Chapter 49
Sean
Pretty much all I’ve done since I left Redwood three and a bit weeks ago is mope around and think about Callie. Mainly just replay the moment she finally told me she loves me, it was like the hallway started moving underneath me when she said it, like my mind went foggy for a second and all I could hear was a ringing in my ears. Her face was so vulnerable, unwavering as she let those words finally fall from her lips like it was the most natural thing in the world to say. I can’t lie, a few tears almost escaped down my face before I collected myself and instead launched myself at my girl, holding her to my waist and vowing to tell her how much I love her every single day that she”ll let me. It made all the months of waiting to say it worth it, I”m so glad I let her say it first, even though I had promised myself I would share my feelings with her once she was moving past her grief. But it seems she didn’t need to wait, she was ready to tell me and she did, and since that day it’s all I’ve been able to fucking think about. Luckily I”ve had enough time between our hectic game and training schedule to call Callie at least once per day, obviously texting her as much as possible through out the day too but it’s nowhere near enough to satisfy the constant craving I have for her. Being away from her for all this time is putting me in a shit mood, the thunder cloud that’s started following me around is getting closer to bursting every day and I”m at the point now of counting the fucking hours until I can go home. I’m also stuck sharing a hotel room with Nick as Lewis had to stay home, icing his injured leg and Kyle paid for his own room. Snobby prick. We’re all praying we have Lewis back before the end of the season, but I have to say, it’s not looking good for him.
It’s coming up for 9pm and I feel like a fucking zombie walking down the hallway to my hotel room, Nick trailing behind me, dragging his bag along the floor. The sound of the leather dragging across the tiles is making me irrationally irritable and I have to crack my neck to one side, squeeze my eyes closed for a moment in order not to punch Nick square in the face. The second we step into our room Nick groans loudly and falls back onto his bed. “Jesus, I”m fucked after that. Coach really spanked our asses after that colossal fuck up of a game.”
He’s not wrong, we got our asses kicked by the other team today and Coach didn’t hold back the fire when he got into the locker rooms after the game. He totally let rip on us but I didn’t stand up to him like I usually would, knowing he’s clearly still deep in grief and if he wants to take it out on us then I”m happy to receive the wrath of his feelings.
“Maybe you should have kept your eyes on the puck then, rather than constantly scanning the stands for girls you’d like to fuck.” I mutter, rolling my eyes out of sight so Nick can’t see my distaste. I know, that would have been me too not that long ago, but I guess I’ve grown up. “First of all, that’s not what I was doing, I have a girl keeping me busy right now” Nick picks at his fingers sheepishly, staying tight lipped about this mystery girl again. “And second of all, you’re one to talk. Didn’t you get purposefully sent into the penalty box when you first saw Callie, leaving us a man down?”
I huff a laugh and shrug. “Ok, you have a point.” I hate admitting when Nick is right.
“Exactly, so shut up and sit down so we can play COD for an hour before we both collapse from exhaustion.” He says, reaching for my controller and tossing it across to my bed.
“Alright, your charming demeanour has convinced me. Let’s see if Lewis is free to join too, the poor fucker has been in that house all by himself for almost a month now.”
Nick nods, slipping the headphones over his ears and flicking at his controller, starting a game for us and inviting Lewis to join.
“Come on man, you’re so fucking boring.” He groans after a moment and I know before I put my headphones on that Lewis has joined and he’s likely complaining about being disturbed again.
The man has done nothing but sit on his royal ass at home for the last three weeks and every time we try to call or get him on a game with us he moans that we are interfering with his ‘rest’ which pretty much includes him jerking off twice a day and watching chick flicks on the sofa like a big girl.
