Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Jack
Once again there’s a message from Maggie on my voicemail when I get back to my locker.
“I got the job! I got the job! I got the job!” she crows.
“It wasn’t an interview. Not really. She showed me around the office and made me a job offer.
She sent me home with a folder, and I have an appointment to meet with HR and sign the paperwork tomorrow. And I start next week!”
Grinning, I replay the message, wanting to hear the excitement in her voice again.
She’s been so stressed out for so long now.
It’s a relief to hear her happy, and I realize that I’ve only heard her sound this excited about something once or twice since we met.
Now that she doesn’t have the weight of Brock Savage dragging her down, will she be able to be happier in general?
God, I hope so. And I’m determined to help make that happen, at least as much as it’s in my power.
“What’re you grinning about?” Dozer asks from his spot next to me in the locker room.
“Maggie just got offered a job in the PR office. She called and left me a voicemail letting me know.”
Dozer’s eyebrows jump. “Awesome, man. I didn’t realize Molly was looking for more help.”
“I’m not sure Molly was actively looking. But Maggie’s a kick-ass social media manager, and she was looking for a new opportunity. I let Molly know, and I guess she jumped at the chance.”
“That’s awesome, man,” Dozer says. “Tell her congratulations for me. Maybe we can have you guys over for a new job celebration soon.”
“Yeah, man. That’d be fun. I’m sure Maggie’d be happy to hang out with Marissa again. Let me talk to Maggie, and we’ll pick a night when we’re all free.”
But I have a date with Maggie tonight, so I plan on us celebrating now. I’m not opposed to spreading out the celebrating as much as possible, though. She deserves it.
I hurry through my shower and call her on my way home. She picks up on the second ring.
“I knew you’d have that job on lock!” I shout as soon as she answers. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!”
“Thank you,” she says, sounding near tears.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong?”
She lets out a watery laugh. “Nothing. I’m just … relieved. And overwhelmed. And I’m so happy, and then you said you’re proud of me, and I just—” She cuts off with a funny noise, then she sniffs. “Sorry,” she says, her voice hoarse. “It just hit me in the feels, you know?”
“Aww, sweetheart. I am proud of you. I think you’re amazing and strong and funny and sweet and smart. I’m so happy I met you.”
Another watery laugh. “Even if it was only because of Brock Savage?”
That gives me pause for a second. “I don’t think I’ll ever be grateful for what he did with that interview, but I am grateful I got to meet you. We can give him a tiny amount of credit for that, I guess. Maybe I’ll go a little easier on him in the law suit.”
“Will you really?” she asks, the skepticism in her voice now outweighing the tears.
“Nah,” I respond with a laugh. “He doesn’t deserve it. It’s not like he brought us together on purpose. It was the one happy byproduct of that shitshow of an interview.”
“Well, I’m glad he brought you on the show, if only because meeting you has changed my life.”
That statement warms me through. “I know I’m supposed to pick you up at six. But I don’t want to wait that long. Can I just come over now?”
She laughs. “Please come. I can’t wait to see you.”
I turn right at the next intersection, heading toward her place and away from mine. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
When I get to her place, I don’t even have to knock. She’s standing in the open doorway when I get to the top of the steps, and she launches herself into my arms, burying her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking.
I stay still, holding her on the landing in front of her door, rubbing her back and letting her get out all the crazy emotions she must’ve been holding in for days. After a moment, she calms and lifts her head, wiping her face with her hands. “Sorry,” she murmurs, voice hoarse. “I just …”
“It’s okay. I can take it. We can go in, and I’ll just sit on your couch and hold you if you need to cry some more.”
She laughs a little through her sniffles. “Letting you hold me on the couch sounds good. I don’t want to cry more, though. Hell, I didn’t want to cry now!”
“You’ve been through a lot.” I follow her inside, closing the door behind me.
“Right. And I didn’t shed a single tear through any of that. But now that I have a job—a good job—and I don’t have to worry about getting fired for not feeding my asshole boss gossip about my boyfriend, now I start crying?”
I shrug, taking a seat on the couch and holding my arms out for her.
She climbs next to me, tucking herself against my side, her legs folded up beneath her.
I wrap my arms around her and shift her all the way into my lap.
She lets out a surprised squawk, but settles against me, letting out a big sigh that sounds like a mix of contentment and relief.
“It’s not as much of a thing now, but when I was a kid, I used to be super focused before and during a game.
I had tons of nervous energy, but it was all tapping and bouncing and raring to go once the puck hit the ice, you know?
But after the game was over …” I shake my head.
“I was a wreck. No matter if we won or lost, I’d be shaky and exhausted.
When I was real young, I’d cry, especially if I made any mistakes.
