“Hey,” I say when I get closer to him, and I smile. I look up at him, and he bends to give me a kiss.
“Hi,” he says, and every single time feels like the first time I saw him. I sometimes just sit there and look at him. “You made it.”
“I did,” I say. “Thanks to Jaxon, who made sure I knew where I was going.” I smile down at Jaxon.
“Nico,” Manning says to the guy who he was talking to, who is now joking with Layla. “I’d like you to meet Evelyn.” He puts his hand around my shoulder. “Evelyn, this is my boss.”
Nico smirks when he says that and puts out his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he says and then looks down at Jaxon. “How is my future superstar?”
“Good,” he says and then looks up at Manning. “Can I go in and get a snack?” Manning nods, and he walks into one of the doors. This floor looks like a hotel with carpet on the floor and brown wooden doors with numbers on them.
“I have to go down,” Manning says. “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay,” I say, looking at him, and he bends to kiss me again. “Break a leg.”
“I’ll see you later,” he says one more time and jogs down the corridor, and I walk into the room where I saw Layla enter.
“Evelyn.” I hear Jaxon call my name. “Can we go down to the glass?” I grab his hand and turn to walk out of the room when I see Tim and Caleb coming in.
“Auntie Evie,” Caleb says, running to me, and I bend down to hug him, kissing his neck. “You’re wearing a jersey.”
“I know,” I say, getting up and kissing my brother on his cheek. “Thanks for coming,” I whisper in his ear. I didn’t know what tonight would bring, and I somehow felt more comfortable having Tim here.
“Box seats,” he says. “It’s my dream.” He was shocked like everyone else when I told him about Manning and me. But for a whole different reason, and it had nothing to do with the fact he was married. Veronica, on the other hand, was thrilled that he was finally going to divorce Murielle, who I found out did not have friends anywhere.
“I’m going to go with Jaxon to get some pucks, apparently at the glass. I’m going to take Caleb. They have food and booze.” I point at the room, and he nods, then sees Nico, who comes over and shakes his hand and then looks at me.
“Wait a second,” he says, looking at me. “You’re Tim’s sister?”
“I am,” I say, and he looks down. “I heard about you.” And I smile at him. “I’m not going to tell Manning because well, I don’t know how he would react, but your father tried to set us up.”
I laugh, shocked now. “What?”
“Yeah, when you were coming back, he thought we would connect well,” Nico says, and it’s at that moment that I realize I don’t want to be with anyone else. I don’t want to go on another first date. I don’t want to have another first kiss. I don’t want anyone but Manning.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and I just nod and turn to walk out of the room. My head is spinning. I know I love him, there is no questioning that, but it’s a forever type of love.
I walk with the kids as they lead me down to the glass, and I see the players come on the ice. Caleb and Jaxon line up at the glass, and I stand behind them as kids come over. They slap the glass, and I wait there, and then I see him on the ice, sliding on one skate as he comes over to the glass. Picking up two pucks, he throws them both over for Jaxon and Caleb, and then he looks at me. His face changes right away when he sees me. The worry forms on his face, and he nods with his chin, mouthing, “What’s wrong?”
I try to play it off and smile at him as I watch the boys slap the glass. He looks at me and then the boys.
I wait until all the guys have skated off before heading back up, and I don’t even know what happened in the game. I don’t remember talking to anyone; I remember nothing. The only thing I’m trying to digest right now is the fact that he’s the one.
Tim and Caleb leave as soon as the game is over, and Jaxon sits next to me on the couch as we wait with some of the other family members for the teams to come out. He leans on me, and I open my arm to wrap it around him as he lays with his head on my lap.
I get a text from Manning forty minutes after the game.
Manning: Coming to get you.
I don’t move as I wait for him to come, and then I see him walking into the room. He is wearing a blue suit with a white button-down. “Hey,” he says when he sees me and then comes over to us.
“He’s sleeping,” I say, and he bends down, and I wait for the kiss. He kisses me softly once.
“I’m going to grab him.” He bends over and lifts him in his big arms. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, and he just looks at me. “Just tired.” He nods, slipping his hand into mine.
He doesn’t say anything when we get in the car, and the drive home is suddenly awkward silence. When we get back to his house, he carries Jaxon to bed. I walk to the kitchen and warm up some food for him.
He comes back in a couple of minutes later, and he’s wearing shorts with no shirt like he always does after a game. “What happened?” he asks right away, standing with his hands on his hips. “And don’t tell me nothing. When I saw you, you looked pale and like you were going to vomit or pass out.”
“It honestly was nothing.” I try to reassure him because I’m not sure how the fuck to explain what is going through my head.
“We said we’d never lie,” he says, and I shake my head. “In here,” he says. “In your house, it’s just us.”
“Can we not do this now?” I ask, and he just looks over at me. “You are so annoying sometimes,” I say, and he just continues to stare. “Fine,” I say, my voice rising a bit. “Tim came in, and Nico put two and two together, and then told me my father was trying to play matchmaker.”
“Like fuck,” he hisses out, and I roll my eyes.
“This was before I got to town. Anyway, while he was telling me this, I . . .” I look down, nervous to say the last bit. “I . . .”
