Kitty Valentine Dates an Hockey Player
Page 15
“Hey. Why so sad?”
I look up at Matt, who somehow magically ended up next to me without me hearing him. “Just thinking about my best friend moving across the country.”
“Come on. Let’s dance.”
He has my hand in his before I can say no. Not that I want to refuse him. No, this is just what I need right now. I need to be held even if I’m only being held by a friend.
“I’m happy for her. I really am.”
His hand presses against my lower back, drawing me closer. “I know. Because you love her. You want her to be happy. That doesn’t mean you have to be a total martyr about it. You’re allowed to feel sad.”
“Everything’s changing. Even my grandmother is moving into a new phase of her life. And now, Hayley is too.”
I glance up at him and find him already gazing down at me. “I mean, where does that leave me? I’m still in the same place I was before.”
“You don’t have to move at anybody else’s pace. Things happen the way they’re meant to happen.”
I can’t help but give him a skeptical look. “You believe that?”
“I do. What? You think I’m some kind of caveman who never has a deep thought?”
“No, I don’t think that. All the time.”
“Even now, I’m trying to be nice, and she has to make a snide remark.”
“Sorry, sorry.” I find myself leaning against him. He’s extremely comforting. Familiar. And smooth on the dance floor. “You seem like the type of person who makes things happen. Who doesn’t wait around for life to catch up to what he wants. That’s all.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes, life has a way of dragging its feet, and you have no choice but to wait. Even when the outcome seems obvious to you. You have to remind yourself that you aren’t the only person in the world and that what you want isn’t all that’s involved,” he says and something tells me we’re not talking hypothetically anymore.
“Sometimes …” I have to take a deep breath and hope it slows the hammering of my heart. “Sometimes, life gets in its own way. Granted, sometimes, there are genuine questions and concerns.”
“Sure,” he agrees.
“And sometimes, it’s easier to know a relationship won’t last long by design. Because it can’t, because you’re writing books about the people you’re dating, and ideally, there will always be another book.”
“I can see that.”
“Sometimes, a person just needs time to wake up. Open her eyes. Realize what’s right in front of her.” I sneak a look up at him. “You know, generally speaking.”
“Of course. This is all general. Nothing specific. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead… well, you know.” He shrugs. “You’re the writer.”
“I am.”
The arm around my waist tightens. “What would you make of a guy who broke things off with a girl because she couldn’t possibly live up to the girl he really cares about? How would you write that character?” he asks, his voice deep and sexy.
My heart is so full that I can hardly breathe. “Um, I think after putting him through his paces, I’d finally ease up and let him have what he wants.”
We’re not dancing anymore. We’re not moving. We’re staring into each other’s eyes like there’s nobody here but the two of us.
This is it. There’s no going back now.
I’m in love with him. And I know he’s in love with me. I feel it. I see it in his eyes, something I haven’t seen in anyone but him.
“Everybody! Time to cut the cake!” Peter calls out.
Of course it is.
Suddenly, the rest of the room comes back into focus. We’re not alone anymore. We never were.
“I guess we’d better go watch them so Grandmother doesn’t send out a search party.” Though something tells me she wouldn’t if she knew both Matt and I were missing in action.
“I guess we should.” But he doesn’t let go of my hand, and that’s a good thing since I don’t want him to.
I might not know how to move forward from this or what it means in the grand scheme of things, but right now, he’s holding my hand.
And that’s enough to make me feel incredibly happy.
Read the next book in Kitty’s dating adventures in Kitty Valentine dates Santa
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When author Kitty Valentine’s latest novel totally bombs, her editor suggests she dates different kinds of men for inspiration.
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Does catching the garter and bouquet at a wedding really mean you belong together? For Palmer and Cade it could be the second chance they’re looking for in this sexy romance.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jillian Dodd is the USA Today best-selling author of more than thirty novels.
She writes fun romances with characters her readers fall in love with—from the boy next door in the That Boy trilogy to the daughter of a famous actress in The Keatyn Chronicles to a spy who might save the world in the Spy Girl series.
She adores writing big fat happily ever afters, wears a lot of pink, buys too many shoes, loves to travel, and is distracted by anything covered in glitter.