Chapter Sunny
Sunny
When she finally rose and tiptoed from the room, she found Liam waiting in the hallway, his tall frame leaning against the wall, his expression soft with something that made her heart skip.
“They’re asleep?” he asked quietly.
Sunny nodded, pulling the door nearly closed behind her, leaving just enough space for the glow of the nightlight to spill into the hallway. “Out like lights. I think the excitement of the day finally caught up with them.”
“With all of us,” Liam agreed, his gaze never leaving her face. “We should talk, Sunny.”
Her stomach fluttered with nervous anticipation, but not fear — not anymore. “Yes,” she agreed. “We should.”
He led her to his study, a room that had once been his private retreat but had gradually opened to include her.
The leather couch where they had sometimes sat reviewing household schedules or discussing the girls’ needs now felt like a different space entirely as they settled onto it, Liam handing her a glass of red wine from the small bar cart in the corner.
“To new beginnings,” he said, touching his glass gently to hers.
“New beginnings,” Sunny echoed, the rich Cabernet warming her from the inside out as she took a small sip.
They sat closer than they had in weeks, the distance between them measured in inches rather than the careful emotional space they had maintained since her return.
Liam’s knee brushed against hers as he shifted to face her more directly, the casual contact sending a current of awareness through her body.
“I heard from the team today,” he began, surprising her with the topic. “Management has backed off completely.”
Sunny’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Just like that?”
A wry smile tugged at Liam’s mouth. “Not exactly. Apparently, my little press conference struck a nerve with fans. The team’s social media has been flooded with messages supporting me — and threats to boycott games and merchandise if they force me out.”
“And how do you feel about that?” Sunny asked carefully, searching his face.
Liam took another sip of wine, considering her question.
“Honestly? I don’t care as much as I thought I would,” he admitted.
“A month ago, the idea of losing my contract would have felt like losing my identity. Now…” He shrugged, the gesture expressing a profound shift in priorities.
“Now I’m actually thinking about retirement. ”
“Retirement?” The word emerged as a surprised whisper. “But hockey has been your whole life.”
“Not my whole life,” Liam corrected gently.
“Not anymore.” He set his wine glass on the side table, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands loosely clasped between them.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.
Even before all this happened. My body doesn’t recover like it used to. The younger guys are faster, hungrier.”
Sunny listened, sensing there was more he needed to say.
“And honestly? I want more time with the girls,” he continued. “They’re growing up so fast, and I’ve already missed too many moments because of away games and training camps.” He paused, meeting her gaze directly. “I want more time with you, too, if that’s something you want.”
The openness in his expression, the vulnerability beneath his words, touched something deep within Sunny.
“I do want that,” she assured him, setting her own glass down to reach for his hands. “More than anything.”
His fingers tightened around hers, warm and strong and grounding. “I’ve been thinking about the future,” he admitted. “What it might look like for all of us.”
“So have I,” Sunny confessed, a smile tugging at her lips. “I’ve been considering starting a small childcare business here at home.”
“Really?” Interest sparked in Liam’s eyes.
Sunny nodded, the idea taking clearer shape as she gave it voice.
“Just a few children, along with Maddie and Hailey after school. It would allow me to use my training while still being here for the girls.” She hesitated, suddenly uncertain.
“If that’s something you’d be comfortable with, I mean.
This is your home, and I wouldn’t want to—”
“Our home,” Liam interrupted firmly. “It’s our home, Sunny. Yours, mine, the girls’. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
The simple assertion — our home — bloomed through Sunny’s chest like warmth spreading from a hearth fire on a cold night.
All her life, she had longed for a place to belong, had drifted from temporary shelter to temporary shelter, never daring to put down roots for fear they would be ripped away.
Now, this man was offering her not just a house, but a home.
Not just a job, but a partnership. Not just affection, but a family.
“I love you,” she whispered, the words emerging with such natural certainty that they surprised her.
