10. Scott
SCOTT
My phone kept buzzing.
I was late to practice and should have left to the arena ten minutes ago, but I couldn’t get myself to walk out of my bedroom.
Not when I had the most beautiful woman, the most exquisite creature ever created sleeping peacefully in my bed.
She shifted, reaching for me, and when she found that side of the bed empty, her eyes fluttered open.
Damn, those eyes. Those eyes were the prettiest fucking thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t want there to be a day that passed where I didn’t start looking at those sea-glass-green eyes.
“Morning,” I rasped. She turned. A genuine smile automatically painted her face.
“Morning,” she whispered, licking her lips. “You’re up.”
“I’m up.”
“And dressed,” she observed, lifting the sheet higher over her. I hated losing sight of her curves.
Last night had been hotter, more intimate than the first. Maybe it was because of the fact the rules were set by the wayside and I had talked her into really getting to know me. Into really giving me a chance.
“I gotta head out,” I shared, not masking my disappointment. If it were up to me, I would have spent the rest of the week in bed, only getting up for food and something to drink. Not even getting out on the ice would have been a priority.
“Oh.” That had her waking up a little more. “I can get out of your hair.”
“Stay.” I took her hand in mine. “Please?”
“I should really go back to my place. Finish unpacking and get ready for the week.” A week where I would be gone.
“The week?”
“I start work,” she reminded me, and I swallowed.
“Remotely, right?”
“Right.”
“So, why don’t you stay here, go to the game tonight, and tomorrow, we can go together to your place, get what you need to work, and bring it here.”
“Bring it here, huh?” Her pretty lips twitched and that perfectly plucked brow rose with a smattering of sassiness I liked. A lot.
“Why not?”
“Scott…” Stella might have said my name, but there was no real fight in her voice. “Let’s say I do that. Stay for what? Three more nights before you have to fly off to?”
“New York,” I shared, my voice lower than it had been as something inside my chest started to tighten.
“New York,” she repeated and lifted the sheet higher. “Right, and then?” I ran my hands through my hair.
“Toronto,” I replied, feeling an inkling of panic race up my spine as reality really hit. I would be gone for a while. I knew we could FaceTime and text.
But would that be enough? For her? For me? For us?
I was retiring.
I was almost done.
I only had one more season to go and I would be done. All my time could be hers. We could build anything for our future together. But was our timing off? Had we met too soon?
“And after Toronto?” she asked, her face not giving an inkling of a hint of what she was thinking.
“We come home for three games, six days, before we head to Miami, and then Vegas.” I hated that I couldn’t read the emotions on her face, but I saw the way her gaze dropped to her hands on her lap. Does that mean this is too much?
Fuck that! No way, no how was I going to lose my chance with the woman of my dreams. I was thirty-seven years old, a grown-ass man who’d never felt this, never came close to knowing without a whisper of a doubt that someone belonged to me like she did.
“That’s a lot of traveling,” she noted, scooting to the edge of the bed.
Words died on my tongue as she stood, fully confident in her nudeness. It was a turn-on as she picked up the clothes I all but torn off her body after we got back to my place. My phone buzzed again, and she looked over her shoulder as she put her bra on.
“You should probably get that. Sounds important.”
“I’m late to practice. They just want to make sure I’m okay.” She nodded and tossed on the halter dress she’d worn to brunch. The polka dots showed off her fun side, and the halter back exposed so much skin my mouth watered to kiss and taste.
“Come with me.” I should have worded it like a question versus a demand, but the onslaught of panic and anxiety swirled with the fear of not seeing her again.
“To your game? Tonight?” To begin with. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I shut my mouth.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “To the game.”
It felt like a lie.
A lie of omission yet still a lie, but anything to make sure I could see her at the end of the night to have her cute ass back in my bed.
“I’ll have a car pick you up and take you to the arena.” She moved towards me easily, slipping her feminine body between my legs. Her hands stroked my shoulders as those spell-binding green eyes stared at me for a moment.
