25. Allie
Chapter twenty-five
Allie
I stare at Kenzie as I gather my purse and my car keys to head out to meet with Jake. “You and Daniel are doing what?”
I feel like a terrible friend right now. I’ve been so busy working that I missed how close she and Daniel were.
She swats at me. “It’s just a weekend trip. It’s not like I expect him to propose or anything. Heck, I’m not even his girlfriend yet!” She laughs.
“I know, but a whole weekend spent in Hawaii isn’t exactly something you do with a casual lover, Kenz.” I place a hand on her door handle. “How serious is this, exactly?”
She does one of her casual little shrugs. “I don’t know yet. I think I like him a lot, especially since he’s not an athlete. I mean, I’m over it. The whole ‘that athlete crushed my heart’ thing is a tired story, right? But it happened. And then I decided to stop letting it affect me. I don’t feel angry at men the way I did a few months ago. I feel more,” she purses her lips in thought, searching for the right word, “hopeful, I guess.”
I smile at her and pull her in for a hug. “I am glad to hear it, but just be careful. It’s still early and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Back at you,” she says quickly. “Jake is my brother, so I have to think he’s annoying. It comes with the territory. But I don’t want you to ever get hurt by him. Again, I guess,” she says, wrinkling her nose.
I open the door and step out to my car. “Well, let’s each not get hurt. And let’s each not get too attached too fast.” But really, who am I kidding? I am already attached to Jake emotionally.
“Uh-huh,” she drawls out. “Well, I’ll be gone the first weekend of the New Year. I hope you and my brother aren’t back to being mad at each other by then!”
“I’m going to Florida tomorrow to be with my family for the holidays, so I think we’re safe.”
We share a laugh and I get in my car, thinking how happy she looked when she told me about Daniel all morning long. It was great to see her this alive with joy. But then to hear that they planned a trip together… well, that was a huge step forward. Especially for Kenzie.
I park my car in the empty players’ lot behind the arena. As soon as I get out, I see Jake. I wave and walk toward him. If I’m being honest, I’m nervous about being back in this arena. There are too many memories here between Jake and me. Too many memories engaged in forbidden feelings.
I hesitate just inside the entrance, the betrayal and unfairness of me being let go flooding me. I look up at him, ready to tell him I can’t do this, that as fun as it would be to privately skate with him, it’s just too much for me.
But his eyes look so happy to see me, I can’t deny him this. I suck it up and take his offered hand. He squeezes my hand and walks with me down the hallway. I feel like a different person now. So much has happened since my first day here. If things were public between him and me, I would feel proud of us for overcoming so much to end up together. But we haven’t really landed on much in the way of talking about the future. Things like that take time.
We walk to the locker room and he picks out a practice hockey stick for me and a few frozen pucks. Then, he gives me gloves from a big pile in the practice bin labeled “clean.” I start to feel the excitement of the experience when we pick up some skates and walk to the players’ bench.
“Wow,” I say, breaking up our small talk to look at the empty arena. “This looks so much bigger without fans in it! Wow! And brighter too! How do you skate in here with thousands of people watching your every move on game day?”
He gets on a knee as I sit on the players’ bench and helps me with my skates, ever the gentleman since we made up. He pauses to look around us.
“I think if you grow up playing, the arenas get larger every few years. By the time you make it to this size, it just sort of all feels natural, I guess.”
I run gentle fingers through his tousled hair as he ties my skate strings. “You were what, seven when you started playing hockey?”
He nods. “Yeah, I think so.” He grins at me. “Ready?”
I take his hand and stand to my feet, slipping the gloves on and taking the hockey stick. I feel like a real player, even without any of the other gear on me. He kisses me, slowly and gently at first, and then deeper. The next thing I know, I feel his tongue in my mouth and my body feels the first licks of arousal all the way through me. His hands circle my waist and he holds me close.
When the kiss is broken, it leaves me breathless. Jake’s eyes shine at me.
“Come with me, baby,” he says.
Together, we skate. Slowly for me at first. Then faster. Soon, we’re hand in hand rushing along the cold ice, the lights of the arena shining down on us in a perfect moment of connection and love. I know that’s what I feel for him: love.
He pulls me to him as we slow down. We come to a stop at the bench and it’s then that I notice there are flowers and a piece of paper on the wall that separates the bench from the ice.
“How did you get that here?” I ask, feeling my heart start to race. I am getting the feeling that something big is about to happen, though I don’t know what.
“I have connections,” Jake says, and winks at me. He pulls me toward the flowers, a vibrant mix of colors.
I feel him press up against me as I take the note in my hand. “Should I open this now?” I ask. He turns me to face him.
“Let me say something first.” His eyes are serious and kind. “You are valuable. You are an excellent PT. You are a hard worker. You have earned your way to top jobs in the industry. You are smart and you are educated.”
His affirmations bring tears to my eyes. I feel seen for the professional woman that I am. It feels amazing.
“I’m sorry that all of that was lost in the rush of us sneaking around a few months ago. We’re about to start a new year, baby, and I want to make sure we start it right.” He gestures to the paper envelope in my hands.
Slowly, I open it, my heart full of love. It looks like an official Eagles document. As I start to read it, I realize what it is: a typed and signed offer of employment. I feel my breathing pick up speed and my chest rises and falls as I read.
“I can have my old job back?” I ask breathlessly. “But how? How is this possible? Do they know what we’ve done?”
Jake kisses me, his hand holding my chin. “Yes. I came clean to them and took responsibility. But there’s more than you getting your job back, if you want it. They are softening the rules legally. No future contracts will have the many clauses in them that yours had. It’s not fair what happened to you, Allie. You were right about that. I wasn’t going to rest until I made it right, as much as I can.”
I clutch the paper, reading it again. “This is incredible.”
He grins. “You don’t have to give them an answer today, if you don’t want to.”
“Why, Jake? Why did you do this for me?”
“For us,” he corrects me. Then he smiles. “I love you, Allie. I want to be with you and I was willing to walk away from my career if need be so we could be together.”
His words take my breath away. With a full heart, I look up at him. “I love you, too.”
He kisses me and then pulls me back toward center ice, skating backwards and holding my hands. We stop in the middle of the rink and he pulls me close.
“Will you be my girlfriend, Allie?”
Looking at him, I know this is right where I belong. “Yes, Jake, I will be your girlfriend. I love you so much.”
“Together, we can do anything,” he proclaims.
Deep in my heart, I believe him.