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It says, I’m sorry for letting you go.
My eyes shoot up from the board to meet Alex’s and I can see the apology swimming there as well. He pulls that board away, slinging it to the ice, and I read the next board underneath.
I stole this idea from the movie Love Actually.
My eyes rise again to meet his, and now I see him grinning at me. I can’t help it that my lips curve upward in response.
He reveals the next board to me, and my smile gets even bigger.
Garrett—big girl that he is—had seen the movie and recommended this as an idea to win you back….
Laughter from the fans who are watching this breaks out around me and I have to chuckle too. I look over at Garrett and he’s glaring daggers at Alex, who returns a sheepish grin to him before turning back to me.
He pulls that board away and drops it.
My heart slams inside my rib cage when I read the next message.
I love you and I was a fool to let you go.
I can’t even raise my gaze to meet his, reading the board over and over again, hungrily soaking in the message and vaguely aware of the fans starting to clap.
Alex takes the board away, revealing the one underneath.
I will do whatever it takes to get you back.
The clapping gets louder and people start cheering. I don’t even have time to read the message a second time or look up at Alex before he reveals the next board.
I’ll fight hard for you.
And the next board.
I won’t give up.
And the next board.
Because you are the most important thing in the world to me.
The cheering has now started to make its way around the arena as everyone is now watching what is going on. I look over at the players’ bench and the coaches are watching, none too happy about this display, but they don’t stop him.
Alex throws that board to the ice, and I’m looking at what I believe is the last message he’s got for me tonight.
Please say you’ll give me another chance.
Before I can even comprehend Alex’s request, Glenn is diving under his seat and he pulls out two poster board cards, slightly smaller than the ones that Alex has on the ice. I take them from his hands, noting that his smile is lit up with excitement.
“You’re in so much trouble,” I growl at him, but he just grins wider.
Looking down at the cards, I see one says “Yes” and the other says “No. ”
I do a slow look around me, and most of the people are smiling at me as they clap. A chant starts up, Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Standing up from my seat, and looking down at the cards, making sure I have the right one, I hold it up for Alex to see.
Yes.
His face breaks out into a smile filled with relief and happiness. I can tell by the look he is giving me that this is a choice that I will never regret.
Surprising me further, Alex pulls his last message away, revealing another underneath.
Do you still love me?
Tears start to fill my eyes. I nod my head as I hold the Yes card up again, and the crowd roars in approval.
I’m shocked when Alex drops that card to the ice and the next one says, You won’t regret it.
Before I can even look up at him so he knows that it’s not even possible for that to happen, he drops that board to the ice.
Don’t you think Garrett is a big girl for watching Love Actually?
The crowd goes nuts and it’s at this point that I see this whole scenario is being shown on the Jumbotron above. I give Alex a disapproving look and hold up the card No for him to see.
To show how well Alex knows me, and knew what my answer would be, I can’t say that I’m all that surprised when he drops the top board and his next one says, Great. Guess I’ll have to watch it with you at some point.
I nod my head at him with a smile, not even bothering to hold a card up for him to see.
Alex skates forward, coming up to the glass. I step forward to rest my hands beside my head and get as close to it as I can without fogging up the smooth surface.
Before reaching me, he drops another board and I look down to read the next one, Gotta go play hockey now.
Okay, I mouth at him.
He drops the last card and his hands are empty. Coming right up to the glass, he places his hands opposite mine and I swear I can almost feel his touch even through the barrier.
Alex stares at me with such love, my legs feel like jelly. The sound of the crowd dies down again, not because they have stopped cheering, but because I have chosen to focus only on Alex.
I’ve chosen to look at this man, who loves me and whom I love in return, and I’m overwhelmed with the knowledge that nothing else matters except what we have.
Holding my gaze for just another brief moment, Alex mouths the words I love you to me before giving me a wink and skating off.
I don’t even get to return the words before he is gone.
That’s all right. I’ll make up for it tonight after the game.
***
“Oh, Alex,” I moan as he sinks into me with one sure push, my hands gripping his shoulders hard. This is going to be some stellar sex, I can tell. Not only have Alex and I reconnected and claimed our love very publicly, but the Cold Fury kicked some major ass tonight, winning 6-2. Alex had two goals and two assists, and yes, I’m really proud of him.
Leaning down, he gives me a soft kiss then pulls back just enough to look into my eyes. He’s lodged deep within me but he doesn’t move a muscle. “I love you. ”
He doesn’t give me a chance to reply with the same, because he’s kissing me again. A little deeper this time but still in a leisurely fashion. He hasn’t moved an inch otherwise.
I taste myself on his lips, because when I opened my front door to him tonight, he made short work of carrying me to my bedroom and stripping me naked. After he pushed me back onto the bed, he pushed his face between my legs and didn’t surface again until he had made me come twice.
Then he pulled himself up my body, sank into my wetness and told me he loved me.
Now his kissing is becoming a little more urgent and a whole lot deeper. He makes a tentative move of his h*ps and damn…he goes just a little deeper still.
