by Lane, Stacy
“Because a girl likes to hear it every once in a while.” I tip my head to the side, smiling at him giving in to exactly what I wanted to hear.
He’s backed me up to the center of the house. Lifting his head, he looks at my nest on the couch and then down at my clothes. “It’s freezing in here.”
“I like the cold,” I say simply.
“But you’re bundled up.”
“I like being bundled up in the cold.”
“I can’t do the things I want to do if you’re bundled up,” his voice drops to a husky murmur.
“Guess you’ll have to get creative if you want to keep me warm.”
Brooks picks me up with a naughty grin. I wrap my legs around him, stealing his hat and placing it on my head as he carries me to my bedroom.
“Looks good on you.” He kisses along my neck through the sliver of skin visible through the sweater.
Who needs a central heater when a man can warm you up just the same.
At the foot of my bed, I slide down his body, Brooks’s hands going beneath my thick hoodie. His fingers are cold from the brisk night air, but it’s his touch that sends chills running wild.
Tonight I’m in my red Gryffindor pull-over with my matching Harry Potter socks. Brooks barely glances at it before he mumbles against my lips, “I should have known you’d be a Harry Potter fan.”
“We can’t be together if you have a problem with Harry Potter.”
Brooks pulls back. “You’d pick him over me?”
I shrug. “That’s a deal breaker.”
“It’s a good thing I’m a big fan then.”
“Are you just saying that to get in my pants?”
“I wonder if J.K. Rowling would be impressed to know her books are a discussion people have before entering relationships.”
“You named the author so that’s promising,” I retort.
“I have every book.”
“And just like that, I like you a whole lot more, Brooks Labelle.”
“Good, because I’m kinda liking a whole lot of you, too, Angel.”
There he goes again, talking in his sweet way only I can understand.
Brooks slips the sweater over my head, finding me shirtless and braless. His mouth drops to my breasts, running a tongue around my nipple in circles, and then bringing the nub into his mouth, sucking hard.
A moan rips past my throat.
His mouth eventually finds mine, opening and taking his tongue. Fingers flicking over all parts of me.
I reach for the button of his pants, sliding them down, and then lifting his gray Henley up and off as well. I palm his erection through his smooth, black briefs. Brooks thrusts into my hand as he finds his way beneath my leggings and then beneath my panties. Gripping my ass in his big hands he shoves his hard, aching member into my needy center.
He lays me down on top of my bed, the bedside lamp on and setting the room in a warm glow.
My leggings peel away.
“The socks can stay,” he murmurs against the delicate skin on the inside of my thigh.
“The socks are not staying.” I have a hard time talking, but I’m adamant about that.
“They just seem fitting, considering.” His tongue licks up the spot where my leg meets the area knotted with unbearable tension.
“To have sex…with socks on…” So hard to speak. Breathing heavy, I finish, “Is like…giving up on intimacy.”
“Pretty sure this is very, very intimate, Angel.” Brooks dips his tongue between my folds.
He licks me up and down with a slow, patient stroke. The results are anything but alleviating.
Brooks strokes faster, with more pressure on my clit. He devours me like his favorite meal. I grip at his thick hair with my hands, spreading my legs wide as I seek the climb. And he gets me there in record time.
I come on his tongue, calling out his name as I yank at his scalp.
Brooks crawls away with a torturous, happy grin. Slipping his boxers off and a condom on, he prowls back on top of me.
I set my glasses aside with a toss, not caring where they land.
He kisses me as he slips inside me, filling me to capacity. I exhale a pleased noise onto his mouth, feeling his lips turn upward.
I tilt my hips up, meeting him thrust for thrust. Slinging one leg over his waist, I dig my heel into his back as he grips my thigh in a tight hold.
The place between my legs quiver with sensitivity as he pounds with heavy thrusts. It shoots waves of aftershock throughout. But it’s building, and building some more.
“Brooks,” I call his name on a plea.
He leans above, finding my eyes and locking on until I’m tipping over. I hold his gaze until I can’t anymore. My head thrashes back, spine arching as he takes and takes and takes.
“So. Beautiful.” He seeks my mouth, delving deep with his tongue.
I’m falling down, a quaky mess when he gives in to his release.
He lies there on top of me, cutting off my air, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I stroke his soft strands of hair, turning my nose into his neck. His cologne is rich and exhilarating.
“Will you stay,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around him to show I might not let go if he answers no.
