Page 17 of Unrivaled Love (D.C. Renegades #2)

Bryson

Clearing the sweat permeated air.

Now I’ve gone and done it. That was too far. I shouldn’t have pushed it but, Jesus, the second my mouth captured hers I heard birds chirping as the heavens sang. Angels danced. Pigs took flight.

My body and soul need Josephine Hamilton.

Jo didn’t understand my issue with restarting at the beginning of the season but she might get it more than someone else.

And she’s the only other one here.

Even if the house was full I’d only want to be with Jo.

There isn’t a force strong enough to pull me from her again.

When I thought she hurt herself under the shattered light my heart stopped. I’ve been in plenty of tense moments. Have experienced my share of pain. But my body has never been gripped with fear like that before.

I thought only lady hockey had my heart.

No, Jo Hamilton has the precious organ in the palm of her hand.

My nervous system settled into bliss as I kissed her. And, she fucking kissed me back before she pulled away. I can still see the desire in her dangerous green eyes.

We obviously have things we need to discuss. Grievances to air. And as soon as she has the opportunity to be distracted by her phone or her book or the chance to just drive away in a functioning vehicle we won't get the chance to talk. So this is it .

It is now or never. Final seconds on the clock when the game is tied. I need to take the shot and hope it finds the target.

"C'mon," I say as I start walking out of the room as nonchalantly as I can with a boner.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to show you where I hid the scissors."

I hear her footsteps pad behind me as I make my way to the front door. I open it and gesture for her to step in front of me. As she does her beautiful green eyes narrow and watch me suspiciously.

Okay, that's fair, this could easily be a trap. But I'm off that now. The game plan has changed. Instead of driving her insane with the intent to annoy her, I'm going to drive her insane with the intent to attract her.

Not arouse, because I've already done that and she pushed me away.

My goal now is to get her to want to open up to me. I clearly need to rebuild some trust and get her onside.

She waits for me to lead the way and I step past her towards the driveway. I wince at the sight of her smashed car. And the buzzing of the live wires in the air is a little terrifying. We steer clear and I approach the garage door and open the keypad.

"No power." She says in a dummy voice and I have to bite back my remark. Insulting her is not a good idea.

I move over to the little handle thing on the door and twist it like I saw my dad do once. I'm honestly not sure what's supposed to happen so imagine my delight when the door pops up a few inches.

"No problem, Killer." I tell her with a wink and I lift the door up the rest of the way.

Jo follows me into the garage and I head to the corner with all the hockey equipment.

Sticks are lined up along the wall. There's a bag of pucks hanging off a utility hook. And below them is a closed storage bin. In it are all the pads and gloves I grew out of but my parents never drove back to Grand Junction to resell.

The sweat in that equipment has fermented over the years being trapped inside this bin.

Jo knows it too because as soon as I move to pop the corner of the lid she backs up and covers her nose.

"You seriously put the scissors in there? We'll need to disinfect them!" She says with her nose pinched.

I chuckle but it gets cut short as the scent accosts my nostrils.

I manage to hold in my gag as I reach in and pull out the scissors and then the kitchen knives I also hid here.

"We should probably burn these," I say as I set them on the ground.

"Absolutely." She agrees with her nasally voice. I close the lid and lower the garage door. We head back to the front door and Jo uses the key to let us in.

"So are the pranks over now?" Jo asks as I start to cut down the yarn.

"Sure," I tell her. "I was running out of ideas anyways."

"No you weren't." She laughs and I join her because she's right.

I've got dozens of ideas for pranks I could pull on her but I want to do them in good fun. I want a future with her where we can prank each other and joke around and end the teasing with kisses and hugs.

Maybe it was seeing her sad. Maybe it was some of her confession that I commandeered. But I get the sense Jo needs a friend.

And I was her friend once.

And, being her friend is a good place to start if I want to be more than her friend.

"I was going to use these," Jo says as she holds up the nail clippers that were on the counter.

"To cut through all this yarn?" I ask with a laugh .

"That's all I had! And you were smart to hide the scissors in that bin. I would have never willingly opened it."

"I can be pretty smart if I put my mind to it."

"You can be very smart, Bryson." She says and I take the compliment with a smile and continue cutting the yarn.

***

"My mom is going to kill you for wasting all this by the way." Jo says as she helps me stuff the yarn into a garbage bag.

We’ve worked well together to get the yarn cut down. The angry tension is gone, the sexual tension too, as my erection deflated. The sun is setting but things feel brighter in the house despite the fading light.

"I'll replace it."

"Sure you will."

"Listen, I might not have the biggest contract in the NHL but I make enough to replace your mom's yarn stash." I look around the room. "And a lamp, and a hanging light thing."

"And a car?"

"You want me to buy you a new car?"

"Well, you did wreck it."

"Can't we get insurance to do it?"

"I'm sure insurance will be interested to know the car was totaled as the result of a prank."

"You wouldn't."

"I need a car, Bryson." She says with an adorable little shrug that doesn’t tell me she wouldn’t do it. I'm not sure I'm willing to risk her tattling on me .

"Okay fine, I'll buy you a new car."

