by Mary Smith
Her name was Angela, and she broke his heart. “How long were they together?” I was being nosy again, but I wanted to know.
“Five years, I think. Well, close to it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
Shocked. I was absolutely shocked to learn this. “Why did they break up?” Oh, please tell me.
“Kyson proposed marriage; she claimed she wasn’t ready. She walked away from him without much more of an explanation than that. He was utterly broken for a good two months. His hockey suffered, a lot, and I was worried he would be cut. But, in Kyson style, he woke up and re-focused on hockey. I was thankful when he was traded. It was a good change for him.”
I was trying to process everything Kian told me. I wondered why Kyson didn’t just tell me himself. Well, how would I’ve taken the information? He liked older women. Could it be a mommy issue? Some sick fantasy he was living out? No, I didn’t get that vibe from Kyson. Sure, he was blunt and enjoyed sexual innuendos, but there wasn’t anything wrong with that.
“Meadow,” Kian gained my attention. “Kyson says what he thinks, and he is a great guy. If he didn’t want to be with you, he wouldn’t be. I know some women find it a bit strange for a guy his age to be with someone older, but Kyson is Kyson and he likes what he likes. You should really give him a chance. A true chance. You’d be surprise.”
I looked back out on the ice. I would definitely be surprised by anything Kyson did.
Chapter Ten
Kyson
The game was incredible. I didn’t have any assists this time; I had a goal. I’ve scored before, but this was my first as a Bear. Hamilton handed me the puck, and I knew just who to give it too.
I quickly changed and headed to my truck, but I stopped when I saw Meadow and Kian. Her blonde hair was high up in a bun-like design. She was in a brown Bears hoodie, and tonight she had on skinny jeans. Her legs were swinging back and forth as she sat on my tailgate.
“Good game, Kyson.” Kian bumped my fist as I stood next to him.
“Thanks.”
“You did great tonight,” Meadow added as my eyes studied her body again.
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“Well, I’m off. Congrats, again, bro. Meadow, it’s been fun.” Kian nodded as he headed off.
“I have something for you.” I pulled out the puck from my pocket.
“Is this from tonight?” She inspected it.
“Yep. My first goal as a Bear.”
“Kyson, I can’t take this.” She tried to hand it back to me.
“It’s yours. Please.” I stood between her legs and put my hands on her thighs. God, I wanted to touch more of her, but I stopped myself.
“I will treasure it. Thank you.” Her tone was sincere.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go grab a bite.” I stepped back and helped her off the tailgate.
“Um…Kyson, would you mind if we got something to go and went back to my place?”
I felt my eyes widen. She wanted to go back to her place.
Meadow slapped my shoulder. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I thought we could talk and have some privacy.”
I chuckled. “Why did you assume I’m having dirty thoughts? Maybe you have a guilty conscience?”
“Or maybe I have a black corset under this hoodie?” She winked.
My knees almost gave way. “Wha…what?”
Meadow laughed loudly and snorted. “I don’t, but the look on your face is priceless.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “It’s not nice to tease me.”
She continued laughing. I noticed tears in the corner of her eyes.
“Come on.” I lightly tugged her elbow and helped her into the truck. I drove her over to her car and followed her home. After I parked her car, she hopped back into mine.
We ended up going through a drive-thru, ordering a huge bucket of chicken, and some side items. On the way to her house, we mostly discussed the game. I was still surprised at how much she loved the game. Then again, it was refreshing not to have to explain every detail to her, and she actually listened to me. Angela would just nod now and then, but I knew she wasn’t paying attention to a word I was saying.
Meadow helped me carry the food into her house. “Where should I set up?”
“Okay. We have two options. One, we can go and use my kitchen table and pretend I actually use it for its purpose and ignore the fact I generally have clean laundry stacked on it. Or two, we eat buffet style right here by the TV and watch a movie. You pick?”
I grinned sitting the bag on the small coffee table. “This is perfect.”
Meadow put her bag next to mine. “I’ll grab plates and forks.” She headed off toward the kitchen. I took off my coat and tie, rolled up my sleeves, and sat down on the floor. I began opening everything as she came back with paper plates, plastic silverware, and two bottles of water.
“I need to change out of this hoodie.”
“And into the corset,” I added for her. She rolled her eyes, stepped around me, and through the door on my right. Her bedroom. Oh, how I wanted to see that room more than any other.
She came out a moment later in a t-shirt. It was a light blue and almost matched her eyes. She took the place next to me and was close enough our thighs were touching. I could feel her body heat.
Together, we both filled our plates with yummy, greasy chicken. Meadow took a large spoonful of coleslaw and a biscuit. I watched her movements and thought about kissing her again. I would soon enough, but I was too hungry right now.
Meadow turned on her TV, with Netflix already loaded. She had a lot of classic TV shows, and a ton of romantic movies, and cartoons. The TV and movies made sense, but not the cartoons.
“What do you want to watch?” she asked.
“I don’t care,” I said between bites.
Meadow turned to me. “How about we just talk, then?”
I swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes and mimicked her pose. “Okay. What about?”
“About the fact the woman you were previously involved with was nine years older than you.”
Well, I guess she wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “I take it you and Kian had a lovely chat at the game.”
“We did. He told me a lot, but now I have some questions.”
“Shoot.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the age of the last woman you were with? Or the fact you only date older women?”
I could tell this was going to be a long interrogation. “What does it matter if they’re older or younger? Age is a number, and you’re the only one hung up on this.”
“How many women have you been with?”
“Sexually?”
She nodded.
“Three.”
“That’s it?” she gasped.
“I’m not some man whore. I lost my virginity to my high school girlfriend, who was older. I dated Angela, who was older, for five years. About seven months ago I had a one night stand with an older woman, which I’m not proud of.”
“Why older women? You’re hot enough to find someone your age.”
“Hot enough? Should I be offended by that statement? I feel as if I should be,” I joked with her.
“Stop and just answer.” I could tell she was getting frustrated.
“Look.” I took her hand in mine. “I don’t know. I just like being with women who are smart, fun, attractive, have goals, and can hold a conversation without referring to a celebrity or taking a selfie.”
“Not all girls are like that, and now if I ever want a selfie with you, I’ll be self-conscious.”
I laughed. “You can take a selfie with me any time.” I leaned in and softly kissed her plump, pink lips. “Do you feel better knowing I’m not a cougar hunter?” Even though I never thought of myself as one.
“May I ask one more question? You can be offended by this one.”
I sighed. “All right, what is it?”
“This isn’t like some type of Freudian issue, is it?”
I was baffled by her question and what she meant, until it hit me like a puck to the face. “Ew, no Meadow, this isn’t a Mommy fetish. That’s gross.”
“Hey, I was just asking,” she huffed. “I wanted to be sure.”
“Meadow,” I said her name firmly. “I like older women, because it’s what I’m attracted to, not because I want to have sex with my mother. Now, why are you so hung up on this?” It was my turn to throw out the questions.
“I don’t know.” Her tone turned sad. “I’ve never been the type of person to judge someone by age, race, or anything. But with you…I’m…I’m…”
“Say it,” I pushed her.
“It’s an issue.”
Okay, not what I was expecting. “Is it a big enough issue that I should leave right now or something you have to get use to?” Please, don’t make me leave.
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then said,” I’ll need to get used to it.”
Yes! My whole body screamed on the inside. She didn’t want me to leave. “Okay.” I did my best to stay calm and not stick my tongue down her throat. Even though I wanted to so badly.
“It’s different for me.”
“Why? Explain to me why the fact I’m twenty-five and you’re not would make this an unsuccessful relationship.”
Meadow let go of my hand and rested her elbow on the couch. I could see she was thinking hard.
“Am I too immature for you?”
“No.” She smirked.
“Am I uncouth or ill-mannered toward you?”
“No.” She giggled.
“Am I too blunt or abrupt for you? Do I kiss badly?”
“Yes. Yes. No.” She bit down on her lip.
“Am I that bad?”
“No,” she hopped up on her knees and cupped my face. “You’re nice, funny, and not too hard on the eyes, but I’ll have to work out my own insecurities to figure this out, okay?”
“Okay.”
Meadow kissed me. I held onto her hips as I twisted around to get better access to her mouth. She moaned, and I wanted to feel more of her. I rotated my hips and stretched out my legs to pull her on top of me. Her body was so soft and luscious as I dragged my hands up and down her back. I pushed my hips up to let her know how much I wanted her.
“Oh.” She pulled away from my lips and started giggling.
“Um…what’s so funny?”
“Puckhead is on my back.”
I glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, there was the tabby.
“Puckhead, get off.” She wiggled around, making the cat jump on the couch and me moan as she grinded against me.
“Meadow,” I groaned her name. “Please, stop doing that.”
She smiled. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’ve enjoyed torturing you a bit.” She pecked my lips before rising back up to her seated position.
I followed her up and I caught her glancing at my crotch. “Do you want to see it? Or perhaps we wait till after we eat?”
“Shut up.” Her cheeks reddened, and she went back to her plate. She used her remote and turned on Friends.
We watched TV, ate, laughed, and I couldn’t remember having this great a time just sitting on the floor. Meadow was great company, and I didn’t want it to end.
I helped her clean everything up. When I noticed her office, I peeked in. Her walls were decorated with her covers and art. Maybe fan art? She had a huge desk with a desktop computer on one corner and a laptop on the other. Puckhead was relaxing on a small bed behind the desk.
“Are you done with my book?” I asked as she came up next to me.
“Yep. I sent it to the betas this afternoon.”
I could hear the apprehension in her voice. “May I read it?”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She seemed shocked I wanted to.
“Okay. What’s your Kindle address?”
“Huh?” What the hell was that?
Meadow giggled. “Do you have a Kindle app on your phone?”
“Yes.”
She held out her hand. “May I see it? I can get your address from there.”
