Page 54 of Playing for Keeps (Seattle Hawks Ice Hockey #4)

Jade

Two days before Christmas

“What’s wrong with a reindeer sweater?” I laugh as Jay pulls his over his head and turns from me in the bedroom mirror.

His new sweater is gray, white, and red, with huge reindeer dancing around the center and snowflakes all over it.

Mine is similar, but without the red, and has smaller reindeers and Christmas trees all over it.

“Aren’t I the birthday boy around here?”

“You are, but it’s also nearly Christmas, and I thought we would look so cute together wearing them.”

I flew over a few days ago and we’re staying for the weekend at his house in Lakebay, Pierce County.

It’s a gorgeous little place on the lake that I want to get more acquainted with when we have time, and when the hockey season is over.

But that’s a long way away yet, a sneaky weekend is just what we needed.

The most we’ve spent apart is two weeks. Both of us have been going back and forth between our schedules.

I’ve been filling in at the local gym and we’ve been navigating things ever since we both said we loved each other, but I know in my heart it won’t be a long-term thing being apart anymore.

Even though we’ve been spending more time apart than together, we talk every day and we FaceTime, too. We’ve been getting to know each other all over again and learning all the quirky things we never knew about one another. He has also officially met Leila and Eve, and they adore him.

“You look cute, I just look like a dork,” he says as I pack the picnic hamper.

When I asked Jay what he wanted to do for his birthday, he wanted to take a drive down by the lookout at the highest point of the lake and enjoy the afternoon with some snacks.

He’s having three days off, then play resumes on Boxing Day.

Being together in his cabin for the last couple of nights has been blissful, as well as a lot of sexy time catching up.

We’ve even played some board games and I’ve cooked for him, which I know he loves.

He’s been teaching me to play some card games, too, and even showed me some of his artwork he’s taken back up again after years of stopping.

“You could never look like a dork.”

“Really?” He tilts his sexy head, blond hair falling over his eyes. “Even when I cha-cha-cha.” That hip waggle and the way he accentuates the words to the movements never fail to make me giggle.

“You and your cha-cha-cha.”

“Oh, you love it, you just won’t admit it.”

We’re planning on keeping up the dance lessons as soon as I move to Seattle, which is the little Christmas surprise I have for him.

We’ve talked about the future a lot. And I’ve expressed I’m happy to be wherever he is, even if that means he’s drafted to another team down the track, then so be it.

I know Seattle holds a place in his heart, and he’ll always keep his place here in Pierce County, but some day we’d love to be closer to my family, too.

I was happily surprised to learn that he would love to get married someday, and have a bunch of kids.

Even adopt or foster some kids that need a chance like he did.

I’m on board for it all, I think he would make a wonderful father and it’s not the first time I’ve thought of what our future family would look like.

My dream is one day to be a mom and maybe even have a dog of our own, the whole white picket fence thing sounds good to me.

We’re both open to whatever comes our way.

“I’ll admit I love the hip action, I can’t get enough of it.”

He guffaws a laugh as I finish packing the rest of what I’ve made for his birthday surprise.

I baked him a cake, but wouldn’t let him see the final touches to it.

There’s cake sparklers and everything. I’ve hidden it carefully in a box and hope it survives the trip out in the car.

“Oh, are you gonna give me some of that hip action a little later, Little J?”

I pump my eyebrows suggestively. “That’s a given.”

“Fuck, yeah.” He grins and I can’t help but laugh.

“Always motivated by JJ Junior.”

He tilts his head with a narrow of the eyes. “I thought it was Mr. Midnight?”

My hands cover my mouth as I giggle. “That, too.”

“God of Thunder,” he pleads, brushing my lips with a kiss. “Can you please refer to my cock as that, and only that.”

“I’ll try.” I smack his tooshie and reach for my jacket.

It’s been snowing out and I don’t want us to freeze to death while we have a car picnic.

We should be back by nightfall, anyway. Then we have to pack because we’re heading to San Diego tomorrow morning to spend Christmas with my folks, Tanner, Deb and Luca.

“You’ll do more than that,” he hollers, trying to catch me, but I’m too fast and dodge away from his grasp.

“You won’t get any birthday cake if you keep that up!”

“Oh, I’ll keep it up, Babe. Don’t worry about that.”

That earns him another eye roll and a chortle from me.

We head out to the lake after Jay puts his jacket on and a beanie, I follow suit since we’re going for matchy-matchy.

I place the little basket of goods into the car with two plastic wine glasses and some Pinot Grigio in a cooler.

Being extra vigilant, I carefully transport his cake and hold it on my lap for the car ride.

“Are you really sure this is what you want to do for your birthday? I could’ve taken you out to a restaurant,” I say as he navigates through some light snowfall.

“I don’t want to share today with anyone but you,” he says. “I’m selfish that way.”

“As long as you’re happy,” I say. And he’s been a lot happier of late, he is taking small steps with his mom, no huge leaps because we both know it has to be a small thing if and when he’s ready.

They message from time to time, but he still hasn’t talked to her since he spoke to his uncle Leo.

I don’t know if a visit will be on the cards anytime soon, but time will only tell.

“I’m happiest when I’m with you,” he says, reaching over to place his hand on my thigh. “I love you, J.”

“I love you, too.”

“Even in this reindeer sweater?