“You . . .?” he repeats, waiting for it.
“I realized I don’t want to date anyone else.” I look up at him. “Like ever.” His mouth opens. “I know, and it’s not your problem at all. It’s more of a me problem than a you problem or even an our problem.” My mouth just won’t stop. “But it’s fine. If you can actually forget this whole conversation, that would be really great.” I shake my head and turn, not to look at him. I’m opening the oven when I feel his hand on my back. His hand moves my hair to one side as his arms go around my waist. He brings his head down and buries it in my neck, and I feel so embarrassed. I knew it was silly to bring it up now. “Manning,” I whisper.
“Baby,” he says, and I turn my head to the side, and I kiss his lips. “There is no one else,” he says, softly kissing me, “I would ever want to be with.”
“You don’t have to say that.” I put my hand up to touch his face.
“I’ve wanted to say that to you for the longest time, but I was just waiting for the right time,” he says softly, then he smiles and says the two words that I always wanted to hear. “You’re it.”
Chapter 37
Manning
I walk into the house and slam the door behind me, holding a bouquet. “Evelyn?” I call her name, looking up the staircase to see if she comes out of our bedroom. I call it our bedroom even though she has yet to move in. “Baby?” I walk into the kitchen and don’t see her there either. I left about an hour ago to bring Jaxon to Murielle’s, and when I left, she was just walking in.
I walk up the steps two at a time and walk toward the bedroom. “Evelyn.” I say her name, looking around the bedroom. The king-size bed sits in the middle of the room, but my eyes go to the picture of the two of us beside the bed.
“Yes?” I hear her voice coming from the walk-in closet. She comes out and has her hair tied on top of her head. “What’s with all the yelling?” she asks, and I sit on the bed looking at her. All she is wearing is my T-shirt, and I can tell she isn’t w
earing a bra, which causes my cock to wake up.
“I thought we were going out?” I ask. She walks over to me, and I spread my legs for her to stand between them. I wrap my arms around her legs, rubbing my hands up and down them. She puts her hands on my face. “I said I wanted to take you out.”
“Manning,” she says. “You were just gone for ten days.” She bends and kisses my lips. It was the longest road trip I’ve been on, and she stayed over to watch Jaxon. Jaxon asked her if she would be watching him. The minute he asked, she answered she would love to. So instead of going back to her house this time, she stayed here.
“But we haven’t been out on a date,” I say, and she looks at me.
“Manning.” She kisses me again as my fingers trail up her leg. “I want to stay at home with my man.” She smiles when she says that. “I want to sit on the couch and make out with him.”
“Hmm,” I say, pushing the hair away from her face. Turning my head, I kiss her, opening my mouth for her tongue.
“This,” she says between kisses. “This is what I want.” My hands roam up to her ass, finding it bare. “Just the two of us.”
“Always,” I tell her. This woman blows me away every single day. She loves spending time at home like I do. To her, the perfect day is just us being together. She puts Jaxon and me before herself all the time. She pulls my shirt up over my head and tosses it on the floor behind her.
She puts her knees on the bed beside my hips. “Ten days,” she says, kissing my neck. “I missed you.” My hands move up to cup her tits, rolling her nipples between my fingers. “It was so lonely without you.” She settles over my cock and then pulls her shirt up over her head. I see the little love bite I gave her this morning after Jaxon left for school.
“Baby,” I say, leaning down and taking a nipple in my mouth. Her hands find the button on my jeans.
“I need you,” she says, and after I love you, those are my three favorite words. I pick her up around her waist and place her on the bed as I take off my jeans.
My hand strokes my cock as she watches me. “How do you want it?”
“Hard and fast,” she says, and I know that afterward, she’ll want it slow. I flip her on her stomach, and she moans when I pick her up by her hips and squat down just a little to attack her pussy with my mouth. “Fuck,” she hisses out, and when I know she’s wet enough, I straighten and slam into her.
We both still. “So fucking good,” I say as I pull out of her and slam into her again. I swear the sex with us just gets better. She is never shy in asking me for what she wants. If she wants to suck my cock, she will fall to her knees and take me out, not caring. If she wants me to fuck her on the counter, she’ll walk by me and rub herself on me until I pick her up and have my way with her. When Jaxon isn’t here, you can catch us having sex anywhere from the kitchen to the garage.
“Can’t get enough,” I say as she arches her back. I lean over, grabbing her tits in my hands, and fuck her while holding them. “I’m going to come,” she pants out, and I see her hand slip between her legs. “Right there.” I don’t stop until she comes on my cock, and only then do I come in her.
I release her, and she lies on her side and looks at me as she tries to catch her breath. “See, this is so much better than us going out,” she says, and I hold out my hand for her.
“Time to shower,” I say, and she looks at me.
“I’ve already taken a shower.” She grabs my hand. “But if you want to wash my back, I’m not going to say no to that.” She looks over her shoulder and gets into the shower while I walk to the sink. When I open the shower door, I find her sitting on the bench with one leg propped up, playing with herself.
“You were gone ten days,” she says, and I smile at her. We stay in the shower for over an hour because every time we get the soap and wash each other, it leads to another round.
