Chapter 55 Jordan
jordan
“Heard you got reamed by Coach again,” EJ grunts as we do a quick conditioning skate. Even though we have an off day, most of us like to keep our muscles warm. “I thought this whole Kennedy thing would help you not have as many issues, but now he seems even more pissed off.”
I shrug. “Meh. He’ll get over it. I had to get to her. I had to let her know I was okay and make sure she was too. That’s more important than hockey.”
“Not in the fucking playoffs, it’s not,” Tay chimes in. “You couldn’t have just sent her a text?”
I flash him a wicked side-eye. “Tay, she was crying. Jordan Boucher does not let his woman cry. He performs the grand gesture of running to her through an entire arena with Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith playing in his mind to show her what she means to him.”
“You’re comparing this incident to saving the world from a giant asteroid when your girlfriend was just upset you faked a hit to get us a power play?” Tay scoffs, shuffling a puck around with his stick. “Whipped.”
“What? It’s basically the same thing.”
“Bro,” EJ says. “You’re lucky Vladi didn’t murder you. You should have seen his face when you ran out. He. Was. Livid.”
“He’s my friend. We talked it out on the plane last night.”
“Yeah, you and Kennedy also ‘talked it out’ on the plane last night,” EJ says. “Man, I need to find someone to do that with after a game. What a way to release some energy. You think that Mara girl is available?”
I shiver. “She’s definitely taken. Also, she gives off a weird vibe. Besides, what happened to Natalie?” I ask.
He shrugs. “It didn’t work out. She was nice, I just wasn’t into it.”
“I didn’t realize you two broke up,” Tay says with a catch in his throat.
“Yeah. It, uh…just happened a couple of days ago. It was mutual.” EJ shoots a puck down the ice. “But, Bougie, you and Kennedy seem to really be going well!”
I smile at the thought of other people seeing us as an item. “Yeah, really well actually.”
“I still can’t believe you settled down with one woman. I’ve been living through your adventures, bro!” EJ shouts. “Now I have to watch it on reality TV, and that’s not nearly as fun.”
“Yeah…that lifestyle isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me. And Kenni is…she’s everything.”
“Sounds serious,” Tay says, firing off a slap shot harder than normal. “You say the magic words yet? I figured wanting her after all this time, then finally having her, you’d have said I love you on the first date.”
My heart drops. Last night. The shower. Everything slams into my brain like a bad cross-check. Holy fucking shit. I’m 99.68% sure I said it last night. I was so overwhelmed with her being upset and me dealing with my own emotions, I think I blacked out. Fuck…did I say it? Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.
My stomach twists. Shit, what do I do? Is she freaking out? Is she moving all of my stuff out of the apartment? Is she installing a lock she can actually work to keep me out? The only thing I know for sure is that I need to get to her. Right. Now.
“Guys, I gotta go.”
“Where the hell are you running off to?” Tay shouts after me, clearly annoyed I’m leaving them a man short for drills.
“I gotta go check on my woman!”
I hear EJ mutter something about how often I need to check in on a grown woman, Tay mumbling something in agreement, but I don’t care.
Make fun of me all you want. I need to make sure I didn’t royally fuck this up.
I stand in the elevator pressing the button for the tenth floor over and over again like it’s the delete key on my computer and I’m trying to erase what I just typed.
There’s no deleting this. I swallow hard.
Once you spit out a word, especially those words, you can’t take them back.
Did I say it? I think I did. Is this elevator smaller than usual?
My lungs are heaving, trying to find a steady rhythm to breathe.
Is there air flowing in here? I watch the numbers, four, five, six, seven… how fucking far is ten from seven?!
I burst into the hall when the doors finally open, sprinting to her apartment like a breakaway on empty ice. I hold the key fob to the lock on the door.
Nothing.
I try again.
Red light.
My hands shake as I try again and again. My guts twist and turn like there’s a goddamn tug of war going on in my stomach, my lungs still not figuring out how to fucking breathe like a normal human. Did she change the locks so I can’t get in? Fuck!
I pound on the door with every ounce of strength. “Kenni…it’s me. Please open up! Let’s talk! Did you change the locks? Oh my God, please answer!”
No answer.
I bang on the door again. “Kenni, are you home? Please, let’s talk!”
Nothing.
I drop my head against the door in defeat. Look what you did now, Boucher. The jiggle of the handle is the only warning before the door finally pops open, causing me to stumble inside until a pair of warm hands steady me.