“You two are fucking annoying, can’t I be left in peace for more than five minutes at a time without you two boner killers calling me and begging for my attention?” Lewis grumbles through the speakers of our headsets. I snort a loud laugh, headphones now securely in place. “We’re not interested in how many times you tug it per day Lew,”
He huffs something I can’t decipher before joining the game and quitting his winging, the three of us quickly becoming engrossed in the TV screen. After about an hour and too many animated bullets coming my way, blood splattering the screen soon after, I”m ready to listen to my stomach’s incessant rumbling and eat something. I slide the headphones off, getting up from my cross legged position on the bed and stretching my aching muscles, competing so many times in such a short space of time really takes it’s toll on my body.
“Going to grab some food from downstairs, you want anything?” I say, patting Nick on his tattooed shoulder as I pass him, making my way towards the hotel room door.
“Just get me a burger or something please man, I”m fucking starving.” I nod and leave the room, the door closing softly behind me with a click as I step out into the quiet hallway and begin towards the lift.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and check my messages, I have one from Callie that was sent nearly two hours ago.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath as I read her words, telling me how much she misses me and more importantly how much she loves me. I still can’t believe she actually loves me.
I call her immediately but she doesn’t pick up so I shoot her a text back instead, apologising for taking so long to respond and telling her to call me back whenever she can. I of course tell her how much I miss her too and how much I love the fucking bones off her.
When I finally get back to the hotel room my hunger pangs have been overtaken by the tired mist that’s clouding my brain. I’m so fucking zonked I can barely see straight and the worst part is that I still haven’t heard back from my girl, maybe she’s mad at me for not replying to her for two hours earlier. I couldn’t blame her if she was, as here I am checking my phone every two-seconds to see if she’s responded to me. Each time I see the empty lock screen my heart beats a little quicker with worry that I’ve upset her and she’s sulking with me. Usually I find her sassy attitude and sulking endearing, but not when I”m a shit ton of miles away and I can’t force her into a bear hug to pull her out of her mood. I drop the paper bag containing Nick’s requested burger and chips into his lap where he sits on the bed, still immersed in a game with Lewis. I can’t be fucked to play anymore violent shit with them tonight so I lie back on my own bed, closing my eyes and resting my hands behind my head with a deep breath. I need to talk to Callie before I can sleep, the gaping pit of anxiety in my stomach is widening the longer time goes on without hearing from her. I can barely keep my eyes from drooping as I try my hardest to watch Nick play, fighting to keep my mind awake as I listen to him and Lewis yell to each other through their headsets, Nick’s mouth crammed with fries like the pig he is.
After a few minutes of fighting sleep I hear Lewis mutter through Nick’s headset, “Someone’s at the door so I better go,” then the two of them call it quits, Nick turns off the console and lies back against his own pillows with a sigh.
“Are you just as fucked as I am?” I grunt, peeling my eyes open to look over at Nick as he pulls his t-shirt over his head and tosses it to the ground. “Uh huh,” he nods, flopping back against the mattress, his tattoo covered stomach contracting. “I’m so ready to go home and chill the fuck out for two weeks.”
We have two weeks off when we get home, two weeks of no games and barely any training, I can’t fucking wait for a rest.
Ping!
“Oh thank fuck for that,” I breathe a sigh of relief, grabbing my phone from the nightstand and reading the text from Callie that appears on my screen.
She’s telling me all the things I needed to hear, that she’s not mad at me, that she couldn’t respond because she was driving and that she can’t wait to see me at the weekend.
When the shit eating grin splits my face in two, Nick laughs. “You’re wrapped around her fucking finger you know that?”
“Yeah I know,” I grin lazily at him, “I fucking love it, and I love her.” Nick rolls over with a fake gag and turns off his light, plunging his side of the room into darkness.
I shoot Callie a reply, asking where she was driving to at this time of night and letting her know she can call me if she wants. I’ll have to go out into the hallway to talk to her now that Nick is passed out and already snoring obnoxiously, but I’ll do whatever I need to just to hear her soft voice before I go to sleep. The second I press send another ping breaks the silence in the room and makes me jump slightly, shoving my phone under the pillow to try a mute the sound from waking Nick. Luckily the man sleeps like a fucking elephant, a tornado could rip through this hotel room and it wouldn’t wake him. I’m surprised to see a text from Lewis when I look down, squinting my eyes into the bright light of my phone screen as it filters through the darkness around me.
