Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
ASH
Eli and I spend two more weeks together in Detroit and travel around for a few away games. I got to spend two nights filling in for the injured forward I was called up to replace, but with the captain being out after his recent injury, they decided to keep me around longer.
I played six more games and gave it my all and even though we didn’t win all of them, getting the experience to play in the NHL was one of the best times of my life.
As I pack up the few belongings I acquired at Eli’s apartment, he pulls me into his chest, dropping kisses behind my ear and on the side of my neck.
“I’m going to miss waking up next to you every morning.”
My head drops against his shoulder and I sigh. “Me too. But Christmas is coming up soon and we’ll have a few days together. Then the all-star break in February. We can go somewhere fun.”
“Anaheim?” he asks, bringing up the trip that was the cataclysm of our relationship.
“Fuck no,” I say, huffing out a breath, “we can do better.”
“We could go to the cabin with our friends.”
I hum and turn around, looping my arms around his neck. “Or we could go somewhere tropical. Just the two of us.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he says, pale blue eyes pinning me to the spot.
“Wow, you’re so obsessed with me, it’s kind of embarrassing.”
Eli bends down and grabs the backs of my thighs, lifting me up. My legs wrap around him of their own accord and he tosses me onto the bed, crawling over me.
“Yeah, I really am.”
December
For Christmas, Eli comes to Grand Marquee, and the two of us go over to Robbie and Olivia’s house as they host their first holiday dinner. A week later, I get called back up to Detroit.
My Detroit teammates are a bit wary of me now. They think I’m a little wild, which in truth, I am, but thankfully no one has complained about Eli and I being a couple. Since Eli addressed it head on, the article died down quickly, and with it so did any rumors. While there are still nasty comments out there about us and our relationship, that’s not something we want to focus on. Instead, we’re focusing on our promising future on and off the ice.
January
After the New Year’s game, I’m up for another week where we travel to Canada for a stint of games. The news that Nadison is retiring is not shocking, but it does mean our schedules will continue to be chaotic as Eli signs a three-year contract with the NHL.
He flies his parents and brother to Detroit for the first game after he signs the contract and we all go out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Leila. His family is proud of him and excited for his career to take off and I can finally apologize to them in person for outing their son. They’re just as forgiving as Eli and we quickly bond all over again. They seem happy for us both, and I shouldn’t have expected anything less.
February
During the all-star break, we end up going back to Traverse City, sharing a room at the cabin and hanging out with our friends.
In a shocking twist of events, Jordan flies up into town and joins us at the cabin for two days. While his interactions with Alice are awkward as she mostly avoids him, he seems to fit right back in with the rest of us.
We snowboard, we play board games, we drink hot cocoa and we mostly catch up. All of us have such hectic lives that we end up giving each other powerpoint presentations of what the last six months of our lives have looked like.
Robbie has been making a huge difference in the community with the youth foundation. Olivia has been kicking ass as an AHL referee. Alice has been writing a book and blowing up on social media after she shared a snippet of it. And Jordan has mostly been depressed in Texas, even though he does a good job of hiding it. At least he’s stayed in contact with us since we reconnected at Thanksgiving.
March
“Signed, sealed and delivered,” I say, closing my laptop and taking a few steps to join Eli on the too small bed in his too small apartment.
His smile is so wide that his dimple is showing and my mouth immediately finds the spot to kiss it. “I hope you’re not sick of me yet, I’m about to be in this bed with you for another few weeks at least.”
“I could never be sick of you,” Eli says and pulls me down to cuddle, one of his hands cradling the back of my neck. I melt into his touch and lean in for a kiss. He tastes like the non-alcoholic sparkling drink we opened to celebrate. “I’m so proud of you, ilo. You deserved that contract.”
“Even if it’s only for two years?” I ask, a bit of anxiety creeping in. What if they trade me at the end of the two years and Eli and I get separated anyway? What if ? —
“Stop,” Eli says, pulling me closer into his embrace. “I can basically hear your thoughts, and I can already tell you that no matter what happens, I’m not going anywhere.”
I sigh and look around the small apartment. “Think I can move in here for the rest of the season?” I ask, half joking.
“I was thinking…” Eli says, biting his lip. I wait for a response but his confidence starts to waver.
“What were you thinking?”
“Do you know the condo right next to Juuse?”
“The one with the bright blue door? Who paints their door?”
Eli laughs. “Don’t get hung up on the color now. Yes, that place. Juuse told me it’s available for rent.”
“Okay, and?” I ask, not knowing what that has to do with us.
He gives me a deadpan look and waits.
And waits.
Oh. Oh.
“You want us to… Together?”
“Yes, kultsi . Together. What do you think?
Instead of answering with words, I tackle him with my body and drop kisses on every inch of exposed skin I can find. God, I can’t wait to live with my boyfriend.
June
Eli
We didn’t make it to the playoffs. But we put up a great fight, ending the season one point behind the wildcard spot. Ash and I decided to stay in Detroit for the offseason this time, and booked two weeks to visit my family, who were ecstatic to have us.
The sun is up already and shining through the curtains, waking me up from a deep sleep. My hand reaches out towards Ash but all it finds is a cold pillow. I lift up on one elbow and look around my childhood bedroom, the same one Ash and I spent our time in last summer. I expect him to be in the bathroom, but the door is open and there’s no light or movement.
I hear shuffling downstairs and I roll over in bed, peeking at the clock. Too early.
Ash opens the door with one hand, balancing something on a plate with the other.
“It’s too early, what are you doing?” I whisper.
He softly closes the door and flips the lock and I sit up in bed, letting the sheet fall down to my waist as I lean back against the headboard.
I yawn and rub the sleep away from my eyes, and when I open them again, Ash is in front of me, carrying a tray of breakfast food.
“What is this?” I ask, surprised.
“Happy birthday, pretty boy .” Ash places the tray in my lap and I look down with a smile on my face. There are heart-shaped pancakes with berries and syrup on top, and bacon on the side.
“You made these?”
“Of course,” he says, grinning at me. Ash places one knee on the bed, then turns back to reach some napkins from the nightstand. In doing so, his leg stretches out and hits mine. I cover his calf with my hand, stilling him, and realize this is where his sailboat tattoo is. I rub absently at it, thinking about why he got it in the first place. He said he wanted to immortalize the summer we fell in love, and the first time he told me those words, at the sailboat party. When he twists back around, he fully kneels on the bed and places both his hands above me on the headboard.
“I love you,” I say, keeping one hand on the tray and using the other to pull Ash down for a kiss. When I finally pull back, I tell him, “I know I said I didn’t want one, but I changed my mind. I want a present for my birthday after all.”
“Oh yeah?” he asks, smirking. “Is it my big c?—”
“I want a sailboat tattoo.”
Ash’s smirk turns into a soft smile and he steals another kiss. “ Mina rakastan sinua,” he says against my lips, and I fall in love with him all over again every time he speaks my language back to me.