She finally gets out, and I find her downstairs in the kitchen with her hair wrapped in a towel. “Did you want anything to eat?” She looks over at me, and I know that if I told her I was starving, she would make me a meal without hesitation. She grabs the orange juice out of the fridge, and she pours a glass, handing it to me and going to get a second one. “By the way,” she says, taking her glass of juice. “Nice flowers.”
I smirk at her. “It was a part of the date,” I say, and she smiles.
“This is much better than a date,” she says. “I have to go home tomorrow.”
“I was talking to Jaxon tonight while I drove him to Murielle’s,” I say. “We were thinking about how it would be if you moved in with us.”
“What?” she says in almost a whisper.
“Well, you see . . .” I walk to her and pick her up, placing her on the counter in front of me. “We like having you here. I love having you here.”
“But . . .” She places her hands on my chest.
“I want to share my closet with you,” I say, and she laughs.
“You have two closets,” she reminds me, and I chuckle.
“Okay, maybe that wasn’t a good thing,” I say. “I had this whole speech planned,” I tell her. “I want this to be our house. I want you to get up and get ready here every day. I want you to come home here. I want to share this house with you and make it ours. I don’t want to have just some of your stuff here. I want it all here.”
“Manning,” she says.
“The first time I walked into your room, I saw that saying on top of your bed. You will forever be my always. I remember reading it and thinking how amazing it would be to find someone who would be forever my reason. To find someone to share my life with, to laugh with, and to fight with. More loving than fighting.”
“Always,” she says, kissing me. “But don’t you think it’s rushing things a bit with Jaxon and stuff? His whole life has been . . .”
“There.” I point at her. “That right there, you putting everyone else before you. That’s the reason. You will forever be my always.” She looks down, and I can see she’s blinking away tears. “Take the leap and move in with me. We can even do a trial run.”
She looks at me, and her eyebrows go up. “You would do that?”
“No,” I say, laughing. “Once you’re here, I’m not letting you go.”
“There is just so much to think about,” she says. “I don’t want anyone to think—”
“Fuck what they think,” I say. “I lived my life for too long worrying about what people were going to say.” I pick her face up. “I hate when I leave, and I know you aren’t here in our bed,” I say.
“One night,” she says to me, smiling. “It was supposed to be a one-night thing.”
“The minute I locked eyes on you and our hands touched, I was a goner,” I tell her, thinking back to that day.
“I walked in and sat at the table, and I looked around for you,” she tells me, and I’m shocked now. “I tried to downplay it, but every single chance I got, I looked around.”
“I was watching you,” I say, and she looks at me, her mouth hanging open as she smiles. “I saw you get up and walk to the bathroom.”
“You did not,” she says and pushes me away.
“I did,” I admit. “I didn’t mean to run you over, but . . .” I shrug as she puts her head back, and I kiss her lips. “I hate clubs. I hated going there, yet watching you, I couldn’t leave.”
“I was hoping you were watching me, and then when I caught you, I took my chance. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew I had to jump off the cliff.”
“I will forever be in debt to Becca for getting me a room that night,” I say. “Forever.”
“Yes,” she finally says and looks down. “If it’s okay with Jaxon, then I’ll move in here, but . . .” She holds her hand up. “But if it gets to be too much for him—” I crush my lips on hers to stop her from talking.
Picking her up, I carry her upstairs, never leaving her lips. All that keeps running through my head is that one chance meeting, one touch, one kiss, and especially th
at only one night has led us here.
Epilogue One
Evelyn
Looking down at my watch, I make my way over to the restaurant. My heels click on the sidewalk.
The hostess gives me an up and down look when I tell her I’m meeting someone. She doesn’t even bat an eye when I walk in and head to the bar. The lights are dim, so I know I’m right on time to surprise him.
He’s having a meeting with Ralph and Miller along with some equipment people. I sit at the bar, and I have the perfect view of him in the glass room. The same room where he was on the night we met. “Can I get you something?” the bartender asks once I sit down.
“I’ll have a vodka cranberry,” I say, and the music is playing. I look over and see the guys laughing, and I send him the first text.
Me: I miss you.
I press send the same time the bartender puts down the glass. I see the waitress circle next to Manning and lean over a bit too close for my liking, but he doesn’t even notice. He picks up his phone, and he smiles. I see him typing while I take a sip of the cold drink, and then my phone beeps.
Manning: Miss you more.
My hands get clammy, and my heart starts to pick up speed. Maybe this was a stupid idea. I mean, in my head, surprising him at the restaurant where we met was a brilliant idea. I pick up the phone and send the second text.
Me: I wish you were here.
I finish off the first drink and order a second. The music gets louder and the tables slowly start to disappear as more people enter the club.
The bartender sets me another drink down, and he leans in. “From the gentleman at the bar.” He points at the end of the bar, and when I see him standing there, I throw my head back and laugh. Putting my phone in my purse, I walk over to him. “Hi,” I say to him, and he sees my outfit. The same outfit I wore when we met.
“Hi.” He leans on the bar the same way he did when we met, and my stomach gets the same butterflies, if not more, knowing I get to go home with him tonight.
Only One Night (Only One Series 3) Page 21