Lewis:
‘Your girl just showed up at my door, she wants to sleep in your bed tonight, she’s missing you man.’
Oh god why is she so damn cute all the time? I just want to wrap that girl in cotton wool and keep her in my pocket. I tap against my screen, replying as quickly as I can.
Sean:
‘I fucking love that girl, look after her for me Lew.’
I check Callie’s message thread again…no reply yet but she’s probably getting undressed and climbing under my duvet, snuggling into the scent that drowns my pillows. My heart beats so hard for her it’s crazy that it doesn’t spring out of my chest and go running back to Redwood to find her. Only five more days until she’s back in my arms, and she doesn’t know this yet but we”re 100 percent spending the entire weekend naked and wrapped around each other. I can’t fucking wait.
Callie
I don’t know how I got here, all I know is that I”m missing my 6-foot-4, irritatingly handsome hockey player more than I”d like to admit to myself. I’ve had to claw out every smidgen of inner strength that I have over the past three weeks without him, navigating my grief as well as missing the only person who can comfort me in the way I need has really taken it’s toll on me mentally. The funeral was the absolute worst, standing there next to my dad in the drizzling rain as they lowered my mum into the ground. My hand tensed beside me, searching for Sean’s comforting grip when it wasn’t there. I just need to feel like I”m near him, even though he’s hundreds of miles away right now and won’t be home until the weekend. I guess this is how I got here, standing outside his front door and tapping lightly against it with my fist, an overnight bag slung over one shoulder as I shiver on the spot. The January wind is slicing at my bare arms as I shudder, banging slightly harder against the wood just before the door swings open and Lewis stares out at me, a confused expression clouding his eyes. His chestnut hair is blowing as the winter air invades the house, so he quickly gestures for me to come inside. I smooth my curls the minute I step foot into the quiet hallway, Lewis shutting out the icy chill behind me.
“Can I stay here tonight please?” I blurt out, my cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment for needing to be here for the night. I know it’s clingy of me to need to sleep in Sean’s bed when I”m missing him but I don’t care. Lewis raises a honey coloured eyebrow. “You know he’s not back yet right?” I nod, feeling the heat spreading across my entire face. “Oh,” he whispers, “that’s why you want to stay here, you want to sleep in his bed.” Fucking hell, can every guy at this university just read me like a book or something?
I sigh, resigning myself to the embarrassment and meeting Lewis’ eyes. There’s nothing there but a soft understanding and it’s then that I remember Lewis having a serious girlfriend last year who broke his heart. The poor guy was depressed for months after she left him, pining after what they had. He’s not like his friends, he loves relationships just like I always have, we’ve always had that in common. Looking into his soft, green eyed gaze right now reminds me that he’s probably one of the only people around me that deeply understands how I feel right now and that I don’t need to be embarrassed about needing Sean.
“Can I?” I mutter, “Please?” My voice is still quite as a mouse when I speak but Lewis’ bright face splits into a smooth smile.
He nods as his smile widens and he shoves his hands into his pockets. “Of course you can,” he tips his head towards the stairs, “make yourself at home and I’ll be down here if you need anything, can’t get up the stairs with this stupid fucking leg.” He nods down at the strapped portion of his knee, his toes a light shade of purple from the tightness of the strapping. “Ok, thanks Lewis I do appreciate this.” I smile, heading for the stairs. Lewis titters a laugh. “You and I both know he’d rip my balls from my body if I didn’t let you stay here.”
“Yeah,” I laugh, “he probably would, but thank you all the same.” “You know, I never see him happier than when he’s with you,” my heart’s grown wings again, “he loves you so much, he’s like a lost puppy when you’re not around.” Lewis chuckles under his breath, raking a hand through his short, brown bristles.
There’s my bashful smile coming back with a vengeance, pink cheeks following suit. “He makes me happy too.”
