Chapter 5
CALEB
After the week I’ve had, I honestly didn’t expect to end it almost taking a hit from a rolling pin of all things. The drive from the airport took all day. I’m bone fucking tired after traffic, loading up on groceries, and getting recognized at the store.
I expected to be alone here.
But I can’t help the grin that breaks free at the sight of Holly Duncan huffing and puffing in front of me. The porch light catches her blue eyes glittering with indignation. Strands of pink hair fall loose from her ponytail tied up with a bow. The urge to tuck them behind her ear is strong.
She took a swing at me, but somehow I feel like laughing.
“Holly.”
Her name falls from my lips tinged with too many emotions to pick apart. Surprise. Delight. Relief.
Longing I’ve kept buried from everyone.
For the first time in days, the apprehensive weight bearing down on me eases.
“Are you kidding me? That’s all you have to say for yourself?
” She smacks my chest with the hand I’m not holding hostage.
“Not ‘hey, sorry for not announcing myself and scaring the absolute shit out of you. You know, like I should—because I’m America’s considerate, favorite fucking hockey sweetheart. I’m waiting.”
A bolt of all too familiar desire sparks low in my abdomen at her spitfire nature.
She’s still as mouthy as ever.
And it seems I’m still as into it as ever.
I’m thrown back to the first time that perfect little mouth finally made me lose control, forgetting all the reasons she was off-limits as my sister’s best friend because I had to kiss her.
Time apart from her hasn’t altered a thing. The need to kiss her now is alive and fucking well, reigniting in my chest like it has a proximity alert to the girl I’ve secretly missed every day since I fumbled her. Idiot move on my part.
“You haven’t changed.” I take my time admiring her, drinking her in like a starved man finding my salvation.
She bristles. I cough to cover a chuckle and suppress how much it makes me want to get under her skin more. I’ve always liked riling her up to test her limits.
There’s zero chance I get it together. Five seconds in her presence and I’m already gone. Maybe that makes me a pathetic guy still pining after my ex-girlfriend for years after I let her slip through my fingers, but I don’t care. Not when she’s right in front of me at last.
“I would’ve told you it was me, but you didn’t give me a chance. You took one look and went all battle cry on me before I could get a word in,” I point out.
“I thought you were a bear!”
I tilt my head with a smirk. “As you can see, not a bear.”
“And then when I realized you weren’t, I thought you were a burglar or creep coming to attack me.” She slumps after snapping, exhaling heavily. “I think you took about five years off my life, minimum. What are you doing here?”
“Going to my cabin. You know, because it’s my family’s place,” I offer in a deadpan tone.
“No, I mean here—like, back in New England.”
Has she not seen the news? Maybe she doesn’t follow hockey stuff.
The thought brings as much relief as it does a hollow feeling carving out the space behind my ribcage.
On one hand, it means she won’t know why I’m holing up here to avoid the PR storm.
On the other, there’s the possibility she hasn’t seen even one of my professional games.
“Are you still planning on hitting me with the rolling pin?” I murmur.
My thumb traces the inside of her wrist. Her lashes flutter and she sways into me. I picture myself tilting her chin up and sealing my mouth over hers in a kiss.
The fantasy vanishes a moment later as she regains her composure and leans back to put as much space between us as she can while I’ve got her wrist in my grip. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, then huffs.
“I haven’t decided yet. But if I do, I’m warning you now that you absolutely deserve it.” She narrows her eyes and lifts her chin.
“I bet.”
At my gravelly chuckle, a new fuse sparks to life in those beautiful eyes. Pursing her lips, she jostles her hand. I hold on, grinning when she tugs harder without getting anywhere. Just to mess with her, I tuck it against my chest.
“Caleb,” she grumbles.
“Holly,” I reply smoothly in amusement.
“Damn it,” she grits out. “Let go of me.”
“Whatever you want, sugar cookie.”
I miss the shape of her wrist the instant my fingers loosen to release her hand. She wrenches it away, then shuffles a few pointed steps back on the porch while brandishing the rolling pin. I want to reach out and touch her again, like I have so many times when she entered my dreams over the years.
“What’s wrong? Worried I bite?” My tongue traces my lower lip. “You know I only do that when you ask for it nicely.”
Holly groans, crossing her arms. “I see you haven’t changed one bit, either. Still a cocky ass who thinks you can flirt your way out of anything.”
I rub my jaw. “Yeah? You used to like it last I checked.”
“Not anymore.” The blaze in her eyes burns bright and hot. “Never again.”
The words hit me square in the chest harder than any check during a game.
She’s the one that walked away from us.
But I’m the one who let her go without chasing after her harder when she stopped responding to my messages because I thought hockey was the only thing I wanted in life.
I rub at the sharp sensation scraping the inside of my sternum and clear my throat. “So, are you going to let me in?”
“I should make you sleep in your car,” Holly mumbles testily.
“If that’s what you want me to do, I will.”
It’ll be cold as fuck, but I’ll manage. If she needs time and space to cool down, I can do that for her.
