Chapter 47
Cassie
“Ugh, he texted again,” Britt says, staring down at her phone. “You know what that means. Drink!”
Tonight we’re playing a drinking game we just invented: every time her Hot Chef situationship texts begging for her to come over, we drink.
I grab her phone and narrate the message aloud. “Baby pls come over i’ll make it all up to u if u know what i mean haha lol. Britt, that is so douchey. All it’s missing is the eggplant emoji.” Her phone buzzes in my hand. “Oh, wait… there you go. Spoke too soon. Eggplant received.”
“Ew,” Britt says. We clink our margarita glasses together and both take long sips. I put my glass down, salt and lime sharp on my tongue, but Britt keeps chugging until her drink is done.
She slams the glass down on the table. “He’s so corny. I can’t believe I slept with him.”
“I can’t believe you’re going to sleep with him again,” I tease. “This is so not over between you.”
She scowls, pulling her green beanie a little lower over her braids. “He’s like… really hot, okay? Maybe I should go over there.”
I launch into my third speech of the evening about how Britt is a smart, hot queen who shouldn’t settle for less.
I take another sip of my marg. “I’m glad you suggested we go out tonight.”
“You’re too hot and fun to be moping around at home.”
I gasp indignantly. “I was not moping.”
“You made like a thousand cupcakes. By your standards, that’s moping.” She nudges my knee with hers. “You’re still a badass, Cass. You’ll figure something out about your job. And you have Cole.”
I bite my lip. “What if—what if I can’t have both? My career and Cole?”
“Babe, I’m pretty sure he’s crazy about you. And I don’t know anything about hockey, but I did watch a compilation of goalie brawls on YouTube, and that’s enough to tell me Cole isn’t going down without a fight. Dude can throw a punch.”
Britt’s phone buzzes on the table. She glances at it and her lips curl into a smile.
I groan. “Oh my god, please tell me that wasn’t the situationship. Do we need to drink again?”
“Nope, not him. Let’s get out of here, actually. I’m tired.” She quickly grabs the tab and marches me out of the bar.
“What’s the hurry?” I ask as Britt pushes me into the cab.
“Nothing,” she says innocently.
Back at the apartment, I turn my key in the lock, push open the door, and—
I freeze, stuck to my spot in the doorway.
Everything is glowing in the half-light. That’s what hits me first: the glow. Gold, bright, warm. I blink hard, my mind not quite catching up to what I’m seeing.
There are sunflowers everywhere. My favorite flowers. Bouquets of them are in vases covering practically every surface. Their rich, summer-drenched yellow petals make our rickety old apartment room look beautiful, as if it’s lined with gold and filled with sunlight.
I turn to Britt, breathless. “What’s going on?”
Britt gives my hand a little squeeze. “I told you Cole’s not going down without a fight. Go look out the window.” She winks, already disappearing back down the stairs. “See you tomorrow, babe.”
I’m shaky as I step forward, my heart doing somersaults. I don’t exactly know if I want to laugh or cry. Britt said the window? I walk over to it, the night air touching my face as I push it open.
This wall of ice, this man with all his guards up, the painfully gorgeous All Star goalie is standing beneath my window, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in his arms.
Oh my god.
The sunflowers. Cole standing under my window.
Cole remembered the stupid, embarrassing fantasy I had about him in high school that Britt told him about. And he’s making it real.
“When did you—how did you—” I sputter out an undignified laugh-sob. “Are you serious?”
I’m laughing, but my eyes are also brimming. It feels like my heart is coming open, making room to receive a kind of love I didn’t think was possible.
Cole stares up at me. A crooked smile is on his face. “Hey, sunshine,” he calls up. “Got you some flowers.”
“Yeah, about a million of them,” I laugh.
My face is hot with a blush because this is so ridiculous, so mortifying, so thoughtful.
So romantic.
“Get up here,” I call, because otherwise I think I’m going to run down into the street and knock him off his feet—well, if he weren’t a foot taller than me.
I hear a yell to my right and glance over at the middle-aged guy a few apartments down, leaning out of his window. “Hey, keep it down, you two! Some of us are trying to watch the Celtics in here!”
