Page 39

THIRTY-FOUR

Ellie

S o the jersey thing worked?” Sophia said, looking over at me from across the table. It had been a week since the last home game, and we’d decided to grab drinks to celebrate the end of the work week.

I laughed. “Yes. Maybe a bit too well.” I scrunched up my nose, thinking about how sore I’d been the next day. Though I mostly attributed that to us fucking against the wall and then him taking me again on the bed from behind. He’d been rough, but I’d liked it. Loved it, even. Especially when he’d been so caring, tenderly cleaning me up afterwards. The next morning, he’d brought me breakfast in bed before kissing my forehead and heading to catch a plane for their first away game.

Luckily, Zamboni had cuddled up to me and kept me company while he’d been gone. I tried not to notice his absence too much, since I was supposed to be used to it by now. It helped that he called me every night, and every time his smile filled my phone screen, I felt better.

“On a scale of one to ten, how many orgasms did he give you?” She asked me, picking at her plate of teriyaki noodles. She’d brought me to her favorite Japanese place, and the food was amazing. I definitely wanted to come back here with Owen sometime.

“Sophia!” My cheeks were bright red.

“What?” She shrugged. “It’s for science.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What, are you thinking of sleeping with one of your dad’s players?”

It was her turn to blush. “No. He’d kill me.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “It’s just…” Sophia sighed. “Never mind. It’s stupid.”

Laying my hand over hers, I squeezed it. “Whatever it is, I can assure you it’s definitely not stupid. And…” I lowered my voice. “The answer is four.”

“ Four ? Oh my god.” She fanned her face. “I’m twenty-four, and I’ve never even had one.” My friend gave me a little pout.

“Really?” I frowned. “Have you not…”

She shook her head, like she could guess where I was going with that. “I can, uh… have them by myself, you know. And I’ve had a few boyfriends. None of them could ever make me finish, though.” She bit her lip. “I had to fake it. Eventually, they all kind of… fizzled out.”

I could see why.

“Plus, I was never really sure if they were dating me for me, or because my dad was the Coach of a professional hockey team. When they started asking to come to games all the time or to meet the players, it just felt like they were… I don’t know… using me .”

Damn. “Sophia. That sucks. I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head. “It is what it is. I just think I’m overdue for some good, hot sex, you know?”

“With a hockey player?”

Sophia hummed. “I mean. They have great stamina, right?”

I couldn’t deny that. “ Really good stamina. I mean, if Owen’s any indication. He’s the only person I’ve ever been with, so I don’t have anything else to compare it to, but…” I held my face in my hands. “He’s amazing. And he’s so considerate and gentle with me, but then he’s also a little wild in bed, and it’s nothing like it was when we were younger.”

“But?”

“Why do you think there’s a but?” I frowned. “There doesn’t have to be a but.”

“I don’t know. You seem like you’re holding back. I’ve never even heard you call him your boyfriend.”

It was weird, because calling him my boyfriend almost felt like an understatement of what we were to each other. He was my everything. But… “We haven’t exactly put a label on it yet. I don’t know. I only moved in with him because my apartment flooded, and then we agreed to be friends and…” One thing led to another, and here we were.

“He asked you to stay, though, right?”

“What do you mean?”

She blinked. “Like, stay with him. Even after they fix your apartment.”

I hadn’t thought about it in weeks, mostly because I hadn’t even called my landlord for an update. He had told me to stay with him, but that was when I’d said I’d find a different place and not to impose on him. Had he said anything long term? “I…” Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sure he will,” Sophia said. “He’s probably so focused on hockey that he didn’t even think about it.”

“Yeah.” I forced a smile on my face. “I’m sure you’re right.” Besides, we had a dog together. He had to be thinking long term, right?

My teaching contract was technically only for a year, though, and it wasn’t like I’d reassured him I would stay in Seattle, either.

God, I couldn’t wait for him to get home. This definitely wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have over the phone.

Not when the l word had been on the tip of my tongue for the last week every time we hung up. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

Maybe I was just scared that the perfect bubble we were living in was going to pop.

Being treated as a WAG was a completely different experience than coming to games before. Was I Owen’s girlfriend? I still didn’t have an answer to that. But his expression when he’d gotten home three days ago, dropping his bag onto the floor and pulling me into his arms made me feel like I was.

Like he’d needed the comfort. Like he’d needed me. Zamboni had eagerly jumped on him a few minutes later, and then he was carrying me into the bedroom, showing me exactly how much he’d missed me.

Fuck, I was in too deep.

