Chapter Twenty-Three Jordan
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jordan
“I don’t think I can eat another bite,” Maya groaned as she set down her cupcake, her fingers covered in chocolate icing.
The desserts I’d ordered from our kitchen had been customized to everyone’s flavor of choice and had triple the frosting of most cupcakes. In my opinion, it was all about the topping—no one gave a shit about the cake beneath.
Emily was chewing her strawberry-flavored one, tackling only a few bites before she said, “That makes two of us. I’m done.”
“Not me,” Ben sang. “I’m gonna eat the whole entire thing.” He bit into the side, almost making the top collapse, giggling while he moaned, “Mmm. It’s sooo yummy.”
We were in our arena, seated at a table in the owner’s suite.
A handful of staff had been offered overtime to come in and whip up some burgers and fries and milkshakes and cupcakes; another crew was taking care of the lights over the rink and testing the temperature of the ice and fitting my guests with the correct-size skates.
“Why does it not surprise me that you’re going to eat every bite.” Emily laughed and used her napkin to wipe off some of the vanilla frosting from Ben’s cheek.
Maya was just lifting her napkin—I’m assuming to clean her chocolate-covered hands—when she said to me, “Aren’t you going to eat your cupcake?”
Since upping my mileage—my brain just not ready to go home each morning, where the quietness of my condo would make my thoughts spiral even more—I’d been extra careful about the food I put in my body.
My joints were fucking screaming, my muscles aching.
Sugar, an athlete’s worst enemy, would only make it worse.
I wouldn’t explain any of that to her.
But as I looked at the thick chocolate coating her fingers, I just couldn’t help myself.
So I leaned toward her hand and surrounded her finger with my lips, sucking on her skin to collect all the icing.
As I bobbed, my eyes were locked with hers.
And as I reared back, slowly releasing her, I read every thought that came through her gaze.
The shock.
The longing.
The desire.
I had her back.
“Jordan . . .” she whispered. Her words stopped, but her mouth continued to hang open.
“To answer your question, I’d much rather have you than a cupcake.” I kept my voice down even though Ben and Emily were talking, Ben too occupied to hear me.
“I don’t even know how to reply to that.” She placed both hands in her lap.
“You don’t have to say a word. I know you enjoyed it.”
She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “You do realize you’re the most relentless man I’ve ever met, right?”
“I’ll never stop, Maya. When I want something, I go after it—and I want you.”
“Yes, I know. Bettie told me you two have that in common.”
I reached into her lap, putting my hand over hers.
When she didn’t move it away, when her gaze didn’t grow into one that concerned me, I pulled the same hand toward me and kissed the backs of her knuckles.
My eyes closed for just a second as I realized what this meant and how fucking fast my heart was beating.
When they opened again, I said, “It’s time to get on the ice.
” I glanced at my nephew. “Hey, buddy, are you almost done?”
“Is he done?” Emily giggled. “The only thing he hasn’t inhaled is the napkin.”
“I really love cupcakes.” Ben smiled, his teeth covered in frosting.
“Ya think?” Emily dipped a new napkin into her water glass and began to really clean his face. “You even got it in your hair.”
“Dad always says he’s going to hose me off after I eat ’cause I’m so messy.” Ben held his hands up. There wasn’t an inch on either that wasn’t smeared with either cake or frosting.
“We don’t have time for hosing or dunking you in a bathtub, so let’s get you cleaned up as good as we can, buddy, and then we’re going to hit the ice.
” I wet my napkin and got to work on his other side, collecting the chunks of frosting that hadn’t miraculously fallen onto his shirt and scrubbing off the ones that had.
When Ben was as clean as we were going to get him, I brought everyone into the hallway and hit the button for the elevator.
While they waited for it to open, I rushed back into the suite, dropping a $2,000 tip on the table for the kitchen team to split, and then joined everyone back in the elevator.
“It’s been about a hundred years since I’ve skated.” Emily rested her hand on top of Ben’s head. “So I can’t promise I’m going to look pretty out there.”
“You’re not a hundred years old, silly.” Ben put his hands on his hips.
“When you see me on the ice, you’re going to think otherwise.” Emily laughed. “Will you teach me? And make sure I don’t fall? I’m going to need all the help, Ben.”
“Yep! I’ll teach you like Uncle J taught me. Easy-peasy.”
“I haven’t been skating in just as long,” Maya admitted to me.
“Doesn’t matter.” I pushed a chunk of hair off her cheek, keeping my hand there.
I couldn’t stop touching her.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how badly I wanted to pull her into my arms.
