Chapter 21
twenty-one
INDIGO
“So you’ll come if I can get tickets?” Bash asks, crowding me against the door before I can open it and shoo him out.
It’s still early enough that I may be able to get him out of here before Lola wakes up. But not if he keeps being all sexy and dommy like one of my book heroes. And I don’t want to deal with the level of awkwardness Lola will unleash if she walks in to see this.
“Of course we will.”
He reaches up and twists a strand of my rose-gold hair around his finger, and the smile that blooms across his face is brighter than the late-morning sun. “I want you at every home game for the rest of the postseason. I know Lola made that request jokingly, but I’m completely serious.”
I suck in a breath and choke on my own saliva.
Smooth, Indie.
“Don’t you think we’re getting ahead of ourselves?”
His smile doesn’t waver. “Nope.”
I’m lucky the door is holding me up, because otherwise I’d be melting into a boneless puddle of goo.
The postseason can last through the third week of June if a team ends up in the final round of playoffs, and he’s making plans that far in advance?
And not only casual plans, but plans to get tickets for me and Lola for some of the most expensive games you can go to.
If I was worried he wasn’t as serious about all of this as I am, that would have squashed it.
Soft sounds of movement filter through the house from Lola’s bedroom, and I know time is running out before she emerges in all her unfiltered, chaotic glory. “You’re crazy. This is crazy.”
Sebastian shrugs. “I think this is the sanest thing I’ve ever done.”
“You’re impossible. But fine. Yes, we’ll go to as many of your games as you want us to.”
“I’ll have the ladies get you hooked up with some WAG gear. They always wear matching jackets for the playoffs.” He gives a soft tug to my hair.
“I’m not a wife or girlfriend.”
His smile grows. “Yet. I’m sure they can hook Lola up too. Get her some best friend gear.”
A whole swarm of butterflies takes flight in my stomach, but I try not to let myself get carried away.
Yes, he’s saying all the right things, but that doesn’t mean this will work out the way I want it to.
Life is messy. We could go on our date this week and find out we don’t actually have anything in common anymore.
That last night was a fluke or nostalgia.
“I hate that we’re leaving tomorrow. I just got you back, and now I’m leaving for three days.” He brushes his knuckles along my cheekbone. “Can I call you? FaceTime you?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Make sure you’re somewhere private so we can talk after each game.” He sighs. “I’m going to miss you.”
Pushing him back a step, I wrap my hand around the doorknob and shake my head. “This is crazy.”
“No, sweetheart. This is a long time coming.” He takes another step back and lets me open the door. Before he steps through, he reaches out and cups the back of my head, pulling me in for a kiss that curls my toes. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay,” I say dumbly. Then I watch the whole time the smirking man walks down the sidewalk toward the rideshare he ordered. I blush when he winks at me before shutting the door, and then I watch the car until it turns right and drives out of sight.
“Well, that was fucking cute.” Lola flings herself down on the couch, and I screech, clutching my heart as I turn around.
“Jesus. Wear a bell next time. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Not my fault you were off in la-la land.” My best friend smirks at me, and I resign myself to what’s about to happen.
“How much of that did you hear?”
“I was lurking in the hall, so like, all of it?”
Of course she did. “I need coffee for this conversation.”
Lola laughs as I shuffle into the kitchen and get a pot of coffee started. I’m glad she’s entertained, because this is going to be painful for me. She’s going to be completely insufferable. “We can talk while it brews.”
“Nope.”
Her tinkling laughter fills the house, and I smile despite myself. What would I do without my best friend? I can tell you what I wouldn’t be doing right now. I wouldn’t be about to tell her how Bash asked me out on a date or made me come from grinding against his lap.
“Here,” I say, handing her a cup of coffee a few minutes later. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Regret what?” Her lips twitch.
“Telling you what I’m about to tell you.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because annoying me brings you joy.”
She cocks her head to the side and considers for a moment before nodding. “That’s true.”
“Ugh.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to prepare myself emotionally for this conversation.
Taking one last deep, fortifying breath, I close my eyes.
“He didn’t kiss that girl the summer after senior year.
She kissed him.” I pause, silent, waiting for Lola to say something.