Cole turns and glares up at the neighbor—which is a hilarious sight in the middle of a romantic declaration while holding a bouquet of sunflowers—and his look of pure disdain is enough for the dude to say “Oof, okay, sorry pal,” and disappear back through his window.
I try not to laugh as Cole turns back to me, warmth filling his face again. “Be right up.”
“You remembered my stupid high school fantasy,” I say when I open the apartment door to let him in. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know if I should be touched or completely embarrassed.”
He steps into the apartment, and god does he look sexy tonight, his broad shoulders stretching the shirt under his jacket.
It’s unfair, almost, how good he looks with his dark hair in those short waves and the shadow of stubble on his sharp jaw and that smile that makes me forget sentences halfway through.
His hand traces the line of my face, his thumb coming to settle along the dip of my lip. “You deserve it, baby. You deserve to have all your dreams come true. No matter what they are.”
He hands me the bouquet. A swell of heat and emotion lights me on fire, but I somehow find my voice without crying or pouncing on him. “Thank you.”
He grins. “Thank Britt for letting me in and diverting you at the bar.” His big hands find my hips, easing me closer against him, and a little tremble of a gasp escapes my lips.
“I’m tired of holding back. Maybe we can’t go public right now, but I don’t want to go another day without you knowing exactly how I feel about you.
” His words are low and warm. “Sorry, Cass. I know you always dreamed about a long romantic speech. But I’m not a man of many words. I’m hoping three will do the trick.”
I feel myself falling deep into his green eyes that I adore so much. “Depends which three,” I whisper.
“How about these, baby. I love you.”
My heart leaps in my chest, like a glittery gold firework exploding.
I’m proud that I manage not to pass out, not even when Cole takes my face in his hands and kisses my cheeks, my jaw, my lips. Like he’s marking every spot he loves.
“I love you like I’ve never loved anyone, Cassie Wells. This kind of love only happens once in a blue moon.”
He leans back, meeting my eyes. “I love you too, Cole,” I murmur. “So much. Obviously.”
He grins as if this is the greatest news he’s ever heard and pulls me tight against him. His voice drops, gets rougher. “So, what happened next in your fantasy?”
“Well… you never actually made it upstairs,” I admit. “I was always stuck on the romantic declaration part.”
He smirks, and my heart skips. “Guess we’ll just have to settle for the real thing.”
He picks me up, and I feel my back sliding against the wall, the powerful muscles of his arms supporting me. I wrap my legs around his torso, dragging him closer against me.
As romantic as this night has been—more romantic than anything I thought was possible—I don’t want him to be too romantic with me right now. I don’t want it slow or overly gentle.
I’m on fire with how much he loves me.
“Cole,” I gasp between kisses, “I need you. Right now. Please don’t make me wait, because I’m going to go crazy if I don’t feel you inside me soon.”
His eyebrows raise, a wild smile covering his face. “Goddamn, Cassie. I love when you tell me exactly what you want. I love hearing all those dirty words coming out of your pretty little mouth.”
The man knows how to take instruction, I’ll give him that. He swiftly carries me to my bed, rips down my jeans, and pulls off my shirt.
His fingers come between my legs, running his thumb up and down the line of my pussy through my bright pink panties. He slides them off and tosses them aside.
A rush of pleasure aches inside me as I feel the pressure of his thumb, and I wriggle against his touch, desperate for more.
Cole’s pupils dilate. “Fuck, Cassie, you weren’t kidding. You’re drenched.”
I’m painfully aware of that fact. I can hear it, the wet sound of how badly I need him as he teases between my legs.
He begins stripping off his clothes. “Wanna try something with you before I fuck you properly. You trust me, Cass?”
I nod, breathless. “Completely.”
His eyes darken, like my confession does something powerful to him.
“Fuck, okay.” He pulls off his boxers, and I can’t help but inhale sharply at the sight of his hard length, the glistening bead at its tip. “Want you to sit on my face. Want to feel how wet you are all over me.”
The image makes me shiver with desire.
And a little anxiety.
I feel a flush of heat on my cheeks. “I’ve never—I’ve never done that with anyone before.”
The pulse in his throat jumps. “That’s okay, baby. I can show you.”