Pulling back once more, he looks at me again. “I’m so sorry. ”
“Don’t,” I whisper and place my fingers against his lips. “It’s all forgiven. ”
He looks down at me from above, his dark hair hanging forward and his eyes glittering in the soft glow of my lamp. Tilting his h*ps back, he pulls out of me and then pushes back in slowly…all while holding my gaze.
He does it again…pulling farther out, pushing back in just a little deeper.
Each time, some air is expelled out of my lungs and my heart pulses in response.
Alex is gentle with his pace, matching the emotion in his eyes. When I get close…when my body starts to tingle, and tighten, and my veins are pounding with blood, Alex goes just a little bit faster to help propel me over the edge.
A strangled sound comes out of my mouth as I splinter apart, just as he sinks slowly into me one more time, holding his body still and staring at me tenderly while he comes.
Propping himself on his elbows above me, Alex gives me a warm smile before leaning down and kissing me on my forehead. He then rolls to the side, taking me with him and tucking me in for a cuddle.
“I love you, Alex,” I tell him, because he said it last and never gave me a chance to reciprocate.
Squeezing me closer, he says, “I can’t believe you’re lying in my arms right now. I thought I had lost you for good. ”
“Why did you change your mind?” I ask, immensely curious as to what prompted his turnaround.
“I think I knew within five minutes of walking out your door I’d made a mistake, but I was too stubborn to admit it
. Every day that passed, I started to accept it more…that I was wrong to let you go. But every day that passed, I convinced myself you had moved on. That I had hurt you too bad. ”
“I understood why you did it, Alex. I didn’t agree with it, but I understood. ”
“What did you understand?” he asks me, with just a tinge of unease, because he’s asking to be put under the microscope.
“I understood that you were struggling with concepts that were very foreign to you, especially after having been raised in an atmosphere where you were to eschew all outside interference with your career. You were waging years of training and molding against just a few weeks of getting just a glimpse of what love could be. I think most people would have had a hard time taking the shot at love and not just going back to what they knew…safety. ”
“Is that why you accepted my apology so easily?”
“That…and the fact I love you. Like insanely. There was no hesitation on my part, Alex. ”
“Garrett told me that I wouldn’t have to grovel. ”
Pushing out of Alex’s arms, I practically screech, “Garrett told you about that?”
“Yup,” I say with a grin. “He admitted that he even promised you that he wouldn’t, but I think his exact words were ‘I suck ass at keeping promises. ’?”
“That ass-wipe,” I mutter before sinking back down and laying my head on Alex’s chest.
“You should be thanking him, not cursing him, baby. He spurred me into action. ”
“You would have come to your senses eventually,” I say with conviction, tracing my fingers through the hair that starts a dark trail just below his belly button.
“Yeah, I would have. But at least this way, it got done a lot sooner. ”
“I guess,” I grumble.
“You need to be mad at Glenn too. He was complicit in all of this. ”
Snaking my hand down farther, I glide my fingers over Alex’s cock, which starts to swell from the slight touch.
“Let’s not talk about my baby brother while I’m doing this,” I admonish with a laugh.
Alex reaches his hand down, covering my own and forcing my fingers to wrap around his length. When I’m holding him within my grasp, Alex tightens his hold on me, causing me to squeeze him almost roughly.
He groans over the sensation and that spurs me to start a slow pumping motion. I barely get two strokes in on my man, when he’s rolling over on top of me, kicking my legs apart to make room.
With a twist of his hips, he drives into me, and I feel such exquisite pleasure that tears prick at my eyes even as a groan tears out of him.
“I’ll never let you down again,” Alex murmurs near my ear. “I swear it. ”
“I love you,” I answer him, but then I’m lost, as he starts to make love to me with a ferociousness that drives all rational thought out of my mind. Instead, I give over to the sensation and let Alex show me with his body all the ways that he loves me in return.
Epilogue
Alex
I had to enlist Minnie’s help…yet again. It didn’t cost me a thing other than hearing Minnie squeal into the phone when I called her last week to discuss my plan. It was her job to make sure that Sutton’s schedule stayed clear for lunch today.
This plan has been two weeks in the making and it’s getting ready to go down in just a little bit. Sutton will have no clue what hit her and I can’t wait to see her face. As I open the door to the crisis center, Minnie pins me with a glorious smile and a wink.
“All set?” I ask her.
“Absolutely,” she says conspiratorially. “Ready for me to buzz her?”
“Let’s get this show on the road,” I tell her with a grin.
Minnie picks up her phone and buzzes Sutton’s office. “Hey, doll…you have a gorgeous hockey player up here to see you. ”
Minnie listens to Sutton for a second, and gives me a short nod as she smiles and hangs up. “She’s on her way. ”
How is it that I’ve been with Sutton for almost eight months now and yet I still get filled with nervous excitement every time I get ready to see her? Why does she never get old to me, and how can someone own me so completely?
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