from his otherwise stoic expression. “ Yeah? What am I then, Soup?”

Uhh, I don ’ t know... “ Penn?”

“ Mmm,” he replies, nodding slowly, eyes burning into me. I can ’ t look away. He takes a half step forward, the intensity of his demeanor taking me by surprise, and I take a half step back. “ You came with a sign.”

Thank god, I wasn ’ t seeing things. He saw me, and we actually did have a moment. Phew, looks like I ’ m not yet going crazy. “ I did.”

“ You didn ’ t wait for me at the rink.”

Cami and Mia headed down to wait for their guys, but I figured it ’ d be better to head home for the night. I convinced myself there was a fifty-fifty chance I imagined the whole thing anyway. “ Didn ’ t know that you wanted me to.”

“ I wanted you to. I always want you to.” His voice is firm, but it carries a softness that flutters in my stomach. He takes a full step toward me, and I step back again, keeping the space between us.

“ You scored.”

“ I did.” It feels like he isn ’ t blinking, keeping his sole focus on me.

“ How ’ d that feel?” Why… why would I ask that? Obviously, it feels good to score.

“ Great, 'cus you were there.” Oh. “ Why ’ d you come to the game?”

I take a shuddering breath before I let it out. “ Because I don ’ t care.”

His head tilts to the side, still staring down at me. “ About what?”

“ What happens. I-I don ’ t care what happens with hockey. Traded or not, I want to be with you.”

His body stills, eyes drawing shut for a beat. “ You want to be with me?” His eyes re-open, deep caramel irises staring into me again.

I nibble on my bottom lip and nod. Both of his hands fly up to gently cradle my face. “ Do you know how much I ’ ve missed you?” I blink at him, intoxicated by his fresh scent in my vicinity, before I shake my head. “ I ’ ve thought about you every day.”

“ You were singing songs to a cat,” is all I manage to say. Man, oh man, Bri. This is why I can ’ t be trusted in relationships. Want to ruin a romantic moment? I ’ m your gal.

He chuckles, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “ Damn right I was.” His thumbs delicately brush my cheeks, and I find myself leaning into him, letting myself enjoy the comforting sensation. “ I ’ m gonna go change and grab a shower, but then do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“ Yeah,” I whisper. I don ’ t know why I ’ m keeping my voice low… this is my apartment. I can be as loud as I want, but the moment feels too intimate for my regular voice. “ You can shower here if you want. I still have some of your sweats in my room.”

He nods, planting another kiss on my other cheek. “ I ’ ll be fast.”

I watch as he walks away, straight down the hall into the bathroom.

The steady drips of the waterfall shower head echo down the hallway. I can ’ t believe he ’ s here. Just like that, we ’ re reunited. No long conversation, no grovelling needed—he just welcomed me back like nothing happened. I guess I shouldn ’ t be surprised. It ’ s just the kind of guy Penn is.

I like him.

I like him a lot.

Pulling open my fridge door, I grab the homemade pizza I ’ d pre-prepared.

I didn ’ t eat at the game. Honestly, I was too nauseous to even consider snacking.

Popping a layer of cheese on the top, I load it into my preheated oven and set the timer.

Pattering down the hall, I enter into the bathroom that ’ s already quickly filling with steam.

Damn, he really is a beautiful specimen.

I watch as Penn dips his head under the heavy stream of water, carefully rinsing the remnants of shampoo from his hair.

The corded muscles in his arms ripple as he shakes out his deep blond locks.

I stand semi-awestruck, mesmerized by the pure strength of his body, every inch of him deeply defined.

“ Are you gawking at me, Soup?” The sound of his voice causes me to startle, and I trail my eyes back up his body to his clearly amused face.

“ Little bit,” I admit with a smile.

His abs tighten as he deliberately flexes his bicep, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. “ Gawk away.” He thinks he ’ s the one in control here? I don ’ t think so…

I draw my hands down the hem of my silky tank, effortlessly pulling it over my head, revealing myself to him.

He does a double-take, still trying to play it cool, but I ’ ve officially got his attention.

His gaze burns across my chest while water runs down his face and his dick twitches to life.

I shiver, but slip out of my shorts, fully exposing myself.

“ Fuck, Bridgette. You can ’ t be looking at me like that.”

“ Why not?” I ask, mocking the pained tone in his voice.

“ Because I ’ ve been dreaming about you all week, and I ’ m trying to be a gentleman here.”

“ That ’ s no fun,” I say with a smile, climbing in to join him.

His hands are on me before I ’ m fully under the water stream. He pivots my body, calloused hands planted firmly on my bare hips, moving me under the soothing hot water while he stands in the cold, stray droplets hitting his skin. I stare down at his rapidly growing dick, now bobbing between us.

“ Sorry, he ’ s excited to see you.” I smile, shaking my head.

Reaching for my coconut body wash, I lather it between my hands before I start massaging Penn ’ s body.

He groans in appreciation, fingers tightening their grip on me.

I work my way up his torso, my hands taking their time to give attention to every muscle, moving to his broad chest. His eyes draw closed when my hands wrap around his neck, carefully massaging the tense muscles of his shoulders.

He reaches behind me, grabs the soap, and drops some onto his hands before lathering me up. He pays careful attention to my breasts, swirling his fingers slowly around my quickly hardening nipples. Penn leans forward, bringing his head close to mine before our lips connect.

It ’ s a sweet kiss, amplifying our connection. I ’ ve never let myself be in such a vulnerable position before. I mean, the man is literally cleaning me. It feels intensely intimate.

When he pulls away, I miss the connection, but he continues his focus on cleaning the rest of me. I splash some warm water onto him, watching the soap suds run down the course of his body. He spins me around, ensuring the flow of water washes away the last bit of bubbles.

“ There, now you ’ re good and clean.”

“ Thank goodness. Not sure how I would have ever managed without you here to do it for me.” He swats my butt playfully and I smile.

“ Always, and I mean, always happy to help.”

“ Mmmm, I bet,” I reply, turning back to face him before leaning into one more addicting kiss. We ’ re usually hot and heavy, but these kisses? They feel so much more meaningful. With a sigh, I break us apart, but I ’ m not done.

My hand moves to cover his firm length, and his whole body tenses as I wrap my fingers around him.

My gaze flickers to him, testing his reaction, his eyes burning into me.

I move at a languid pace, slowly stroking up and down his shaft.

He closes his eyes for a moment, but then, one of his hands wraps around mine, stopping me.

“ Careful, Bridgette.” Fuck, I love when he speaks to me like this. So in control, so dominating, I feel every word in my core.

I whine, shimmying out of his grip, moving instead to plant kisses on his chest. Am I acting desperate? A little bit, but I ’ m so far from caring it ’ s not even funny.

“ You ’ re not going to give up, are you?”

I shake my head before returning to suck on his neck. “ Nope.”

“ Fuck, ” he mutters under his breath like he ’ s disappointed in himself. His large hands pull my body closer to him, grinding my hips against his erection. I whimper with need.

Penn takes a deep breath and then steps back to put distance between us.

“ Wait.” His hand nudges my chin up so we ’ re eye to eye. “ This. I mean, us. This is real now, right? No more wishy-washy.”

I thought we already established that. The whole ‘ I want to be with you ’ admission I made twenty minutes ago. “ Yeah, real.”

He nods, his expression still tense. “ So what does that make me?” Oh man, he ’ s really going to make me say it?