Especially when we were driving together to his games, and he kissed me before he left for the locker room and left me with Soph and the other wives and girlfriends. Tonight was no different. I hadn’t worn his jersey to the game tonight—since I realized quickly why most of the girls didn’t wear them to every game—but I could tell how much he loved having me there to watch him play.

“I take back what I said,” she whispered into my ear after he’d walked away.

I turned to her, the expression clear on my face. “Huh?”

“There’s no way he’s ever letting you go, Ellie.”

My cheeks flushed, but I tried to force my expression into a neutral one. “Maybe.”

“Definitely,” she insisted. “Now let’s go get food. I’m starving .”

“Great. I need a drink.” Laughing, I let her pull me along, chatting with the other girls and hanging out with the people that had become my friends over the last few weeks.

We went down to rink side for warm-ups, before Soph and I finally headed to our seats for the night.

Lauren was almost ready to pop, so she insisted on staying in the wives’ room, saying she could watch the game on the TV. I was pretty sure her husband was fretting over her more than usual, because she was so close to her due date, but she seemed content being here, rubbing her belly as she watched the screen.

Being close to the action on the ice was my favorite, so I couldn’t complain about the tickets, even if I had no desire to know how much Owen spent on them. He rarely threw his money around—or reminded me he was making millions every year—but I could tell this mattered to him.

And his coach seemed happy to have his daughter at his games. They seemed close, just from watching how they’d interact, and it made me miss my own parents. Owen’s were coming up soon, and I couldn’t wait to see my Aunt Noelle and Uncle Matthew—even if they weren’t blood related, I’d grown up at their house. And the last few months felt like eternity when I was used to seeing them every weekend.

“I love having you here,” Sophia confessed from my side as I licked ice cream off my cone. I’d wanted a sweet treat during the second intermission, and even though it was cold in the arena, I couldn’t deny myself a swirl soft serve cone. “It’s nice to have someone to hang out with.”

“Ditto, Soph.” I leaned my head on her shoulder. She was two years older than me, and in some ways, our relationship felt so much like Abigail and I’s. We texted constantly—often sending each other hockey clips we’d found on social media or funny posts—and I appreciated having a friend here in Seattle. “I’m so glad we became friends.”

Talking to her was just easy , and we hadn’t stopped the entire game, unless the guys had gotten a goal so we could cheer, or when Sophia had stood up to yell at the refs for their bad calls. I told her all about my class and how school was going, and she talked to me about her job as a personal trainer and how much she loved it.

I also noticed every time Rhodes Larsen ended up on the ice, her eyes didn’t seem to leave it, tracking him. She let out a little gasp when someone from the Florida team slammed him against the boards. Interesting.

It seemed like Sophia Donovan had a little crush on her dad’s star forward. I was rooting for her—at the very least, my girl deserved some good sex to make up for her shitty ex boyfriends. Plus, the man was tall and handsome, though he wasn’t my type, I could appreciate his physique.

The guys came back onto the ice as the third period started. Florida was being extra aggressive, trying to get the lead back since our guys currently were up by one with twenty minutes of regulation time left.

“Oh my god.” My hand flew up to my mouth as a member of the opposing team slammed Owen against the boards in what surely had to have been an illegal move. He went down hard, hitting the ice. His helmet smacked the surface, and I winced, knowing that couldn’t have been good for his neck.

Get back up, I willed him, unable to take my eyes off of him.

Finally, he did, heading to the bench and straight back to the locker room. He touched his eyebrow and then winced and— was that blood? The blood drained from my face.

“I—” I looked around wildly. “I have to go.” My chest grew tight, and I wasn’t sure I was breathing. “Fuck, Sophia, I—” I needed to see him. Needed to make sure he was okay. I let out a sound that was akin to a whimper.

Sophia grabbed my hand, squeezing. “Come with me. I can get you in there.”

“You can? Is that okay?” I bit my lip. “I don’t want to get Owen in trouble. ”

She nodded. “I’m the Coach’s daughter. No one says no to me. I’ve got the credentials.” She winked, and then tugged me towards the back area. It took a few minutes of winding through the tunnels until we stopped in front of the locker room door.

“This feels wrong,” I whispered.

My friend shook her head. “It’ll be okay. I promise. Don’t worry.”

I hoped she was right.

She softened her voice. “Hey. He’ll be okay,” she promised. “These hockey players—they’re made of tough stuff. I’ve seen them go down from worse and still walk it off and play the rest of the season. They’re probably just making sure he doesn’t have a concussion.”