” My jaw clenches at the memory of my dad yelling at me, both for messing up—even if we won—and for crying.
Her hand on my cheek pulls me back to the present, and she kisses my jaw. Bending, I kiss her lips. “Poor little Jack. That must’ve been hard.”
I chuckle softly at her comment. “The point is, I get how sometimes you can hold it together through the hard thing, but then afterward, all the emotions come crashing over you. You’ve been holding it together for a long time. It’s okay to let it out now that you feel safer.”
She sighs again. “Yeah. I know you’re right. I do feel better now, though.” She smiles up at me. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” I kiss her again, and she shifts in my lap, turning so she can face me better, and the kiss grows more passionate. Soon she’s straddling me, grinding against my hard cock while my hands roam her back, slipping under her shirt so I can feel her bare skin.
“Should we go to your bedroom?” I whisper against her skin.
She lets out a soft moan, nodding. Gathering her against me, I stand. While we haven’t made love here before, I’ve been over enough times that I know where her bedroom is.
Once inside her room, I set her gently on the bed, wasting no time stripping out of my clothes, nearly overwhelmed by the need to be inside her.
And it’s not just lust—though that’s certainly present, just like it always is where Maggie’s concerned.
It’s more than that, though. It’s a bone-deep need to join myself with her, to impress on her that she’s not alone, that I’m with her, that she doesn’t have to carry all these things herself anymore.
She rummages in her bedside table, coming up with a condom and grinning at me. I pluck it from her fingers and set it on the table, reaching for her shirt and pulling it up. She raises her arms to help me get it off, then immediately reaches behind her to unhook her bra.
I make a noise to express my disappointment. “I was gonna do that.”
Laughing softly, she drops her arms. “Do it, then.”
Bending, I kiss her, reaching behind her to undo the hooks one handed, helping pull the straps off her shoulders.
She tosses it aside, her hands going to my shoulders as she lies back, taking me with her.
Lifting her hips, she shoves off her pants, and I help strip them all the way off her, pausing on my knees to look down at her.
“God, you’re sexy,” I murmur, trailing a hand down her sternum, caressing her belly, and stopping at her hip.
Meeting her eyes, I stretch over her, shaking my head gently. “What’d I do to deserve you?”
“Must’ve pissed someone off somewhere,” she quips, and I shake my head again.
“Don’t do that,” I whisper, nipping and kissing the skin at her collarbone. “Don’t talk down about yourself like that.” I gather her against me, rolling us so she’s on top. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Sitting up, she shifts so my cock is nestled against her warm pussy, and the feeling almost makes my eyes roll back in my head, but I manage to stay focused on the conversation. She chuckles, shaking her head. “Says the professional hockey player.”
I dip my chin. “Exactly. Says the professional hockey player.” I stroke her thighs and hips. “I thank my lucky stars every day that you agreed to give me a chance. I don’t know who took pity on my sorry ass to put you in my path, but I’m glad they did. And I’m gonna do my best not to fuck this up.”
She looks up at the ceiling for a moment, blinking rapidly.
When she looks at me again, her eyes are a little red, and she sniffs like she’s trying not to cry.
“You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met,” she says on a choked whisper.
“I’m not sure why you think I’m worth all this trouble, but I’m really glad you do. ”
With my hand on her back, I nudge her closer, and she lies down on top of me, lining her face up with mine. “You’re not any trouble,” I whisper before kissing her. “And you’re worth taking time for.”
We kiss, slow and languid like we have all the time in the world. I know we don’t. Not really. But we definitely have time for this to last as long as we want.
After a few moments, she reaches for the condom, sitting up and shimmying back. Then she gives me a wicked grin, rips open the package, and rolls the condom on before rising on her knees, lining us up, and sinking down.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathe, thrilled to be inside her again.
She moves over me, and I let her set the pace, doing my best to let her take what she needs, happy to give it to her.
She speeds up, but seems to have trouble keeping the pace, and I use my hands to help her, moving her over me, and I feel her start to pulse around me, and she shudders as she comes.
I keep her moving, letting her ride the wave of her orgasm down the other side, until she’s slumped over me, barely able to hold herself up. Pulling her down on top of me, I kiss her cheek, her neck, then slowly roll us so I’m on top.
She gazes up at me through glassy, sated eyes, her arms splayed over her head, hair spread around her like a halo.
“You ready?” I ask. She nods once, and that’s all the permission I need.
I’m so primed and ready from watching and feeling her come on me, that I know it won’t take me long to get there.
She wraps her thighs around my hips, and I start to move, not holding anything back until I empty myself, giving her all of me, knowing she’ll hold and cherish it the same way I do to her.
I never knew what I was missing before. Not really. But now that I’ve found it, I don’t ever want to let her go.