Page 29 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

L uc

It feels like a whirlwind living on the Thorne property.

On the one hand, this was the beautiful, well-kept, well-loved property I grew up beside.

Our property was nowhere close to its size.

When Mom was alive she cared for our small piece of land.

She built flower gardens and vegetable gardens.

It didn’t take long for them to wither away after her death.

Our house may not have been fancy, but Mom injected her own style and love.

It was a home and not the trash can it’s become.

When Mom died, the Thornes opened their home to Elyna and me since Papa was in a worse state than his usual.

They treated us like family, which is something we didn’t have.

Now Phoenix Thorne is taking us in. Giving us a safe place to stay.

He gave Elyna more hours at the microbrewery, and I was here to watch my nephew, usually with Izzy’s help.

The job I had scheduled at the lumberyard fell through.

When Eric heard, he offered me the early morning shift at the orchard.

It means I wake up with the rise of the sun, but I’ll take it because the money is good and it allows me to help Elyna with Braden during the day.

The Thornes have a way of stepping up for those they love.

It’s the reason Izzy offered to fake date me off the bat. I just hope I won’t let her down.

Me: Are you ready?

The balls roll but a response doesn’t come right away.

Izzy: I’ll meet you outside. Asher is being a pain in my ass.

I smile at her message. Each of her brothers now knows we are together, and each one has had a slightly different reaction to the news.

Becket saw us kissing, so I appreciate how weird that was.

Eric warned me not to hurt her and then proceeded to shake my hand.

He also told me I was a good guy. Asher went off on a rant about how we’re bros, and how could I go behind his back and date his sister?

I am friends with Asher. He’s just over a year older than me and we went to the same high school.

It didn’t make sense that he would feel betrayed though.

We’ve learned a lot of people in Val-Du-Lys put money on us getting together.

The large wooden door of the main house opens and Izzy struts outside wearing a pair of black short shorts and a white tank top.

I can see she has a bathing suit on and a blanket in her hand since I told her we’re going to Mont Erable, which translates to Maple Mountain.

It’s an eighteen-meter waterfall that branches into a river.

The area around the waterfall is covered in trails and greenery, making it one of the more private waterfalls in Quebec.

We used to go there a lot as teenagers in the summer and enjoyed swimming in the cool water.

The annoying part of everyone knowing we are together means we barely have any alone time unless we are sneaking off, and that can be tricky.

“We can take one of the ATVs,” Izzy suggests, since neither of us has a car and it is a good thirty-minute walk to get there.

“Sure,” I say.

“We have one parked in the garage,” she says.

I follow her to the garage. “Do you want to drive or should I?” Izzy asks.

“Your call,” I say to her.

“Okay.” She puts on a helmet and passes me one. She gets on first, which means she’s driving. I place the picnic basket in a storage compartment where she placed the blanket, and I hop on the back and hug her waist.

“Ready?” She smiles looking back at me.

“As I’ll ever be.” I grin.

She laughs and shakes her head, then we take off.

“I’ve got plans for us when we get there,” I say into her ear.

“Oh yeah, care to share?” she asks.

“I plan on laying out that blanket and having my way with you,” I say to her.

“I figured that much. I can feel how hard your cock is against my ass.” She laughs.

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy. I’m pressed up into you. It’s hot.” I allow my hand to slide up and cup her breast.

“Luc, I need to focus, you’re distracting me,” she complains.

I remove my hand. “Sorry, I’m impatient.” We pass through the beautiful trees and greenery that goes on for miles. When we get close to the waterfall, she parks the ATV.

“We should go for a swim,” she suggests, lifting her tank top over her head, exposing a royal-blue bikini top that doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

“Whoa, Izzy. . . that’s. . .” She’s never worn a bikini here before. Izzy always preferred a one-piece conservative bathing suit, usually in black.

“I ordered it from Victoria’s Secret. I wanted something sexy to wear for you. Although, it took you long enough to bring me here.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” I ask.

“Baby steps, Luc. You know me. It’s hard for me to say what I want,” she reminds, and I can tell how vulnerable she is right now.

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her neck, but I keep an arm’s length distance so I can look at her. “You sure have come a long way since we’ve been together.”