“You know I can get my own Uber there.”
“I know, but let me take care of you.”
“Take care of me, huh?” She giggled softly.
“Yes. I told you last night what I want with you.” My Adam’s apple bobbed heavily. “I want you to give us a chance.”
“You really don’t think this is too much, too fast? Just because you said all that last night after our first night and the fact you know my brother—"
“Sam doesn’t—" She placed a finger over my lips, and I gently bit it.
“I just want to make sure you’re not somehow caught up in something…”
“What?”
“Something you said and woke up maybe not feeling.” The vulnerability in her pretty eyes about killed me.
I should have been at the arena dressed and ready over twenty minutes ago.
I had to see the trainer, my coaches, my teammates. The list went on. Hell, I was almost positive I was supposed to have lunch with our enforcer, but I didn’t rush out. And I knew I wasn’t going to.
My hands gripped her hips, and she took the silent instruction to straddle my lap.
“I don’t know what kind of boys you’ve been with before me—" She opened her mouth to argue, but I shot her a look, and she pursed her lips. “But I’m a grown-ass man. One who from very early on knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to work for it.
” I stroked the side of her face, tucking in a wild strand of hair behind her ear.
“I like you. A lot. If I’m honest, trouble, I more than like you.” She opened that pretty mouth again but stopped once more. “I don’t care that it’s only two days in and that it’s fast as fuck.” I smiled at her. “I can see this. You and me being a thing.”
“A thing?” Her bow rose with suspicion, but I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“Real. I can see us being a very real thing. Come to the game.” My hands tightened around her hips, and I bit the inside of my cheek not to demand she come on the road with me.
“The game.” She licked her lips. “Is that all you want me to go with you to? Tonight’s game and then what? I’m just supposed to wait around for you?“ I was too fucking ensnared by her gaze that I didn’t realize I’d somehow messed up. She caught me off guard and pushed me away.
“Stell—“
“We should get going. I’ll call an Uber and wait outside so you can get ready.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m going to take you home and—“ Her eyes softened.
“As lovely as that sounds, I don’t think so. I live across town from you, and you’re closer to the arena.”
“Then take my car,” I offered. “You can drop me off. I’ll be your passenger princess, and you can drive my car back to your place.”
“Trust me, you don’t want me to drive your expensive SUV. I can guarantee I’ll run over curbs and more than likely bump into something at least once.” She laughed easily, bending to put her shoes on.
“Baby—“ My house line rang, and she pointed at it.
“You should get that.” I swallowed hard. Without thinking, I did her bidding.
“Chance!” Harrison Stafford voice sounded worried on the other end of the line.
“What’s up, Stafford?”
“What’s up? You’re late, and Coach is about to have a shit fit.”
“Yeah, umm…” I cleared my throat. “My alarm didn’t go off. I’m about to leave.”
“You sure that’s it?” Stafford asked quietly.
“Yeah, man… just running a little late. I’ll be there.” Harrison kept talking, but all I could do was watch Stella as she picked up her cell phone. I didn’t have to ask to know she was calling a damn Uber.
My hands might be tied for a couple of hours, but if she didn’t show up to the game, I knew where she lived thanks to her brother.
“Chance? You there? Did you even hear a thing I said? You’re freaking me out, man.”
“Sorry, I’ll be there in ten.”
“Jesus Christ, how many season openers have we played together Chance?” Harrison asked.
“Since you started in Houston,” I answered.
“And how many have you been late to? Hell, how many practices have you been late to?”
“None.”
“None,” he repeated, I heard Stafford take a deep breath. “I’ll go calm Coach down, but tell me you’re really okay.”
“I’m good.”
“Good, see you in ten.” And with that, he ended the call.
“Come on.” Stella extended her hand to me, “You gotta go.”
“You don’t. You can stay here and—“ She smiled and tried to make it reach her eyes, but we both knew it didn’t.
She was retreating, but Stella had another thing coming if she thought I was going to let her push me away that easily.