Chapter 15
Evan - Twelve Months Later
I kicked off my sneakers and took in the smell of basil and garlic bread. Bianca had won our ongoing battle about dinner choices this morning during breakfast, and I honestly couldn’t wait to dive into a bowl of homemade pasta.
I threw my keys down on top of my hockey bag and made my way into the living room to find Bianca sitting on the couch, still wearing my away jersey and a pair of tiny sleep shorts.
“Uh, you know that is my jersey, right?” I said, making my way over to the couch where she’d laid out a plate of garlic bread and two bowls of pasta.
“Uh, correction, this is my jersey, which I occasionally allow you to borrow when you go on away games.”
I sat down, leaning in to kiss her, then I stole a piece of garlic bread and shoved it into my mouth.
“Plus, it looks better on me.” She grinned.
I looked at her, noticing the way the jersey hung off her shoulder, giving me a glimpse of her bare skin.”
“Well, you’re absolutely right, especially when you don’t wear a bra, but there is no way I am going to say that too often, otherwise it will go to your head and you’ll parade around all day dressed like that driving me mad.”
“It’s a little late for that. I saw the expression you made the other night when you came home and found me in bed, wearing nothing but this while holding my vibrator between my legs.”
“God, don’t remind me.”
I hadn’t been able to get that scene out of my mind, and it had served me well a few times when Bianca had been at work.
“Good practice?”
“Not bad, that is until we had to run suicide drills for half an hour because Tate was late.”
“God, that sounds horrible.” She giggled. “Well, eat up before it gets cold, then you can take a hot shower. Oh, and we’re watching a movie tonight. I already picked it out since it was my turn.”
“What movie?” I questioned.
“A good one…”
“Bianca…” I said, my fork stopping halfway to my mouth.
“It’s an award winner.”
“Please don’t tell me you are going to make me watch a movie with subtitles.”
Bianca let out a giggle as she took a bite of garlic bread and shook her head. “Eat, shower, and complain later.” She grinned.
I’d eaten and showered and wandered down the hall toward the living room wearing nothing but my gray Dragons sweatpants.
The room was dark, and Bianca had brought out the pillows and blankets from the spare bedroom—the room that used to be hers until she finally moved into mine.
I sat down on the couch while she lit two candles and came to join me.
“Alright, what are we watching?” I questioned as she sat down beside me.
Bianca leaned forward, grabbing the remote. “Only the best film they ever created. An award-winning—”
“It’s a rom-com, isn’t it?”
“No, not at all.”
“Who’s in it?”
She turned and looked at me, laughter in her eyes as she bit her bottom lip.
“Tom Hanks and Meg—”
“Are you going to make me watch Sleepless in Seattle again?”
“No…You’ve got Mail.” She grinned. “Plus, you really did like Sleepless in Seattle when we watched it,” she said.
“No, I tolerated it. Plus, you cried at the end, and I got the cuddle points for holding you.”
“Oh, please, you cried too.”
“No, I had a piece of your hair in my eye.”
“In both eyes? At the same time? Right at the Empire State Building scene?”
“Okay, I have a counterproposal. I managed to make it through tonight’s practice with no pain, and I think that alone should earn me action movie privileges.”
Bianca looked at me, her eyebrow raised.
“So we are going to negotiate based on your pain tolerance after major surgery. That’s interesting. Why didn’t I get movie choices last week after completely changing the layout of the training room to better optimize the players’ workouts?”
“Bianca…you did, you picked the move last week!”
“So…”
“You can’t just keep winning movie night.”
“Just watch me.” She grinned, holding up the remote. “Besides, you love rom-coms. You are just too masculine to admit it.”
“No, Bianca, I am perfectly confident to admit it. However, we have already seen this one, I think, four times.”
“Five.”
“Oh God, that makes your argument that much worse,” I said, leaning forward, grabbing her waist and tickling her.
Bianca screamed and then laughed, pushing at my hands as I kissed her.
“Fine, what did you want to watch?”
“I’d like to see that new action movie with The Rock.”
“Oh yes, the one with zero plot.”
“First, it has plenty of plot and a lot of action. Second, not every movie needs to be some emotional journey. Some things are better when they explode. Me included.”
Bianca flipped the television on to Movieflix.
“You know what else is beautiful? Tom Hanks being sad on a houseboat.” She giggled.
I grabbed the pillow that sat beside me and gently bopped Bianca with it, causing her to laugh.
“You are impossible.” I chuckled.
“And yet you love me,” she said, grabbing the pillow from me and throwing it onto the floor.
“Yes, I love you, despite your terrible taste in movies and the fact that you love to rewatch them.”
“Please, my taste is impeccable. You are the one who wanted to watch Fast and Furious 68 last week.”
“Um, it’s Fast X.”
Bianca looked at me, her eyes bright with laughter. I leaned over and kissed her quickly. “Rock-paper-scissors?”
“Best two out of three?”
“You always win at this. I don’t really even know why I suggested it.” I sighed.
“I know. You ready?” she said, holding her hand out.
