Page 16 of You Make It Feel like Christmas
Unsurprisingly, even his nephew was charmed by Maisie.
Not that Nick could blame him. Though, charmed wasn’t quite the right word for what Nick felt.
The night they spent together was rooted in attraction, lust, and chemistry.
It had shocked the hell out of him when he’d craved learning everything about her that he could.
They’d laughed and shared stories. She told him that she’d grown up in a house where learning and education were as vital as breathing.
And she’d felt… like she couldn’t breathe.
Nick had kissed the hell out of her in that moment and told her she could have his breath.
Fuck. She was right about his cheesy lines.
While they went to pay and get the gift wrapped, Nick poked around the store.
He’d bought gifts for his family and Colton.
But he didn’t have anything for the Smart family.
Or Maisie. What would she want? Something that wasn’t about a dollar value.
A gift for Maisie had to be something that said he saw her, understood her.
It should be something that put that dreamy look in her eyes like when her gaze caught on a beautiful sight right before she took a picture.
When his sister and Asher rejoined him, he held the door for them, smiled at the couple coming in. They did a double take in his direction, but he let the door go and kept walking.
“I need to go into town and grab a couple of things. Thought I’d take Asher with me,” he told Ellie.
“Can we go to Bits and Bites?” Asher asked.
“Kid, I don’t know if you need any more sugar,” Nick said with a laugh. He glanced at his sister. “How do you keep up?”
She smiled affectionately. “When you love someone or something fiercely, with every piece of yourself, you find a way.”
Asher didn’t seem to care that he didn’t get an answer because he raced off toward the house.
“You’ve always felt that way about hockey. But you seem different somehow. Is your knee really okay?”
He sighed, knowing she knew him too well to skirt around it. “It’s not healing as fast as I’d like. Normally, I’d be out a couple games, but I’m going on two weeks. The doc back home is worried about lateral movement and it still twinges uncomfortably.”
“What does that mean for your future?”
That was the question rolling around in his brain at warp speed.
“I don’t know.”
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Ellie nudged his hip with her own. “Okay, let’s switch topics to something else. Like, say, the melt-your-face-off chemistry between you and Maisie.”
Nick stopped and turned to stare at his sister. “First of all, that expression is a little dark and twisted. Second, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He knew, even before he looked over her head to avoid her eyes, that she wouldn’t buy it.
Her laughter carried on the subtle breeze as the house came into view. “Right. No idea at all. You haven’t been staring at her like she’s water and you’re dying of thirst. You haven’t been flirting and going out of your way to be in her vicinity. You didn’t put on animal pajamas for her.”
“We’re not talking about this.” He hastened his step. If there was anything he didn’t want to talk about more than his career, it was Maisie. Especially with his sister.
“Nice. We can open my life up like a bag of cookies but yours gets to stay sealed shut.”
She started to walk past him but he grabbed her arm, stopped her. “I wore the pajamas for Asher.” He wanted to tell her the worry that was digging into his rib cage about Maisie.
Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him down her nose, which was impressive as hell since she was several inches shorter than him.
“I’m not really a relationship guy, El. The longest one I’ve had is with a sport.”
Ellie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out before looking at him again.
“That’s bullshit, Nick. You can say it but it isn’t true.
Just like it isn’t true that you’re fine physically or emotionally.
You’ve tried to shield me from things our whole lives but it doesn’t work.
” She put a hand on his arm when he dropped his hold.
“I know bad things happen and fairy tales aren’t real.
You don’t have to pretend everything is perfect.
You want me to turn to you, you have to be able to do the same.
I’m here, Nick, and I’m not fragile. You can tell me the hard stuff.
I see you. The way you look at Maisie, the way you get lost in your own thoughts.
I don’t believe you haven’t thought about your future, about what’s next.
Maybe you think I can’t handle everything you’re feeling or going through, but that’s not true.
Maybe it’s you who can’t. Your life has been about hockey for so long, you’re scared of who and what you are without it.
What you need to know is you will always be my brother regardless of your job and the greatest things about you have nothing to do with your skill on the ice.
So, when you’re ready, I’m here. Always. ”
She turned and walked away, leaving him feeling like the fragile one.