Chapter 32
thirty-two
SEBASTIAN
A tipsy Indie is an adorable Indie.
“Are you sure you don’t mind if I spend the night at Bash’s house?” she asks Lola for the third time. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s wearing a perpetual smile while also blinking sleepily.
“Girl, I’m sure. Megan’s going to come back to the bungalow with me. I won’t be alone. Go spend time with your man.”
I share a look with Megan, who’s watching Lola in much the same way I’m watching Indie. Like Lola’s the best thing Megan has ever seen.
The two of them seem to have hit it off in a big way.
After the first half an hour, one of them is always touching the other.
Megan has run her fingers through Lola’s hair, wrapped her arm around her waist, and pressed her palm to the small of Lola’s back any time the two of them have moved more than two steps.
They’re cute as fuck together, and I have no doubt Lola’s looking forward to a night alone with the Lightning’s center.
Indie grabs her best friend and pulls her in for a hug. They’ve both had just enough to drink to be really happy and a little louder than normal, but neither is inebriated. “Have fun. Be safe. And call me if you need me, okay?”
“Girl, I love you, but I won’t need you.” Lola waggles her eyebrows at Indie, who giggles into her palm. “Go get laid.” Lola turns to me. “You have a big dick, right?”
I choke on my saliva, which Lola seems to take as a yes.
“Dick my bestie down good, again, okay? She better be waddling when she comes home.”
“Lola!” Indie swats her best friend playfully on the shoulder. “Shhhhhhh.”
Megan and I exchange another look, both of us chuckling at their antics. “All right, I think it’s time to get you home, firecracker. You’re a little louder than you realize, and it’s drawing attention.”
She’s right. A few people watch us with thinly veiled curiosity, and that’s my cue to get Indie out of here.
“Good to see you, James. You two have fun.”
“Ditto, Navarro. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around more.” Megan glances down at Lola, wrapping her arm around the shorter woman’s waist.
“I hope so.” I shake her hand, exchange goodbyes with everyone else, and link my fingers with Indie’s. “Come on, Rosebud, let’s get going.”
Indie doesn’t notice the attention we’re getting when we walk out. I do my best to shield her from it, but she’s also pleasantly buzzed and tired, and it has her inhibitions down.
“That was fun,” she says with a happy little sigh. “I like your friends.”
“They like you too.”
“Lola and Megan are cute together, aren’t they?”
I nod, opening the passenger-side door for her. “Yeah, they are. Think Lola will want to go out with her again?”
“Oh yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so interested in someone.” The way Indie grins up at me has my chest puffing up with primal satisfaction.
Unable to help myself, I grab her seat belt and buckle her in. Not because she needs me to, but because it gives me an excuse to be close enough that our lips brush. It’s the softest of touches, but shockwaves of electricity course through my body. “I’ve never been so interested in anyone.”
She laughs softly against my lips, the vibrations tickling and making my dick stir. Time to get my girlfriend home.
“Come on, baby. It’s getting late, and you’re doing the slow-blink thing that tells me you’re tired.”
“I’m not tired,” she says, pouting. She fights to keep her eyes open but doesn’t quite succeed, and I chuckle when she does another slow blink, proving my point. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“Uh-huh.” Pressing a kiss to her temple, I shut her door and walk around to the driver’s side. A few people watch me, and I give them polite smiles, hoping they haven’t been taking photos. I doubt Indie would be happy to see photos of herself online where she’s looking sleepy and flushed.
“I have a toothbrush and stuff for you at my place. We can watch a movie in bed or something.”
“Okay.” She smiles at me, the streetlights illuminating her face with a golden glow as I pull onto the road. They make her eyes sparkle in a way that’s almost distracting.
“My parents are coming to the first game of the next playoff round,” I tell her. “They’d love to see you.”
“Really?” She shifts in her seat, turning her body to face me. Her eyes are wide, and I’m not sure if it’s from excitement or nerves. Not that she has anything to be nervous about. My parents always loved Indie, and they were thrilled when I told them she’s in town and that we’re dating.
Pretty sure their exact words were “It’s about time.”
“Yep. And they’d like to go to dinner while they’re in town. I’m sure Lola would be welcome too.”
“Oh.” Indie chews on her bottom lip, and I give in to my impulses and reach over to stop her with my thumb. “Not sure Lola would want to do a meet-the-parents dinner if she didn’t have to, but thanks.”