I giggle, pulling at his sleeve. “Yes, I bought it for you. So even then.”

We’re there in no time at all. We even brave it when the snow stops for a little bit, opening up the back of his SUV where he’s placed a beige checked blanket in the back.

Lifting the boot, we sit on the edge and tuck into the picnic hamper I’ve packed.

There’s hot coco in a flask, and a container with the homemade spinach and ricotta pastries he loves so much, they’ve kept warm in the tinfoil with some mini quiches.

I’ve done a round of cheese and tomato sandwiches too.

“Are you sure you don’t love me just for my cooking?”

“I love you for other things too,” he says, “not just the cooking.”

“Well, you’re really gonna love this then.”

It’s time for me to grab the birthday cake from the back. Of course, he saw me making it last night because he spent the whole day in the cabin with me, but I wouldn’t let him peek at the final touches.

Retrieving the cake, I’m so glad it’s not snowing as I stick the sparklers in the top of it.

I walk around to the back of the SUV where I insisted he wait. He’s taken his jacket off and poured us both a mug of steaming coco. It’s actually a beautiful afternoon with the sun trying to break through the clouds.

“Happy birthday, Baby.” I rest the cake on the empty spot where I was sitting and pull the matches out of my pocket, quickly lighting the sparklers that fizz to life in an instant.

Jay is all smiles, glancing from the cake up to me. “You sneak,” he says, “Double chocolate frosting?”

“You guessed it.”

He reaches for me and pulls me close to him as the tiny flickers from the sparklers glow over the cake, fizzing away in the crisp air. “Thank you.” He kisses me and I melt into his arms.

“I just hope we don’t freeze to death before we get to eat the cake.”

Jay laughs heartily. “No chance of that happening with you around, plus, we have coco.” He nods towards the two cups he’s set down beside the cake.

“I should cut us a slice,” I say. “But since you can’t blow these kinds of candles out, maybe just make a wish before they fizzle.”

He quirks a smile up at me, cheeky and unassuming. “What if I have everything I need right here?”

I catch my breath on his words, he really is the sweetest. “There must be something else you want?”

He thinks for a moment, resting his head on his hand. “Maybe a week here with you in the cabin alone with no people or interruptions. We’d only get out of bed when absolutely necessary.”

“Off season is looking up,” I giggle.

“You have no idea.”

I cut us a slice of cake each using a knife from the picnic basket, and grab two plastic plates. Jay moans appreciatively when he bites into it. “This is the best fucking birthday ever,” he says. “And our first together. Thank you for making it so special.”

“I love doing this for you, and I can’t wait for many more.”

His phone buzzes right after I swipe some chocolate frosting from his face after he’s finished his cake, and lick my finger. “Ah shit,” he curses as he looks down at the screen, a second later he flashes it toward me.

Mom flashed up on the screen.

My heart thuds. Oh shit . He folds his lip under and I’ve no idea what he’s gonna do for a moment. I don’t want anything to upset his special day.

“Should I answer?” he breathes.

“I don’t know, Jay. It’s up to you.”

He holds my gaze for a moment and takes a deep breath. I see him swipe his finger across. “Hello,” he says into the receiver.

“Jay?” His mom sounds surprised he picked up, and I am too.

“Yeah. It’s me,” he confirms.

There’s a slight pause. “I just wanted to say happy birthday.”

Jay glances up at me, wide-eyed, then lets out another deep sigh. “I’m surprised you remembered.”

“Of course I did. Thank you for calling Uncle Leo, he told me. Look, I won’t keep you, I just wanted you to know I’m thinking of you and I hope we can meet one day soon. There’s things to say.”

“We’ll see,” he finally says.

“I do love you, Jay. I always have, I’m so sorry I showed it so poorly, or not even at all.”

He glances at me, tears rim his eyes as I hold my hands over my mouth. “I appreciate that. This is gonna take me a bit to work through, though.”

“I understand. Take all the time you need. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Happy birthday.”

She hangs up and Jay stares at me, it takes a few solid moments before he says anything. “Did that just happen?”

I squeeze him tight and kiss the side of his head as we share a long embrace. “Jay, I’m so proud of you. Oh, my god.”

He blows out an even bigger breath than before. “I can’t believe she said any of that.”

“It was nice of her to call, not knowing if you’d answer or even talk to her.”

“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I agree.”

“Time will tell,” I say. “Like you’ve said before. It really will. Baby steps.”

He pauses. “Do you have any more of those cake sparklers?” he asks as I clear up our plates and put the cake back in the box and store it safely again so we can have more later.

“A whole box,” I reply. “Why?”

“They were kinda fun. I’ve never had those before, how about we light one up each and make a toast to us? I think I need one after that phone call.”

“That sounds perfect.” I find a sparkler each and sit back down, striking a match as I light them up and we watch the flicker of each stick as they ignite. We both wave them around watching them glow like we’re kids, our laughter echoing through the air as the snow lightly falls once more.

The sparklers kind of reminds me of our love. It started with a spark and slowly grew to so much more. And now here we are. I smile at Jay as he holds his out front while he leans in to kiss me.

“You and me, for keeps,” he whispers against my mouth. I reach up to touch his chin, the gentle hiss and spark of our candles lighting the way in our little celebration.

“For keeps,” I whisper back.