12. Stella
STELLA
Adrenaline still pumped in my blood along with anticipation for tonight.
Watching him play, skate and go up against other giant guys had been…
breathtaking. I had attended hockey games before, but I hadn’t lied to my sister when I told her that I went for the food and vibes.
I’d never really paid attention to the beauty and ferocity of the game, the clear primal savageness of the men who skated and fought for the puck and one another.
I’d especially never watched a man the way I’d watched Scott.
Mine, that thing inside of me, the one I knew without a doubt was never wrong, said confidently.
After a package arrived at my place with a sweet note and his jersey, I’d decided I wasn’t going to question this.
I was going to dive in completely, no matter how crazy it sounded.
It might mean trying long distance. I might have tried it in the past, but that had been in high school and had ended with me losing my best friend. But this wasn’t going to end.
My gut yelled it, and I was going to listen.
I might not like the idea of waiting around for him to come home, but it wasn’t like I had ever been the type of girl who waited around by the phone waiting for her guy to call.
I had a life, and technology was different now.
We could video chat and text. We could make it work while getting to know one another while he traveled and got back home.
Home? Is Houston home for him? When simple questions like this popped up, it reminded me of just how little I knew him.
How the hell was I so damn attached to this man without even knowing where he actually called home?
Athletes usually lived in the city they played for during the season, but did they consider it that?
Did Scott live elsewhere off season? He’d been back to our hometown Forge Creek to visit his parents and siblings, but from what I remember Sam saying, he didn’t live there.
Or what I remember from the little I’d paid attention to, if I was being honest.
Sam. My annoying older brother. If this went anywhere, how would he take the news of his baby sister dating his buddy? He would definitely lose his crap.
“There you are.” Scott’s deep voice sounded behind me, and I looked over my shoulder. “You’re a tough girl to find, troublemaker.” I felt my face heat up as I stared at him. His words felt deeper, fuller of meaning than just him looking for me today.
I couldn’t help but stare and appreciate the sight of him.
His short dark hair was damp, sticking together slightly here and there like he’d hurried after a shower to get to me.
It made me think about taking a shower with him.
Steamy heat surrounding us as our hands explored.
I shook the thought away. Later! I focused on him and what he was wearing.
He was in a deep plum henley with the top button undone, paired with black jeans and tanned boots.
“You played… incredible.” I found my voice and complimented him. His cheeks turned pink, and I couldn’t help but think he looked adorable. He moved and took the seat next to me.
“Seats okay?” he asked, and I nodded as the two of us looked out at the ice.
The Houston Lonestars had played hard for their season opener and had won. I rested my head on his broad shoulder.
“Best seat in the house,” I said softly and felt his body shake slightly with quiet laughter. “How are you feeling?” I raised my head to get a better look at him. “Those punches you took looked pretty hard.” I winced, remembering the fight he’d had with the opposing team’s right wing.
“You should see the other guy.” He winked, and I rolled my eyes.
“You wanna come back to my place?” I wanted to see him in my space next. The thought of him just dropping me off or not seeing him again for another couple of weeks felt… wrong.
“I’d like that,” he said. I nodded and looked away.
“And maybe when you come back for your next home games, you can come over and—“
“No,” he cut me off. I blinked. In a split second, everything inside of me went icy. No, that was wrong, not icy. Everything just stilled.
“No?” I repeated. “What do you mean, no?” My brows furrowed with clear confusion.
“No.” He swallowed and took my hand. “I wasn’t planning on doing this here, but I don’t want to pause this conversation.”
“Okay.” I sat up, straightening my back. “What’s up?”
“I travel a lot for work.” Holy crap, was he about to give me the ‘this isn’t you, it’s me’ speech? After I’d decided to take a chance on him?
“Right, I just mentioned that.”
“And you work remotely, right?”
“Right,” I whispered. I couldn’t get myself to look away. If this was the last time I’d be in front of him, I should really take it in. That’s not what this is, a little voice whispered in the recesses of my mind.
“Look.” He stared at me and then ran his hands through his hair before standing up and taking my hand, urging me to stand with him.
