by Grey , S. R.
But they were right. Noel and I were from completely different worlds.
Like, I could never afford to stay in a hotel like this on my own.
But he could.
He clearly assumed I was from money.
A college student who had funds to travel internationally with her friend, and then when the said friend leaves, she stays on?
Those were definitely the actions of a carefree girl with cash to blow.
Ha, if only.
I’d told Noel I was “playing it by ear,” further cultivating the fun girl image.
Yeah, right.
My life was not even close to fun and carefree. I was staying in Stockholm because I had no other choice.
Although I had to admit that I didn’t hate it nearly as much, not since I’d met Noel.
If it weren’t so sad, my situation would be funny.
My melancholy mood from last night returned with a vengeance, and worsened when I got ahold of my mom.
She told me right off it wasn’t a good time, and that she’d just “talk to me later.”
“Wait,” I called out, praying she hadn’t already disconnected. “I only wanted to ask if you’ve talked to the Juice King about getting me that plane ticket home.”
Mom huffed.
Hey, at least she was still there.
“Maisie, I told you not to call him that. He prefers to be called Gary.”
“Whatever,” I snapped, not ever remembering her saying that. “Did you talk to him or not?”
“I will, Maisie. I told you I would.”
I groaned.
That meant no, she had not talked to him.
I sighed. “When do you plan to bring it up?”
Sounding even more irritated with me, she said, “I don’t know. But I’ll call you when I do, okay? Speaking of which, it’s probably better if you don’t call me again. We’ve been very busy lately. And like I said before, I can’t talk now. We’re in Rome and about to go sightseeing. Gary just ran to the men’s room for a sec, but he’ll be back any minute.”
“Rome?” I yelped. “Where are you staying? Do you have a hotel name or number? What if I need to reach you and your cell’s not on?”
Too late, Mom was done giving out info.
Wearily, she said, “Goodbye, Maisie.”
“Mom, no… Hold up a sec, please.”
It was too late. She was gone.
I was still in the same position of having to rely on myself to get home.
That, unfortunately, meant I had no choice but to continue my farce with Noel.
“That man is going to hate me so much when this is all done,” I lamented.
I was sure I’d hate myself even more. Hell, I was halfway there now.
Noel and I hadn’t made any specific plans when we’d wrapped up last night, so I was surprised when my cell rang and I saw that it was him.
I thought maybe I’d scared him off with my emotional breakdown.
But no, there was his name on my screen.
Oh my God, my heart was fluttering.
“Hey,” I answered, returning to my carefree façade. “Missing me already?”
Noel chuckled.
Oh, how I already loved his sexy laugh.
“Actually, I was missing you, Maisie from Arizona.”
I also loved his candor.
“Hmm, I see your charm game is still going strong today, Noel from Nevada.”
“It is. But is it working?”
Coyly, I replied, “I don’t know. I’ll tell you in a minute.”
“How about you tell me later today instead?” Noel proposed. “Are you busy this afternoon?”
“I don’t know,” I hedged. “I’ll have to check my planner. I may have a hot date with the hotel bartender.”
“You better not,” Noel growled.
Oooh, feisty Noel.
I liked this one too.
He was trying to give the impression he was kidding around, but there was a definite edge to his tone.
That was fine.
I liked that he cared.
And it thrilled me to think he was a little jealous, as well.
So I decided to push it a bit, see how much he really did care.
“No, for real, Noel,” I stated very seriously. “The other night that flirty bartender asked me out. It was right before you came over. I’m sure that’s why he was giving you dirty looks the rest of the evening.”
“Maisie,” Noel warned, “I really hope what you’re telling me isn’t true.”
“If it were, would it bother you?”
Softly, he admitted, “I think you know that it would.”
I couldn’t torture the poor guy any longer, so I confessed.
“I’m just kidding around, okay? The bartender didn’t really ask me out, and even if he had I probably would’ve said no. After last night, I definitely would have declined.”
He blew out a clearly relieved breath.
“Thank God. You don’t know how good that makes me feel.”
My heart soared.
Noel definitely liked me.
And I liked him.
But wait, I shouldn’t.
This wasn’t real.
So why does it feel so real, Maisie?
Ugh!
Getting back on track, before another misplaced meltdown occurred, I asked, “So what’s this afternoon?”
“Team USA is playing in a semifinal game. It’s against Team Sweden. That means the arena will be rockin’. So would you want to go?”
Go watch Noel Sandlund play hockey?
Was he kidding?
I wasn’t much of a fan of the sport before, but I sure was now.
“Hell, yeah!” I exclaimed. “I’d love to go.”
“Excellent.”
“Cool.”
He sounded as excited as I when he said, “Okay. I have to ride over to the arena on a bus with the team, but I can leave you a ticket at the box office.”
“Great, that works. I’ll just take a cab or an Uber over to the arena, no problem.”
