Chapter 21 #2
With a snort, Pearce passed me the shower gel and we cleaned ourselves down. We made quick work of it, keeping our hands to ourselves, and me giving him pointed looks in warning to keep himself in check. Much to his amusement.
By the time we fell into bed, it was past midnight. In the morning we had a lot to talk about. We’d been putting off the conversation for too long, both of us using “we’ll figure it out” all too readily.
After tonight and our agreement on a short engagement, we could no longer avoid the serious talk.
Holding back my sigh and worry about what the reality of our future would look like, I held on to Pearce’s arms when he got in position and spooned me.
For the next few hours, I’d embrace the ease of avoidance with a smile on my face and Pearce’s soft cock snug against my ass.
Our flight was booked for later in the afternoon. Despite Lottie’s sulking and trying to convince me she should just skip school, I put my foot down. We’d be making the flight, and Lottie would go to school come hell or high water.
It seemed like a long time since we’d had any semblance of normality, and with me heading out to Montview in a few weeks, I was beginning to forget what calm looked like.
We’d finished breakfast. While Lottie sprawled out on the couch, Pearce and I drank coffee outside on his back patio. It was a beautiful morning. The sun touched my skin, tugging a relaxed sigh out of me.
I couldn’t wait for a whole week of nothing but stillness and no injuries. No traveling.
“You need me to leave you alone with your coffee?”
I blinked one eye open, taking in Pearce’s teasing smile. “Fuck off.”
He chuckled. “Not sure if I should be jealous of the blissed-out look on your face or not.”
Fully opening my eyes, I stared at him, running my gaze over his shirtless body, appreciating every curve, divot, and sharp line.
A shit-eating grin broke out before he said, “It’s all good. You can carry on.”
“Huh?”
“You looking at me like that makes me know you think I’m more irresistible than coffee.”
“Only just.”
“I’ll take it.” He bounced his brows, continuing to eye me, his gaze losing some of its shine.
“What is it?”
“Just trying to figure things out in my head.”
I nodded. “I know.” A light sigh escaped. Just thinking about working out our future was exhausting. It didn’t stop excitement from buzzing around my body, though. Pearce was worth every sleepless night and possible dilemma. “We need to talk this shit out. Work out how to make this work together.”
When he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, I frowned. He was nervous and I didn’t know why. As he continued to study me, still gnawing away on the flesh of his lip, my heart stuttered. He’d already had a thought or gone ahead and done something.
After so long with this man as my best friend, I knew when he was battling something. And I figured he felt guilty.
“What is it?”
“Huh?”
I waved a hand in his general direction. “You can’t keep shit from me. What have you done or are thinking about doing?”
“You have ninja mind reading skills.”
That wasn’t awe in his voice. It was a piss-poor attempt at distracting me.
My arched brow called him on it.
“Okay, so don’t be mad… Hey, no frown, you don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“Anytime anyone starts off a sentence with ‘don’t be mad,’ I think it’s safe to say a frown is right on cue.” With a smile, I shook my head. “The number of times I’ve heard that from Lottie…”
“You saying I have the maturity of a ten-year-old?”
“She hasn’t said it for at least two years,” I deadpanned.
Pearce flipped me off, and I grinned wider.
“So what shouldn’t I be pissed off with?” I pushed.
The tip of his tongue darted out, and he licked his slightly swollen lip where he’d been gnawing. “I emailed Rick about the possibility of a trade.”
“What?” I sat bolt upright in my chair, heart hammering in my chest. “Where? Why?”
“Something close to home.”
My brows pulled tight as I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What am I missing?” The Eagles were situated within a perfect distance to his home, hence the reason he’d bought the house not long after we became friends.
“I’ve asked for the Jetts, or the next closest team.”
I snapped my mouth shut, pulling back, completely startled.
For the first time in a super long time, I was completely speechless. But fuck, my heart expanded, filled so much with love and affection and so much respect for Pearce that I struggled to contain the way it pounded against my ribcage.
“You…” I shook my head and blinked back tears. “I don’t know….” Fuck, my words wouldn’t form. How could they, when I was a certifiable mess of love and gratitude? I swallowed hard, my breath catching on a weird sort of choke that I should have been embarrassed about.
“Hey.” Pearce knelt before me, palms on my knees and concern in his gaze. “If I can make this happen, it’s a great thing.”
I nodded, my heart feeling the truth of his words. “And you’re okay with a possible move. Leaving the Eagles?”
“For you, absolutely.”
A fresh wave of emotion threatened to take me under. Clearing my throat, I stared at the man before me through a watery gaze. “Won’t you miss them?”
“Of course, but hell, I’ve only played with these guys. It’s not like a change won’t do me good, maybe help improve my game.” He cradled my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. “But I’ll miss you a hell of a lot more than my team if we don’t get to live with each other and call your place home.”
“You’re amazing.”
A smile lit up his face.
“Don’t stop.” He bounced his brows, finally tugging a chuckle from me.
“You are.” I frowned, admitting, “I feel like I should be stopping you and offering to move to you.”
“It’s a possibility,” he said carefully, stare never wavering from my face, “but we have to make sure Lottie’s at the center of every decision we make.”
“Fuck.” I clung to Pearce and dragged him into my arms. He straddled me, the chair creaking under our combined weight. “Thank you for being incredible.” My kiss followed, sweet and soft.
