by Kat Mizera
I felt kind of ridiculous now, like I’d wasted everyone’s time, and I had no solution. I was working on one, but nothing felt a hundred percent right. Mostly, I wanted to run away to an island in the South Pacific and lie on the beach for a few months. Was the drinking age eighteen there? If so, I could be one of those beachside bartenders, talking and laughing with people a few nights a week and learning how to surf and perfecting my tan the rest of the time. I’d have time to read trashy novels, watch all the movies I’d never had time for, and find a cute guy to make love with all day.
I grimaced.
That last part sounded gross.
The only person I wanted to make love with was Patrick. And no matter what he decided, he definitely wasn’t going with me to the South Pacific.
Dammit.
I was so confused and stressed but I couldn’t really talk to him about it because he was confused and stressed too. He wanted to stay in school so he could get his degree, but watching him on the ice, I sensed he was ready to go pro. He wanted to be out there with the Sidewinders, doing what he did. Because that’s who he was. Just like I eventually wanted to be in a lab doing what I did: science. Why was everything so fucking complicated? And how were we going to be together if he went to Vegas and I either stayed here or applied to another science program somewhere that wasn’t Vegas?
Maybe we weren’t.
Which was why my mother had worked so hard to keep me from being distracted. Because I was definitely distracted now and it scared me a little. Not because I cared so much about my studies short-term, but because my whole outlook on life had changed since meeting Patrick and I had no clue what to do. And if there was anything I hated, it was not knowing how to do something.
I woke up on Valentine’s Day to Patrick’s dark head buried between my thighs and his warm, wicked tongue doing all the things I loved. He made me come once and then went at me a second time, not letting up until I’d done it again, which had never happened before. By the time he was done with me, I was limp and sweaty, completely spent, but he wasn’t finished yet. He pulled me on top of him and slid inside of me, letting me ride him to a third orgasm, and then we just lay there in the aftermath. I’d assumed that after a while, the sex would be pleasant, but no longer mind-blowing, like I’d somehow get used to it or something.
Yeah, that wasn’t accurate at all.
He found new ways to get me off all the time and it was incredible.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he whispered as I snuggled into his side.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” I said, using one hand to toy with the light smattering of hair on his chest. “If that was my present, I approve.”
“That was one of your presents,” he said.
“I don’t need presents. I just need you.”
“You’ve already got me, so that wouldn’t count as a present.”
“We agreed not to spend money on stuff,” I protested.
“I didn’t spend a lot,” he said. “Promise.”
“Okay.” I reluctantly pulled free. “I do have a class I can’t miss this morning.”
“Yeah, me too.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “But I’ll be done early and we don’t have practice today because Coach figured everyone would be distracted and antsy, so I’ll be done around one.”
“I’m not done until after three,” I told him, padding into the bathroom with him on my heels. “Is there a plan for tonight or is it a surprise?”
“Well, parts of it are a surprise, but the first part is you and me alone at my place. Paxton and Naomi got a hotel room, so we’ll have the apartment to ourselves and it’ll be awesome having sex in a king-size bed.”
“Oooohhh,” I said playfully. “Sounds like fun.”
“So pack what you’ll need for the morning and we’ll do a sleepover at my place for once.”
“Wow, I actually get to sleep in the big-boy bed?” I teased.
He laughed. “You probably won’t do much sleeping, but sure, let’s go with that.”
I stepped into the shower and wrapped my hand around his cock. “How fast can you get it up again?”
He got under the warm spray and hooked an arm around my waist, yanking me against him.
“This fast.”
21
Patrick
Starting the day with sex was always good, but starting Valentine’s Day with multiple orgasms and a shower session that nearly made us miss class was the best. I had an excellent libido but we might have broken a record this morning and I was still grinning about it when I met up with Paxton at lunchtime. Ellie had a class and normally I was at practice by now, but since we had the day off, Paxton and I agreed to have lunch.
We barely saw each other outside of hockey these days, and though we texted daily and kept in touch, the new dynamic between us was a little odd. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just different, and I wanted to find out what his plans were for the summer since he was moving to Seattle.
“I don’t know the timing yet,” he said when I brought it up. “I think we’re going home to Minnesota so I can show her where I grew up, but I don’t have any of the logistics from the team yet. They’re going to help me find an apartment and get settled but there’s a lot up in the air for now. What about you? You make any decisions yet?”
I shook my head. “Every time I weigh the pros and cons, it comes up even. Staying in school is good, going pro is good. Staying in school means I stay with Ellie, but what if she doesn’t stay? She’s going through a kind of midlife crisis related to her degrees and I’m nervous she’s going to wind up somewhere else altogether, just to get away from her mom.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“Not in so many words. She has so much pressure from everyone else about her future, I don’t want to add to it or make her think I want her to go a certain direction for me.”
“But if things are going so well, wouldn’t you want to move in a direction together?”
“It’s been six weeks,” I said quietly.
“When you know, you know.” He paused. “Do you know?”
