Chapter 31
Chapter
Lennon
Vivi and I walked back to the rental car hand in hand, both of us buoyant with the knowledge that our attackers had been caught. I drove her back to the bed and breakfast where she’d stayed the last time we were here, and I made slow, sweet love to my sweet lover.
We had just one night in town because I had to get back for our last two regular-season games, but we decided not to push our luck and go out. Instead we ordered a decadent meal from our lovely hostess, Louise.
We went to sleep wrapped around each other, and when I woke early the next morning, I knew this was the day. My instincts all clamored for me to tie Vivi to me here in this place that had made and nearly broken us, all within the span of a few days.
Now we were mere weeks from the end of this hockey season, and I was only going to get busier, which was why I needed Vivian to know I was all in, that I loved her more than hockey.
I set the ring box on the edge of the pillow between us, my heart climbing into my throat. But it was a good kind of feeling—that pure excitement of childhood Christmas Eves when I’d wiggled and squirmed with the desire to open my gifts.
As I waited for Vivi to awaken, I thought about the time I’d let slip away. Perhaps my theory of surety was simply wrong. I’d been sure that man—I still didn’t know his name, and I really didn’t care to—had spoken to me, had threatened Vivian. Yet it was all in my head. Never happened.
Wasn’t real.
That told me that a lot of what I experienced was at least through my framing of the true situation. The next time I disagreed with a teammate, my family, or Vivi, I wanted to remember how this felt—the realization that I could be right in my reality and wrong in theirs.
What a total mind fuck.
Beyond that need to be a better listener and a more thoughtful communicator, I thought about what the future would hold. As much as I loved hockey, as much as I cared about my teammates—my family—I needed to move on. It was time. Well, I had one more year on my contract, but I wasn’t looking to sign another. As Coach Whittaker had said when he picked me up from the airport last year, my continued health was worth more than even the millions I’d earn by playing longer.
Vivian, our family, now came first.
Her lids fluttered, and she blinked. She stretched before she smiled. Then, noticing the jeweler’s box, she gasped. “Lennon…” she breathed.
“Vivian,” I replied, smiling.
“I…”
“Do you want to open it, or do you want me to?”
She continued to gawk at me, so I grabbed the box and hopped from the bed. Rounding to her side, I slid to my knees. She sat up, her luscious hair spilling around her shoulders, slightly tangled from sleep. Her eyes were luminous.
I’d chosen this time of day because it was my favorite. Vivian was so soft and snuggly in the mornings. I loved cuddling her—I wanted to do that every day for the rest of my life.
I told her exactly that. Then I said, “Meeting you was such a gift. I knew when we were in that café that you were special—that we were meant to be. I knew you’d be the woman who made me love hardest, which also means you have the ability to drive me craziest, make me angriest, cause me to laugh the hardest, and be the most tender. You’re it for me, Vivian Lee. I never, ever want to spend another day apart. Marry me.”
“But…hockey—your job, what I’m going to do next…”
I flipped open the box as she stammered. It took a full fifteen seconds before her eyes dropped to the ring nestled there. “Oh…my…”
“I do have to finish this season and play the next one, so you’re right that there will be days we’re not together. But you’ll be mine as I’m yours, and I’ll talk to you and text you all the time, so we’ll barely feel like we’re apart.”
Her features softened as love shone in her eyes. She was gorgeous—so perfect for me. She lifted her hand and cupped my cheek. “Yes, Lennon. Yes, I’ll marry you.” Tears filled her eyes as she continued to hold my gaze. “I knew I would. I just knew it. In my bones, my heart, when we were here before. It was like…my mother gave me you.”
I kissed her palm. Then I did it again because I could and because she needed the connection. I pulled the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. Vivian had delicate hands, and I’d gone for a statement ring. It was big—my chest swelled with pride because everyone would see it and know Vivian was mine.
That sounded so caveman, because it was. But I was Vivian’s, from my soul to my mind and body, and I wanted her to claim me, too.
She stared at the ring on her finger for a long moment, and then she shrieked as she leaped out of bed. Her legs tangled in the sheets and she fell…right into my lap.
I laughed. “This is just like what happened last September with your hat at my feet.” I nuzzled into her neck. “Now here you are in my arms.”
She looped her slender arms around my neck and peppered me with kisses. “No place I’d rather be, Lennon. Absolutely no place.”
When our lips connected, the rightness of us clicked once again. I wasn’t sure how that was possible—I already knew Vivian was my great and only love. Still, just like when I’d looked into her silver eyes last year, I knew. She fit me. I fit her. Together, we locked in place, stronger because we were together.
I shifted and stood, fumbling a little to lay her on the bed. I kept kissing as I lay next to her, as I stripped off her flimsy nightie, as I tugged off her panties, as I tugged off my sleeping pants and boxer briefs, and as I entered her soft, welcoming warmth. Slowly, I edged back, then shuttled into her even deeper.
“Lennon,” she cried against my lips. “Oh…Lennon.”
She fluttered around me, and we both moaned. “You feel good. So good, Vivi.”
“Oh…oh, Lennon…yes…it’s better. Somehow it’s better now.”
“Engagement sex is the best.” I groaned, struggling to maintain my rhythm as Vivian convulsed on my dick.
Her soft noises of need nearly sent me over the edge, but I refused. Vivian was going to come at least once—twice, if I could stand it—before I did. I wanted this joining to be the best of her life.
We were free from the past. We were ready to start our lives. This was a celebration to commemorate all of that.
We both breathed hard and Vivian’s body quivered when I finally released deep inside her.
“That was…” I brought my shaking arm to cover my eyes.
“Intense,” Vivian panted. “So freaking intense.”
“Never thought sex might kill me, but I was pretty sure my heart was going to burst.”
Vivian rolled atop me, clutching my shoulders. “Don’t leave me, Lennon. I can’t—don’t joke about that.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and murmured my love, my devotion, my plans to be around forever into her sweat-soaked hair.