Her body tightens beneath me and around me as she climaxes, squeezing me inside and out. She cries out and I watch her face, humbled by her beauty, by the ecstasy I see there because of me, awed and gratified by her trust and her belief in me and her love.
Pressure builds at the base of my spine and in my balls, building to my own exquisite peak of pleasure. Her hands grip my hips as I drive into her one…more…time…and explode. Lights flash as my lids squeeze shut against the intensity of my orgasm, and when I pour myself into her in long, hard, almost painful pulses, I’m joined to her like I’ve never been with anyone.
We settle beneath the soft warmth of her duvet, curled into each other. I press my cheek against the top of her head and smile. I loved her arms around me, stroking my back, down over the curve of my ass, dragging her fingers up the crevice there. Jesus, I’m going to be hard again in two minutes if she keeps that up.
“I tried to get over you,” she says quietly as we snuggle together. “But I couldn’t.” She strokes up my back. “My friends told me I should go out with other guys, try to move on. It didn’t work.”
“I was so fucking pissed seeing you with that guy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Again, time wasted because I was afraid to say what I needed to.”
“I didn’t say anything either,” she points out. “I mean, I told you I missed you.”
“I thought you meant as a friend.”
“No. But I wanted you to think that. I didn’t think we could be together because of Steve.”
“Okay, how fucked up was that that we told each other how we really feel about each other while he was standing right there? And after that, I think he was actually less inclined to clock me.”
“I know!” She shifts against me. “That was so…weird. But…good.”
“I talked to him.”
She draws back and stares at me. “What?”
“After the autograph session. We talked again. I don’t think he’s totally happy, but he didn’t punch me in the face, so there’s that.”
She chuckles.
“I think it’ll be okay. He knows he fucked up.” I pause. “He told me not to do the same.”
She nods slowly.
“I won’t, Molly. I promise you.”
Her lips tip up into a trembling smile and she touches her fingertips to my cheek. “Remember what you said, the night of the wedding? I mean, the non-wedding?”
“Uh…no.”
“You said sometimes not getting what you want can be a good thing.”
“Fuck, I am so smart.”
“I know.” She laughs lightly and presses a kiss to my chest. “You were right. Things worked out so much better. For all of us.”
I slide a hand into her hair and press her face to me. “Yeah. Things did.” I roll her to her back and rise up over her to peer down into her eyes. “I promise I will never cheat on you, Molly. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I need to talk. If I’m ever feeling…I don’t even know, fuck, I can’t imagine wanting anyone but you, I love you…but if I’m not happy, I promise I will talk to you about it instead of doing something stupid.”
She nods, her eyes wide and glowing with love. “Thank you.”
“And if I don’t, you have my permission to smack me across the back of my head with a hockey stick.”
She smiles.
“Telling my dad I thought he cheated on Mom was hard. But it was worth it, to find out the truth. And to have a relationship with my dad, to be able to respect him again.”
Her eyes go glossy, her smile tremulous.
“Telling my mom I’m in love with you after I denied it to everyone was hard. But it was worth it too.” I kiss her. “So damn worth it. Telling you…was surprisingly not hard.” I smile wryly. “I hope I know now that even if it’s hard to talk about something, it’s worth it.”
Her throat works as she smiles and gives a tiny nod. “Thank you.” She touches my face.
“My whole family is crazy about you.” I nuzzle her ear. “Everyone’s been asking me about you.”
“Really? That’s so sweet.”
“You’re sweet.” I nibble her ear lobe and she shivers. “And I want to taste you. Everywhere.”
I proceed to do so.
27
Molly
“It’s the fuckening.”
Jax’s silence greets my comment. “What?”
“The fuckening. You know when things are going too well, and you don’t totally trust it’s going to last and shit goes down? That’s the fuckening.”
Jax falls over on his couch laughing. “Jesus.”
“It’s not a laughing matter.” I could cry over what I just read online. About me. I press my fingers to my mouth. “We thought things were okay with you and Steve about us being together. But we didn’t take into account the rest of the world.”
I found a blog online that posted about Jax and me being a couple, one of those “Hottest Wives of the NHL” things, and some jerkface commented and called me a hockey whore because I’d been engaged to Steve and left him at the altar to run off with one of his teammates.
It’s true, though.
“I’m sorry I’m embarrassing you. Both of you.”
The comments also implied that there was bad blood between Jax and Steve now, causing tension in the dressing room and on the ice. That part is not true. I think? Unless Jax hasn’t been honest with me…
“Christ, Molly. It’s not you. Haters are gonna hate. People will say all kinds of shit. You have to get used to it.”