“I don’t know.” I realized how ridiculous that sounded the second I said it and we both chuckled. “I mean, I think things could be serious, but we have a lot to sort out first.”
“Things don’t get sorted out until you discuss them. It doesn’t happen by osmosis.”
“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes at him and got in line for a burger.
I’d had one of my friends give me a ride to the store yesterday so I could pick up flowers, dessert, and the ingredients to cook dinner for Ellie. I wasn’t much of a cook but I’d found a pasta recipe that looked simple enough and hoped she’d like it. I’d practiced one night last week when she’d been in class, and Paxton and Naomi loved it, so I wasn’t overly worried tonight.
I did all the prep work, chopping garlic ahead of time and getting all the ingredients ready to go. Then I set up the flowers in the middle of our kitchen table, which I’d covered with a pretty tablecloth I’d borrowed from one of my friends, who’d borrowed it from his mother. I got out the package of fake rose petals I’d ordered online and spread them all over the bedroom. I’d made my bed for the first time in ages and lit as many candles as I could get my hands on. Paxton and I owned a few, Naomi gave me a couple of hers, and I’d bought a few as well. Hopefully, I wouldn’t set the place on fire between the candles and me cooking.
Just before Ellie was supposed to arrive, I put on dress pants and a button-down shirt. We’d never gotten dressed up since we’d been together, usually opting for jeans and sweats, and I wanted to make tonight a little more special than usual. It was our first Valentine’s Day together, and really, our first holiday of any kind, so I wanted it to be memorable.
Things had gotten serious between us much more quickly than I’d imagined they would and it had really all been studying, hanging out, and sex. I felt a little guilty that I hadn’t taken her out on real dates, beyond a few times at
Tito’s and the coffee shop, but there was really no time and I couldn’t afford it. My savings was dwindling and there were four long months until I could get any kind of paycheck.
Money wouldn’t be a problem anymore if I went to the Sidewinders, though. Hell, even the entry-level salary was almost a million dollars a year, so that would change everything. Both for me and for Ellie, if we could find a way to be together. Like I’d told Paxton, I didn’t want to put any more pressure on her. She got enough of that from her family and professors, so the last thing she needed was a boyfriend pushing her in one direction or another. Everything would be so much simpler if she would just come to Vegas with me and we could figure out school from there, but that wouldn’t be fair.
She could probably go anywhere, to Harvard and beyond, so why would she want to be stuck at UNLV? It was a decent school, but it wasn’t Ivy League. Neither was Moo U, but this was different because her mother was both an alumna and a former professor, so Ellie had gotten a full ride. As a fifteen-year-old going away to school, it made sense her mother had wanted her somewhere she could keep an eye on her, but she could have gone anywhere. So it didn’t seem realistic to assume she’d drop everything and move to Vegas for a guy she’d only known six weeks.
I was so lost in thought I didn’t realize how late it was. I’d told Ellie to come over around five but it was almost six and she still wasn’t here. That wasn’t like her, so I went into the kitchen to see if she’d called or texted and there was nothing. I called her but it went straight to voicemail and that was kind of weird. Ellie was as attached to her phone as I was and she was enough of a technology geek to always have portable chargers and such with her.
I was contemplating going to look for her when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and had to stare for a minute. Ellie looked…incredible. Not just her usual pretty self, but like a supermodel or something. Her hair was curled and hung in perfect waves around her face and over her shoulders, and her face, well, it was always pretty but tonight it was flawless.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asked, giving me a seductive little smile.
“Yes. Hi.” I stepped aside and shut the door behind her. I turned as she was unbuttoning her coat, and froze. She was wearing a dress. A short, tight, sexy little black number I’d never seen before. Well, I’d never seen her in anything but jeans and sweats, so this was a spectacular surprise and I was doubly glad I’d opted to dress up.
“You look…amazing.” I leaned down to brush my lips across hers.
“So do you.” She put a hand on my chest, blatantly checking me out from top to bottom. “I have to say, I like you in grown-up clothes.”
“And I really like you in a dress.” I reached for her hand. “I was getting worried, though.”
“Sorry. I got caught in traffic. I went to the mall and wound up spending more time than I planned to and then it was rush hour.”
“You went to the mall?”
“I didn’t own any dresses appropriate for a Valentine’s Day date with the hottest hockey player in the world. The mall was a necessary sacrifice.”
“And one that’s greatly appreciated.” I took her hand. “Now, I’m starving so I’m going to start dinner.”
“You’re cooking?” She looked at me in confusion.
“Yup.”
We went into the kitchen and I started melting butter in the skillet.
“What are we having?” she asked, standing beside me.
“Garlic-Parmesan linguine.”
“Wow.” She looked around. “What can I do to help?”
“Can you open that bottle of wine over there?”
“Sure.” She picked up the corkscrew while I sauteed chopped garlic and added the remaining ingredients. She poured us each a glass and I paused in my cooking to clink mine against hers.
