Chapter 44
Cole
“So you know Cassie was pretty obsessed with you back in the day, right?” Britt asks through a mouthful of popcorn.
It’s Thursday night, an off day for the team at home in Boston, so Cassie and I are on her couch watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn.
It’s some action movie starring Ben Affleck, which Cassie says she’s obligated to watch as a Boston girl.
Britt just got home from her shift at the restaurant and has slumped down in the armchair next to us.
I sip my drink, trying to hide the grin that threatens to break out across my face. For Cassie’s sake.
“I might have heard a thing or two about that,” I answer diplomatically.
Britt and I have pretty quickly formed a friendship, which is a relief. It’s been years since I’ve been in a serious relationship, but I remember enough to know that winning over your girlfriend’s best friend is pretty damn important.
Even though at some point Britt realized she could have a lot of fun by lightly torturing Cassie about her high school crush on me back when I was a rookie.
Being at home with them feels good. Feels easy and cozy, in the best way. Feels like the kind of night I could get used to, Cassie’s soft body pressed against my side as she and Britt laugh about the movie.
In fact, the last few weeks have been pretty damn great.
It’s like the clouds have parted and the sun has come out.
Jess is thriving in Boston. She’s loving her internship and is so excited about her future going into social work.
It warms my damn heart. She invited us over to her new apartment for dinner last week (which means she orders it from an Italian place a block over but presents it nicely on her new, unchipped IKEA plates).
The apartment is nice, and she’s found a not-in-a-cult roommate who works at a florist and always brings home colorful bunches of flowers.
As for the Nor’easters, the team has been crushing it, holding onto our second place in the division and chasing the number one spot. I’ve been on a bit of a hot streak in goal. What’s more, Noah is thriving, getting increasingly more minutes on the ice as he adapts to the big league.
And, as Rick told us, there could be good career news coming for both of us.
There’s not long left until we reach the trade deadline, and the Nor’easters management is happy with me.
If I can lock up a contract extension, and Cassie can get promoted to agent…
I’ll be thanking the Hockey Gods for the rest of my damn life.
“Like, she had a poster of you on her wall,” Britt says.
“Yup,” I answer evenly.
Cassie grabs a kernel of popcorn and throws it very pointedly at Britt’s head. “Britt. Are you trying to terrify him?”
Britt grins. “Of course not, babe. I’m just testing if he’s serious. If he gets scared off, then you know he’s not worth it.”
“I’m serious,” I interject. “In fact, I’m pretty obsessed with her too.”
I catch Cassie’s eye and enjoy watching her cheeks tinge a little pink. It kind of intoxicates me, seeing how she reacts to my attention. The feeling of having any kind of power over such a bright, sweet force of nature is something I hope I never have to give up.
“First of all, that’s cute as hell,” Britt says. “Second, did you know she once admitted she had a fantasy where you show up under her window Romeo and Juliet style holding a bunch of sunflowers, because those are her favorite, and you make a long romantic speech confessing your love to her?”
“Okay, enough sharing for today!” Cassie says very loudly, shooting to her feet, nearly sending the popcorn flying. She leans in toward where Britt sits and mutters, “I am going to kill you in real life.”
Britt guffaws in response.
It doesn’t matter to me that Cassie used to be a fan of mine at the start of my career. It doesn’t even matter that she also used to hate me after I accidentally was a jerk to her. All that matters is the here and now. That’s where Cassie is mine.
After Ben Affleck saves the day and the movie ends, Cassie and I head to her bedroom. As soon as she closes the door behind us, I can’t help but draw her into my arms and walk her backward to the bed.
“So, Romeo and Juliet style, huh?” I murmur. “I’m no Shakespeare expert, but you know they both die at the end, right?”
She looks up at me, eyelashes fluttering. “Yes, I’m aware there were a number of flaws with the fantasy. For example, the lack of a balcony in my mom’s apartment. And the fact that I’d never even met you. I guess I’d watched too many Hallmark movies.”
I grin, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry, sunshine. It’s cute, actually. Very cute. No need to defend yourself.”
She defends herself anyway. “Every teenage girl fantasizes about this kind of stuff, okay?” she exclaims. “For example, I always thought losing my virginity was going to be so romantic and perfect with some handsome guy who was head over heels for me.”
I raise my eyebrows. “And was it?”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffs. “It was freshman year of college with a math major named Kyle who gave me a fantastic two and a half minutes in his dorm room underneath a poster of some NASA rocket ship. And trust me, it was not a NASA rocket ship I was dealing with that night. More like a Lego one.”
I huff out a laugh and mostly manage not to feel a spike of jealousy at the idea of anyone else getting to touch her.
I sit down on the edge of her bed, tugging her toward me.
She yields, letting me drag her onto my lap. Her sweet scent fills my senses. I mouth along her neck, enjoying the feeling of her ass pressed against my quickly hardening cock.
“If it makes you feel better, when I was first drafted, I used to have this fantasy where I won the Stanley Cup and my high school girlfriend would run onto the ice and tell me she wants me back… after she dumped me in real life because I was away too much playing with my junior hockey team.”
“That’s actually kind of adorable.”
“No, it’s not,” I snort. “I’m pretty sure she’s now married with three kids in Augusta, Maine, working as a dentist. I don’t think we were meant to be.”
She pauses for a moment. “There was another fantasy where you rescue me from a burning building,” she begrudgingly admits.
That draws a laugh from deep within me.
“I hope that one never comes true. Though damn it, I’d carry you out of a burning building if I needed to.
” I push her down onto the bed and peel up her skirt, enjoying the sexy little gasp that leaves her mouth and goes straight to my cock.
“Now let me try to give you something to rival all your fantasies.”
“Ambitious words,” she softly giggles up at me.
“I might still be chasing a Stanley Cup. But baby, you know I like to be the best.”
I wake up the next morning with my phone buzzing on Cassie’s nightstand next to me.
It’s a little after 7 a.m. I’m usually an early riser, but we were up pretty late last night. I sit up with a groan, resisting the urge to sink back into bed and wrap myself around Cassie’s body.
I check my phone screen and my heart sinks. It’s an email from Rick, sent to both me and Cassie.
My office. Get here as soon as possible. BOTH OF YOU.
Fuck. Emails from my agent in caps have historically not been a good sign.
It sets off those familiar alarm bells in my head.
The ones that bring on that clenching feeling of anxiety in my chest. The thing is, part of me is always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Part of me is always braced for that. Always tensed like bad news is going to drop out of the sky and knock me on my ass.
I’ve felt it since the night Jess ended up in hospital.
It’s gotten better in the last few months. But it’s still there, buried but not dead yet.
Still bleary-eyed, I open the email attachment.
Instantly, all the exhaustion leaves my body. Replaced by a straight shot of adrenaline.
My heart starts fucking racing. It’s a photo of me and Cassie. From a couple of weeks ago. Taken from a distance and kind of grainy. But unmistakably us.
We’re on my doorstep. I remember that day. Remember walking outside and saying goodbye to Cassie as she left. I remember the moment I’m seeing on my screen, how we were tangled up for a moment against the door before I muttered goodbye, beautiful against Cassie’s cheek.
And in the photo, we’re kissing.