Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  He kissed her ear as they left the airport, sending shivers down her spine. He then lost some of his smile as he asked, “Are you mad?”

  “I’m not mad. I’m in disbelief. You bought a puppy without saying a word. And you want me to move in. It’s been, what, like a month since we met and you want me to move in. It’s just so insane.”

  “I’m crazy for you and the timing seems perfect. You’ve said it the past several days, you can’t sleep at your place. Don’t lie and say that you did. It’s all over your face that you haven’t. You know you get more sleep at my place, especially when I’m around. When I’m not, you can be with Chloe and Backup who will protect you.”

  Alice nodded. Scott’s idea made sense and she knew it. She needed to think about it, though, about how quickly everything was moving. Maybe it was the anxiety that was holding her back. But at the same time, if the burglary never happened, she wouldn’t even entertain the idea.

  As they got into the car, Alice let out what she was thinking. “You really are perfect. What in the world did I do to deserve you in my life?”

  Scott just threw the line back at her. “I’ve been asking the same thing about you. We’re meant for each other.”

  Alice felt anything but perfect lately. “I know that lately I’ve been like a scaredy cat. I just feel bad that I’m not the same and that even in my own book, I’m feeling more or less broken.”

  Scott grabbed her hand and rubbed it with his thumb. “You aren’t broken, and what you feel is normal. As much as it sucks, I honestly would be afraid if you didn’t feel this way. I’m not trying to rush things. It will get better. Until then, I just want to make you happy and safe.”

  “I do feel that way when I’m with you.”

  “Good. But you will consider moving in, right?”

  Their conversation was briefly interrupted when the little puppy yawned, but it sounded more like a mew then it did a puppy noise. It was as if the puppy wanted his voice heard.

  “Yes, I will consider it. Hell, I’m leaning towards saying yes.”

  “Really?” asked a surprised Scott. Then again, her own words surprised herself. Things were so good with him.

  “Yeah. But would you want me to give up my lease?”

  “Not if you don’t want to. I was more thinking of bringing your stuff over to my place. You know I have a few rooms that are practically unfinished. You can have an office/library area to watch hockey games in if you don’t want to watch while lounging downstairs, and your bed would make a perfect guest room area. Hell, your couch and chair could play with the stuff in my living room too.”

  Alice liked the idea of that. It seemed so perfect. He really seemed to think of everything. As impulsive as he was, he’d clearly thought about the potential consequences. It was much like his style of play on the ice. He could be creative and make risky moves, but he always seemed to know what he was doing.

  “I like the sound of that. It feels like it’s so soon. I know my whole family will just flip out, and I’m not sure I want to deal with that with everything else going on in my life. But at the same time, a home together sounds so awesome.”

  They were stopped at a lone red light. Scott took the time to kiss her delicately, almost as if pacing himself before they got home. Alice enjoyed it a lot, as brief as it was. The light turned green way too quickly and they drove on. He said, “Take all the time you need, babe. I’m not trying to rush you. I just think it would be good for both of us.”

  It just seemed so damn impulsive.

  “How do you want to introduce the little guy . . . Wait, did you say his name was Backup? Isn’t that a Veronica Mars reference?”

  Scott shrugged his shoulders. She knew there was a really good chance that Veronica Mars didn’t make it to Canada and even if it did, he was probably too focused on hockey to really know the show. She’d gotten sidetracked. “Sorry. But how do we make sure that Chloe doesn’t get jealous or think he’s a snack?”

  All his cockiness was on display. “Chloe loves puppies. I was thinking we will enter the house together. I will hold Backup in the bag while you help to get Chloe settled down. We will leave him in the bag until she can sniff him out. Then we will slowly unzip it and they can start to play. It’ll be fine.”

  When they got home, everything went as smoothly as Scott thought it would. Chloe was interested in the puppy and the puppy followed her around (at least as much as he could). When Chloe needed a little break, she jumped onto one of the sectionals where Backup could only look up at her. Soon enough, Backup would be able to jump up on his own, but for now he would need help to get onto the sectionals and Scott’s bed.

  Initially, Scott played with the two dogs as Alice sat on the couch since she was tired and overwhelmed. He then settled in beside her, and she snuggled into his side.

  He said, “You’re awful quiet again. Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Just a lot on my mind.”

  “I’m guessing adding Backup to our lives and offering to have you move in didn’t help you as much as I hoped.”

  “Not really. I know you are doing it all from love. It just feels like everything is changing and I wonder if it’s going to be fair to you. I know I won’t be able to make as much as you or contribute to the household as much as I would like. Then this month is nuts. I won’t be there to help train Backup like I should.”

  “Oh?”

  “I have a conference for work and a belated birthday trip to Philly to see the Stadium Series game. Not to mention god knows how much time to help with Diane’s charity event.”

  “That sounds like all good stuff though.”

  Alice nodded her head.

  Scott continued, “If it's too much with Diane, I can speak with Donnie to get you out of it. You aren’t my wife, so you aren’t obligated to help. Besides, it’s not like I won’t be out of town a fair bit myself. I still have the dog walker booked for Chloe. He can help to train and take care of both of them when we are gone.”