When she doesn’t, I open one eye. “Did you hear me?”
“Oh, I heard you. I’m just trying to keep my mouth shut before I say something really unhelpful.” Her lips twitch.
“He pushed her away, but I didn’t see it because I ran.”
Now it’s not only her lips that are twitching. One eye joins in.
“He couldn’t even remember her name.”
“Oh. My. God.” Lola sets her mug down on the coffee table, but her attention never wavers from my face. “Oh my god, Indigo.”
“I know, okay? Trust me, I know.”
“Babe.” She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “All these years.”
“I know.”
“Okay, so, then what happened?”
My face flames hot, so I take a sip of coffee in an effort to hide it. Of course, it doesn’t work.
Lola’s eyes spark and she leans forward. “Indigo Bloom. Then. What. Happened?”
“We kissed,” I say behind the coffee cup before finishing my thought in a rush of jumbled words. “And I kinda got myself off on his lap and made him come in his pants.”
Lola’s jaw unhinges, and she blinks slowly at me. It would be hilarious if I wasn’t so mortified. “You made him come in his pants.”
I nod. “Yep.”
“Penises are weird.”
“Lola!”
“What? They are. But whatever. Was it good?”
“I mean, obviously. I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t.” I fan my face, trying to cool it down. “But kissing him… I always wondered what it would be like to kiss him, and I was not disappointed.”
My best friend grins. “Good. How much would it suck if you finally kissed after all these years and it was awful?”
“Luckily, I don’t have to consider that.”
“So he’s getting us tickets for all the home games for the rest of the season?” Lola bounces in her seat like an excited child. “And we get cool jackets?”
I chuckle, because I’m not surprised she’s excited about that.
Lola is way more fashionable than me. She’s petite and almost anything fits her.
Shopping isn’t a struggle for her the way it is for me.
I’m already worried that they won’t be able to get me a jacket that matches because it won’t come in an eighteen.
“That’s what he said.”
“Best morning ever.” She wiggles in her seat, and that’s the only warning I get before she launches herself at me and tackles me in an overly aggressive hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I’m pretty happy too. Just don’t get ahead of yourself, okay? There’s no guarantee this will work.” In fact, the odds are decidedly not in my favor. But I don’t want to think about that right now.
“Is that how one of your romance heroines would think?” Lola lets me go, leveling me with a look that would make a lesser woman wither. I’m immune at this point.
I shrug. “Probably.” I do put a lot of myself into each of them.
Not in a weird, self-insert way, but it’s my lived experiences that color how I see the world, and the way my characters see the world is filtered through my understanding of it.
Some of my heroines are much more confident than me, of course.
But none of them are devoid of insecurities.
Perfect heroines are boring.
“Well then, I’ll be optimistic for the both of us, because this is your time, Indie.
That man looks at you like he’s finally found the buried treasure he’s spent a decade searching for.
And you look at him the same way.” She lowers her chin and stares into my soul.
It’s menacingly loving. “Don’t sabotage yourself. ”
“I won’t.” I hope. “Now we need to find someone for you.”
Lola purses her lips and shakes her head from side to side. “I’ve thought about hitting a few gay bars. Or maybe I’ll give apps another try.”
“You should. And you know I’m happy to be your wingwoman.
” Lola’s never struggled for dates, but she’s never found the one.
She’s gotten close a few times. There were a couple of women I thought might lock her down, but before things could get serious to the point of cohabitation, something would go wrong.
Lola says it’s because she’s a lot. And she is. But in the best way. She hasn’t found the right woman for her. She will, though. There’s no way someone as incredible as her won’t end up blissfully happy.
“Maybe one of your boy toy’s teammates knows some hot hockey players in the PWHL they can hook me up with.” Lola’s eyes glint, and I chuckle.
“I’ll ask.”
“I’m calling it now. We’ll both end up married to professional hockey players.”
“From your lips to god’s ears,” I say through my laughter.
“I’m not going for a goalie, though. I want a winger. Someone who can body slam me against walls, the bed, all the flat surfaces…” Her blue eyes go all dreamy, and I lose it.
She’s ridiculous, and I love her. “Sounds like a plan to me.”