Chapter 9
Alexander
Talking with Sarah feels natural and easy.
I’m learning more about her with each minute of this bus ride, and right now I’m thinking about what kinds of books she enjoys reading.
The look she just gave me tells me that her books look different from the ones I read.
I plan on finding out somewhere down the road.
Besides our shared love of reading, she tells me she grew up about forty minutes outside of Chicago.
She’s known for a long time that she wanted to work in media, especially with the NHL. Her dad used to play in the league, which made her a hockey fan from an early age.
Being the history nerd and hockey fanatic that I am, I’ve actually heard about her dad. He used to play for Washington back in the day, when they were a lot better than they are today.
When I ask about her mom, she wears a clouded expression, and her hands twist in her lap.
“If it’s too personal, you don’t have to tell me anything,” I assure her, noticing her discomfort about the subject.
“No, it’s not that, just that the anniversary of her death is coming up, so I was just hit with a little unexpected wave of emotions when you asked, no worries.”
I look into her eyes, seeing a mix of strength and vulnerability I’ve never seen before as Sarah shares her story about her mom and her battle with cancer.
She speaks of her mom with such love and affection that I feel moved along with her.
I learn that her parents were inseparable when she was growing up, but then one day, their lives were turned upside down.
Her mother got cancer and was ripped away from them, leaving Sarah and her dad to grieve a wonderful lady.
Even though it’s been almost nine years since she passed, I can tell Sarah carries her with her everywhere, and her pain is evident.
She doesn’t back down from it, though; she welcomes it, firm in her determination to speak about her mom, even if it hurts.
No wonder she’s strong-minded about taking care of herself.
A small piece of the puzzle, which is Sarah Parker, just fell into place.
“Well, that turned dark quite quickly. Please, lighten my mood, captain,” she says with a glimmer in her eyes, making me admire her even more.
Only someone like Sarah could share a personal story about her life, showing both vulnerability and strength, before bringing out her great personality and demanding that I change the subject.
Since I’m not capable of saying no to this woman, I do just that.
“What is your favourite sex position?” I ask her, and she bursts out laughing at my question.
The mood lightens, just like she wanted.
Her laugh makes me smile, too.
“Of course, that’s your way of lightening the mood and changing the subject.” She rolls her eyes at me, but I lift an eyebrow at her.
“So? What’s your answer?”
I’m not letting her off this one yet.
I want to push her a little, make her squirm under our attraction to each other.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate to discuss, captain,” she whispers.
There it is again, captain.
Her distancing tactic is now obvious.
Whenever she wants to create more space between us, she uses the nickname.
It may be inappropriate to ask her, but hell, most of my thoughts about her aren’t appropriate either.
The look she gives me before gathering her thoughts and looking away shows me just how inappropriate she’s thinking about me, too.
Her cheeks redden, and she twists her hands together in her lap.
Those eyes are full of lust and tension, probably mirroring my own as I look down at her. Her fight against our pull just makes me want to push even harder.
“I bet it has to do with you being restrained in some type of way.” I husk in her ear, and she quickly turns her head toward me, sharpening her eyes, looking at me like I’m seeing right through her.
Bingo.
I’m probably onto something.
I didn’t miss the way she melted under me when I boxed her in at the bar.
Something tells me that Sarah likes her sex a little wild and her man to take control.
Make her come out of her precious shell and hand over the reins to someone else.
I gulp, thinking about how I want nothing more than to be that for her.
“You don’t know anything,” she says, but the breath she lets out at the end of her sentence tells me just how much I do know.
But time is of the essence, and I back out of her personal space.
We will get there.
I lean back in my seat, stretch out my legs as far as they’ll go, and place my hands behind my head.
I catch Sarah out of the corner of my eye, noticing her glancing at my biceps, which makes me smile.
She quickly looks away and gazes out the window.
We fall into a relaxed conversation again, no sex talk this time, and I learn more about the brilliant Sarah Parker.
Her best friend, Jessica, is her closest friend at the university, and she’s interning in Formula 1. They grew up together and share their love for sports journalism.
Now, they catch up over FaceTime whenever their schedule aligns.
Spending time with Sarah and learning more about her has been interesting, and I’m excited to keep learning, even if she makes me work for it.
It’s too bad the bus ride is over so soon, and for the first time, I wish we could keep traveling longer.
I gather my belongings and stand up as the bus pulls into the stop. Glancing down one last time at Sarah, I take in her beautiful face and the comfortable ride we’ve shared.
I don’t want our time together to end, but it’s not like I can tell her to stay in this bus with me.
“I’ll see you on Thursday,” I tell her, though I hesitate to add my little nickname for her, wanting to stay professional since it’s a business meeting.
She offers me a breathtaking smile.
“See you Thursday.”
When I get back to my hotel room, my phone rings with an incoming call from my youngest brother.
“Hey, Cameron,” I greet him, plopping down into the hotel bed.
My body is tired from the game and all the hours cramped up in a bus, but my mind is anything but exhausted.
All wired up on all things Sarah.
“Hey. Good game today, Alexander. You back in Chicago?”
“Thanks. Yeah, just got back to my hotel. Can’t fucking wait to have my condo done,” I say, looking out over the space I’m living in.
The renovations can’t be done quickly enough.
“I’m surprised you didn’t just buy another one in the same building, you could afford it, and then just rent it out.”
Just like me, my brothers have made it big in their respective fields, earning each of us a good fortune.
Cameron is the least responsible with his money, buying shit on impulse all the time. And suggesting I buy another condo whilst waiting for my own.
“It would practically be like living in a hotel room, you idiot.” He thinks that over.
“Yeah, I guess.”
I pull out my notepad, where I’ve jotted down all my notes for the meeting with Sarah.
I don’t think I’ve ever prepared so much for a meeting in my life. Maybe when I was first drafted into the NHL, but even then, I trusted my agent and parents with a lot of the technicalities, still young and new to the game.
“Anyways, you sound occupied, you don’t have a friend over or something?” I can hear in his suggestive tone exactly what kind of friend he’s referring to.
I smile, looking down at the page in front of me.
“Nah, I’ve got my eye on a special someone. Preparing to meet her for a business meeting,” I tell him.
“Business meeting? Sounds sexy.” He chuckles on the other end.
“You have no idea.”