Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
JASPER
“Istill don’t think this is fair,” I gripe, closing the door of our private karaoke room behind me.
“Do you want to go home?” Quinn asks, grabbing the pitcher of beer and pouring a pint for each of us. “Too chicken to take me on?”
“It’s karaoke. It’d be like me taking you to play hockey.” I take the glass and clink it against hers.
She takes a sip, and a foam mustache is left behind. I kiss it away, tasting her lip gloss and the beer.
“We can go play hockey if you want.” A happy look is on her face. “If you want to, I will do it.”
“Seeing you in a pair of skates? I kind of like that idea.”
“I don’t know if I’ll have the best balance.”
I slide a hand down her back, squeezing her ass. “You’ll have me to help you.”
“Hmm.” She taps a red painted fingernail against her mouth. “Think you have enough pull with the team to score us some ice time?”
I nip at her earlobe. “Aren’t you feeling sassy tonight?”
“Well, if we need to have Dax or Noah reserve the ice for us…”
“Ouch.” I feign hurt. “See if I take you home after our date tonight.”
Quinn bats her eyelashes at me. “You wouldn’t leave me all on my own, would you?”
“Never. But I’d drop you off at home and wouldn’t come inside.”
“Really?” She pushes me down onto the couch behind me and steps between my legs. “You’d deny both of us a night together? A lone night that we don’t seem to get enough of because you’re a big hockey star and have to travel all the time?”
“You really know how to play it, don’t you?”
She drops a kiss on my cheek and heads back to the platform to perform. “Yes. Because we both know that we’re spending the night together.”
“Damn you.” I shake my head and grab my drink. “Are you going to sing for me now?”
“I need to pick a song. Give me a minute.” She shakes her head as she flips through the book.
I watch her as her eyes look over each song.
The care with which she’s picking it. I don’t know when it happened, but I have fallen hopelessly in love with this woman.
Maybe it was sometime between confessing my love of Julie Andrews or that I hate Brussels sprouts, but I finally understand why all the guys would rather spend their nights with their partners.
Hell, even when we were texting together I wanted to spend all my time with her.
She smiles at me and it does funny things to my heart. Yeah, I really do love her.
“Are you going to start?”
“I can’t decide with you looking at me. Too much pressure.”
“Too much pressure?” I quirk a brow at her, staring her down. “Really?”
“Don’t look at me!” Quinn laughs.
“What? I want to watch you sing. Hell, I’ve watched you sing before.”
“That’s before you knew who I was.”
“Wait.” I set my drink down and lean forward. “Are you nervous?”
“Kind of. I want to impress you.”
Fuck, I love this woman.
“You’re the biggest pop star in the world, Quinn. You’ve played sold-out crowds at Madison Square Garden and Wembley.”
“Are you tracking my tour dates?” she asks, cocking a hip as her chosen song starts playing in the background.
“I only know these things from Harper and Stevie. They’re big fans of yours.”
“They are? Not you?”
“I mean…” I hold my thumb and forefinger together, leaving a little space between them. “I’m kind of a fan.”
“Kind of? That’s all?”
“I don’t know.” I lean back in my seat and rest my ankle on my knee. “I haven’t had a performance to really solidify if I’m your number one fan.”
“Alright, alright.”
“No more delays, Quinn. I want a private performance.”
Quinn shakes her hands out in front of her, and seeming to change her mind, queues up a different song. It’s a familiar upbeat tune, but I can’t peg it.
Quinn’s entire face lights up as she starts dancing around the tiny stage to the Whitney Houston classic.
Holy shit. It’s only the two of us in this tiny room, but I don’t know if these walls can contain the notes she’s belting out.
Fuck. She is incredible. Goose bumps break out on my skin as I watch her perform, singing her heart out about dancing with somebody. She’s mesmerizing. Sure, I saw her perform at the gala, but that was before.
Before I knew that she was Quinn.
Now?
I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of watching her do what she was so clearly born to do. It makes me hate that jackass Eric even more for putting her through all this shit.
She winks at me as she keeps singing and I am a goner for this woman. As the song ends, I pop up and start cheering.
“Hell, yeah! I’m your number one fan, Quinn! Woo!”
She laughs, dropping the mic onto the stand with the music.
“I like seeing you in fan mode,” she says.
I pull her into my arms and press a kiss to her forehead. “Get used to seeing it, because I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
“Good.”
“Maybe I’ll have to make a sign that says, ‘Genevieve’s number one fan’ on it.”
She smiles up at me. “As long as I get to make one that says, ‘Jasper’s number one fan’ too.”
“We can have a sign making day. Lots of glitter. Just like we made in high school.”
She laughs. “Made a lot of glitter signs in high school?”
“You didn’t? We had to make them for the athletic teams to support them.”
“Maybe that’s what you had to do when dinosaurs roamed the earth…”
“Damn.” I slap her ass and send her back to the couch. “I guess I won’t be making my sign after all.”
Quinn drops down onto the couch and crosses one leg over the other.
“You love me and you know it.”
Her eyes go wide as she realizes what she just said. Walking over, I drop my hands on either side of her and lean down.
“In case it wasn’t obvious, Quinn, I am head over heels in love with you.”
She fists her hands in my shirt and pulls me closer. “I love you too. More than I ever thought possible.”
I slant my mouth over hers, needing the connection with her. Finally confessing how I feel to this woman? It’s better than any game-winning goal I could ever make. It’s the best feeling in the world.
“Now, prepare to fall even more in love with me.”
“Oh, yeah? How’s that?” she asks, eyes locked on me, full of love.
“I’m about to wow you with my singing.”
“I’m ready.”
She looks like she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if she tried.
Finding the song, I queue it up and listen as the first few notes filter into the tiny room.
I begin singing the first line to “The Sound of Music.”
“Oh my God!” Quinn shrieks, kicking her feet.
I drop my voice two octaves, then sing the next line. Or what I assume is two octaves. I don’t know because I’m the worst singer in the history of time.
“Yes! Best singer ever!” Quinn cheers as I continue the song. Horribly, I might add.
By the time I finish, Quinn stands and leaps into my arms.
“I am definitely your number one fan.” She peppers my face with kisses. “Best rendition of ‘The Sound of Music’ ever.”
“Obviously,” I joke. “No one can beat that.”
“They wouldn’t even want to try.”
“God, I love you,” I say.
“Not as much as I love you.”
I smile at her, not setting her down. I love holding her to me like this. “Are we going to be those annoying people who say I love you all the time and annoy other people with it?”
“That would require us to be in public, but when we do, we will absolutely be those people and I’m okay with it.”
“Good.” I kiss her again, because I can. “Now, time for you to show me up with another song.”
She slides down me, and I hate the loss of her warmth. “I don’t know if I can live up to your performance, but I’ll try.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you back once we’re on the ice together.”
She winks at me. “I have no doubt you will.”
Damn. I cannot wait to get this woman into a pair of skates.