Without hesitation, I handed it to her. Flabbergasted because I had without an argument, Meadow’s eyes were wide. “I don’t have anything on there you can’t see.”
Angela had always hidden her cell phone from me. She had it locked too. I never locked mine. I walked farther into the room and inspected her walls.
“Will my cover be on the wall too?”
“Yep. I’m going to start this side now.” She pointed at the wall in front of her, which was bare.
“So, you’ll see me with every moment.”
“I guess.” She brushed off the comment and began clicking on her desktop computer. “There you go.” She handed my phone back.
“Thank you.”
“May I ask you a favor?”
“Sure.” I wondered what favor she would be asking of me.
“Can we take a selfie together? Tease the readers a bit about you being on the cover.”
“I like the idea. Teasing can be so much fun.” I bent down and kissed her cheek.
“It won’t be that kind of picture.” She slapped my shoulder.
“Yet,” I corrected her, making her smile.
“Here.” Meadow pulled her phone from her back pocket. “You have longer arms.” She handed it to me.
I slid my fingers across the screen and touched the camera icon. Our faces appeared on the screen and I snapped the picture. It turned out great and I enjoyed Meadow’s arm around me. “Thank you.”
I handed her phone back. “Send it to me.” She did. “Now, the only room I’ve not seen is your bedroom.”
“Ha!” she scoffed. “You think it’s that easy.”
I kissed her lips hard. “Nothing with you has been easy, but it has been fun.”
Meadow smirked. “When are you back in town again? I have a signing coming up this week.”
“Friday and I’m off Saturday.” I thought throwing the small bit of information might help with whatever she was thinking. “When and where’s your signing?”
“Oh, it’s a small book convention over in Concord on Friday. I can be back here by nine, after I pack up everything. Or, you know what, never mind. We can do something on Saturday or not.” She tried to duck around me.
I blocked her path. “Stop. I’m fine seeing you on Friday, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You’re too cute to be so frustrating.” I captured her lips with mine. I enjoyed her lips so much. Oh, how I wanted more from her.
So much more.
“I had a great evening, Kyson.” She stroked my cheek and a shiver traveled through me.
“Me too, Meadow.” If I didn’t walk away now, I was going to take her right there in her office. “I’m going to head home.” I kissed her once more, and then she walked me to the door.
Like an adolescent girl staring at a One Direction poster, I was staring at Meadow’s Facebook post.
You guys know how much I love my Bears…Well, here is my cover model for Standing Your Ground Kyson Wick. He’s a right wing for the New Hampshire Bears. You’ll get to see the cover Friday.
The selfie we took was attached and now my eyes were locked tight on Meadow’s blue eyes and bright smile. I shared the photo on my fan page announcing I’d be on the cover and then boarded the plane with the rest of the team.
Hamilton was the first to open his trap. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t our very own cover model. What’s up, Fabio?”
“Captain, are you jealous she picked me and not you?” I teased him back.
“Hardly, Kid.” He took a seat a couple back from me. He was always so stern when he spoke. I’ve never seen him smile. I wondered if his face would crack if he did.
“You really did it?” Remington dropped into the seat next to me.
“Yep, I had a great time too.” I informed him, buckling my seatbelt.
“What was it like?” Keaton turned, up on his knees
, to face us.
“Some guy took my picture. That’s it.” I didn’t tell them I was now dating the author.
“How crazy.” Keaton shook his head and sat back down.
“Is it one of those mushy-lovey books?” Remington turned his nose up.
“It’s a hockey romance book.”
“What?” Keaton popped his head up again. “Is that a thing?”
I nodded. “They’re not too bad.”
“You read them?” Keaton eyes grew wide.
“Of course.”
“Did you learn anything?” Remington ribbed me.
“I took notes for you since I have no issues in that department,” I smirked.
Remington was about to say something, but Coach Long stood up to go over our schedule real quick. As he finished, I felt a vibration from my phone. My mouth dropped seeing the caller ID:
Angela.
Chapter Eleven
Meadow
It was Thursday night, and I was reading over the notes from my betas. They liked the book, but they both commented on the first sex scene on the book. They both said the characters felt disconnected.
I read through the scene three times, and I couldn’t figure out what to fix to make it work. I tried a couple of different changes, but then it just sounded dumb. I was about to give up when my phone rang.
Kyson.
“Hi,” I breathlessly answered. Oh, grow up, Meadow.
“Hello. How are you?”
“Truthfully, I’m not sure.”
“What’s going on?” he asked, concerned.
I explained to him everything the betas said and told him I made some changes, but it wasn’t working out right.
“Read it to me,” Kyson said.
“Um…what?”
“Come on. Read it to me.”
“I can’t do that.”
Kyson chuckled. “Why? Maybe all you need is a male perspective to help guide you.”
I ordered myself to think of any excuse not to do this. “I’m sure you need to go have dinner or rest.”
“Nope. I already ate, and I’m currently lying in bed and all the guys are at the bar. So no one will be bothering me. Read it to me.”
I grumbled. Damn it, he had a comeback for everything?