“Jordan?!” Kennedy’s voice is filled with concern and worry, and everything I’ve ever needed.
“You weren’t supposed to be back for another thirty minutes.
What’s…” She scans me over as if I’m an injured puppy.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I wrap myself around her, cradling the back of her head so fucking tight against my chest, my mind can’t convince me it’s not real.
She hugs me in return, rubbing circles on my back.
“This is quite the greeting, but…what’s the matter? ”
“I thought…I thought…Shit.” I try, but fail, to keep my voice steady.
“I realized what I said in the shower last night. I said it. Like…it it. I love you. Of course, I fucking love you, Kenni. But I was an idiot, and I said it too soon, and now I’m terrified that it freaked you out and you were going to run, and I had to get here as soon as I could, and then I got here and thought you changed the locks, and… oh my God, you smell good.”
She laughs, the sound melting the tension in my body, rocking us back and forth. “No, I did not change the locks. I’m surprised someone with your skills struggled to open it. Not as easy as it looks, huh?”
I laugh through my sniffles. “It was one time, and I was panicking that you were going to shut me out forever. You’ve lived here for over a year, and you still can’t open the damn thing!”
“Hey. Look at me.” She pulls her head back, her gaze finding mine as she cups my cheek.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, pretty-boy,” she says with a smile that tugs at my chest. She loops her arms around my neck and stretches up on her toes, her gaze steady as she presses her lips against mine.
The heaviness lifts, my heart finally finding the steady rhythm I’ve only ever found in her arms. The way she calms me, commands me, chirps me…
she’s everything. I honestly don’t think my heart could beat for anyone but her.
I tighten my grip, worrying she’ll slip out of my reach.
And then it hits me—the reason why I feel like I could still lose her.
The heavy pull in my gut tugs me back, breaking our kiss.
She hasn’t said it back.
I swallow hard, my voice cracking when I talk. “So, you’re not going anywhere? And you’re not freaked out?”
“Do I look freaked out?” she asks, her gaze unwavering.
“No. But you…you didn’t…” My gaze drops. “You didn’t say it ba—”
“Jordan,” she interrupts, gripping my chin and pulling my eyes back to hers. “Do you remember what I said last night?”
I sniffle. “That you were trapped in a glass case of emotion?”
“Yes. I also promised you a date tonight. Go get changed.” She nods toward her bedroom. “We have somewhere to be.”
I blink, confused as fuck as to what’s happening. “You still want to go on a date with—”
“Jordan! Go,” she teases, shooing me down the hallway.
“Okay! Okay! Geeze!” I tease back, running off to change.
I pause in the doorway, glancing over my shoulder at Kennedy’s casual jeans and T-shirt combo.
Every muscle in my body is tense as fuck as I count my heartbeats and jump into the shower, needing to get practice off me so I can look my best. She isn’t running.
I didn’t scare her away. She planned a date… a date for me.
Time to bust out the glass slippers and a tiara because I feel like a mother-fucking Disney princess.
My hand hasn’t left hers, our palms glued together as she drives us to wherever the fuck we are going. I wanted to drive, but she insisted on keeping it a surprise. As shaky as my hands are right now, it’s probably safer if she’s driving. Her thumb, slowly grazing mine, keeps my heartbeat steady.
“Kenni…what are we doing at the airport? Please tell me we aren’t going skydiving ’cause I’m kind of scared to death of…well…death.”
She throws her head back and laughs as she pulls into a parking space at the County Airport. “We aren’t going skydiving. Trust me, I have zero desire to jump out of a working plane. I was thinking more along the lines of landing the plane on the ground.”
“You’re…” I suck in a sharp breath, once again stunned at this woman’s ability to surprise me. “You’re taking me flying?”
“Don’t they do this on those reality dating shows? I think I saw it on an episode of You’re The One. They went on a romantic helicopter tour. I don’t have a helicopter, so you’ll have to forgive me, but I do have a small plane. I thought—”
“Did you say romantic?” I interrupt, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
She flashes me a wry smile before she hops out of the car and starts walking toward the hangar, knowing I’ll follow.
She knows I will fucking follow her anywhere.
I race to join her, catching up just as she reaches the open bay door. Kennedy grabs my hand, pulling me along beside her as we walk to one of the small aircrafts. Whoa… “Is this your plane? Like…you own it?”
She smirks, one brow raised. “You’re not the only one who can buy a plane,” she says as she does her walk around. “Now, hurry up and get in—we’re on a schedule.”