  “Okay,” Alice said rather quietly as she stifled a yawn.

  “We should probably get to bed.”

  Alice nodded as she moved off the couch. Backup was right by her feet so she scooped him up into her hands. Scott kept his hand on her lower back and guided them to his bedroom. Chloe followed them wordlessly. It wasn’t the sexiest trip up to his bedroom. They were a family that had had a long day.

  They all climbed into bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Alice was in Scott’s arms. Backup curled up on the pillow by Alice’s head while Chloe took up the space at the bottom of the bed.

  10

  Alice

  Alice didn’t stay asleep for long, or at least it didn’t feel like it. Initially, she just marveled at Scott’s body. He looked so comfortable spread out on the bed. His arm muscles and abs were on display. Alice remained unmoving for a little bit, loving her new family, but she convinced herself to close her eyes again.

  After a little bit, it seemed like everyone was stirring. Backup started to move around and then eventually stepped on her head. She tried not to move since she didn’t want to wake up Scott or freak out the little pup. She was about ready to move the blanket and her hand by her eyes when she heard Scott say in a sleepy voice, “Hey, don’t step on your mom like that. She needs her sleep. Let’s go get some food,” as he picked up the little puppy from her head. There was no anger; he simply took care of the situation.

  Alice was left alone in bed since Chloe immediately followed Scott to get some food. She was tempted to follow and help him. She figured she would wait ten minutes or so to see if she either fell back asleep or if Scott returned to bed.

  Soon enough, Alice felt the bed move some as Scott climbed back down into the bed with her. She opened her eyes and smiled. He had lust in his eyes. Alice said quietly, “Hey, you.”

  “Hey. You weren’t really asleep, were you?”

  “Nope.”

  Alice was tempted to say more but Scott said, “Then it’s a
good thing I came back.” He kissed her passionately.

  He pulled her t-shirt off as she pulled at his pants. He was hard, so she only softly caressed his member while he got rid of her pants. She fell back into the bed as they swapped positions. Alice wrapped her legs around his waist as he sucked on her breasts and even nipped at her. She wanted him inside of her, but he pulled away to a tabletop position which Alice was sure was so he could grab a condom. The tearing of foil only confirmed that suspicion. The two of them made love together. He fell back on the bed, and Alice breathed out in pure pleasure as he pulled her closer into a warm cuddle.

  Being incorrigible, he said, “Isn’t this the best way to spend the morning before work?” The only thing he didn’t say was that they could do this every morning if she moved in.

  “Yeah. Although, next time Backup can step on you when he wakes up.”

  “That sounds fair. Want any breakfast?”

  Alice shook her head as per usual. Scotty shot her a disapproving look from his gorgeous face. He had a couple scars on his nose, and his eyes were blue gray. “How about instead of breakfast, you join me in the shower?”

  Scotty lifted her up and carried her to the bathroom while smothering her in kisses. He paused long enough to throw the spent condom into the trash and to start the shower. He was kissing and caressing Alice the whole time.

  They had a fun round two under the water, although Alice knew it had to be a bit risky. At least they had a good shower since he scrubbed her body clean after they had their fun.

  As they finished up in the shower, Alice swore that Scotty was going to ask about moving in again and she didn’t want to deny him.

  He had a sneaky grin on his face like he was up to something. Instead, he asked, “Up for some hockey after work?”

  “Sure, but with who?” Alice was self-conscious about the way she played. Especially since she was a beginner. He and his friends completely outclassed and outplayed her. She didn’t want to make a fool out of herself.

  “Some of the guys from the team. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

  “For you, sure. But I’m just going to suck and hold you guys back. Are you sure you want me around for that?”

  Scott came up and hugged her from behind. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You will be fine, I promise. I won’t set you up to fail. It will be a night for the guys to get their legs under themselves after a few days off. No one is looking to kill themselves. You’ll be fine.”

  “Okay.” Alice decided to switch direction. “What’s your plan for today?”

  “Just the usual. Work out and spend some time with the pups. Then I’ll get ready for tonight.”

  “Sounds like an easy day.”

  “Yeah. But the break will be ending soon enough. Then it’s back into full tilt and I’ll be away again. It’s half the reason I’ll be going heavy with weights today and wanted some ice time.”

  “Road trip?” asked Alice with some disappointment.

  “One home game, two away that will be the start of a home-and-home series, and then a few more games away after.”

  “Damn. Which means the guys in orange and black are mostly home.” Alice continued to get ready. “That’s the problem with trying to keep two team schedules in my head: I was thinking it was the reverse.”

  Scott forced a smile. He wanted to be home when he could, and Alice didn’t want to make him feel bad about having to travel.

  Alice did her hair up in her usual braids with a low ponytail as Scott asked, “Are you sure you don’t want anything real for breakfast besides coffee?”

  The fact he wasn’t pushing her to move in. Instead he just tried to make her morning perfect. Just like he had very morning. That’s when she realized she wanted that feeling every day.

  “Yeah. I won’t be able to eat anything just yet. Although I might grab something to eat later. Also, let’s just go ahead and do it. I’ll move in.”