“I can tell, he brings out a totally different side of you, one I’d never seen before you guys met.”
He’s right, he’s so right.
I shrug. “I guess I was never really happy before. All those parties were just a way to keep me sane when I was training and dealing with Joel’s shit all the time. I never really knew what it was like to be properly loved, even with all my faults…until I met Sean.”
Lewis ponders my words and I know he’s reminiscing his own failed relationship, but after a beat he simply nods and throws me a lazy wave, heading back to his indented place on the sofa. I head up the stairs, hearing my phone ping after a moment and reminding myself to respond to Sean before I go to sleep, hopefully he can stay awake long enough to say goodnight to me. I pull my t-shirt over my head, digging in Sean’s draw for one of his to wear to bed, loving the warm, mushy feeling I get when I slip it over my head and curl up under his covers. His king sized bed swallows me whole as I bury myself in the centre of it, the pillows smothering my face in Sean’s manly scent that I want to drink up every drop of. But instead of letting my eyes win the battle and fall closed, dragging me into a well deserved sleep, I check my phone first. Sean’s message makes my heart skip as usual and the second I hit send on my reply he reads it, like he was staying awake, waiting for me to respond to him. A moment passes and he hasn’t sent anything back so I stuff my phone under Sean’s pillow and turn onto my side, letting the thought of sleep overwhelm me as it drags me under. My eyelids are drooping, the smell that surrounds me relaxing every muscle in my body as usual and I just know I”m going to have the best sleep of my life since Sean left almost a month ago. But he has his own plan, which includes waking me from my almost peaceful slumber as my phone starts to ring, vibrating through the pillow and giving me an unsolicited face massage.
“Hi you,” I croak, my voice already rough from my near sleepy state. “Hey baby, I”m so glad you’re still awake I was trying not to fall asleep so I could talk to you. I’m out in the hallway so I don’t wake Nick, although to be honest the man snores like a fucking elephant so he’d probably sleep through a little bit of phone sex anyway.” He murmurs, his sexy voice making my stomach burn with desire.
I breathe a muffled laugh. “We’re not having phone sex Sean and I’d love it if you’d hurry up and come home so you can actually fuck me, playing with myself is getting pretty boring.” I smirk to myself, knowing that I can get him going so easily.
“Yeah well, you still haven’t sent me that video you promised me,” he huffs, “I don’t know how I”m expected to jerk it without some sort of motivation and nothing makes me fucking hard anymore other than you, I think you’ve broken my dick.”
I laugh, imagining him leaning back against the wall in the hallway with that bright smile across his face as he talks to me, his torso contracting as he laughs, his dimples deepening and his arms flexing a he moves the way he does. Fuck, I”m so damn horny without him.
“There’s nothing broken about your dick,” I hum softly, desperate to turn him on as much as I am even though there’s not much either of us can do about it right now.
“Hmm,” he muses, still a smirk to his husky voice. “You’re right about that, I’ll show you when I”m home in…” he pauses, “ninety-six hours.” I blow out a tired breath, not only tired for sleep but exhausted from constantly missing Sean. “I miss you,” I sigh, “I can’t wait another ninetysix hours,”
“I know baby, it’s fucking awful being away from you, I can’t concentrate on the ice either, not when I”m missing you so badly.”
We talk for a while longer, going over our plans for the next few days which mostly consist of counting the minutes until we can see each other and trying to keep busy. Sean has a few more games before they come home and I can tell by the way his voice drags when he speaks about it that he’s struggling with the exhaustion of so many games jammed so close together in his schedule. He has two whole weeks off when he’s home and I intend to stay within a metre of him for as much of those two weeks as I can.