Her lips part and her gaze softens from anger to surprise. She eyes me like she’s waiting for me to take back the offer, because no one in their right mind sleeps outside during a blizzard when there’s shelter right there.
She whirls around and heads for the door. “Let’s go in. It’s too cold out here, and I don’t want my clothes getting wet with snow again.”
I follow her inside, setting my equipment bag and suitcase next to the shoe rack my grandpa carved when I was a kid.
My family’s cabin smells exactly the same as I remember, like being wrapped up in nature by the scent of cedar mixed with pine and woodsmoke.
It’s comforting to be back after so much time away.
I spent countless summers here. It’s one of my favorite places.
As I survey every familiar corner, I pause on the cast iron fireplace. There are logs inside, but no fire crackling.
Toeing off my boots so I don’t track snow across the hardwood floor—my grandmother and mom’s admonishments a permanent echo in my head—I take a knee and open the door. The logs are stacked in a way that traps airflow and there are ashen remains of several fire starter scraps.
“How long have you been here?” I ask.
Holly leans over the island separating the kitchen from the sitting area. “I got to enjoy the peace of having the cabin all to myself for one whole hour before you showed up.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. She goes back to organizing baking supplies and ingredients on the counter.
I’m momentarily distracted by the sweater she has on, fingers twitching with the urge to play with the dangling bow strings at the neckline.
I register how many layers she’s wearing and connect the dots with the lack of burning wood to heat the place.
“Did you have trouble starting the fire?”
Something clatters in the kitchen and she blurts several curses under her breath. I cover my mouth and try to smother the smile on the verge of breaking free.
As I rearrange the logs, I explain, “There are different ways to stack your firewood. It helps it catch easier and ensures it burns efficiently. You did a good job. You almost had it.”
She mutters something from behind me after creeping closer to watch. It sounds like she’s parroting my instructions in a mocking tone to herself.
I move so she can see what I’m doing better and point out the optimal method for starting the fire. She crouches beside me, taking in the information despite the fact she doesn’t look happy about me being the one to teach her.
My entire side heats with awareness of her close proximity. It would take nothing to close the small gap just to feel her shoulder bumping into my arm.
“See? You just needed to make an adjustment to put the bigger pieces at the bottom, and orienting them this way in the stove will keep it burning all night long.”
Her eyes narrow. “I would’ve figured it out eventually.”
“I know. You’ve always been a smart girl.”
She catches me watching her and looks away before I can hold her gaze longer. I light the kindling and keep an eye on the logs until they catch. When I’m satisfied with the growing flames, I ease the door shut and peer at her from my periphery.
Holly closes her eyes in contentment, shuffling closer to the fireplace.
“Better?” I ask softly.
Her mouth tugs down at the corners and she reaches across me to pull her damp boots closer to the stove. “I could’ve done this without you. I just got sidetracked.”
I smirk. The attitude she gives me isn’t off-putting in the slightest. Her sharp tongue has always captivated my desire. It feels like warm maple syrup spilling into my stomach. I push my fingers into my hair to keep from tracing the shape of her mouth to relearn it.
“Do you want any help with that stuff in the kitchen? Looks like you were about to make something.”
“I’m going to stay here for a minute.” She begins shedding her extra sweater layers. “This feels so nice.”
Her hum fills my head with dirty ideas of all the ways I can get her to make that sound again, each one more appealing. Hell, I need a distraction before a simple noise from her gives me a boner.
Entertaining fantasies of her for years is going to make my self control go to shit finally having the real deal in front of me again.
I busy myself taking my stuff to one of the bedrooms upstairs, leaving the biggest one for her.
There are a few missed messages hidden within my muted notifications that came in hours ago.
The internet’s out and there’s no cell signal when I check my phone, which is fine by me. I want to be shut off from the world.
Trevon sent me a text around when I stopped for gas, before it started snowing hard. He says the snowstorm will delay the meetings he’s working on by a few days. I also have a couple of missed texts from my sister a few hours apart.
Layla
I heard you’re going to stay at the cabin. Me and Holly have a girls’ weekend planned, so I’m warning you now to be chill. And we get dibs on the hot tub.
Layla
Weekend plans update…I won’t be making it. But Holly left way earlier than me. Last time she checked in with me, she was almost there. Be nice to my bestie!
My head jolts with a snort. Yeah, be nice to her.
No problem. I’ll play nice. Always have.
Layla never caught me sneaking around with Holly the summer she was mine.
We didn’t last long enough to ever tell her.
As far as she’s concerned, she’s the only connection between us.
She’s never noticed that any time she’s mentioned Holly, I hang on every word, tucking away every scrap of information she shares in passing.
I sprawl on the bed and listen for sounds of my sister’s best friend downstairs. It’ll be just the two of us for however long the snowstorm keeps us here.
There’s only one issue: I want to be so nice to Holly that she lets me untie all her little bows and remind her I know exactly how to make her unravel.