Suck My Puck (Denver Bashers Series #3)

45. Bella

Chapter 45

Bella

I stand in front of Braden and stare at him, processing what I overheard him say a minute ago.

I’m in love with Bella.

The words float in my head, making my heart race.

I think about everything else he said—how he loves how passionate and feisty and strongwilled I am. The things that every other guy I’ve been with couldn’t stand about me, Braden loves.

My heart thuds harder and harder.

“You heard that?” he asks.

I nod. “The window by the hallway bathroom is open. I could hear everything you said.”

He blinks and rubs the back of his neck. A hard swallow moves down his thick throat. He looks so nervous right now.

“I love you too,” I say.

That scared look in his eyes fades. The corners of his mouth curve up in the sweetest, most gorgeous smile.

“You love me, pretty girl?”

I nod, biting back a smile .

He rests his hands on my hips, pulling me against him. “I need to hear you say it.”

“I love you, Braden.”

He kisses me softly.

He huffs out a breath and presses his forehead against mine. “You love me,” he says again.

His voice is soft and shaky. He says it like he’s savoring the words.

I hold his face in my hands. “Of course I love you. You’re the kindest, sweetest, most generous and loyal man. The way you take care of me…I still can’t get over it. Not to mention you’re really, really hot.”

A soft chuckle falls from his lips. He looks at me, emotion flashing in his gaze, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“I can’t believe you’re mine,” he murmurs.

Emotion swells in my chest. “I’m yours, Braden. All yours.”

He presses another kiss to my lips. I tug my hands in his hair as our kiss amps up, but then he pulls back.

He lets out a soft, frustrated sound. “I want to keep going, but I don’t want to get caught by my mom or my grandparents.”

I chuckle. “I don’t either.”

He tugs a hand through his hair. “We should leave soon to head to Vancouver. I’m due at the hotel to meet the team tonight.”

Nerves spark in my belly at what I’m about to ask. “Hey, um, can I come to your game tomorrow?”

His eyes instantly light up and he grins. “You wanna watch me play?”

“Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m just surprised. I thought you said you’d never go to another hockey game again. ”

I run my hands up his chest. “That was before I fell in love with you. I want to be in the stands cheering on my hot goalie.”

Intensity flashes in his eyes he kisses me again. “Fuck, I love you,” he says against my mouth.

“I love you too.”

“No way. I don’t believe it,” Lauren says.

I hold back a laugh as I walk in to the arena on the phone with Lauren. “Believe it. It’s happening.”

“You’re at a hockey game?” my best friend sputters.

“Yup.” I make my way through the slow-moving crowd toward the stands.

She lets out a laugh of pure disbelief. “Did hell just freeze over?”

“Nope. I just fell in love with a hockey player.”

On my walk from my hotel room to the arena, Lauren called me to see how my romantic getaway was going, and I’ve been catching her up on everything. I told her about how Braden spoiled me with the spa and fancy dinner, running into his dad, having a great time with his family at Thanksgiving, and the two of us saying “I love you” for the first time.

“Bella, I can’t believe it.” I can tell she’s smiling on the other line. “I’m so happy for you.”

Butterflies buzz around my tummy. “I am too. After what happened with Matt, I never thought I’d ever fall in love again. Let alone with a hockey player.”

She chuckles. “That’s life. Sometimes the best things work out in the most unexpected way.”

I smile to myself. She’s so right .

“I have to ask: are you wearing his jersey?”

I bite my lip. “Yeah.”

“Oh, Bella. You are so smitten.”

My face heats. “I really am.”

“Does he know?”

“No, I want to surprise him.”

“That’s the most romantic gesture you could ever do for a hockey player, wearing his jersey.”

I grin wide. “I know. I can’t wait to see his reaction.”

The music playing through the stadium starts to get louder the closer I get to my seat, which is behind the Bashers’ net. I can barely hear Lauren anymore.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” I say.

“Have fun cheering on your goalie boyfriend!”

We say goodbye and I slide my phone into my jacket pocket. I walk down the stairs to my row. When I see Ingrid and Maya sitting there, I wave at them.

“Bella! Hey!” Maya hugs me, then Ingrid.

“We’re so pumped you decided to come to the game,” Ingrid says.

“Thanks so much for saving me a seat,” I say.

“It was no problem,” Maya says. We all sit down.

I notice they’re wearing Bashers’ jerseys too. Maya is wearing Theo’s, number eleven, and Ingrid is wearing Del’s, number sixty-six.

I take off my jacket and set it over my chair before I sit.

Ingrid’s eyes go wide when she sees what I’m wearing. She elbows Maya, who looks at my jersey before a knowing smile pulls at her lips.

They both look at me. “You and Blomdahl are jersey official?” Ingrid asks, her tone bordering on giddy.

I glance down at the maroon Bashers jersey, at the number three. Braden’s number. I blush. “Yeah. We are. ”

Ingrid squeals and squeezes my hand.