“Are things really okay with you and Steve?”
“Yeah. It’s weird, but we weren’t best buds before all this. We’re both professionals.”
“Okay.” I pout, still unhappy about what people are saying and thinking about us. “You’re right, I know. We can’t pay attention to this stuff.”
I knew that when I was dating and engaged to Steve. But I never really gave people anything to gossip about; I’m just a midwestern school teacher who loves kids and trivia. Then I did a crazy thing. I guess I deserve the backlash for that.
“Ignore it,” he says. “All that matters is us.”
My eyes fall on the framed photo sitting on a shelf in his living room. The first time I came here after we got together, I nearly cried seeing it. It’s one of the photos he took on the whale watching cruise, but it’s of me, rosy cheeked, bright eyed, beaming a smile of pure joy directly at him, the ocean glinting behind me. The fact that he had printed that image, framed it, and put it up in his condo brought me near to tears again. It nearly matches the photo I took of him, capturing his happiness as he took pictures that day. I had it on my phone and kept looking at it. After I’d decided not to date anymore, I got a print made of it, just a small one, and I too had framed it and set it in my bedroom, a bittersweet reminder of the summer I learned what love really is, in case I never found it again.
Now our pictures sit side by side, as do we. Hopefully for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Molly
I’m not wearing a princess dress. There are no beads, no layers of tulle. My dress isn’t even white; it’s ivory. It’s plain satin, fitted to my body, spaghetti straps leaving my shoulders bare, and the trumpet shape hugs my butt.
Because Jax loves my butt.
This time, the wedding is small, family and close friends. Okay, Jax has a sizeable family, but still, there are only about thirty-five people here. We’re at the Tarragona Resort, where we stayed almost exactly a year ago. I pause before walking across the terrace toward Jax, the Pacific Ocean shimmering behind him. He’s dressed casually—narrow beige pants, a white shirt open at the collar, and a dark jacket.
I let Jax pick the music for me to walk down the aisle. When it starts, I drop my head forward, trying not to laugh. Led Zeppelin? Oh. My. God.
I walk alone, this time. Nobody has to give me away. I’m giving myself to Jax.
I catch Jax�
�s eye as I walk and listen to “All My Love.” Okay, it’s a pretty good song. We’re both grinning like crazy.
Unplanned, he comes to meet me, picks me up and swings me around, laying a big smooch on my mouth. Well, we didn’t want this wedding to be traditional.
Everyone claps and cheers for us.
I’m so happy I can’t stop my feet from dancing the rest of the way down the aisle toward the officiant, who’s also smiling. As we stop in front of him, Jax turns to me and holds out his fist. We do our secret good-luck trivia handshake, still beaming at each other. This arouses more chuckles in our audience.
The ceremony is short and sweet, including the vows we each wrote. Then we’re husband and wife.
A pop and a hissing sound comes from behind Jax, and his best man, Brian Erhardt, hands him a can of Budweiser. To my surprise, Grace places one in my hand also and I can’t stop laughing as Jax holds his beer up to toast me. I tap the cold aluminum against his and take a gulp of the fizzy lager. Then he leans over and kisses me again, long and lingering.
Our friends and family clap and cheer again.
Grace takes my beer and hands me back my bouquet, a small arrangement of white roses and eucalyptus. Jax clasps my other hand and smiles at me as we turn to walk back down the aisle together.
The music starts, another Jax choice and again, I’m dying. It’s Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part II.” How many times have we heard this song in hockey arenas? We both start bopping to the rhythm, then half-dance down the aisle. It’s an appropriately triumphant, celebratory tune. When the band yells “Hey!” all the guests also yell “Hey!”
Joy bubbles up inside me as effervescent as the beer I just drank as we sign the legal documents, then mingle with our guests, exchanging hugs and kisses and smiles.
We’ve been here in California for a couple of weeks, following the Aces’ deep playoff run. They lost to the Condors, who went on to play St. Louis in the final. Sadly, the Condors lost, but they’ve come a long way in the last couple of seasons under new leadership.
Last weekend, we attended Taylor and JP’s wedding. Everly and Wyatt are now engaged too, so there’ll be another Wynn family wedding soon. Tomorrow, we fly to Winnipeg, where we’ll rent a car and drive to Clear Lake for our honeymoon. I can’t wait.
We eat a lovely dinner in a small private dining room, then dance a little. Our first dance song was my pick, Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”
“Good choice.” Jax smiles into my eyes, then twirls me.