“Would you want to meet up after the game? We could go out and grab a light bite to eat, or whatever.”
He was so cute.
“Yes, a bite to eat sounds like fun.”
“Then it’s settled?”
“Yep, sounds good.”
Noel told me where to meet him—in a lounge down near the locker rooms.
“I’ll be sure to have a pass in with the ticket,” he said. “That’ll allow you access to the lounge and locker room area.”
“Perfect.” I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “I can’t wait.”
“Me too, Maisie. I’m pumped to see you again.”
“Aww…”
We wrapped up a minute later, and I lay there in bed, thinking.
I couldn’t believe I was pumped for, of all things, a hockey game.
But it wasn’t just any ole hockey game. It was a semifinal match between Team USA and Team Sweden.
And yes, I’d be rooting for my country’s team.
But mostly, I’d be rooting for Noel.
You Win Some, You Lose Some
It was the final ten minutes of play in the semifinal game, and Team USA was down by one goal.
Shit, we have to tie this thing up or we’re fucking done.
It was true. Whoever won this game would advance to the finals. And the loser would go home.
I was thinking all this during a timeout that was due to a chewed-up section of ice. It was dangerous and needed to be repaired before play could resume.
While the ice crew worked on taking care of the issue, I skated along the boards to center ice, where Maisie was seated. I’d procured her an awesome spot up along the glass.
It’d been great for me too, having given me multiple opportunities during the game to check her out.
Man, did she ever look gorgeous tonight. Tight jeans, a snug black sweater, and a big colorful scarf she’d tied up in some fancy
twist, my girl was stunning.
We hadn’t had a chance to interact, but since this was a longer than usual break, I stopped in front of where she was.
Too bad there was still only enough time for her to wave and smile at me.
I tapped the glass with my stick in response, and then it was time for the game to resume.
Maisie gave me a thumbs-up as I skated away backward. When the game started back up, I was more pumped than ever to show off my skill.
Right away, there was a chance.
With a lot of back-and-forth action up and down the ice, it felt like we were on the verge of scoring. But then a bunch of stupid shit happened.
First, Blake missed a perfect pass from me.
That didn’t occur often.
We were just off.
Seconds later, I had a good scoring chance, but my shot hit the post.
Fuck.
A player on our team then got burned for misreading a play, allowing Team Sweden to score.
Double fuck.
They were now up by two.
We sure had our work cut out for us.
We had another chance to score when an opposing forward blatantly hooked Blake. The offending player got called for the infraction, and our team went on a power play.
Yes!
Er, maybe not.
As soon as our one-man advantage began, Team Sweden’s defense boxed us out. We started losing battles all over the place.
“Come on, damn it!” I yelled at my own guys when the other team obtained possession for the third time in less than forty seconds. “We’re the ones on the power play, remember?”
It was true. We were supposed to be the team in control. We had the extra man advantage, right?
Oh, but it got worse from there.
Even though we soon had a two-man advantage, once our goaltender was pulled, we fell apart.
It all started when I skated down the ice to retrieve a loose puck, clearly icing by the other team.
When I touched the puck, though, the ref waved the icing call off.
What?
I yelled at him, “Are you fucking kidding me? We’re on the power play, bud. And that was clearly icing by the other team.”
While I was jawing at the official, one of Team Sweden’s goons came up from behind me and boarded my ass.
“Oof.” I went down.
The ref let that go too, probably because of my yapping.
Great.
While I was down on the ice, the fucking goon took the opportunity to flick the puck into our empty net.
Nooooo!
Team Sweden had just scored another goal.
Time ran out seconds later, and the horn sounded.
The game was over.
We had lost.
The spectators, of course, went crazy. We were in Sweden and their country’s team had just won an important game.
I was so pissed that I slammed my stick on the ice, breaking it in two.
Blake skated over.
“Come on, Sandlund,” he said. “Don’t let your frustration show. Don’t give the crowd that kind of satisfaction.”
I blew out a breath. “I know. You’re right. It’s just that this is complete bullshit.”
I was so mad.
“Eh.” Blake shrugged. “What can you do? You win some, you lose some.”
We started skating over to the runway to head down to the locker room, and I sighed. “Yeah, I guess. It just sucks that the Wolves were knocked out of the playoffs early, and now Team USA is done too.”
“I hear ya, man. It’s back to New York for me. And who knows how long I’ll even be there.”
He was right. The Rangers had a ton of big contracts coming up, and one of those was Blake’s. It was highly likely he’d be traded over the summer. I was kind of hoping the Wolves would pick him up.
But we’d have to see.
Before I left the ice, I looked around for Maisie. She was gone, probably on her way down to the lounge area to wait for me.
That was the only good thing about my so-far crappy day. I was excited to spend time with her. I knew she could help me forget about the shitty game.
The thought of Maisie made me consider what my next step would be now that Team USA was done.
Would I fly home to Las Vegas?
