Page 15

Avalon

A muzzy blanket surrounded me as I drifted halfway between sleeping and waking, safe in Parrish’s arms. His stamina on the ice transferred to his endurance in bed.

I’d lost count of how many times I’d come as we’d had sex.

Around two, we’d taken a break to eat, Parrish raiding the kitchen and bringing back sandwiches, fruit and water.

Then we’d gone at it again, as if a switch had been flipped and we couldn’t switch it back.

Or didn’t want to. We’d both been alone for so long, and what we found was a gift I’d never expected.

And now, peace filled me as I lay within the circle of his embrace as he spooned behind me.

Warmth filled me, and I didn’t want to leave this intimacy anytime soon.

Except, I knew he had practice in a couple hours, and I’d need to head to my campus job at midmorning.

Such was the plight of a girl who only had a scholarship and a student loan to cover school and a few basics.

Beep-bee-bee-boop-bee-doo-wee .

Wrenched from my semi-sleep state, I sighed, frustrated by the R2-D2 chirp that had sounded from my phone to notify me of a message. It was across the room in my backpack, and I didn’t want to move. I closed my eyes again, determined to ignore it.

Beep-bee-bee-boop-bee-doo-wee .

Shit.

Grumbling quietly, I disentangled myself from Parrish.

He slept like the dead and hadn’t stirred at the noise from my cell, which made me a little worried about his practice in a little while.

After crawling off the end of the bed, I scrabbled around for my shirt.

Coming up with Parrish’s first, I slipped it on then found my panties, dressing in them too before my phone sounded again.

Digging through my bag, I found it. The display lit up the room as I squinted at it to see who was texting me.

It wasn’t a text.

Huh? My lock screen said it was a tag from my sister on social media.

Weird. She never tagged me. Standing, I flicked open the app then stared aghast at what I saw.

My eyes started to burn as I took in the post with almost everyone she knew tagged.

Pictures…of her wedding. To a guy I hadn’t known about.

Hell, I hadn’t even known she was dating.

My brother smiled in the background of a couple of the pictures of what appeared to be a small but fancy ceremony.

The fuck…

My ass hit the bare floor hard as I dropped onto it, unable to comprehend the level of callousness before me. I’d talked to both my siblings over the past couple days, yet they had so little disregard for me that I was learning about my sister’s wedding via a social media post.

“What’s wrong?” Parrish asked urgently from the bed.

Instantly awake, he shot upright and was climbing from beneath the blankets before he’d finished speaking.

He rushed to me, not noticing or seeming to care that he was naked and erect again.

He scooped me up and carried me back to the bed, sitting on the edge with me cradled in his lap.

“I like how you pick me up like it’s nothing,” I whispered into his chest while I burrowed in. I wasn’t alone anymore. I had Parrish. We had each other.

“It is easy, but it’s not nothing. You’re precious to me,” he said into my hair before he pressed a kiss to my crown.

I huffed a watery laugh.

“What?” he asked.

I offered him my phone, and he looked at the screen.

“I don’t understand? Who is that?”

“That’s what woke me. The notification from the post. The woman in the wedding dress is my sister. The guy in the background, in the gray suit, is my brother. She just posted the pictures and tagged me on social media. She got married, and this is how I’m finding out.”

“Baby,” he whispered, his arms tightening around me.

“It’s… I know how they are, how they resent me. I told you about it. But God, they must actually hate me. To…exclude me so…fully. It hurts to see how far they’ve pushed me out of their lives.” I sniffled, my nose reacting to the tears burning in my eyes. “It hurts.”

“It’s an asshole thing to do,” he rasped. “Not telling you then just tagging you. I know she’s your sister, but what a bitch. There’s no excuse… I’m so sorry, Avie.”

A tear rolled down my cheek, my chest tight from the loss I hadn’t realized until that post. “I knew I was on my own, but I didn’t think I’d been disowned, that I don’t have a family.”

“You do. You do have a family. Not your blood family, but you do have the family you’ve made.

You have Nash and Porter who would both kill for you…

and you have me, if you’ll have me. I’m not planning to go anywhere.

Then you’ll have my brother and my sisters, too.

It’ll get kinda crowded, kinda fast. We’ll need a big house. ”

His words were so sweet, and I shook as they loosed the sob crushing my chest. I cried, clinging to him, his hand rubbing my back while he whispered to me.

I didn’t know how long it was until I started to settle, but I heard the catch in his voice, the tremble of his emotions while he told me I wasn’t alone.

“You’re not alone. You have us,” he rasped, and I knew it wasn’t the first he’d said it.

My hands clenched on his sides, my face still buried between his pecs. My breathing hitched while I tried to regain control.

“You’re not alone. You have us,” he repeated.

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re right. It still…hurts.”

“I know, baby. I know.” His hand smoothed along my back. Up and down. Up and down. “I wish I could make it go away.”

“I know.”

“What can I do for you? How can I help?” he asked. “Do you need me to call Nash?”

That he’d offer up my best friend, a guy, spoke volumes. He’d do whatever I needed, give me whatever I needed. All I needed, though, was him.