I don’t get much sleep even though I”m painfully tired, so when I wake for the fifth time at 6am I decide to just give up on chasing sleep and get up, tiptoeing down the stairs to make a coffee in silence. Lewis is sleeping on the couch right now considering he can’t get up the steep staircase to his room with the state of his injured leg, so I try extra hard not to wake him as I make my liquid gold. Taking the first sip and proceeding to burn my bottom lip however isn’t a good start and I try to let the curse that slips from my lips escape as quietly as possible, but Lewis sits up straight from his position on the sofa. He digs into his eye sockets with the heels of his palms before squinting over at me as I hold my hands up in apology. “Shit, sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” I grimace, “I was trying to be extra quiet but the coffee was so fucking hot it burnt me and the curse just fell out of my mouth before I could stop it, I’m sorry.”
Lewis shakes his head, a lazy grin plastered across his face. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve been tossing and turning all night anyway, this sofa is really uncomfortable.” He plants his hands on his lower back, twisting his body and cracking the achy bones with a groan.
“Yeah,” I mutter, “I was tossing and turning too.”
“Being in Sean’s bed not good enough to help you sleep?” He muses, standing up and grabbing his own mug from the highest cupboard. I shake my curls, tucking a handful behind my ear. “Not really, it was better than being at the dorm but…I just want him back now.” I sigh, sipping at my coffee again and enjoying the warmth as it glides down my throat.
Suddenly Lewis’ expression changes to one of deep thought, like he’s contemplating a crazy scheme and when his eyes find mine again he says, “hey, I have an idea…”
Callie
I”m on a plane, a fucking airplane and it’s only been four hours since I got out of bed. Lewis is a great guy, so fucking great and he’s an amazing friend to Sean but maybe this idea of his was a bit bananas for a random Tuesday morning. He knows I”m missing Sean, desperate to see him yada, yada, yada but I didn’t expect him to offer to pay for my plane ticket to surprise him in France today. It”s no secret that I’m pretty much broke 99 percent of the time, I’ve never shied away from that fact, never hidden it from people but I certainly don’t expect handouts from anyone. The truth is Sean could have bought me a plane ticket himself, his bank account is bulging at the seams and he’s often overly generous, especially towards me. But his efforts to persuade me to travel to France for the month with him were shot down when I told him how busy I was with training and competitions. What I accidentally — or not so accidentally but don”t tell him that — forgot to mention was that I didn’t have anything on during the last week of his trip. I kind of thought it would be pointless flying out there for one week and I definitely underestimated how much I’d be missing him. So here I am, half an hour from landing in Bordeaux on a Tuesday morning and my boyfriend has no idea that I”m coming. I know he has a game at midday today so I booked my ticket in the taxi that Lewis practically shoved me into at 7am this morning, insisting Sean and I both need this. He’s right, we do need this, we need to see each other and my chest is fluttering continuously when I picture the way his face is going to look when he sees me waiting outside the rink for him.
My leg won’t stop bobbing up and down when I finally find my bag and get into a taxi, taking me directly to the rink. My nail has found it’s way to my mouth as it always does when I”m nervous, my teeth taking tiny pieces out of it as I watch Bordeaux fly by the window. By the time I actually make it to the rink it’s only fifteen minutes until the game starts and my chest is thumping with anticipation, just being in the same room as Sean after almost a month away from him is giving me an anxious stomach ache. I shuffle past a few people, apologising under my breath and land in my seat with a sigh just as the guys all start sliding onto the ice, one after another. Then he comes into view, just after Nick as he glides onto the ice, looking painfully hot with a panty dropping grin plastered across his face. I know other girls will be thinking the exact same thing as I am right now, god I want him to fuck me until I can’t walk, but I don’t care who else is looking at him because he’s always only looking at me. Not right now of course, as he has no idea I”m even here watching him. He flies across the ice like a bullet through the air, zipping in and out of his teammates towards the goal, passing to Nick and flying around the back of the net — a tactic he often uses to confuse his opponents — and takes the puck back from Nick, smashing it into the goal within the first five minutes of play. The arena erupts, everyone on their feet cheering my guy on as he flashes a smile at his team, they clamber on top of him, enveloping him in a huge brawl of a hug. He takes several pats to the back and pucks to the shins for the remainder of the first period, scoring one more goal ten-seconds before the whistle sounds. I’m so fucking proud of him I could burst and as he makes his way off the ice, Kyle hangs a loose arm over his shoulder, glancing up and making brief eye contact with me, throwing me a wink and pushing Sean off the ice ahead of him.