“Fair enough.”
“You’re sure they want to see me?”
“Why wouldn’t they? They always loved you. And you’re my girlfriend now.”
“Yeah, but…” Indie fidgets, her fingers twisting together in her lap. I reach over and take one of her hands in mine to help calm her down. “I left. I left without saying anything. They don’t hate me for that?”
“No, sweetheart. They don’t hate you for that.”
When she blows a puff of breath through pursed lips, it makes her hair flutter. “Okay.”
“I promise they don’t hate you. They’re excited to see you.” Which is an understatement, really. They’re already asking when I’m going to propose. So, while Indie may be worried about what they’ll think of her, I’m worried they’ll say something that makes her nervous and want to run.
“Okay, yeah.”
“What do your parents think about us dating?”
Indie purses her lips so tightly, they’ve basically disappeared. “They, uh, they don’t know.”
Oh. Well, that kind of hurts.
Hoping I’ve hidden my wince, I force myself to smile.
There’s a lot going on with Indie’s parents right now, so I shouldn’t make a big deal of her not telling them.
Everyone knows they’re in the middle of a divorce, then there’s the sex tape and the fact that they’re both still making movies.
Of course, she hasn’t told them. I’m not sure she even speaks with them regularly.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Bash,” she says, her tone imploring, “please don’t read into it.
It’s just, things with them are weird right now.
They’re both distracted with everything, and after things ended with my ex, I kinda decided to keep them out of my next relationship.
” She blows out a breath, and it makes her lips vibrate together. “They can be a lot.”
“I’m sure it’s because they love you.”
“Probably, but that doesn’t make their attention any less suffocating.”
We haven’t talked about her ex yet, and I’m not sure it’s the best time right now, but I’ll admit I’ve been curious.
I’ve seen photos of them together, and he doesn’t strike me as someone who’d be her type.
Though, I guess the ten years we spent apart means I’m not exactly an expert on what Indigo Bloom likes and doesn’t as an adult.
“They liked your ex?”
“I mean, yeah.” Indie fidgets with the hem of her little black dress. “He’s my dad’s assistant.”
“Really?” Damn. No wonder she doesn’t want to tell her parents we’re together. If her ex is her dad’s assistant, they must be close.
“Yep. Ryland is very charming.”
The way she accentuates the word charming says a lot. “Was he good to you?”
She wobbles her head from side to side. “He wasn’t not good to me, but he wasn’t good for me, you know?”
“Not really, Rosebud.”
“We wanted different things. He treated me well enough, I guess, but Ryland wants fame. He wants to go to all the parties, be seen and photographed, and he wants to shake hands with as many A-listers as possible because he’s hoping someone will help him break into the industry as more than an assistant. ”
“And your dad isn’t willing to do that?”
“I think he’s introduced Ryland to a few people, but he’s more of a make it on your own merit guy, you know?
Ryland is looking for a benefactor. Someone to pave the way for him.
” Her nose wrinkles when she says that, and I grin.
Indie’s never been one to ride her parents’ coattails.
She got into her top choice of school without ever using their names, and I’m sure she could have a huge book deal by now if she name-dropped, but she never would.
She’s determined to make her own success, and I know she will.
Frankly, I’m shocked she hasn’t taken the literary world by storm all on her own already.
“And did Ryland realize you hate the spotlight?”
“I thought so. But it seemed like he believed he could change my mind after a month or two of dating. And once he realized that would never happen…” Her voice trails off, growing small.
What a fucking dick.
“I’m sorry, baby. He’s an idiot, if that’s why he ended things. You are so much more than your name.” When I reach across the center console and grab her hands, her fingers immediately cling to mine. “I’m sorry you went through that, but selfishly, I’m glad things didn’t work out with him.”
I have to admit, I was worried for a while.
As far as I could tell from my internet stalking, Ryland was her longest relationship.
After six months or so, my stomach would lurch every time my phone lit up with a Google alert about her because I was afraid to see a headline announcing their engagement.
“Me too,” she says, her face transforming with a genuine smile. “I should probably thank him for being such an ass.”
“Nah. He doesn’t deserve that. Seeing you happy from a distance and knowing he missed out is punishment enough.
” I turn into my neighborhood, so ready to get her out of this car and into my bed.
Even if all we do is fall asleep together, it’s more than I ever thought I’d get when she was with him in LA.