“Scott, if you changed your mind—“
“Hell, no, not even close.” He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine. He chuckled and then groaned. “Once upon a time, I think I was kinda good at this, but maybe I’m too old now, or maybe it’s because this is actually serious and real—“
“Scott, you’re talking in circles,” I gently pointed out. He chuckled roughly.
“I like that you call me out on my shit.” He pulled away, holding my face in his hands, tipping my head slightly so our gazes connected. “I like that you see me, not the hockey player but me. The man.”
“Honey—“
“I think the very moment you started talking to me at the bar was when it happened,” he confessed, and I blinked. That all-too-familiar warmth fluttered over my skin.
“The moment what happened?”
“I fell in love with you.” Nerves started to wash right out as excitement pumped through my veins. “I looked at you, and everything inside me knew. Not only that you were going to be important to me, and my life, but that you were going to be my entire universe.”
“Scott—“
“I know things are complicated, Stella. You just moved here, you haven’t even been in Houston for a month, you haven’t finished unpacking. The season is starting, and I’ll be on the road. Then there’s the fact you’re my buddy’s little sister.” I made a face, and his lips quirked upward.
“We can figure out Sam later. I’m okay waiting. We can FaceTime and—“
“That won’t be enough,” he groaned.
“Won’t be enough…”
“Okay.” His arms pulled me in closer, forcing me to bend my head back further to look into his chocolate-brown eyes. “We could try, but with time zones and travel, I don’t want to risk you getting bored or some guy stepping in.” I giggled.
“You really think there could ever be anyone else for me?” I asked, feeling the way his chest rose and fell heavily against mine.
“Go on the road with me.”
“Scott…” I licked my lips, at a loss for words. My first instinct, my guts, and intuition were yelling at me to say yes! To jump up for joy and head out with him. But something stopped me, almost like a self-conscious feeling of being too much like I usually was that held me back.
“You’ll get bored of me,” I whispered, feeling oddly vulnerable.
“I won’t.” The way he answered, so full of confidence and honesty, made my knees almost buckle.
“I don’t want to end my days without you next to me.
I don’t know how the hell you did it, trouble, but you put some kind of spell on me.
” His confession made me giggle. I buried my face in his chest, soaking in the heat that radiated off his body, keeping the chill from the ice rink away.
“I think you like me,” I said against the warm slab of muscle. His arms wrapped around me tighter. God, I wasn’t sure when Scott started to feel like home, but that was exactly what he felt like.
Scott felt like home.
Like mine.
Like I was his.
“Baby, I told you, I more than like you.” His deep tone rumbled all around me, his chest vibrating against my face. He pulled back, tipping my chin up so I’d look at him. “I love you, Stella Miranda. I know it’s fast, probably insanely fast, and I’m not expecting you to—"
“I love you, too,” I blurted. “I do. I… Leaving your bed yesterday morning…” I shook my head, unable to find the words. “I love you, Scott Chance. If you’re sure, I’ll go with you. On the road, I mean, but with one condition.”
“Okay.”
“If you get tired of me or need your space, you’ll tell me. I know who I am and how much I can be. I’ll come back. I just…”
“We communicate,” he pitched in with a soft smile and warmth in his gaze.
“We communicate what we need and compromise. This is my last season, and after this, all my days, all my nights, for the rest of my life are all yours.” Unshed tears stung my eyes, but all I could see was Scott as he lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his middle.
“Kiss to seal the deal?” he asked in a raspy tone.
I didn’t bother to nod as I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his.
I wasn’t sure how kiss after kiss only seemed to be better and sweeter than the last. The two of us were breathless when we pulled away, and he started to walk with me in his arms.
“You know I can walk, right?” I playfully argued, my arms happily wrapped around his neck.
“You gotta conserve your energy,” he rumbled into the crook of my neck. I wasn’t sure how he managed to carry me up the bleacher steps to wherever he was taking us without losing his breath after just playing an incredible game, but I was going to enjoy it.
“To pack?” I asked and felt his hand squeeze my ass cheek through my jeans.
“For that, too.” The dirty unspoken promise clung in the air between us like the most sinfully beautiful promise I’d ever heard.
Scott didn’t lie when he said he was a man of his word. When my man set his eye on something, he never gave up until he conquered it. And once he did? He cherished and took care of it for the rest of his life.