Page 43 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

Snow drifts against the window in lazy spirals. Everything outside looks like a blur of white. The fire crackles in the fireplace, its glow spilling across the walls of our little cottage. Our cottage. Every time I sit here, I can’t believe it’s real. The cedar beams, the stone fireplace, the wide windows overlooking the pines. It smells like home. Like wood smoke, pine, and Luc.

He comes in from outside, cheeks flushed red, snow dusting his hair and shoulders. He shakes it off as he drops the last armful of firewood by the hearth. His dark eyes catch mine, and my chest tightens. I missed him so much. Philadelphia has been good to us. I love my program, and he’s thriving on his team but nothing compares to being back in Val-Du-Lys, back in the quiet where it’s just us. It was a busy start to the year with me diving head first into my studies and Luc travelling almost non-stop with the team. We needed this break. I was counting down the days until we could return here, to Val-Du-Lys. Not only so we could see our family but also to have this. . . a moment for just us.