Chapter 27
TALLY
Knocking, followed by an incessant buzz, wakes me on Sunday morning. I roll out of bed, not even fully conscious.
“I’m coming!” My eyes haven’t adjusted to the light. I bump into the wall as I flip the safety and open the door. Standing on the other side is Flip, looking gorgeous and far more alert and put together than me.
“Hey.” His delicious mouth curves into a panty-wetting smile as he slips through the crack, snakes an arm around my waist, and lifts me off my feet. He noses his way through my hair and his lips find the side of my neck. “Fuck, I missed you, kitten.”
“I missed you, too.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “Where’s Pars?”
“Clinging to my leg.”
He adjusts his hold on me, grips the back of my thighs and wraps my legs around his waist. My back meets the wall. For a moment I’m worried he’ll try to kiss me on the mouth, and I haven’t even said hi to my toothbrush yet.
But he just nuzzles my neck.
“Are you huffing me?”
“I missed the way you smell.” He jams his nose into my hair. “I’m taking a shirt of yours next away series.”
“Only if you leave one of yours for me.”
“Deal.”
I press my face into his neck and huff him in return. “And I missed the way you smell, too.”
Eventually he steps back from the wall and gently sets me on my feet. Parsnip still clings to his calf.
I slap a hand over my mouth before Flip comes in for a kiss. “Give me two minutes.”
I run down the hall and disappear into my bedroom.
Pillow Flip gets tossed in the closet first. Then I give attention to myself.
“Oh shit.” My hair is a complete wreck. The rest of me isn’t much better.
I brush my teeth and pull my hair into a messy bun.
I don’t change out of my oversized sleep shirt and shorts.
The heat in the building can be a lot sometimes, particularly in my bedroom.
Flip is standing in the middle of my kitchen when I return. Parsnip is lying at Flip’s feet, grooming himself.
“Okay. I’m a little more presentable and minty fresh.” I link my fingers behind his neck. Tipping my chin up, I pucker my lips and close my eyes. After a few seconds of nothing, I crack a lid.
He smiles down at me.
“You can kiss me now.”
“Did you run to the bathroom to brush your teeth?”
“Yes.”
He presses his lips gently to mine.
I push up on my toes and angle my head, waiting for him to deepen the kiss. Instead, he kisses a path along the edge of my jaw to my ear. “Get dressed so I can take you out for something to eat.”
“Just one real kiss first?”
He widens his eyes. “Don’t you know kisses are the gateway drug to getting naked?”
“Total myth,” I fire back.
He grins and curves his hand around the back of my neck, squeezing gently as he covers my mouth with his.
Our lips part, and our tongues meet. My knees go weak.
He breaks it, but comes back in for another long, lingering kiss.
“I missed you,” I whisper.
“It’s good to be home with you.” He pats my butt. “Get dressed and let me take you for brunch. Then you can lure me into your bedroom and try to get me to do things to you that your dad will want to bury me for.”
Every part of me lights up. “Promise?”
His expression remains serious as he lifts his fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Be right back.” I fight not to skip down the hall, but do a little twirl and stag leap once I’m alone in my bedroom.
I return fully dressed and find Flip holding Parsnip like a baby, letting him lick his chin. “Oh, this is too precious.” I snap a photo and set it as my wallpaper.
Flip sets a disappointed Parsnip on the floor and helps me into my jacket. We’re nowhere near the end of snow season yet, so I bundle up.
Flip tosses a mouse before we leave the apartment, and Parsnip chases after it. Then he yowls forlornly when he realizes he’s been duped.
We run into Cammie and Chase on the way to the elevator.
“I just saw you on the ice last night. How are you here?” Chase asks.
Flip tucks me into his side as we join them in the elevator. “I took an early flight home.”
Cammie grins and hugs Chase’s arm. “That’s so sweet.”
“We’re grabbing a bite to eat off campus, if you want to join us,” Flip offers.
“Oh! We don’t want to impose.” Cammie glances at me, eyes wide.
Chase looks like someone just offered him a contract with the Terror.
“You’re not imposing at all,” I assure Cammie. This feels like kind of a big deal, especially since he called himself my boyfriend while he was in Colorado, and took an early flight home because he missed me. Now he wants to spend time not just with me, but with my friends, too.
“You’re sure?” Chase is already vibrating.
“Totally,” Flip and I say at the same time.
We exit the elevator, and Cammie and I climb into the back seat of Flip’s car, so Chase doesn’t have to eat his knees. Flip drives across town to the Pancake House. It’s a favorite, and they know us here, so Flip won’t be accosted by fans.