“Not sure he’ll care one way or the other.”
“Oh, he will,” I assure her, pulling into my garage. “You’re impossible to forget.”
Even in the dim light of my garage, the flush on her cheeks is visible. “Yeah, well, so are you.”
We walk into the house in comfortable silence. I lead her to my bathroom and point out her toothbrush, one of my tees that she can wear to bed, and I open one of the vanity drawers to show her where I’ve stocked period products and painkillers if she ever needs them.
“You did all of this for me?” Indie blinks rapidly, looking up at me, her palm coming up to rest on my chest.
“Of course, Rosebud. I want you to have everything you need to be comfortable here. Anything else you need, you tell me, okay?”
She blinks again, rapidly this time, and her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I lift my hand to her face, my fingers brushing across her soft skin before cupping her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just… None of my boyfriends have ever done anything like this.”
I’m confused. “It’s only a toothbrush and some pads.”
“You thought about me.” She grips my shirt and rises to her toes, tugging my face down to hers for a searing kiss. She tastes like cider, and I moan into her mouth when she deepens the kiss, sweeping her tongue against mine.
If this is how she reacts to something as simple as a drawer full of period products, I’m going to make it my mission to spoil the hell out of her and enjoy the show.
“I’ve always thought about you,” I murmur when she eases back to take a heaving breath. “Every day for the last ten years. And I always will.”
“I don’t deserve you. Especially not after what I did.” Her eyes flutter closed when I brush my hand across her forehead and temple, smoothing her hair away from her face.
“You were a kid, Indie. We both were. I don’t blame you, okay?”
“I blame myself. God, if I’d just taken five minutes to talk to you…” She leans into my hand, trusting me to support her.
“Sure, things would have been different. There’s no denying that.
But maybe this is the way things had to happen for us to work out.
Maybe if we’d started dating that summer, the distance would have broken us up.
Or the pressure I was under to be the best and earn my spot in the NHL would have turned me into an asshole, and I would have blown it. ” Which is entirely possible.
The pressure I was under to make my parents proud and become the kind of player the team that drafted me would actually want to call up was intense. I let it consume me for the longest time. What would have happened if I was also trying to make Indie happy at the same time?
“I know. I know you’re right. But I… I missed you so much.”
The tears in her eyes are killing me. “Brush your teeth, baby.”
“What?”
“Brush your teeth and throw on that T-shirt. Or get naked. I’m good either way. In fact, I’d prefer naked, but whatever makes you most comfortable.”
She giggles when I waggle my eyebrows at her, shaking her head.
But she does as I ask. We brush our teeth together like it’s normal.
Like we’ve done it a million times before.
I pretend not to stare when she wiggles out of her dress and pulls my T-shirt over her head, and she pretends not to stare when I slip out of my clothes, only leaving my boxer briefs on.
“Come on, Rosebud. I want to hold you.”
Everything is right in the world when she takes my hand and lets me lead her toward the bed. The last ten years are a distant, fading memory, the confusion and heartbreak that plagued me nothing more than a phantom ache, and the future is wide open and brighter than ever.
We settle in under the blankets, and I turn off the lone bedside lamp, cocooning us in darkness.
She’s warm against me, her skin soft and delicate.
When her head comes to rest on my chest, I breathe her in.
All of this is almost too good to be true.
To have her here with me like this. To be holding the woman I love after so many years apart.
“I missed you too, you know,” I whisper against the crown of her head. “Every single day.”
“Bash…”
I love you, I think. I’ve always loved you. But she’s not ready to hear me say it. Not yet. So I keep it to myself, repeating it over and over like a mantra or meditation.
One day soon, I’ll say it out loud. But I can be strategic. I can play it smart.
I missed my shot once before. I won’t miss again.
“Get some rest. I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”
“I keep worrying I’ll wake up and all of this will have been a really wonderful dream,” she says with a hushed, slightly slurred whisper.
“Not a dream, Rosebud. And if it is, I don’t want to wake up, either.”
Her breathing slows and evens out as I run my fingers up and down her back, over her shoulders, and down her arms. But I don’t stop.
Not even after she starts snoring lightly.
Not even after my own eyes grow heavy with the need for sleep.
Because Indie isn’t the only one who needs reassurance that all of this is real.
I don’t stop touching her until the darkness claims me.