I couldn’t stop staring at her lips, forcing myself not to kiss them just yet.
“It will when my butt basically lives on the ice,” she said.
“Do you honestly think I would let that happen?”
Her smile was joined by a flush across her face.
“Your butt won’t touch that ice,” I promised.
“Maya, don’t worry, Uncle J never lets me fall when I skate with him. It’s Dad who lets me fall.” Ben rolled his eyes. “He says it makes me stronger ’cause I have to get back up.”
“Your dad’s right,” I told him. “But you’re already a tough one, my boy. Besides, with the arm you’ve got, you’re more likely to play football like your dad than hockey.”
“I wanna play both!”
“Then you better start skating your butt off instead of falling on it.” I winked at my nephew.
The elevator opened, and I led them down the hallway to the back entrance of the ice. My team had set up a bench nearby with four pairs of skates laid out, names placed in front of each pair to show who they were assigned to.
“Those look like they’ve seen some miles,” Maya said as she watched me untie mine.
“They’re the same ones I wore in the NHL. I just change out the blades.”
“Which means those skates have won the Stanley Cup.” Emily was on the floor rather than the bench, pulling off her boots. “I know you’ve won it three times—I googled.” She nodded toward Maya. “She knows too.” Emily smiled.
I chuckled. “Technically, I won the Stanley Cup. I just happened to be wearing these skates. The talent isn’t in the gear, it’s in the person who wears it.
” I tightened the laces and moved on to the other foot.
“But yes, these babies have been with me a long time. Athletes tend to be superstitious. We don’t like change.
Which is why we hold on to things and repair them rather than replace. ”
Emily shook Maya’s shoulder. “Maya, we’re in the presence of hockey royalty right now.”
That made me laugh even harder, and I pointed toward the ceiling, where multiple jerseys hung along with Bears flags that had dates embroidered on them.
“This arena is full of royalty. I’m certainly not the most talented who’s been inside.
Those jerseys are from the legends who retired from Boston, and those are the years the team has won the Stanley Cup. ”
“That’s so much wow,” Ben cheered.
“And we have this whole arena mostly to ourselves, eating a private dinner in a suite, and now going for a skate. I’m not going to lie, Jordan, this is kind of bananas,” Emily said.
“She’s not wrong,” Maya agreed quietly.
“The men who wore those jerseys are players I’ve looked up to my entire life.
Athletes who pushed their bodies to the absolute limit and had talents that are indescribable.
The fact that I can set foot in this arena and look at their numbers hanging up there is bananas to me.
” I paused. “I never take it for granted.”
Emily shook her head with a grin. “You have a love for hockey that’s—indescribable.” She winked.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I do.”
“All right, Mr. Worthington, I’m not going to lie—I’m impressed.” Emily got to her feet, wobbling for a moment before she grabbed the wall. “Come on, kid. Show me what you’ve got, and do not let me fall.” She reached for Ben’s hand, and he led her toward the ice.
While the two of them skated off, I helped Maya to her feet and brought her over to the entrance. “The last time you were in this arena, you learned the truth about me, and it became one hell of a shitty memory. I’m trying to replace it with a good one. I hope it’s working.”
She looped her arm through mine. “It is.”
“That makes me happy.” I kissed her cheek. “Are you ready for this?”
The overhead lights were on, a blinding white that I could already feel on my skin. The lights were a part of the game, along with the sounds, the temperature, and the smell of our equipment. Even the drips of sweat pouring down my back were details I’d never forget.
“Ready? I don’t know about that.” She laughed. “But I cannot get over how tall you are right now.”
My hands went to her face, and I pointed it up at me. “We’re still the same distance apart, given that you’re on skates too.”
“But you look even larger—and I didn’t think that was possible when you’re already so big.”
“That’s only because you haven’t been this close to me since our break.”
Her hands went on top of mine. “Jordan—”
“Just tell me we’re going to be okay. Tell me you care about me. Tell me you want to fucking kiss me as badly as I want to kiss you.”
She gazed into my eyes, a smile slowly growing across her lips. “Yes to all three.”
I backed up a few inches, my blades hitting the ice, and I helped her skate forward while I went backward.
Within a few feet, I was lifting her into my arms and holding her against me.
Her arms crossed behind my neck, and her legs wrapped around my waist, and I kept an easy pace that wouldn’t scare her.
“Kiss me,” I demanded.
“What if you fall?”
“I’m more comfortable on skates than I am walking. Neither of us are falling.” I waited. “Kiss me, Maya—”
Before I even had the last word out, her lips were on mine.