Once we’re seated, Rainbow, our usual server, pours us coffees and leaves us to browse the menu.
“That was one hell of an away series. First Colorado, and then Minnesota couldn’t keep their shit together,” Chase says. “They’re having a tough season.”
“Yeah, and Minnesota is up against New York this week.”
“Oof.” Chase shakes his head. “That’s rough. Kodiak Bowman is on fire this season.”
“Right? He beat his own scoring record four games ago,” Flip notes. “Guy is going in the Hall of Fame for sure.”
“I love his wife,” Cammie says. “I want to be like her when I grow up.”
“Oh my God,” I agree. “I love Lavender. She’s hilarious.”
“You have no idea.” Flip’s arm is draped over the back of my chair, and his smile tells an entire story.
I narrow my eyes. “What do you know that we don’t?”
“There was a problem with Tristan’s pants at the wedding,” Flip replies.
“Oh, I heard about this!” Chase’s eyes light up.
Cammie frowns. “Why do you know about this and I don’t?”
“Because Brody is Tristan’s brother,” Chase explains. “And he witnessed it.”
“I need the inside scoop,” Cammie insists.
“It’s cone,” Chase and Flip say at the same time. Then they fist-bump each other.
It makes me giddy. My pro hockey player and my friend’s boyfriend are bonding over wedding shenanigans.
Cammie and I make a lips-zipped, cross-our-hearts motion.
Chase and Flip have a silent conversation, and then Flip nods. “So Tristan’s pants were too small,” he explains.
Tristan is a mammoth of a man. He’s almost six and a half feet tall, and his hands are stupid huge.
“His business was businessing,” Chase blurts.
“And Lavender was called in to fix it,” Flip adds.
“Oh my God.” Cammie splays her hands on the table. I bet she’s planning a scene for one of her fics.
“Did Kodiak lose his mind?” I ask.
Flip nods. “I thought his head might explode when Lavender had to let out the crotch of Tristan’s pants.”
Cammie and I burst out laughing. “The way he loves his wife is goals.”
“He’s loved her his entire life,” Flip says. “Since they were kids. They’re soulmates.”
“Their love seems so endless,” I muse. My stomach twists uncomfortably. I can’t imagine those two without each other. But what if something happened? How devastated would Kodiak be? How broken?
Flip slides his arm along the back of my seat, thumb brushing back and forth along my shoulder blade, maybe sensing my sudden disquiet. I hate how my parents’ divorce has made me question even the strongest of bonds.
Flip asks Chase about the hockey season at Tilton, which sparks an animated conversation about where Chase is hoping to be after graduation. I love that Flip is connecting with my friends like this, that he’s happy to give advice and gentle guidance.
After brunch, we drop Chase and Cammie at her sister’s place and head back to my apartment. Fee is at the art studio, working on a project.
Flip grabs his bag out of the trunk. I’m anxious and excited to have him all to myself as we take the elevator to my apartment. Two guys recognize him, and he signs their hats. It doesn’t seem to faze him at all.
“Does that ever get annoying?” I ask once we’re in my apartment.
“Being recognized by fans?” He takes off his coat while Parsnip scales his leg.
“Yeah.”
“I’m always happy to sign hats and jerseys, but when they get touchy, it can be a lot,” he admits.
He doesn’t need to elaborate. I’ve seen plenty of women hanging off him at bars over the years. People assume they can touch him without asking permission because he’s a public figure.
Flip relocates my cat to his shoulder so he can take off his boots. Parsnip hops to the floor, then follows us down the hall. My stomach is full of butterflies as I lead him to my bedroom. I push the door open, thankful I remembered to hide my body pillow in the closet.
He steps into my bedroom and drops his duffle on the floor, eyes moving around the space. I try to see it through his eyes. It looks like a regular bedroom, apart from the desk in the corner with my computer, which makes it a decidedly student space.
He walks over to my bed, turns around, and gracefully falls back to stretch out on the teal comforter. He takes up an unreasonable amount of space on my double bed, and I love it.
Flip tucks one arm behind his head and extends his hand. “I promised I would let you try to get me to do naughty things.”
I slip my fingers into his and let him pull me closer. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the stress on the word try.”
“Today we test my self-restraint.” He wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me onto the bed with him, moving me to straddle his hips.
He’s so broad, thick shoulders, heavy biceps, defined pecs, washboard abs, and a tapered waist complemented by a hockey butt and powerful thighs.
I settle my palms on his chest and take in his gorgeous face.
His hands curve around my knees. “What are you going to do with me now that you have me in your bed?”
“Admire you.” I trace the line of his brow. “Enjoy having you all to myself.”