CHAPTER 20 KAYLEE
“Thank you so much!” I try not to squeal, but I can’t help it. I’m excited.
I end the call then do a little dance in the privacy of my bedroom.
I got the apartment. It’s Friday afternoon, and the call just came through that I can pick up my keys as early as Monday morning if I want.
And yes…I want. I have work on Monday, but I can swing by on my lunch break.
I give the lady on the phone my credit card number and glance at the clock.
I need to start getting ready for tonight’s hockey game, and I’m debating if I should wear something that gives Ben easy access just in case or if I should go with jeans.
We all slide into one of Jack’s SUVs and swing by my mom’s house to pick her up. He and my mom make conversation up front while Kate makes conversation with me in the back. “Have you heard anything about the apartment yet?” she asks.
I nod as a wide smile lifts my lips. “I got it.”
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Yay! Congratulations!”
We arrive at the stadium and Jack ushers us in through a private entrance to a party suite.
There are more people than just my family in here, but since I know Ben’s coming, I start by searching the room for him. I see a few people I don’t recognize, but Jack walks right up to them and puts on the act as he starts schmoozing. I guess he knows them.
I spot Luke and Ellie with Nolan as they talk to some guy in a suit, and then my eyes finally land on Ben.
He stands beside an older version of him with silver in his hair and a black and red flannel shirt, and the two of them stand at the far end from the entrance as they look down over the ice.
A black t-shirt stretches across Ben’s back, and all I can think of is how I’ve clawed my nails down that back.
I want to do it again.
An ache presses between my legs.
He turns around and his eyes connect with mine, and I swear it gets a billion degrees hotter in here as the fire between us ignites. His Big O Thunder reverberates around my brain as I remember what it felt like to have him inside me giving me the Big O.
His brows tip up just slightly in acknowledgement of our secret before he glances away, and it’s then I hear my mom repeating my name. “Kaylee? Kay!”
I finally turn and look at her. “Huh?” I ask stupidly.
“Did you hear a word I just said?”
I shake my head. “No, sorry.”
She just rolls her eyes. “I asked if you wanted to use the restroom before we get our food.”
“Oh, no. I’m okay, thanks.”
She gives me a strange look, and then she blinks her eyes a few times and purses her lips as if to say kids these days, and then she takes off toward her destination.
I check out the spread since food, beer, and wine are included, and I grab myself a glass of wine.
I walk over toward the counter where Ben and his dad stand, but instead of stopping by them, I walk down a few steps and take a seat on one of the luxurious cushioned stadium seats this party suite offers.
As I look down over the ice, I feel Ben’s gaze on the back of my head.
I want to turn around and look at him, but I restrain myself. Barely.
I sip my wine, and Ellie slides into a seat beside me. “Any news on the apartment?” she asks. She bounces Nolan up and down on her knee, and he giggles.
“I got it,” I say, glancing over at her.
Her eyes widen. “You did?”
I nod with another wide smile.
“Congratulations!”
I smile. “They said I can pick up my keys Monday.”
“So exciting! Your own place. What are you going to do first?”
“Find someone to hook up with.”
We both giggle, and then Ben saunters down the steps with his dad and stands in front of us. I can’t help when my eyes drift down to his butt, but I force them away when I feel Ellie’s eyes on me.
I point to Ben and mouth, He’s so hot.
She giggles. I feel like admitting it might throw any suspicions off what’s really going on.
“I can hook you two up,” she says with a wink. “Or, you know, find reasons to nudge you together.”
“In my dreams,” I say, shaking my head.
“Down in front!” Ellie yells to Ben and his dad with humor in her tone, and he turns around with a laugh.
“Don’t sit in the back row if you want to be able to see,” he says.
She laughs. “Are you Mr. Olson?” she asks his dad.
“You can call me Jeb,” he says. He speaks slowly and precisely, and he strikes me as the kind of man who does everything that way.
He glances at me with a gentlemanly nod.
He’s tall like his son, and they look a lot alike, but that’s about where the similarities end.
Jeb is on the thin side while Ben is lean but buff.
Where Ben is loud and boisterous and errs on the side of obnoxious, Jeb seems quieter.
He seems like the kind of guy who never gives anybody any trouble and enjoys a life of solitude.
Ben’s eyes meet mine, but I look away before Ellie can piece anything together.
“Mr. Olson!” an enthusiastic voice belonging to another man in a suit says as he approaches Ben from the row below. Ben barely refrains from rolling his eyes but he does give Ellie and me a look that screams of his irritation before he turns around.
“Mr. Norris,” Ben says, reaching out a hand for a firm shake. “Great to see you again.”
I don’t know who the suits are, and frankly I don’t care.
My guess is they’re paying for our party suite tonight and entertaining the football players along with their families.
Maybe Ben will walk away with an endorsement deal, maybe not.
Either way, he didn’t seem all that interested…
but Ben’s a social guy, not a businessman.
He’s here for the party, not the corporate portion of the evening.
I grab another drink a few minutes later and settle in at the counter overlooking the ice. My mom takes the seat beside me as Ben and Jeb make their way up the stairs.
Jack swoops in before I even exchange a single word with my mom. “Mom, you’ve met Jeb Olson before, right?”
Ben smirks as he glances at me.
“Yes, we met in San Diego years ago,” my mom says. “Lovely to see you again.”
He nods once. “And you.”
They stare awkwardly at each other for a beat. Jack looks meaningfully at Ben and me before addressing my mom and Jeb. “Well, I’m sure you two have a lot in common with kids in the league, so we’ll leave you to it.”
He leads us toward the table with the alcohol on it and bolts back toward Kate and JJ, leaving Ben and me alone for the first time all night. The game is minutes from starting, but I’m not here because I care about hockey.
Ben glances around before tilting his head down toward me. “Wanna find somewhere private where we can make out?”
I set my wineglass down and glance up at him. Our gazes lock. “Hell yeah I do.”
He laughs. “I’ll step out first. If anyone asks, you’re checking out the gift shop.”
I nod. “Where will you be?”
He shrugs. “I’ll text you when I find a spot.”
I laugh and pick up my wineglass, and he takes off.
I glance around the group gathered here.
Everyone is busy. My mom is talking to Jeb now—literally she is talking while he stands there looking uncomfortable.
Jack is holding JJ and Luke is holding Nolan as they make their way toward the seats to watch the start of the game along with Cory, Jaxon, and Austin.
Josh and Nicki are here, too, and they’re chatting with Ellie and Kate. Nobody will even miss me if I step out.
I give it all of thirty seconds before I bolt out the door.
I’m midway down the fairly deserted hall since game attendees are all in their suites watching face-off when a hand reaches out from a dark office doorway, grabs my arm, and yanks me inside then slams the door shut behind me.
It’s an interior room with no windows, and the only light is what filters in through blinds covering the small window beside the door.
His mouth is hot on mine before I even get the chance to protest…
not that I would. His tongue batters mine in the hottest way, and one of his hands is around my neck, pinning me to the wall, while the other hand moves down to rub me between my legs over the outside of my jeans.
I moan as he breaks our kiss, and his lips trail down my neck a beat before he murmurs against my skin, “God, I missed you.”
My chest tightens as I realize I’ve missed him, too.
It’s silly—a contradiction, really. Neither of us wants anything serious, yet we can hardly stand being apart.
We barely know each other, yet we’ve known each other for a decade and we’ve connected in the most intimate way two people can connect.
We’re in a getting-to-know-you sort of phase, but we’re also past the awkward stage that moves someone from acquaintance to more than that.
It’s hard to process the emotions raging inside me and believe that sex is all this will ever be.