5. Mimi
Mimi
After Evan showered and showed me around, I spent some time in the guest room, updating Naomi on the situation.
She was so sick she didn’t even worry about me staying with a man she barely knew.
After a couple of hours working on my essay, I wandered out into the living room and offered to make dinner.
“I need to eat the nutritionist’s prepared meal. But you can do whatever.” Then he went back to writing in a notebook.
I’d already figured out that Evan Pelletier was a good boy, but his looks of longing at my pad Thai while he powered through a salad he clearly didn’t want had me swap our plates halfway through.
“I can’t eat your—”
“You can and you will, Evan Pelletier. That’s an order.”
He stared at me a second longer before he dropped his gaze to the pasta dish.
“It’s low sodium, and I added extra veggies. Your nutritionist would approve.”
He thought I didn’t see the smile dancing around his lips, but he was wrong. And just like that, I had an insight into Evan Pelletier: he needed permission to break the rules. He inhaled the rest of my dinner, then leaned back, a look of bliss on his face.
I pointed my fork at him. “See? You need tastier meals, big guy.”
“I have to stay at my optimal weight to play at peak performance.” He frowned at the empty plate.
“And you will. You’ll also feel better when you enjoy eating healthy foods and don’t just ingest out of obligation.”
“But…” His frown deepened as those blue-green eyes met mine. Good golly, Evan was just about the sweetest, most naive man I’d ever met. And my lady bits tingled with the realization.
I had a good boy complex. Nothing was sexier than a man who toed the line…only to break free every once in a while for me.
His eyes widened in response to mine doing so.
“What?” he whispered.
“Just thinking about you eating dessert.”
“I do eat dessert. Every night, I eat a square of dark chocolate.” He rose, and I needed that moment with his back to me to fan my face. Serious. Sexy.
Oh, no. I was crashing out on this crush, all because Evan was a rule follower. The priceless tapestry no longer worried me; I was much more concerned about my continued single status and my heart because I was in free-fall infatuation with Mr. Goody Hockey Skates.
He turned back and offered me the dark chocolate bar he’d fetched. Much as I wanted to say no, I couldn’t. It was high-end chocolate that melted in my mouth, making all my taste buds moan in ecstasy.
Fine. I moaned because…yum.
Evan gulped, then coughed. I rose and grabbed him a glass of water. He guzzled it.
“I’ll do the dishes,” I said. “Then, I need to finish my homework—”
“I got it.” Evan waved me off. “I like my dishes a certain way.”
I retreated to the guest room. Like everything in Ev’s place, the room was tidy. The bed was a full, and the mattress was like a cloud, so I was in heaven. There was nothing in the world better than a snuggly bed.
By the time I completed my assignment and turned it in, it was past midnight, and I was parched.
I cracked my door open, then tiptoed down the hall.
Ev, the sweetheart that he was, left a light on in the kitchen.
Or maybe he did that every night. I couldn’t say, really, but my heart decided he’d done it for me, and I went warmer and gooier for the man.
I grabbed my glass of water, then turned to go back to my room.
The small, blue-covered notebook he’d been scribbling in earlier sat on the island. I couldn’t help myself; I flipped it open. The handwriting is big and careful, like Evan concentrated on getting it right.
THINGS I DID RIGHT:
· Didn’t step on the logo
· Tape triangle matched pregame pattern
· Shrugged off after warm-up goal
· Breath work before the second period
I flipped to another page:
· Said “good job” to Skol even though he out-skated me in drills
· Didn’t check my phone before puck drop
On another page, he’d written:
· Drank water even though I wasn’t thirsty
· Sat through meeting with Coach without freaking out
· Won
I bit my lip as I let the book close. I took a long, slow breath and released it with a heartfelt curse.
That warmth and gooeyness swallowed my torso.