Chapter 36
Liam
Ipush Christina across the ice at the rink.
“How’s this speed? Is it okay?” I ask.
“Oh yes, this is great. Goodness.” She laughs. “I haven’t been ice skating since I was in high school. I forgot how fun it is.”
I grin. Kendall waves at us from the edge of the ice as we skate toward her. She holds up her phone at us, and I ease to a stop so she can take a photo.
“Having fun?” Kendall asks her aunt.
“A blast, anak.” Christina chuckles and pats my hand. “Liam’s doing all the hard work, pushing me around.”
“It’s not hard at all. Way more fun than doing drills at practice. Or getting slammed into the boards.”
They both laugh.
“Should we keep going?” I ask Christina.
She nods. “I think I’ve got a few more minutes left in me.”
“You got it.”
Kendall checks the time on her phone. “Mom and Dad will be here to pick you up in ten minutes.”
Christina flashes a thumbs up. “I’ll be ready.”
I smile at Kendall. “You should come skate with us.”
Kendall beams at me. “Okay.”
She throws on a pair of skates and joins us on the ice. We skate ahead, careful to stay off to the side so we don’t block the way for the faster skaters.
Kendall glances at me. “I can take over, if you want.”
I shake my head. “It’s okay. I’m good.”
A tender smile pulls at her lips. I let my gaze run the length of her body. She’s wearing these black leggings that look like they were painted on her body and a knit sweater. Her hair is up in a messy bun. She looks so cute and sexy.
I give her a playful nudge with my elbow. “You’re a natural on the ice,” I say.
Kendall laughs. “You should have seen me the first time I tried to go ice skating. I spent more time with my butt on the ice than actually skating.”
Christina chuckles. “Oh, I remember that. I had to run out and buy extra ice packs. Your little butt was so bruised.”
I gaze down at Kendall’s perfect ass. “It looks pretty good now,” I say softly so only she can hear me. I wink at her, and she gives me a playful smack.
“It’s nice that you two are taking the time to do something fun this afternoon,” Christina says. “You’ve both been so busy planning the rehearsal dinner. You deserve a day off.”
I chuckle. “It’s a hard job for sure.”
This past week, Kendall and I picked out a restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, came up with a dinner menu, and finished putting together goody bags for everyone attending.
“You seemed pretty put out when we went to the menu tasting. And wine tasting right after that,” Kendall teases.
I shrug. “Someone’s gotta do it.”
She chuckles and playfully shoves my arm. I spot Aidan and Micah hitting the ice and wave at them. They skate toward us.
“Hey, you guys made it,” I say.
“We figured it would be good for us to get out of the house for a bit,” Aidan says.
“I was going cross-eyed staring at my laptop,” Micah says.
“Writing going well?” I ask them.
“Yup. We’re on track to meet our deadlines,” Aidan says.
Christina smiles at Aidan and Micah. “I can’t wait for your next book. I loved your first one.”
Aidan and Micah beam and tell her thank you.
She pats Micah’s hand. “I started reading your romance series that you wrote on your own. I’m hooked.”
“Really?” Micah smiles wide.
“Yes. It’s so good.” She looks at Aidan. “After I’m done making my way through Micah’s books, I’m going to read the stories you posted on that website. Scribble Share, right?”
Aidan’s cheeks flush. “You’re the best, Christina. It means a lot that you read our stuff.”
We make another circle around the ice. An older couple I don’t know waves at us from the edge of the rink.
Christina waves to them, and we slow to a stop. Now that we’re closer, I see that the woman looks a lot like Kendall. They’re the same height and have the same long, wavy dark hair. They have the same button nose and big brown eyes too.
“Mom. Dad. What are you doing here?” Kendall asks.
“We got here a little early so we thought we’d come inside and surprise you,” Kendall’s mom says.
Kendall hugs her, then her dad. She introduces me and Micah to her parents, Elena and Jim. Aidan says hi to them. Elena mentions that they haven’t seen Aidan in years.
“Look at you! Engaged!” Elena beams at Aidan and Micah.
Aidan smiles and gazes adoringly at Micah. He scoops her hand in his. “I can’t believe it either. Somehow I managed to convince this amazing woman to spend the rest of her life with me.”
Micah smiles at him.
“I hope you two can come to the wedding,” Aidan says to Kendall’s parents.
“Oh absolutely. You’re one of Kendall’s longest and best friends. Of course we’ll be there. We would have loved to go to the engagement party, but we were in the Philippines visiting my cousins,” Elena says.
“It’s ok,” says Aiden. “We’re just glad you’ll be at the wedding.”