Her eyes kind of bug out as she continues to look down at the mess we're cleaning up. My money manager and I chat often. He’s more than an accountant, he helps me plan for larger investments.

Last year Aiden’s home search had me thinking about starting my own.

Doug and I decided to wait since the mortgage rate on my condo was locked in for another couple of years.

With the bag full, I tie the ends and then walk over to the corner of the room where I set it down. Under the sink is a dust pan so I grab it and start to sweep up the broken glass and lightbulb fragments now that the yarn is out of the way.

"I just realized something," Jo says as I dump the dustpan into the trash.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Well, the sun is going to go down."

"Yeah?" I lead.

"And we won't have electricity."

"Right."

"So it'll be dark."

"Yes. What's the problem?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark or anything but it's going to be weird."

"I guess so, we'll have to see just how dark it gets. Hopefully the clouds don't come in and we can use some moonlight."

"Okay," Jo says quietly. I rinse off my hands and then turn to get two glasses out of the cabinet. I fill one for her, and one for me. I take a sip as I hand her the water and she takes a sip and looks out over the patio.

We drink next to each other and look out at the woods.

"So, what are we going to do now?" She asks me and I shrug.

"We could sit outside and read next to each other." I suggest because I wouldn't mind getting lost in the book again.

"Okay," she says quietly. "But I'm still pissed you spoiled it for me. "

"It was an accident! You're the one who picked up my copy!"

She chuckles to let me know she is almost ready to find this funny. I head outside while she gets her copy.

When she joins me I look her up and down. I'm dying to know why she doesn't have other clothing here but I don't want to push her either. She has expertly deflected any time I try to ask and I don’t want to send her running again.

We don't exchange any words as she settles into the corner of the outdoor sofa. I find myself distracted from the words on the page as I watch her reading over the top of my book.

"No way," she mutters under her breath.

"What?" I ask, curious to know where she's at in the story.

She lowers the book to her lap and shakes her head in disbelief. "Flora just avoided getting poisoned by the Serpent Queen!"

"Oh yeah, that was a close call."

"Do you still hate snakes?" She asks as she keeps her eyes on the page.

"They're the devil's creatures." I tell her with a shudder. Snakes are the literal worst thing I can imagine.

"Huh." Jo says and it feels like there's more to uncover there but she keeps going so I don't get a chance to dig deeper. "I'm surprised you've read these books where a Serpent Queen is a major character. She's been in every book and that snake pit scene in book two even creeped me out."

"Yeah, I was barely able to get through that." And then I remind myself I'm trying to get her to be honest with me so I pave the way. "Actually, I skipped over those scenes and always read slowly when the Serpent Queen is on the page."

She laughs and I light up inside. The sound is melodic. My chest fills with pride because I put that joy on her face. This is the feeling I want to chase. This is my purpose.

"I love that," she says at the end of her chuckle and I just nod to myself .

Atta boy Bryson.

***

The sun has set and it's getting too dark to read. I closed my book a while ago and have been watching Jo get completely lost in this story. She brings the book up to her nose, no doubt to try reading in the dark, and instead of poking fun at her I start to look around for a spot with more light.

There really aren't any, the moon isn't high enough in the sky yet. But after the slide of her page turn, she reads for another thirty seconds and then closes the book.

"How far did you get?" I ask.

"She and Sigrun just got to the hut."

"Oh, nice." I want to tell her they hook up and then have to save each other when a mudslide threatens to wash the hut away but, I don't.

"So, why are you reading Raven Squall ?" She asks me.

"Because it's good." I state simply.

"Well, yeah, but not a lot of men read stuff like that."

"No, but I'd argue they're missing out. I don't usually read romantasy during the season, it's too much to remember with all the worlds and magic systems."

"Do you read other stuff during the season?" She asks as she shifts in her seat a little and sets the book to the side.

"Yeah, I uh, read romcoms usually."

"Really?" She asks with a little laugh.

“Yes really.” Suddenly feeling indignant. “They're entertaining and low stakes and help me reduce my stress levels.”

"What's your favorite? "

"I couldn't possibly pick a favorite."

"Fine then, who is your favorite author?"

I think back through some of my favorite titles from the last year. When we have long stretches of away games I can read a few books in that week but the ones that have stuck with me are all by the same author. "Bryn K. Lee." I tell her and she looks surprised.

"Bryn K. Lee? The author of all those summer baseball stories?"

"Yes."

"Do you have an athlete kink Bryson Svoboda?"

Yes. Absolutely, I do. But she's not ready to hear it yet.

"No," I insist in a tone that tells her I very well might have an athlete kink. "What about you? Why are you reading Raven Squall ?"

"I like the escape to another world." She admits quietly.

"Why do you need to escape?" I can't help but ask. There is a three ring circus of emotions happening on her face and I am praying she decides to let me in. I am hungry for any bit she’ll give me.

"Same as you, like, the season gets to be a lot. And since I started with the US team too, there's been even more."

"I'm so proud of you for that, by the way." I tell her sincerely.

"Sure, thanks." She says dismissively and before I get the chance to question it she stands abruptly. "Who wants to eat room temperature yogurt for dinner?"