I nodded. I knew that. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been around when he played hockey when we were kids. I’d seen his teammates get hurt and go out with injuries. But she didn’t know the reason I’d stopped skating. That I’d let an injury keep me off the ice for years. That I was panicking for myself as much as I was for him.

Because seeing him go down had reminded me of my accident, and my fear had overtaken me. The logical part of me knew it hadn’t been too bad, because he’d walked off the ice himself, but the other part couldn’t help but be scared. I couldn’t lose him. Not like this.

She knocked on the door before opening it, peeking inside, like she was making sure everyone was decent. Sophia said something to someone inside, and then was ushering me into the locker room. My eyes widened at the space. I’d seen the locker room in interviews, but never in person. It was a large, circular room with the Seals logo lit up on the ceiling, the whole thing practically in shades of blue and gray from the logo and jerseys.

I barely noticed any of it, though, zeroing in on the lone man sitting in the stall, a pack of ice pressed to his cheek as the team doctor checked him out. He’d already stripped out of his pads, just wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. There was a bandage over his eyebrow where he’d been bleeding, and he definitely looked worse for the wear.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, slapping a hand over my mouth as I moved towards him without thinking. He looked like he was in pain, and I hated it. I’d seen him take a lot of hits, but I was always grateful that he had never gotten seriously injured. Still, every game he’d ever left early from in his career was one where I’d been unable to breathe until I found out that he was okay.

Owen looked over at me, and his eyes instantly softened. The woman who had been checking on him gave him a nod, saying something else before she stepped out of the room.

“Come here, baby.” He opened up his arms, and I stepped between his legs. He rested his forehead against my middle, and I ran my fingers through his hair.

“Are you okay?”

“Better now.” He murmured, his legs closing in to trap me in place. “I’ll be okay. Just needed you.” Owen rubbed my back, holding me tight against him.

“Are you sure it’s alright that I’m back here?” I’d never been inside a locker room before, especially not while a game was still being played. I turned to say something else to Sophia, but she had slipped out without me noticing, leaving the two of us alone. That felt like an impossibility. Being alone with him here with no one else around?

He shrugged. “It’ll be fine. I’ll explain to Coach later if he asks. If he benches me a game for it, well…”

His eyes closed as I continued massaging his head. “That scared the fuck out of me, Owen,” I admitted. “Watching you go down. Not knowing if you were seriously hurt.”

When he tilted his head up to look at me, his face was filled with so much emotion, I almost couldn’t breathe. I had to look away to steady myself against from those beautiful, deep brown eyes that knew me better than I knew myself. Always had. Always would.

“I’m sorry, baby.” He nuzzled his face against my stomach once again. “It’s just part of the job. You know that.”

I did. I just never thought about what it would be like to see it in person. When he was younger, he hadn’t played at this level of physicality. The games hadn’t been so fast-paced and… brutal .

“Can we go home?” I asked, instead of responding to him. “I’m guessing you’re not going back on the ice for the rest of the night?”

He nodded. “In a bit.” He looked down at his clothes. “I need to shower first. I’m so sweaty.”

“Yeah.” I wrinkled my nose. “No offense, but you stink.”

Owen was hurt, a fact that I was trying to remind myself of, because he looked so hot, all sweaty and dirty.

He smirked. “What are you thinking, baby?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. Go shower.”

Standing up off the bench, he towered over me. “Come with me.”

“Owen.” I looked around, my cheeks no doubt a shade of bright pink. “We can’t. Someone could walk in.”

“They won’t,” he promised. “There’s still most of the period left. And the doctor already checked on me. I’m on concussion watch for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours since I hit my head pretty hard, but I told them I had a roommate.”

A roommate. Was that all I was?

His finger dipped under my chin, forcing my eyes to his. “I told them I have you, Ellie baby. That you’d take me home and take care of me.”

I blinked, my eyes filling with tears. Wrapping my arms around him instead of looking at him, I buried my head in his chest. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” I admitted, my breaths heaving in my chest. “Like it was my accident all over again.” My therapist had helped me after it, but I wasn’t completely cured from the panic attacks.

“ Baby .” The word was soft.

He picked me up, wrapping my legs around his chest as he walked us towards the shower.

“After my accident, I couldn’t get back on the ice. I kept having panic attacks any time I tried. And tonight, I just… I went back to that place.” If Sophia hadn’t been with me tonight, I wasn’t sure what would have happened.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing the crown of my head. “I should have been there.”