He sighed into the connection, opening his mouth and kissing me back, tangling his tongue with mine in a gentle, slow exploration. When he eased back, my head remained spinning, and I blinked open my eyes, absorbing the perfection of my fiancé.
“Am I right in thinking Lottie would struggle with the move?”
Wincing, I hesitated, earning me raised brows.
“Maybe,” I admitted. It didn’t matter how confident my girl was, or that she was a whirlwind, she was still ten, and I’d do all I could to protect her.
“On one hand, as long as she has us, I know she’ll be fine, but when Moira left… she struggled there for a time.”
Pearce nodded. “I remember.”
“I want her to have stability.”
“And already, me not being home all the time will be disruptive enough.”
“Well, maybe. But in fairness, she’s not used to you being around anyway. I haven’t really thought about it.”
“I have,” he said softly. Hell, how this man ever thought he wasn’t responsible enough to step up boggled my mind. He was fucking incredible.
“And what if a trade isn’t possible?”
There were just two teams between the Eagles and my home. The Jetts and the Blackhawks.
The chair creaked again, making us both still. When it didn’t collapse, we chuckled, but Pearce took that as his cue to get off my lap and return to his chair. “It’s only a six-hour drive,” he stated, “and a flight with drive and wait times takes, what… three hours?”
“Yeah, about that.”
“So it’s not undoable. Any chance I get, I’ll fly home to you, and I’ll keep pushing for a trade.
I’m speaking to Coach on Tuesday and will see if he’ll support me and make something happen.
I’m still contracted with the Eagles for another year, which will make things easier after that.
” He searched my gaze. “If we have to wait it out, will that be a problem?”
I shook my head immediately. “Not at all. If it’s one season, we’ll be fine. It doesn’t mean I won’t miss you like crazy, though.”
And then he was back out of his seat again, clambering on me and kissing me senseless. There wasn’t even a warning before the legs decided they couldn’t cope with our combined weight. We slammed to the deck with a yell and loss of breath, Pearce on top of me.
I groaned, chuckling despite my sore ass.
“Holy shit,” Pearce wheezed. “You okay?” His laughter spilled out as he shifted off me, peering down to take in my sprawled form. “Did I break you?” He reached out and snagged my hand, tugging me up.
I grunted, rubbing my back. “Jesus.” I chuckled. “You know if you kill me off before we’re married, you won’t get any inheritance, right?”
He crushed me into a hug, grinning wildly. “About that.”
“Yeah?” I quirked my brow, my pulse picking up speed.
“How about making this official in three weeks?”
“Three weeks?” My brows shot high. While we’d said we didn’t want to delay, three weeks was… well, three weeks away. That was soon.
“It means Moira will be here.” I frowned at that, wondering why on earth he’d want my ex around. “So,” he continued, “she’ll be here so we can enjoy a real honeymoon, and I can have my wicked way with you the whole time.”
My dick twitched, on board with that plan.
“It’ll also save those college guys’ lives during academy training, since you’ll be wearing a wedding band.”
“What?”
“You seriously don’t know there’s always at least one guy at the camp who’s constantly eye-fucking you?”
“What?” I sputtered. “No, of course not.”
Pearce shook his head. “Oh, dear, sweet, na?ve Eddie. You’re hot as fuck, and when in coach mode, you’re practically irresistible.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”
“Uh-huh. Just ask any number of guys on my team, even the straight ones.”
Heat filled my cheeks. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“Right answer.” He pressed his mouth to mine. “And if you hear any of the guys mentioning you’re a DILF, just let me know, and I’ll defend your honor.”
I snorted out a laugh, a little bit mortified and maybe just a little bit intrigued. “Maybe you should give me the names of your teammates who call me that.” When he narrowed his gaze, I grinned. “You know, just so I can be on guard.”
“Uh-huh.” He squeezed my ass cheeks and tugged so my groin rubbed against his. “That’d be a no. I’m the only man you need to be thinking about fucking.”
I relaxed in his hold and smiled. “Deal.”
Seeming happy with my response, he buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply and dotting kisses over my skin. When he pulled away, he shot a grin my way. “Right. I’m going to go give Cass the date.”
“Noooo,” I gasped, shaking my head. “You can’t be serious?” My tone seesawed somewhere between concern and edging-on-hysterical amusement.
“Damn straight I am. The guy wasn’t lying about being an organized freak of nature.”
“Really?” I struggled to marry that information to what I knew about Cassius.
“Yeah, really. Surprised the shit out of me a time or two.”
“Okay.” I winced as the word left me, not sure I’d be prepared for what I was getting myself into.
“Excellent.” He stepped away, grabbing his cell from the table, his gaze landing on the collapsed chair. “Do you mind…?”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. I’ll do this. You go deal with whatever Cass is doing.” I glanced at the time on my watch. “We don’t have to leave for another three hours.”
“Thanks.” He backed away, moving his cell to his ear.
“Pearce,” I called. When he stopped and peered back at me, I said, “Do we need to, I don’t know, rein him in or anything? Give him a ‘hell fucking no’ list?”
“Nah.” He scrunched his nose and shook his head. “Leave this with me.”
And then he left me standing over the broken chair, hoping like hell Cassius’s idea of a quiet wedding wasn’t one that would give me nightmares.