15. Shane #3
“I think we still would have met,” she says after a beat.
“Our story might have been slightly different, but I think our paths would still have crossed.” She blushes slightly.
“I think I would have seen you at a game, and you would have seen me, too. I think you would have done anything to get my name, or my number, or to see me again. And I think I would have fallen in love with you the same way I did in this lifetime.”
My heart swells with every word and all I can do is kiss her harder as my hands release her face to wrap around her body, pulling her closer to me.
“I think I would have fallen in love with you, too.”
AUbrEY
~ The Next Day ~
Shane and I are standing in the kitchen as I wish him goodbye. He has to go into the office before boarding the plane in a few hours. His family left just a little over one hour ago, so now it’s just us.
At least he’s leaving only for one game, so he’ll be back the day after tomorrow. It’s hard to be without him, but I know I have to get used to it. This is the life I’ve signed up for, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Shane’s arms are around me as he kisses me all over, not ready to let me go. He growls into my neck, kissing the sensitive skin behind my ear. “God, I wish I could stay here with you forever.”
“It’s only for like two days; you’ll be back before you know it.” I giggle as a smile spreads over my lips. I get it, I miss him the moment he walks out the door every time. Even when it’s just to go to the arena for the day.
“Still too long,” he mutters, coming in for my lips.
“Ah, young love.” Marianne sighs delightedly as she wanders into the kitchen.
The doorbell chimes and I drop my head against Shane’s chest as he looks up, knowing exactly who has arrived.
“I’ll get it,” she tells us as she heads for the front door.
A minute later, the man I was expecting walks in, looking no different than the last time I saw him.
Lionel is a tall and intimidating man, taller than Shane by an inch or two, with big bulky muscles over his dark skin, and when he takes on that serious face, he really does look scary.
But Lionel is a sweetheart with the kindest soul, he’s funny and puts me at ease with his fatherly warmth.
When Julian introduced me to him, I was really uncomfortable having this massive man following me around.
But then Lionel introduced himself and asked me questions about my life and laughed along with me.
He could sense I was nervous and wanted to show me I had nothing to fear with him.
We bonded instantly and within a short period of time he became like a father figure I could tell all my secrets to.
I guess the fact that he is twenty years older than me and could very well be my father also helped with that feeling.
“Ah, there’s the young lady I’ve missed seeing every day.” Lionel comes toward me with his arms wide open as I step away from Shane. “How have you been little Miss Ford?”
“I’m good, Lionel. How about you?” I smile as I hug him back. Despite not wanting to be in this situation again, I’m happy it’s him.
“Only good things. Quite the upgrade you got from the condo, eh?” He chuckles softly.
“And I’ve heard that isn’t the only upgrade that’s happened since I last saw you.
No more sneaking around to his office, I see.
” This time he laughs wholeheartedly as I pull away and hide my face from embarrassment.
“Ugh! I knew you would bring that up.” I giggle as my face heats.
“Stop, it was cute how you thought he didn’t know it was you.” Lionel beams as he turns to shake hands with Shane. “Good to see you again, Shane. It’s been a while.”
“Good to see you too, thank you for watching over my girl when I can’t.” Shane grins back. “So, you were also responsible for sweets mysteriously showing up at my office door?”
“Oh yeah, she thought she was sneaky with her ‘wanting to reward you for all your hard work’ excuse. Let’s just say that her bolting down the hallway after knocking on your door made it pretty obvious it was a lot more than a reward.” Lionel’s rich laugh fills the kitchen once more.
“Okay, no more talking about that. I’m embarrassed enough as it is.” I fan my face with my hands.
Shane pulls me to him and kisses my forehead. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I loved opening my door to find a little surprise on the other side, it made my day every time.” I look up at him with a smile, wondering how I ended up with this wonderful man.
“I should also be congratulating you two on the baby, you must be excited,” Lionel says with a twinkle in his eyes as he watches us.
“We are.” Shane’s hand comes down to my stomach as butterflies take flight inside it. I don’t have a belly or anything yet, but the gesture always makes my stomach do a somersault and my heart beat a little louder.