We were outside the showers, and he stripped me out of my top—a Seals sweatshirt I’d stolen out of Owen’s closet—and then my heeled booties, followed by my jeans, until I was in just my underwear in front of him. They were a matching yellow set, delicate lace with little daisies on them.

“Fuck, this color,” he groaned. “It’s my favorite.”

I laughed. “I thought your favorite was blue?”

He looked me straight in the eyes. “It hasn’t been. Not in a long time.” His teeth brushed over the lace, pressing a kiss to the spot between my breasts. “Yellow always reminded me of you. When you left, I looked for it everywhere. It was like, even though you weren’t with me, you were.”

Owen pulled his shirt off, revealing that damn six pack that shouldn’t have been so damn hot, and the deep v that continued under his shorts. He kicked them off too, and then with every piece of clothing between us shed, he led us into the large shower room and flipped on the shower.

“My favorite color is light blue,” I admitted. “Because of you.”

We let the warm water run over us, just staring at each other for a few beats. He still looked beautiful. A little banged up and definitely bruised, and he was still the only man I’d ever wanted .

His fingers ran over the eight tattooed onto my side, and I angled my head down to kiss the daisy he had etched on his forearm. I looped my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his in a soft kiss. But he didn’t let it stay that way for long, coaxing my mouth open, each stroke against my mouth spurring us on even further. Owen’s hard cock pressed against my stomach, and I pulled back. Showering with him here was one thing, but sex? I blushed as he brushed his fingertips over my hardened nipples. “Owen, we really shouldn’t?—”

“You’re perfect,” he murmured, grabbing the bottle of body wash off the ledge. Before he could squirt it into his palm, I took it from him, pouring a generous amount out onto my palms and rubbing them together to make a lather.

Then I stepped close to him and ran my hands all over his muscular body. The one that allowed him to dominate on the ice and in the bedroom. The one that was always taking care of me. Making me feel special.

Loved.

He deserved that, too.

After washing his chest and arms, I turned my attention to my body, lathering up my tits and stomach before stepping in close to him, wrapping my palm around his shaft and stroking slowly.

“Fuck.” He braced one hand on the shower wall as I continued washing his cock, running my fingertip around the crown. “I’m going to need to take care of this.”

“I’ll take care of you,” I said, ready to sink to my knees in front of him.

But Owen had a different idea, grabbing my arms and holding me against the shower wall. His lips were only a breath from mine, his cock pressed against me. If I raised my legs, it would barely take anything for him to push inside of me. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Let me make you feel good, baby.” I forgot everything else around us—including that we were in the locker room shower and the chances of someone coming in and finding us were high—as I ran my hands through his damp, dark blond strands.

He dropped his head to my shoulder. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Hey.” I whispered. “You do. You’re the best man I’ve ever met, Owen Harper. So don’t you dare tell me you don’t deserve me, when it’s the other way around.”

Owen grabbed my leg, bending it and holding it up, giving him the perfect angle to slide inside of me. I gasped at the sudden entry, letting out a low moan.

“Shhh, baby,” he said, his other hand coming around my waist and holding my back. “We have to be quiet, so no one comes looking for us.”

I nodded, biting down on my lip to keep from gasping out from each stroke of his cock into my pussy. The angle was insane, and even though he’d fucked me against the wall in our apartment the other night, this was completely different.

Maybe it was that anyone could catch us, or the way my nipples rubbed against his bare, soapy chest with every thrust, but it didn’t take long at all for me to climax, coming so hard I had to bite down on his shoulder to keep from crying out.

“Fuuuuck, baby,” he groaned. “I’m gonna come now. Take it all inside that sweet cunt, okay? I want to leave here knowing it’s dripping out of you.” His hand wrapped around my abdomen, pressing over the spot where his cock pressed against my cervix, and the added stimulation was almost too much.

“Oh my god, Owen,” I whimpered as he released inside of me, spilling his warm cum inside my body.

He kissed me softly before pulling out, finishing cleaning us up the rest of the way before we toweled off and I pulled back on my clothes. Maybe we were lucky, or maybe Sophia had just stayed outside to guard the locker room, but no one came inside the entire time. We were both fully dressed, but my hair was now damp, and anyone who had seen me before the game would definitely know we’d been up to something.

I blushed, and he pulled me in close, his lips pressing against my forehead. “Come on, Skater Girl. Let’s go home.”

“Wherever you go, Hockey Boy, that’s where I want to be.” The words slipped from my lips before I could think about what they meant, but I wasn’t sure it even mattered anymore.

Because that was my truth.

I’d follow him anywhere.