Maya smiles and shakes her head. “I knew it. I could tell at the Halloween party just how crazy you two were for each other.”

“I guess it just took us a little bit of time to make it official.” I think back to how jealous I got seeing Braden with another woman. It feels so silly, thinking about it now.

Maya pats my hand. “It’s okay. It took me a while to realize my feelings for Theo.”

“Really?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah. I was a commitment-phobe when Theo and I first got together. And a little stubborn. I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. We fought over it and stopped seeing each other for a while. But I came to my senses and thankfully Theo was ready to go all in with me after all that. It worked out for us in the end.”

She flashes a dreamy smile.

“Thanks for sharing that,” I say to her. “It makes me feel better to know that you went through something similar.”

Ingrid elbows her best friend. “You also pulled off one hell of a romantic grand gesture to win Theo back.”

Maya rolls her eyes good-naturedly at her best friend.

“What did you do?” I ask Maya.

“I showed up to one of his games wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘I heart #11,’ and told him I loved him. And I got the Jumbotron guy to put, ‘Maya loves Theo,’ on the screen.”

I stare at her, stunned. “Maya, that’s epic. Theo must have loved that.”

She beams. “He did.”

A minute later, Dakota joins us. She hugs us all hello and gives me a massive grin when she sees I’m wearing Braden’s jersey.

“You two are together?” she says .

I nod. She sits down next to me. “I feel like the odd one out not wearing a jersey,” she jokes.

I think back to the Halloween party, how Dakota and Sam spent a lot of the night talking and laughing together. I remember talking about it with Sophie. I wonder if Ingrid and Maya noticed how things were between Sam and Dakota too.

“You just have to get your boyfriend to start playing hockey,” Ingrid teases.

“Ha. Not likely,” Dakota says. “I can’t even get him to come to watch a hockey game in Denver with me.”

Her tone is joking, but her eyes look sad. Actually, defeated is more like it.

I want to ask how things are with her boyfriend, but it kind of feels like prying since we’re pretty new friends.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” Ingrid asks Dakota in a soft voice.

Dakota sighs. “It’s just…Jake’s been kind of closed-off lately. I think he’s going to break up with me.”

Her shoulders slump forward.

“Are you sure?” Maya asks.

Dakota shrugs. “I mean, I don’t know for certain, but I notice he’s been pulling away these last couple of weeks. He doesn’t call or text me much. He doesn’t want to come over to see me. And when I talked about making plans for Thanksgiving, he didn’t seem interested at all. That’s why I decided to travel to Vancouver and hang out with Sophie and you all. Jake didn’t want to do anything together.”

Maya grabs her hand. “His loss. If he can’t see how amazing you are and isn’t making an effort to be with you, he’s an idiot.”

“Yeah. Total idiot,” Ingrid says.

Dakota lets out a heavy breath. “Thanks.” She straightens up in her seat. “Enough with the sad stuff. Let’s cheer on our team. Who wants a beer?”

She and Maya leave to grab drinks. The music in the stadium booms, signaling the start of warmups.

Players from Vancouver and Denver hit the ice. When I see Braden skating toward the net, my tummy flips. I take in the hard, focused look on his face as he smacks his stick against the posts. Then he skates a circle around the net, then another, and another.

Ingrid chuckles. “Goalies and their pre-game rituals. So weird.”

I bite back a smile, thinking about Braden’s other pre-game ritual: getting filthy in bed with me.

“He does this every game?” I ask Ingrid.

She nods as she films Braden with her phone. “Yeah. He hits his stick against the posts, then skates ten circles around the net. Then he goes through all his stretches and exercises. Oh, and apparently he licks the bottom of his stick every game when he’s in the tunnel, right before the team hits the ice.”

I laugh.

“I’ve been posting clips of his warmups on social media, and they always get a ton of likes. Fans are crazy for your guy.”

My cheeks flush hot as I smile. I watch Braden finish skating around the net, then he starts to stretch out on the ice.

The moment he catches eyes with me, his mouth curves up in a sexy smile. A second later, his gaze drops to my jersey. His eyes widen the slightest bit. Even from this far away, I can see the look in his gaze the moment it changes.

He licks his lips as he stares at me, fire in his soft blue eyes. “Stand up,” he mouths.

I do what he says. He rakes his gaze along the length of my body.

“Turn around,” he mouths.

I bite my lip and spin around. I swipe my hair over my shoulder so he can get a good look at his name and number on my back.

I peer over my shoulder, my tummy flipping when I see the fiery look in his eyes.

He blinks, his gaze refocusing. He winks at me before going back to his warm-up routine. I sit back down, my entire body hot and buzzing at the way Braden just devoured me with his gaze.

“Wow. Seeing you wear his name and number did the trick,” Ingrid says with a knowing smile. “He’s fired up.”

I beam, excited to watch my boyfriend kick ass on the ice tonight.