“Thanks.”
“Having fun?”
“So much fun.”
“Me too.”
“I think I’m going to hyphenate my last name.”
After a beat, Jax’s eyebrows shoot up, and he says, “Molly Flynn-Wynn?”
I laugh. “Doesn’t it sound great?”
“No.”
“I’m kidding. I’m happy to be a Wynn.”
We smile into each other’s eyes, then I jerk my head across the dance floor where couples are joining us. “Your mom and dad are dancing together.”
His eyebrows fly up as he follows my gaze. “Whoa. And they don’t even look angry.”
His mom just moved to Los Angeles for a new job. She’s a bestselling author now. I love her so much. I really like Mark too. And I’m so happy for Jax that he and his dad have been keeping in touch.
I look over at Bob Wynn, sitting at a table near the small dance floor, surrounded by family. He’s smiling and it’s wonderful to see him happy, Chelsea holding his hand.
Over the past year, Jax and I started doing trivia nights to raise money for charity, specifically for the Alzheimer’s Association. It seems a small thing, but at least it’s a way we can contribute and draw attention to the fight for research and a cure. We’ve met so many people affected by the disease and have heard heart-breaking but also awe-inspiring stories.
“Hey guess what?”
I focus back on Jax. “What?”
“There’s only one bed in our hotel room.”
“Oh no!” I widen my eyes dramatically, then we both burst out laughing. We have so much fun together, even when we’re doing nothing. A year ago, I was broken hearted and sorry for myself because I thought my beautiful life had been ruined. But now I know Jax was right…sometimes not getting what you want is a good thing.
Acknowledgments
As I finish the final edits of this book, the world is deep into the COVID-19 crisis. I re-read lines like “we mingle with our guests, exchanging hugs and kisses and smiles” and I screamed inwardly, “Nooooo!” But this story happens in a different world, where we don’t have to worry about hugging and kissing the people we love, and I hope that we are soon back to that kind of world. In the meantime, let’s remember that love is the most powerful force in the world, even if we’re stuck at home in isolation or socially distancing ourselves.
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I know that Bob Wynn’s story has been hard for some readers. Alzheimer’s affects so many people with our aging populations. I too am affected by it in my family. Like Jax and Molly, I hope in my own small way I’ve brought attention to the need for research and a cure. You can learn more here https://www.alz.org/ and here https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home.
Mega huge thanks to my assistant, Stacey Price who does so much for me. Also thanks to my publicist, Heather Robertson for helping people find my books, because that’s pretty important. Thank you to all the bloggers and bookstagrammers who read and share my books—your love of books and reading makes the world a better place. And most especially, thank you to my readers, I am so deeply grateful to everyone who buys and reads my books.
About the Author
Kelly Jamieson is a best-selling author of over fifty romance novels and novellas. Her writing has been described as “emotionally complex”, “sweet and satisfying” and “blisteringly sexy.” She likes coffee (black), wine (mostly white), shoes (high heels) and hockey!
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Sign up for updates about her new books and what’s coming up, follow her on Twitter @KellyJamieson or on Facebook, visit her website at www.kellyjamieson.com or contact her at [email protected]
Other Books by Kelly Jamieson
Wynn Hockey
Play to Win
In It to Win It
Win Big
For the Win
Game Changer
* * *
Heller Brothers Hockey
Breakaway
Faceoff
One Man Advantage
Hat Trick
Offside
* * *
Power Series
Power Struggle
Taming Tara
Power Shift
* * *
Rule of Three Series
Rule of Three
Rhythm of Three
Reward of Three
* * *
San Amaro Singles
With Strings Attached
How to Love
Slammed
* * *
Windy City Kink
Sweet Obsession
All Messed Up
Playing Dirty
* * *
Brew Crew
Limited Time Offer
No Obligation Required
* * *
Aces Hockey
Major Misconduct
Off Limits
Icing
Top Shelf
Back Check
Slap Shot
Playing Hurt
Big Stick
Game On
* * *
Last Shot
Body Shot
Hot Shot
* * *
Bayard Hockey
Shut Out
Cross Check
* * *
Dancing in the Rain
Love Me
Friends with Benefits
Love Me More
2 Hot 2 Handle
Lost and Found
One Wicked Night
Sweet Deal
Hot Ride
Crazy Ever After
All I Want for Christmas
Sexpresso Night
Irish Sex Fairy
Conference Call
Rigger
You Really Got Me
How Sweet It Is
Three of Hearts
Loving Maddie from A to Z
Firecracker
Game Changer Page 25