Shane checks the time on his phone and sighs. “I need to go.” He kisses me deeply then presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll call you when we get off the plane. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He steps back, saying goodbye to Lionel and leaves. I watch him disappear from view with yearning filling my veins already. When I look back at Lionel, I find him smirking at me.
“What?” I narrow my eyes his way.
“Quite the upgrade indeed.” He laughs again and comes in, placing his arm around my shoulder as he walks us out of the kitchen and toward the living room. “So tell me, little one, how did all of this happen?”
I sigh. “It was a late November night. Small flecks of snow fell from the sky, dusting the wet pavements. Not a soul could be heard or seen as the crisp air whooshed past the illuminated lampposts.”
His hearty laugh fills the space as I giggle along with him. “Ah, I’ve missed you, Aubrey.”
“Me too, Lionel. Me too.”
~ Two Days Later ~
I finish drizzling chocolate over the last batch of chocolate chip cookies just as the door leading to the garage opens, and Shane’s footsteps echo behind me as he gets closer.
They suddenly stop altogether, and I hear his luggage clattering to the ground as I slowly turn around to face him with the tip of the silicone spatula covered in chocolate between my lips.
I feel the blush creeping over my cheeks as he stands there watching me with predatory eyes like he’s seconds away from snapping and devouring me. I pull the spatula from my mouth and set it back into the bowl of chocolate while licking my lips, my body heating from his intense gaze alone.
“Welcome home, sweetie,” I say tenderly and he instantly snaps out of his frozen state.
Shane takes quick steps over to me seconds before one of his hands threads through my hair while the other pulls my body to his as he claims my lips. “Angel,” he breathes against me. “God, you’re a dream come true. How did I ever get so lucky?”
“I ask myself the same question every second of every day,” I whisper back, pressing my forehead against his.
He smiles softly, eyes closed as his hands release me only to glide down the sides of his hockey jersey. “Where did you find this?”
I bite my lip, flushing a little brighter. “I found it at the back of your closet. I always see the girls wearing their men’s jerseys and I thought it would be nice to wear yours.”
His jersey is beautiful and looks different than what I expected.
I’ve seen the Washington Warlocks’ jersey before, but they must have changed it since the time Shane played for them.
His is a bright yellow shirt with two deep indigo purple stripes on each arm, as well as one at the bottom of the jersey.
The shoulders and collar also hold the same purple tone.
The logo that takes center stage consists of a large black ‘W’ with a smaller one in lavender with black outline slightly overlapping the top of the bigger one.
Behind it is what looks like a magical, purple-tinted orb smashing against the ground right below the big ‘W’.
It reminds me of what you’d imagine a cartoon wizard casting a spell with his staff to look like.
But the best parts of the jersey are having his last name along my back above the number thirty-three and his captain’s patch stitched in white and purple.
I didn’t know Shane was the captain of his team, although to be fair I haven’t done much research on it.
Anytime I’ve tried to look up Shane online, all that comes up are articles of his accident, and I don’t want to know about that.
He deserves to be remembered for the great player he is, not the accident that ended his career.
He grins once more, eyes opening as he looks down at his jersey. “You know I’ve always considered the number thirty-three to be my lucky number, although now I’m realizing just how lucky it truly is.” His gaze returns to mine. “I was thirty-three when you came into my life.”
“Shane,” I whisper his name, my heart fluttering in my chest.
He kisses my lips, then trails down my jaw. “You can wear my jersey whenever you want, sweetheart, but fuck is it doing things to me to see you like this.” He growls and nibbles playfully at my neck as I giggle and wrap my arms around his.
One of his hands slowly lowers, caressing the sides of my body until he reaches the hem of the jersey. He dips beneath it, slides over to the inside of my thigh, then trails his way back up leisurely until his hand halts and he pulls away slightly, wide and surprised eyes boring into mine.
“I gave Marianne and Antoine the day off…” I murmur, my blush intensifying now that he’s discovered I’m not wearing anything beneath his jersey. I lean in and delicately bite his lower lip before letting it go. “We have the house to ourselves tonight.”