I swallow, nodding. Nerves are bundling in my stomach. I’m a perfectionist by nature, and the idea of doing something so intimate the wrong way is setting me on edge.
He lies back on the bed. My stare drags over his muscular body, the dark trail of hair along his chest down to his firm abs.
He taps my thigh. “Put this leg across my face. Spread your knees wide enough so you can balance. Tell me immediately if you’re uncomfortable, but otherwise… let me do the work.”
With a shaky breath, I follow his instructions. My knee comes to bracket his head.
He murmurs a deep sound of pure appreciation. Oh my god. I’ve never felt this exposed. It’s making me dizzy. Slowly, I lower myself down toward him.
I’m scared it’ll be too much. But Cole firmly grabs my thighs and pulls me down further. I yelp as I feel his tongue slide over me. The burn of his stubble makes my pulse jitter.
He builds a rhythm, and suddenly I’ve forgotten I was ever nervous. All my shyness gone, I roll my hips over him. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Grinding onto his mouth like he’s mine to use.
But by the sounds he’s groaning into me, he loves it.
He’s holding me in place, strong hands wrapped around my thighs, as if he’ll die if he has to stop licking me.
“I’m close,” I whine, and with one further roll of my hips, the orgasm hits me. Rolling waves of pleasure with my trembling thighs around his head.
Shaky, I slide off him and sink down to the mattress.
Cole sits up, wiping his hand across his mouth. “Made such a perfect mess on my face. Fuck, Cass, do you have any idea how hot that is? How hot you are?”
I shrug, breathless. “You make me feel like I am.” My eyes sink to his cock, hard and veiny, and suddenly I’m all lit up with need again. “Cole, I need you to fuck me right now, and don’t make it too slow or gentle, or I’m going to lose it—”
“Fuck, yes,” Cole rasps. “You want it hard, sweetheart? Show me you can take it.”
I gasp as he effortlessly flips me over, one huge hand pressing down along the curve of my back. He teases against my clit for just a moment before he pushes inside me.
For a split second, I question my decision to demand that it not be slow, not be that delicious way that Cole sometimes has of dragging out orgasm after orgasm from me before he’s even gotten inside me.
Because his cock is long and thick, thick enough that when he slides it inside me to its full length in one go, I’m hit with such a deeply intense wave of pleasure that it’s almost too overwhelming.
“Oh my god,” I moan into the pillow, my whole body adjusting to how full I am. “Please…”
“You okay, sweetheart?” Cole checks from behind me, without pulling out an inch.
His voice is calm and controlled while I’m whimpering and shaky-legged underneath him—which is absurdly hot in its own way.
But I can hear the edge of the strain in his voice, and I can tell he’s holding himself back from fucking into me hard just to make sure I’m okay.
“Cole, please don’t stop,” I whimper. “I need more. Right now.”
I hear the grin in his voice. “Not gonna stop. No fucking way.”
He pulls out and drives back into me, and I’m completely dizzy with the perfect blissful pleasure rising deep in my core already. His rhythm builds, and I’m already floating on the edge again.
“You’re so fucking wet for me. Taking it like such a good girl.”
His fingers find my clit, and the not-slow, not-gentle way his thumb circles over pushes me right over into a crashing release.
I sink my teeth into my lower lip to hold back my scream, but it doesn’t work.
I’m pretty sure my neighbor is going to have an even bigger noise complaint about the sounds I’m currently making, but I don’t care.
Not when Cole is thrusting into me, deeper than I knew was possible, and I’m so achingly tight and wet clenching around him.
He fucks me right through my orgasm, until I feel him pulsing inside me, riding through his own release.
We both collapse onto the bed, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt better.
“I’m really glad you didn’t go with the rescue from a burning building fantasy,” I say when my capacity for speech has returned to me, and Cole laughs in the darkness. He rolls over to face me.
“I love you, Cass,” he murmurs. “This is the first time I’m saying it before we go to sleep, but I want you to know that if I have my way, I’ll be saying that every night. For good.”
His hand cups my face, and I lean into it. “I love you too, Cole.”
We fall asleep like that, tangled up in my bed.