Jim turns to me. “Liam, I’m a huge fan. You’re my favorite player on the Wolves.”
I smile. “Thank you, sir. That’s really nice of you to say.”
We all chat for a bit before Jim and Elena say they should get going. I help move Christina off the ice.
She smiles up at me. “Liam, I had a lovely time with you. Thank you so much.”
“It was my pleasure. And hey, we should all do brunch again sometime.”
“I’d like that,” she says.
I offer to help her out to Jim and Elena’s car, but they say they’re fine on their own. Kendall hugs them all good-bye and they head out of the rink.
Micah glances down at her phone and turns to Aidan. “We should head home if we want to hit our word count today.”
“You’re right.” Aidan turns to me. “Sorry to take off so soon.”
“It’s okay. Duty calls.” I hug Micah. “Thanks for stopping by.”
Kendall hugs them bye. When they leave, I glance down at her. “Looks like it’s just you and me, firecracker.”
She grins. “Looks like it.”
“Wanna do a few more times around the rink? Just you and me?”
Her eyes are bright. “Sure.”
We skate ahead, rejoining the crowd circling the rink.
“Hey.” Kendall’s voice is soft. “Thank you for today. My aunt had a blast.”
“I had a fun time with her. I’m really glad she could come.”
She’s quiet for a long moment as she looks ahead.
“The way you went out of your way today meant a lot,” she says.
I look at her. “I didn’t go out of my way, Kendall.”
“You did though. You spent the whole time she was here making sure she was comfortable. When we first got here, she didn’t feel like skating just yet, so you got her a tea and sat with her and talked. You didn’t leave her so you could go hang out with your teammates.”
“Of course I wouldn’t do that. Kendall, I meant it when I said I wanted to spend time with your aunt. I genuinely enjoy her company.” I’m quiet for a second. “You really don’t need to thank me. I was happy to do this. And I did it because I wanted to, no other reason.”
Sadness flashes in those pretty mahogany eyes. “I guess I’m just not used to this.” She’s quiet for a second. “You already know the guys I dated in the past weren’t like you. They liked my aunt just fine, but it always felt like they saw her as something they had to put up with to get to me.”
An ugly feeling burrows in the pit of my stomach. I grab her hand. She looks at me.
“That’s not okay. I’m sorry they made you feel that way.”
“I don’t expect people to be besties with my aunt.
I just want them to genuinely like her. I want them to genuinely want to spend time with her.
So to see you doing all that is just a little overwhelming,” she says.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be so weird about this.
I just wanted you to know how much it meant. ”
“Don’t be sorry. Thank you for telling me that.” Emotion bubbles up in my chest. I squeeze her hand, as I look at her. “Have you ever known me to do anything I don’t wanna do?” I ask.
She looks up at me, her expression soft. She shakes her head.
“You don’t have to worry about that with me, Kendall. Whenever I say something, I mean it. Whenever I do something, it’s because I want to.”
She flashes the most beautiful smile.
She glances at our joined hands. For a second, I wonder if she’s going to let go. Holding hands is a pretty couple-y thing to do. And we’re not a couple.
But she doesn’t let go. That warm look on her face lingers as she looks at our hands before focus ahead again.
“Wanna keep skating?” I ask.
I notice the fiery look in her eyes. She lets go of my hand and tugs at the hem of the hoodie I’m wearing. “Actually, I was wondering if you want to head back to your place?”
She quirks an eyebrow and runs her tongue along the seam of her lips. My cock twitches
I grab her hand again and drag her off the ice. “Let’s go.”
She’s giggling. “I didn’t mean right this second.”
I sit down on the bench and unlace my skates. “Well, I definitely mean right this second.”
She laughs as she stands in front of me. “I was thinking I could grab some takeout on the way to your house.”
I grab her hip and pull her to stand between my legs. “Sesame beef and shrimp lo mein?”
She grins. “Obviously.”
“And a bucket of hot and sour soup. And you’d better throw in some eggrolls too. I know how hungry you get after we—”
She covers my mouth with her hand, and she lets out an embarrassed laugh. She looks around.
“Liam. Oh my god, there are people around who can hear us,” she whispers.
I laugh against her hand. “Sorry.”
She rolls her eyes while laughing. “No, you’re not.” She pulls her hand away from my mouth.
I’m grinning. “Nope.”
She sits down, takes off her skates, and puts her shoes back on. She smiles at me. “See you tonight.”
She starts to walk off, but I stand up, catch her wrist, and pull her back to me. She bumps into my chest and I drop a kiss to her mouth.
Her cheeks ignite in a beautiful blush.
“See you tonight, firecracker.”