“To the first of many holidays together.”
Something strange flickered in her eyes but then it was gone and she took a sip. “I’ve never tried Chianti before—it’s good.”
“I thought it went well with Italian food.” I put the lid on the skillet and let it simmer. “Everything should be done in about twenty minutes. You want to go out to the living room?”
“Sure.” She followed me into the other room and we sat on the couch.
“You look extra beautiful tonight, Ellie.”
“Thank you. I went and had a makeover, got my hair done… I wanted tonight to be special.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know.” She looked a little embarrassed. “I’ve never had a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day before and…”
“And?” This didn’t sound good. Her voice was a little funny.
“Chances are you’ll be in Vegas next year and who knows where I’ll be.”
“I haven’t made any decisions about next year,” I said slowly. “But what do you mean you don’t know where you’ll be? Aren’t you staying here?”
“I can’t prove it, but I think maybe my mother had a talk with Dr. Phillips in the biology department. He told me he didn’t think anything I’ve worked on in my computer studies will transfer over to the bio track, and that it’s too late for me to apply for the Ph.D. program for next year anyway. It’s complete bullshit, since I’m already a student and a teaching assistant, but that’s why I think my mother got to him.”
“Did you ask him straight up?”
“I decided not to be confrontational until I talk to Dr. Lancet again. He usually has the best advice and I don’t think having the equivalent of a temper tantrum helps my case.”
“Well, if they don’t want you here, can you apply at other schools? There have to be biotechnology programs in other schools, right?”
“There are, and I’ll get on that first thing tomorrow, but tonight I don’t want to talk about any of that.”
“What would you like to talk about?” I asked, tugging her onto my lap.
“Why I’ve never seen you all dressed up before.” She pressed a soft kiss on the side of my mouth. “Why I didn’t know you could cook.” She ran her lips along my jawline. “Why you’ve never cooked for me before…” She started kissing my neck.
“Because I’m a terrible boyfriend who never takes you out on dates,” I grumbled, though gooseflesh had broken out on my skin.
“You’re not a terrible boyfriend.” She ran her hand over the bulge starting to tent my slacks. “You’re a wonderful boyfriend. We’re just broke all the time.”
I caught her hand with mine. “We’re going to need to put this on hold until the pasta’s done.”
She chuckled. “Okay.”
“Speaking of which…I better check on everything.” I got up and headed back into the kitchen.
I wasn’t upset with her, but it bugged me when she talked about us being broke. I had a contract worth almost a million dollars a year. All I had to do was make a fucking decision. But every time I thought about not finishing my degree, I got a little sick to my stomach. I’d watched my father struggle with his inability to get a well-paying job and I never wanted to be that kind of man. Whether it was with Ellie or someone else, I hoped to be married and have a family someday, and I never wanted them to suffer because I was greedy and impatient.
“It smells so good.” Ellie had trailed in behind me, refilling our wine glasses.
“Looks like it’s just about done.” I switched off the stove and got some platter thing down from the shelf. Naomi had pointed it out to me and said it was more elegant to serve the food on a platter instead of just out of the skillet, so I transferred it over and had to admit it looked incredible. Hopefully, it tasted good too.
“Oh my god, there is no way I’m taking my clothes off after we eat food this rich,” Ellie said, laughing as I added a basket of bread to the table.
“Don’t worry—I’ll work all those extra calories off you.”
“I’ll be too full to participate.”
“I seriously doubt that. Especially not with what I h
ave planned tonight.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
“I like the sound of that.”
“You will.” I put a good helping of the pasta on her plate. “But now, dig in.”
She took a bite and slowly closed her eyes as she chewed. “Holy shit… I might have just had a foodgasm.”
“And my dick got hard watching you do it.”
22
Ellie
Every time I thought I knew Patrick, he did something new to surprise me. Cooking for me tonight was amazing. The pasta was as good as anything I’d ever had at a restaurant, the bread was fresh and warm, and the Chianti rich and flavorful. He’d bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we ate by candlelight. Every time our eyes met across the table, my insides clenched in anticipation of what was to come and my heart did that stupid thing where it skipped a beat because I was so damn close to falling in love with him.
Maybe I already was, but I hadn’t let myself acknowledge it yet, so my heart did its best to make me think about it. I wanted to love him. More than almost anything, but the more complicated our lives became, the more afraid I was that there was no way for us to be together. I kept telling myself it was way too soon to think in terms of forever, but my heart and soul told me this wasn’t something you found every day. There was something much more important going on here. We’d shared a special connection right from the start, before I’d even become his tutor or known his name, and now that we’d been together a month and a half, he was quickly becoming the most important thing in my life. Even more so than science and my degrees and every other thing I’d thought was important.
“Let me do the dishes,” I said when we finished eating. “You cooked, so I can clean up.”
“Negative.” He shook his head. “This is my Valentine’s Day gift to you, so it’s all on me. But we have a dishwasher, so it’s no biggie.”