Epilogue
Six Months Later
Sawyer didn’t see me right away. He was busy looking at the row of trees along the lane and their flaming red and orange leaves.
They caught the lamplights, which made them even more fiery.
Heaps of dead leaves were scattered across the lawns all around campus as the entire hemisphere prepared for a long sleep.
Pumpkin spice and hot chocolate became a daily treat, and mist and rain kept us inside, which was always the best way to spend time with Sawyer.
While my schedule was packed with tutoring commitments, Sawyer was hard-pressed to prove himself on the ice.
He never missed his practice or conditioning and he rarely missed the social events that kept the team close-knit.
He reveled in the glory each game brought him, and while I attended some of his games when they were in the city, I mostly came along to those social events.
His team had changed this fall when Riley and Cameron had left and a new generation of athletes arrived.
The discord over the captaincy and new rivalries left Sawyer torn, and new loyalties replaced the old.
But he never missed a date. Even now, when a whole week had passed — a rarity, these days, as we spent more time together with every passing month — he was coming.
He spotted me sitting on a bench in a pool of orange lamplight.
His face lit up, and he pulled earbuds from his ears, tucking them into the small charging box and then into his pocket.
He crossed the distance with a grin on his face, then plopped down next to me, wrapping his arms around my torso and squeezing all the air out of me. “Fuck, I missed you.”
I gasped and managed to reply, “I missed you, too.”
He groaned and spoke into the nape of my neck. “It was horrible. I don’t wanna talk about it. All four days, those two nut-heads were on the verge of murdering each other. They cost us the game in the end.”
I exhaled in disappointment. I didn’t care who won or lost so much as I cared how Sawyer felt. And when it mattered to him, it mattered to me. “I thought Caden would be above that.”
Sawyer pulled back and laughed bitterly. “Oh, Caden is very clearly and loudly above all that. That’s half the problem. He’s so above it that Beckett sees it as a challenge. And I half believe Coach Murray is doing this to stir the pot.”
I scratched the back of Sawyer’s neck. His head dropped back and he nearly purred. “Where does all that leave you?” I asked.
He sniffed. “In an awkward corner of hell, my love. I see Caden’s point, but he’s going about it in all the wrong ways.
It’s like he’s boycotting hockey. He’s going around to bars, hooking up, coming late to practice, doing his own thing on the ice.
It’s really fucking hard to support him when he’s like that. ”
“Haven’t you asked him why?” I shook my head in disbelief. I knew there was tension, but I hadn’t realized just how much.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. “He said, ‘And what did playing by the rules get me?’ And honestly, I couldn’t even argue with that logic. It wasn’t fair, but this isn’t a solution either.”
I rested my other hand on his cheek and turned his head to look into his dazzling half-moon eyes.
The worry melted away from them, and his pupils dilated.
My heart skipped a beat. He was so beautiful with his black hoodie and the big duffel hanging on his back.
He’d returned from the away game this morning, but I’d had a full day booked for tutoring.
And when my schedule freed, he had practice.
But I had him now. And Sawyer was always the sexiest after training.
Something about him glowed like there was an actual fire in him.
He blinked, then folded his lips briefly. “Let’s leave all that behind,” he said. “I hate that I’ve barely seen you this whole week.”
I let my hands slide down to his arms, then found his hand on my lap and covered it with mine. “I hate it, too, but it’s not gonna be like this forever.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Sawyer said.
He moved his hand around, and suddenly, our places swapped, his hand over mine.
He wrapped his fingers around mine, then stood up and pulled me after him.
I followed gladly, and we headed down the lane toward the dormitory.
“The thing is, my hockey scholarship covers accommodation, enough to get a room. Yours does, too. Two rooms make an apartment, right? So, I figured we might want to look at some options if you think that’s smart.
Maybe I’m missing some huge red flag, but any way I look at it, I discover that a one-bedroom apartment makes the most sense.
Can you imagine?” He kept shrugging like it was no big deal as we reached the main door to the dormitory and walked in.
My heart leaped. Not only could I imagine it, but I could sign up to live it this very instant. We climbed the stairs as images poured into my mind. “Living together? That’s…fucking brilliant.”
“You think?” He was genuinely surprised I agreed. A grin split his face as I unlocked the door to my room. It had gotten too small and confining when it was the two of us in there.
“Hell yeah,” I huffed, shutting the door behind us. “I didn’t think you would want to leave the team house.”
“It’s just the house,” Sawyer said. “I’m not abandoning my friends, right? Besides, I found three candidates just off campus.”
I blinked at him in even greater shock. “You were looking?”
His smile turned from bright to shy in an instant.
He threw one hand behind his back and began scratching awkwardly.
His biceps bulged in his well-fitted hoodie.
“Yeah, I…figured, you know, I might as well see what the price range is. On the bright side, you have more students than ever, and my folks are turning things around. They’ll be able to help out.
And I’ll get representation this year; I can feel it.
It’s not even a pipe dream. Riley and Cameron’s agent was in Indianapolis for the game. ”
I stopped him there with an abrupt, desperate kiss on his lips.
His words ceased and he leaned into the kiss fully.
He was starting to ramble as if I needed any convincing.
In the back of my head, my brain still chugged on, and I assessed the situation coldly and reasonably.
It was risky. There was no promise of success.
Representation for Sawyer would be huge and he would inevitably get it eventually.
It didn’t change anything now, though, but it didn’t need to.
I was talking to several other students, one in animation and another in video production, about forming crash courses and scaling up my tutoring gig.
I could do more good if I moved from a one-on-one model to something more advanced.
But none of that mattered now. His lips were on mine, and his words were a distant echo in my mind.
I kissed him harder, thrusting my tongue between his lips and meeting the tip of his.
He welcomed it eagerly, opening his mouth and pushing his tongue back at me.
Heat radiated from his body like there was a fire burning in his pants.
There probably was, the metaphorical kind, and I was more than happy to reach down and check.
At the first brush of my hand, he throbbed hard. It really had been a week since the last night we’d spent together. We’d had drinks once since then, but I craved his body against mine in a way we could only do in the privacy of my room. Or our shared place in the foreseeable future.
Though I tried to turn us around, Sawyer was far stronger. He spun and pinned me against the door with a thump, making me gasp. It was my favorite spot in the world, between Sawyer and a hard place.
Sawyer moved his lips away from mine, letting me breathe in through my mouth, and kissed the length of my neck.
His left hand rose to the back of my head, and he ran his fingers through my unruly hair.
His kisses were fierce and ruthless, and his murmurs were strained and tight-voice.
“Love you so fucking much,” he said over and over as if holding back the urge to shout it from the top of his lungs.
It was a familiar feeling. Whenever he was near me, I wanted to sing those words in the most rapturous tone I could pull off. I loved him. I wanted everyone to know it.
Aside from wanting to brag to everyone I met that Sawyer Price was my boyfriend, I wanted to feel his body against mine. Just like this.
He thrust his hips, his crotch pressing against mine, and a flutter rose from my stomach. Heat uncoiled in me, and I swiped my hand between us, feeling his hard length inside his pants. He made a choked sound in his throat, and I knew, once and for all, just how happy he was to see me.
Grinding against me, Sawyer sealed his lips on my neck and sucked until I wiggled free of him, preventing an embarrassing hickey from marking me for a week.
Sawyer chuckled, then pulled back. “You don’t mind that I was searching for a place?” he asked, his lips stretching a little to form a gentle smile.
“Do I look like I mind?” I asked. I was aware of my heated face and glazed eyes. I was aware that every detail spoke of the indestructible lust that could only be quenched one way. And I was visibly determined to have it. “I love that you did that,” I admitted.