  Alice surprised herself with that last part. To have someone who wanted to make meals for her, even if it was the ones she didn’t want to eat, was perfect and seemed like something she shouldn’t balk at. So why not just make it official and make it more permanent?

  Scott swung her around. “Really?” He kissed her ears and neck. He was so elated by her decision that it caught her off guard. He kept hugging her and twirling her body.

  “Yeah. But you are going to make me dizzy if you keep spinning me around.” Scott put her down and looked at her intensely, probably searching for some doubt in her eyes. Alice smiled and said, “Yeah it seems right. There are a lot of details that we will need to go through, but I’m already cutting it close to get to work as it is.”

  “Alright. As long as you want to move in, that’s all I care about. We can sort out the details later.” Scott started to kiss her neck and said, “You make me so damn happy. What were you thinking about for food for later? I can get it ready for you.”

  “Some fruit and yogurt.”

  “Okay.” He snuck one last kiss before leaving the master suite bathroom.

  Alice smiled and looked at herself in the mirror to assess if her braids looked halfway decent. She saw how her eyes were increasingly starting to express life again. She couldn’t imagine a life without Scott. That was the part that seemed to be the scariest thing of all since Alice rarely let anyone get close to her. She’d rarely been out on dates with guys in the last few years and then she’d fallen into a serious relationship out of luck. Now she was making a massive leap and moving in with someone. What would be next—getting married?

  Scott

  The morning was perfect for Scott. Alice never ceased to surprise him. He never thought she would agree to move in so easily. She’d shut down when he suggested it last night. He hated how she would get super quiet when she was stressed out. He didn’t know what was going through her head. But she woke up that morning so damn playful.

  He really wanted to have that pretty much every morning and every night. He’d figured he would let her think about moving in until after his road trip. He never imagined that she would just agree to moving in unprompted.

  He liked his routines, if only because they gave him some stability despite all the travel. He started the day with making some breakfast and coffee. He hated how Alice never seemed to have anything other than coffee in the morning. His usual breakfast was light fare with plenty of protein. By the time he was done cutting up the fruit for Alice and scrambling egg whites and veggies into a frittata, she walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He noticed how she only smiled at the compliment. She never said much whenever he called her beautiful. It was as if she didn’t believe him. But instead of trying to get her to believe him, he let it slide.

  Their two dogs didn’t pay attention to him; they walked over to Alice, hoping for either a walk or some more food. It didn’t surprise him at all as she immediately rubbed both the dogs’ ears and under their muzzles.

  “The coffee should be ready. Want anything else before you go? I got the fruit over here, and you know where the yogurt is.”

  “No, thanks. But you are amazing for getting this ready. You didn’t need to do that. Thank you.” She kissed him in appreciation.

  “No problem.”

  Almost as quickly as Alice came into the room, she left for work. That didn’t surprise Scott. They’d fooled around a lot, and Alice never gave herself a ton of time to get ready in the morning. Just enough to do the trick and she was out of the house.

  He had the house to himself and the dogs for the rest of the day. He loved having lazy mornings at home with Chloe; now it would be with both dogs.

  After a little bit, Chloe signaled that she wanted to go outside. Chloe was always a breeze to walk, and Backup being a little puppy, even Alice could easily walk both of them at the same time.

  Scott pulled out both Chloe’s and Backup’s leashes. Chloe came right up to Scott and he leaned over to ask, “Do you want to go fast?” Chloe jumped in excitemen
t and he knew that she was onboard with him blading. He just hoped that Backup could keep up. If worst came to worst, he would have to skate with the pup in his arms.

  It didn’t take long for Scott to get his inline skates on and start walking the two dogs. As they passed Lager’s house, Scott heard Lager say, “Yo, Scotty,” as he chased his son in the yard.

  Scotty pulled slightly on Chloe’s leash to let her know that they were going to be stopping. He hoped Backup would catch on without an active cue. The guys approached each other.

  “Hey. How’s the bye treating you? You guys went to the Bahamas, eh? How was it?”

  “Warm, sunny, and pretty lazy when we weren’t chasing this guy around,” replied Lager as he pointed towards his son who was making a beeline for the two dogs with an eye on the puppy. “How was the All-Star Game?”

  “Good. Couldn’t complain about that. Plus, getting a share of a million dollars is never a terrible thing.”

  “True. So what’s with the little dog?”

  “It’s our new dog, Backup,” said Scott rather casually.

  “Wait. Ours? Does that mean what I think it means?” asked Lager, rather confused.

  “If you think that it has to do with Alice planning on moving in and me getting another dog to help protect her when I’m not around, then yes, it’s exactly what you think it means.”

  Lager let out a slow, low whistle before saying anything. “You aren’t messing around are you? I know you aren’t going to like what I am going to say next, but hear me out ‘cause I have to ask as a friend. Are you sure that Alice isn’t like . . . what’s her name, your ex . . . oh, that’s right, Denise?”

  That hit like the lead balloon Lager thought it would be. It pissed off Scotty. Alice was nothing like his ex. Lager only knew about Denise because he was still a bit of a wreck over the breakup when he first came to Cleveland.