Liam’s breath caught audibly, his eyes darkening as he lifted one hand to cup her cheek. “I love you too,” he replied, thumb brushing the delicate skin beneath her eye. “More than I thought possible after Kate. Different, but just as real, just as deep.”
His honesty — naming Kate, acknowledging the different shapes love could take — was the final piece clicking into place for Sunny.
This man would never pretend his first wife hadn’t existed, would never ask Sunny to compete with a ghost. Instead, he was making room for both loves in his heart, distinct but equally valid.
It was exactly what she had hoped for as she’d sat by Kate’s grave that morning.
“Sunny,” Liam said, his voice deepening with emotion. “I need to ask you something.”
She nodded, her pulse quickening at the intensity in his gaze.
“Can you imagine building a life with me? With us? Not just for now, but…for the long haul?”
The question was carefully phrased, tentative in a way that told her he wasn’t proposing marriage — not yet — but rather testing the waters, ensuring they were aligned in their visions of the future.
“I’ve never wanted anything more,” Sunny answered without hesitation, her heart full to bursting with certainty. “You, the girls, this life we’re creating together — it’s everything I never dared to hope for.”
The smile that transformed Liam’s face was like sunrise breaking over mountains — gradual, then all at once dazzling in its brilliance.
His hand slid from her cheek to the nape of her neck, drawing her closer as his lips found hers in a kiss that spoke of promises, of futures, of coming home after a long and difficult journey.
Unlike the desperate, hungry kisses they had shared in moments of passion or crisis, this was slow, deliberate — a savoring rather than a claiming. Sunny melted into it, her hands finding their way to his chest, feeling the steady thud of his heart beneath her palm.
When they finally broke apart, Liam’s forehead resting against hers, his breathing as unsteady as her own, Sunny knew with absolute clarity that they had crossed a threshold.
The careful distance they had maintained since her return, the hesitant rebuilding of trust — all of it gave way to something new and yet familiar, like returning to a place you’ve only visited in dreams.
“The girls will be asleep for hours,” Liam murmured, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down her spine.
Sunny drew back slightly, searching his face in the soft lamplight. “Are you sure?” she asked, the question encompassing far more than the immediate moment.
In answer, Liam stood, extending his hand to her with quiet certainty. Sunny placed her palm in his, allowing him to draw her to her feet and lead her from the study to the master bedroom at the end of the hall.
She had been in this room before, of course — to deliver laundry, to fetch something Liam needed, to wake him for early morning practice. But never like this, never as a lover invited into the most private space of his life.
The room was quintessentially Liam — masculine without being austere, comfortable rather than showy. The king-sized bed dominated the space, its navy duvet neatly made, a testament to his military-like precision.
Their lips met again, the kiss deeper now, charged with weeks of longing finally given permission to express itself.
Liam’s hands grew bolder, slipping beneath the hem of her sweater to find the warm skin of her lower back.
Sunny arched into his touch, desire spiraling through her body with an intensity that left her breathless.
Clothing was discarded with reverent care, each newly revealed expanse of skin explored with tender attention.
When they finally came together on the wide bed, sheets cool against heated skin, Sunny felt as if something within her chest had cracked open, making space for a kind of joy she had never allowed herself to fully imagine, let alone experience.
Liam moved above her with exquisite care, his eyes never leaving hers, his every touch communicating something beyond physical desire. This wasn’t merely sex — it was reconnection, the physical expression of promises too profound for words alone.
Liam’s hands slid lower, fingers curling around the soft curve of her hips as he drew her closer, their bodies pressed flush against each other.
The heat of him was intoxicating, and Sunny felt her breath catch as his lips brushed the hollow of her throat, lingering there before trailing downward.
He paused at her collarbone, kissing the sensitive skin with a reverence that made her tremble, then continued his descent, his mouth finding the swell of her breast. His tongue flicked over her nipple, warm and deliberate, coaxing it to a taut peak as she arched into him, a soft gasp escaping her lips.