“Just give me a second, I need to strategize.”
“Strategize? It’s completely random.” She laughed.
“That is what you want me to think. However, you’re going to throw paper first because you think I’ll throw rock because that is always what I lead with.”
“Just play.”
“So I guess I should throw scissors then. No wait, you know I know that, so you’ll actually throw rock, which means I should throw paper.”
“Are you alright?” she said, staring at me as if I’d lost my mind.
“Look, I’m just thinking twelve moves ahead.”
“Evan, it’s rock-paper-scissors, not chess.”
I let out a sigh. “Fine, let’s go.”
The first attempt we both threw rock, the second paper.
“See, I know you,” Bianca said, grinning.
“That proves nothing. Let’s go again.”
This time each of us threw paper again.
“Are we linked?” I questioned.
“Apparently, we are, or it could mean that you actually want to watch the movie I’ve chosen,” she said, giggling.
“Third time is a charm. I’m going deep.”
“You are ridiculous.”
“One, two, three…”
This time I threw rock and Bianca threw paper, causing her to squeal in victory as she bounced up and down on the couch.
“Yes! I am the winner! Paper covers rock.”
She leaned over, grabbed my face, and kissed me. “I love winning, and I love you, but mostly I love winning.”
She laughed as I pulled her onto my lap. “You are the worst winner I’ve ever met.”
“Nope, I am the best winner. However, we can watch your movie if you really want to. I don’t want to torture you.”
I looked into her eyes. “No, a deal’s a deal. You won fair and square,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Besides, I really do like You’ve Got Mail.”
“Ha! I knew it.”
Bianca leaned forward and kissed me, then slid off my lap.
“Want a soda with popcorn, or do you want water?”
“Water, please.”
An hour in, we had settled into our normal positions for watching a movie.
We were both stretched out on the couch, the ottoman in front of us to make the space a little larger.
We were both snuggled under the blankets, my back resting against the couch while she rested against me.
My arm was draped over her waist, and her fingers played with mine.
I leaned forward, placing a kiss on her neck, and I heard her let out a small moan as I continued my way down to her bare shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Having a moment,” I whispered, continuing to kiss her.
“I think you’re having more than a moment.” She moaned, backing her ass up to me so she could feel me through my sweatpants.
She rolled onto her back, brought her hand up to my neck, and met my lips, both of us forgetting about the movie as she swung one leg over my hip.
“Uh, we’re missing the movie,” I whispered against her mouth as I felt her hands move over my abs, dipping into the waistband of my pants.
“It’s okay, I’ve seen it before,” she murmured.
“Uh-huh? Five times, apparently.”
“Six now,” she said, placing her hand on my cheek. “You know, you’re a great kisser.”
“I know. You may have mentioned it once or twice.”
“I think I should tell you more often. Kissing appreciation is important in a relationship.”
“You’re definitely the weirder one in our relationship.”
“Yes, you’re probably right, and yet you love me.”
“Yes, I love you, and I think you should turn around and watch your movie before you lose your privileges.”
“What privileges?”
“Making me watch rom-coms without complaining about it.”
“You always complain,” she said.
“If you think I complain externally, you should hear my internal complaints.”
Bianca let out a laugh, pressing her lips to mine.
When the credits finally rolled, I was laying on my back, Bianca was sprawled on top of me, and we were both half covered with throw blankets.
“See, that was the perfect movie.” Bianca yawned.
“It was okay. I’d hardly say it was perfect.”
“You cried again.” She giggled.
“I didn’t.”
“Your chest did that thing where it gets all tight and your breathing changes, just like during Sleepless in Seattle. You definitely had feelings.”
“Okay, fine, I may have had some feelings.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Yep, that and your butt.”
She giggled as I grabbed her ass. “We should probably get to bed. It’s almost eleven.”
“Probably. We both have to be up early,” she mumbled, dropping her head back against my chest.
“Although I am comfortable right here,” I said, wrapping my arms around her.
“Me too,” she whispered.
“What else is on that list of yours?” I asked, pulling a blanket up over her back.
“Oh no, I’d like to hear what is on yours.”
I shifted a little, allowing her to fall between my body and the back of the couch, pulling her tighter against me.
“Let’s see, how sexy you look when you wear my jersey. How you always greet me in the morning with a fresh, hot cup of coffee. How driven you are, and how you don’t take my shit, and how you make everywhere feel like home,” I said, closing my eyes.
“Evan…”
“Let’s see, how you steal all the blankets in the middle of the night and when you wake in the morning feeling guilty, you tuck them around me instead. How you dance when you cook. How you text me random things during the day because something made you think of me.”
Bianca lifted her head and looked at me with sleep-filled eyes.
“You can’t say things like that.”
“Why, they are true.”
“Because they make me want to keep you forever.”
“That’s good, because I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too,” I whispered.
“Want to play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to be on top tonight?” she mumbled, then laughed.
“Nope, because tonight, whether you like it or not, I’m on top,” I said, kissing the side of her neck. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”