I had to text Kyle on the way here to let him know I was coming, he’s the only one of Sean”s teammates that I trust and I needed him to keep my plan in action. Kyle will bring Sean out of the rink after the game and take him towards the docks where I”ll be waiting for him. There was no way I could ask Mac or Nick to pull this off, they’d be fucking useless and Kyle is Sean’s best friend, the only guy he really likes on the team aside for Lewis of course.
When the third period comes around Redwood are three nil up and absolutely dominating the ice, the tension in the air is worsening, becoming thicker and heavier the longer time goes on and the other team can’t get even one measly goal in. Kyle is catching their every attempt with his eyes closed and the rest of the guys are lapping up the electric energy in the arena. The minute the whistle blows to indicate the end of the game one of the French defensemen start on Sean, shoving him back into the boards. The two of them have been toe to toe pretty much the entire game and the smoke is now puffing out of the French guys ears, a string of unintelligible French curses flying out of his mouth as he dives on Sean. The two of them rip off their gloves and helmets as they collide with each other, fist flying, spit and blood following as it splatters to the ground, decorating the ice like paint on a blank canvas. I simply roll my eyes and reach for my phone as it begins to vibrate incessantly in my pocket. Don’t get me wrong I love when Sean fights, it turns me on and my vagina always does a little dance, excited to get some action herself later. But I know he can look after himself so I never stress when the blood starts leaping through the air, I’ve watched him fight enough times to know he has it under control.
Molly’s name flashes onto my screen and I accept the call, keeping my eyes on the fight. “My man is fighting again.”
“You sound awfully calm about that,” she muses, a popping sound telling me she has a mouth full of gum. “Getting used to the whole hockey wag life are you?”
I huff a laugh. “Yeah, I kind of like the fighting,” I look back to Sean as he’s carted off the ice, swiping a smear of blood across his face with the back of his hand. “Screw that, I fucking love it.”
Damn, he looks so sexy with sweat dripping down his face like that. “It’s hot as balls right?” Molly chirps, cackling when I audibly groan low in my throat as I watch Sean shaking out his hair and leaving the ice with blood smeared across his cheek. “Anyway, you need to start taking me to more games with you, you’re not a good friend.” She muses, popping her gum loudly again. “You’ve been depriving your best friend of watching hot, sweaty, godlike men throwing punches at each other.”
I clear my throat dramatically, standing up from my seat. “Do you want my boyfriend? Because if you do we may have a problem.” “Ha!” Molly barks, “You wish Cal, I just like watching them roll around together.”
“Horny bitch,” I mutter with a laugh as I make my way out of the stadium into the icy breeze.
“Says the one who has sex with her boyfriend three times a day, every day.” She teases and I don’t even bother to deny it. I mean we don’t have sex three times a day, that’s a bit of a stretch but it’s true that there’s nothing I love more than letting that hunky man break me in two with his dick.
I tell Mol I’ll be home at the weekend and promise to take her to at least one hockey game a week from now on to make up for apparently being a shitty best friend, depriving her of watching sexy men punch each other in the face.
When I finally get around to the docks at the back of the stadium my legs are shaking from the freezing air swirling around me. Maybe that’s part of the reason I”m shaking but I can’t deny how nervous I am to see Sean, I have no idea why but my chest is compressing so much I can barely breathe as I lean against the railing waiting for him. I’ve been so caught up with nerves since the moment I got here that I have barely had chance to look around me. The scenery is beautiful, the water below me sparkling blue and although the air is frosty, that doesn’t stop the sun from blaring down on me. I let my mind wander for a moment, dreaming of summer and letting the rays warm my face, that’s when I hear them, two very familiar voices muttering to each other as they round the corner and come into view.