Hmm, I wasn’t so sure.
Maisie was here, and probably would be for a while, seeing as she was “playing it by ear.”
Maybe I’d just do the same.
Down in the locker room, after discarding my equipment and taking a quick shower, I threw on some boxer briefs, dark-wash jeans, and a long-sleeved olive-green pullover.
And then I went out to look for the woman who was about to become my reason for staying in Sweden for the rest of the summer.
Or for however long it took to get her to fall for me.
It seemed fair, seeing as I was falling for her.
He’s Staying, So Why Would I Go?
For someone whose team had just been beaten, Noel was in a surprisingly upbeat mood.
When I asked him what was up with that, he told me his positive attitude had something to do with me.
“Now you have to tell me what’s going on,” I declared.
As our ride pulled up, he said, “Okay, but first let’s get in the car.”
It wasn’t really a “car.” Noel had once again rented a limo for us to tool around in for the night.
“Is this your usual go-to transportation?” I asked with a laugh when the limo driver jumped out and opened the door for me.
As I slid in and across the soft leather seat, making room for Noel, he replied, “Yes, this actually is my go-to transportation for when I’m taking you out here in Sweden.”
I murmured a soft but heartfelt, “You’re sweet, Noel from Nevada.”
“Well, Maisie from Arizona,” he murmured back, “that’s nice of you to say. For the record, though, if we were back in the States, I’d be doing the driving.”
“Oh, is that so?” I laughed. “Aren’t you Mr. Chivalrous?”
Chuckling, he replied, “I’m trying to be.”
I raised a curious brow. “What do you drive, anyway?”
He replied, “A Porsche Panamera.”
“Wow, nice.”
It was nice, as in it must be nice. I had nothing.
We started on our way to dinner, and Noel, of course, asked, “What do you drive?”
Uh-oh.
“Um, I…”
I couldn’t tell him I had no car, as it’d ruin my carefully crafted illusion.
So I hastily blurted out, “I’m kind of in between vehicles right now.”
Accepting that, he said, “Exploring your options, huh?”
Ha!
“Something like that.”
Hell, I had no options. It was pretty simple, really—no money equaled no car.
Needing to change the subject before the truth slipped out, I said, “So you still haven’t told me why you’re so upbeat when your team just lost a big game. You said it had something to do with me?”
He nodded. “It sure does.”
“How so?”
Noel reached over and took my hand. I let him because I liked how warm and strong he always felt.
I could get used to this.
Looking into my eyes, his blues sparkling, he said, “I’m happy because you inspired me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I inspired you? Do tell, in what way?”
This I had to hear. It was probably a joke.
But Noel wasn’t laughing when he said, “I’ve decided to stay on in Sweden. And it’s because of you. I like your philosophy, Maisie from Arizona. I like your playing-it-by-ear attitude. Truth is, I need to learn to do a little more of that myself.”
God, if he only knew the truth.
But I couldn’t exactly come clean.
So I nodded dumbly and said, “Wow, that’s great.”
It was great in some
ways. Like it gave me more time to work on Noel. I still needed to get him to like me enough to buy me a ticket home.
But then again, I wasn’t so sure I even wanted a ticket home, at least not any time soon. If Noel was staying in Sweden, I wanted to stick around too.
Yes, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Noel Sandlund. This wasn’t really a means to an end, not anymore.
I really liked him.
Heaven help me.
Taking it Day by Day
Once I had decided to stay in Stockholm, it felt like the best decision I’d made in a long time.
Fuck, it was amazing to take life just day-by-day.
I didn’t care anymore about Team USA having lost in the world championships. To me it just meant I had more time to spend with Maisie.
And that’s what we did.
Over the next couple of weeks, she and I hung out a lot.
We went to dinner, had drinks at the bar, and walked around Stockholm almost every evening. We also took in a few movies that were playing in English.
I even took her ice skating once.
Trust me, once was enough, as it turned out to be quite the adventure.
Maisie had never skated prior to that day, and she spent most of her time falling down on the ice.
That was okay.
She didn’t get hurt, and afterward I got to warm her up, which involved lots of kissing.
Damn, our make-out sessions were the best.
But it was becoming clearer and clearer that both of us wanted—and needed—more.
Since the night up on the hotel rooftop, when Maisie was so torn about going back to my room, I’d made the decision to back way the fuck off.
I wanted to be careful with her heart, because I really liked her.
But now it was time to move things to the next level.
Still, I wanted our first time to be something really special.
That’s what inspired me to plan an overnight trip for us to Oslo, Norway.
I knew it would be the perfect place to consummate our relationship. Maisie and I were spending so much time in Stockholm that it was becoming way too familiar to us.
Our first time happening there wouldn’t feel special enough.
So Oslo it was.
Maisie was into it as soon as I brought the idea up to her. Though I didn’t tell her I was planning on devouring her there. I’d play that by ear, making sure the time really was right.