I shook my head. “No. I just want you. Can I go with you to practice again this morning and watch? Get my mind off it?” I asked. Really, I just didn’t want to be away from him until I had to work. My sister’s surprise wedding was a blow I wouldn’t easily shake off.

“Yeah, you can come. I liked having you there yesterday.” As if on cue, his phone alarm went off. Still holding me, he reached down for his pants and grabbed the cell to turn it off. He tossed the device onto the bed but made no move to let me go.

“Are you going to comment on the post?” he asked.

“She tagged a ton of people along with me. I could say something about how horrible it was to find out this way and let everyone know how shitty she is to do this to her sister. But no, I don’t think I will.

” I shook my head, not believing this turn.

“If she doesn’t want me in her life, I’ll take the hint.

I might be younger, but I can be the bigger person.

She’ll regret it later. Maybe. But I won’t. ”

“Well, you could eviscerate her without even making it obvious. You have a way with words. You sure kept me hooked on your emails for a year.”

I laughed, despite my sadness. “Well, I am an English major, and spoiler alert: we write a lot. Plus I write other stuff—something my siblings have told me for years is ridiculous.”

Actually, my brother had point blank said, don’t expect us to support you while you chase rainbows .

Clearly, he’d been trying to tell me something else, too.

“What do you write?” Parrish asked.

“Don’t laugh, okay?”

“I wouldn’t…unless. You’re not writing some sort of Draco and Hermione fanfic, are you?”

“No, I’m not writing Dramione fanfic. I write romantic fantasy—romantasy. Dragons. Warriors. Magic. That sort of thing.”

He stilled, and when I looked up at him, he was staring at me, his awed gaze full of interest. “I want to read it.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “When do you have to get to the rink?”

“About twenty minutes. Want to shower together?” He stood, putting me on my feet, then held out a hand to me. After dropping my phone onto the blankets near his, I clasped his fingers.

“Yes.” Maybe, we had time for more than just getting clean. A girl could hope.

His eyes scanned over me. “I like you in my clothes. You should wear one of my jerseys today. Show everyone you’re mine.”

“Okay.” I followed him into the bathroom and admired his sculpted ass while he reached into the shower to turn on the water. He smirked when he turned and caught me staring. Oh well, it wasn’t a secret I found him mouthwatering. Thankfully, he seemed to feel similarly about me.

He reached for the shirt I wore and skimmed it off. “Do you wanna go house hunting with me this weekend?”

“What? Where?” I asked in surprise as I shimmied out of my panties. “Don’t you need to wait and see what will happen with pros?”

He shook his head. “Baby girl, we’re going to Charleston.

The Lynx are ready to sign me as soon as I graduate.

I start training this summer. That’s the deal my agent worked out so I could finish college first. And that’s when I’ll get my signing bonus.

Truthfully, I could already be playing out the season with the Lynx, but I needed to prove something to my family.

My parents said I’d be a worthless jock. And I’m not.”

Shaking my head, I stepped close and loosely wrapped my arms around his waist. Going to my toes, I pressed a kiss to his jaw then leaned into him, my breasts flat to his chest as he held me there.

“You’re not,” I echoed vehemently.

“I’m glad I didn’t drop out to play. I wouldn’t have found you, if I did.”

A cloud of icy dread washed through me at the thought. Thank God, he’d been stubborn and needed to prove a point.

Parrish smiled softly before his forehead tipped to mine. “So…? Charleston this weekend?”

Because we would be together…which meant I’d live in Charleston, too. “Yeah.”

“And you’ll come with me to Michigan in June to get my brother and sisters? The girls will definitely want a female presence to support them, someone to show them life outside of that existence.”

It didn’t pass my notice that he’d totally shifted my attention from my sister’s surprise wedding and onto our future, giving me the distraction I’d asked for—giving me so much more. He was scheduling our future and making it clear we were together in it.

“Yes. I can’t wait to meet them,” I agreed.

His grip around me tightened. “And after graduation? Do you have a job lined up, or can you move with me to Charleston?”

“No job yet.”

“You can write. Show your family, just like I’m showing mine. Or…” He winked. “Be my trophy girlfriend…eventually my trophy wife.”

“Parrish,” I laughed.

“I mean, look at this cute ass. Total WAG material.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I am not twerking.”

“WAGs are wives and girlfriends.” He kissed me quickly before pulling me into the shower and pressing me up against the cool tiles. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I’ll get you up to speed on all the hockey lingo.”

I wrapped my arms and legs around him as he lifted me. “All I care about is you.” His arousal pushed into my folds, and I groaned. “You’re gonna be late for practice.”

“Don’t care. The extra laps will be totally worth it. Now, take the captain’s cock like a good girl.”

A thrill went through me. “Whatever you want, Captain.”

And as he thrust, showing me exactly what he wanted, I saw stars…and the unexpected bright future lain out before us.

Who would have guessed a misdirected email from a stranger would land me with the man of my dreams? Not me. But wow, was I thankful it had.