“It’s all you. You make me feel confident and beautiful,” she says.

“That means a lot, Izzy. But I think what’s really made the difference is you. The way you’ve started believing in yourself. That kind of confidence doesn’t come from anyone else.”

Her smile is so warm it touches my heart. “You have a way of building me up.”

“I’m worried to ask if fucking West didn’t do that,” I say, feeling my jaw growing tight.

“He wasn’t like you. He was condescending. Made me question everything I did. Made me feel like I wasn’t enough. It wasn’t blatant or anything. It was the small things he’d pick on.”

“I want to wring his neck,” I growl.

“We can’t have you do that.” she giggles. “Now please tell me you brought swim shorts.”

“I put them in the picnic basket. I thought we’d make out on the blanket,” I suggest.

“Ah uh, we’re going swimming. Now get yourself changed.”

I reach over into the picnic basket and pull out my swim shorts. Izzy removes her shorts to reveal the bottom of the bathing suit.

“It’s that Brazilian cut,” she says, giving her butt a wiggle.

I remove my shorts and slip on the swim shorts, then Izzy is taking me by the hand toward the area that is a pool of water and rocks at the bottom of the falls.

“Let’s jump in on three,” she says.

“This feels like old times,” I say.

We count and jump in on three.

I scream when my body hits the water.

“It’s cold.” I shiver as I emerge from the water.

Izzy emerges and dips her head back to get her hair off her face. A wet Izzy in a sexy bikini feels like a dream come true.

“I’ve had fantasies of us in this place,” I confess.

“It’s hard for me to believe. You had me in the friendliest of friend zones,” she reminds.

“That’s because I needed you to believe that. You have always been the most important person in my life. I couldn’t risk losing you,” I admit. “You know I have a tendency of screwing up. It makes me scared that I’m like my father.”

She wraps her arms around my neck. “You’ll never lose me. I’m right here, and you are nothing like your dad. I don’t know how you can say that. Even though Elyna is older, you’ve taken care of her. You’re helping her with Braden and you’ve been an amazing boyfriend.” She kisses me.

“I’m still scared of doing something to screw things up between us. Here in Val-Du-Lys we are in our own little bubble. What happens when we go back to school? You see how the girls are around the team.” I frown.

I feel her pulling away. “Are you saying you want us to end things before going back to school?” She swallows hard. “Because we always said we had an expiration date.”

“No,” I refute, feeling like my throat is closing at the thought of not having Izzy in my life.

“I always want to be with you. I’m just terrified that I can’t give you everything you need.

I love you, Isabelle, more than life itself.

Not in a friendly way, but in a way that makes me want to make you my forever, but I won’t have kids.

Not with the way I grew up. Not with how Papa is. Addiction probably runs in my family.”

Izzy’s eyes swell with tears. “I love you too, Luc. I know we said we would take things slow, but how can we be slow when I’ve been in love with you since I was a girl?

No one knows me like you do, and I know you too.

You’re a good man, and I understand why the thought of kids is something that scares you.

I’ve told you from the start, we can take things slow and I am still on board with that.

As long as it’s only me you want, I’m in.

I’ve seen how you’ve been with Braden these past few weeks.

You’re an amazing uncle, and one day I think you would make an amazing father, but I know it doesn’t matter what I think.

Just like I had to find my own self-confidence, you need to reach those conclusions on your own.

I’ll be here, Luc. No matter what you decide, I’m in this with you,” she declares.

“You’re an angel, Isabelle Thorne. I don’t think you understand how many times you’ve saved me from myself. I need time, and it would break my heart not to be able to give you everything you want. I know how much you want a big family.”

“Kiss me, Luc. Make love to me. Let’s not worry about those things today,” she says as she wraps her legs around my waist. I’m holding on to her waist as our lips come together.

Her lips are wet and cold, but when she slips me tongue, it’s warm.

As the sun beats down on us I get sucked into the kiss.

“Have sex with me here in the water,” she whispers, breaking the kiss.

I slowly remove a part of her top and I place my lips over her nipple. I suck on her nipple and her head tilts back. She looks like a goddess. As I move to the other nipple, she begins to grind on my cock.

“Is your pussy needy, Isabelle?” I ask.