“I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
• • •
It’s nine in the morning a couple days later when Brooks calls me. He’s supposed to be on a plane to California, so I’m surprised when his name shows up on my screen.
“Hey, I thought you took off already.”
“We did. I have only a couple minutes before I have to shut my phone down.” His voice sounds better each time I hear from him. “So you know how we’re flying out to Cali first and then over to Vegas?”
“Yeah.”
“Some of the wives and girlfriends are making a separate trip to Vegas in a couple days. I just heard the guys talking about it. Would you be interested in going?”
“To Vegas?” I ask with surprise.
“Yep. We’ll have one night to explore the strip since our game is in the afternoon. We’re used to sleeping on the plane anyway, but you ladies can fly back home whenever you want.”
“I don’t really know the girls too well without Chelsea being here.” Doubt creeps in.
“That’s okay. They’ll take you in.” His sure and easy response breezes right through me.
I pause, worrying my lip as I think it over.
With no Chelsea, I’m definitely hesitant. Flying out with these ladies that I’ve met once or twice feels unusual to me. I have no doubt they’ll accept me. It’s my anxiety to flying and traveling with people I don’t know that’s holding me back. Then wandering around a city I’ve never been to, even though my boyfriend will be there, but I’ll have to spend most of that time without him.
It’s a huge leap out of my comfort zone.
“Angel, I’m offering but I don’t expect you to go if it makes you uncomfortable,” Brooks sweet voice lowers to a soothing tone.
“I just wish Chelsea was here to go with,” I reply with guilt.
“Okay, so next time then. Not a big deal.”
“Are you sure, Brooks? I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“Jo, it’s fine, I promise.” He calms me with his incredible understanding.
He had to quickly hang up as the pilot was ordering cell phones to be turned off.
I jumped back into work but found it hard to focus. An hour later, Brooks still on a plane, I called Chelsea.
With her being out of town, and me terrible at sharing personal things, she was shocked when I told her Brooks and I are a couple.
I told her about the short trip the girls were going on. She wished she was with me too and promised we would all do it again soon.
But she encouraged me to go on this one.
Brooks was including me, and wanting your woman to be a part of the other WAGs was an important role. The ladies were just as much of a team as the hockey p
layers.
She sent me Kate’s number, and Mila’s just for back up.
It was up to me now.
Guess it was time to be one of the WAGs.
TWENTY-FOUR
Jo
In the midst of Gucci shoes, Louis Vuitton luggage, and more carets in their diamonds than is safe to wear during travel, I found myself at the center of a walking, talking perfume catalog. When these ladies traveled in a pack, they didn’t need a male alpha to lead the way.
Heads turned with awe and envy. Not over me, of course. I looked like their next makeover project. Think Clueless when Alicia Silverstone meets Brittany Murphy.
Tai was cute just the way she was, though. And despite being nowhere near the WAGs level of style—I stuck out like a sore thumb strutting alongside “comfort heels” in my Chucks—they made me feel like a part of the group.
This amount of independence was new for me. I used to hide from it, afraid of the repercussions that came with branching out in the world all alone. It’s why I hid for so long. I balanced somewhere between codependent and independent; a tug of war between my insecurities and a longing for dominance. I wanted to be rid of the weakness, but the strength scared me too.
I was afraid to leave my house and meet people because all I would do is compare myself to them. Not selfishly, but then again, comparing what others have that you do not is a little selfish. Asking why you don’t have what they do is degrading that person’s hard work to get where they are.
But I would compare someone’s confidence to mine. How could somebody live in this world and truly live it? I envied their balance between strength and carelessness. How did one be careless and still be a decent person? They were confident enough not to worry what others thought of them. Why couldn’t I do it too?
I searched for something or someone to blame for my faults. The way I am is because somewhere along the way my mom or dad or brother wasn’t there for me to lift me up. To a degree, I still believe that and always will, but it took me a long time to figure out I am responsible for my own happiness. If I wanted things to be different, I had to make the change.
In the deep, deep parts of your mind, there’s a voice saying what you will never admit to—aloud or subconsciously. You hear it and shut it down within an instant. But it resurfaces over and over. Admitting it even to myself makes me that much weaker, but it’s there because I won’t even admit that I’m responsible for it being there. I think I’ve always been waiting for someone to come and rescue me. I expected the times to keep ticking away at the miserable pace I set it to thinking eventually someone will come along and repair the slow hands and keep me from losing any more time. It was wishful thinking.
Until one night, I lay in the pitch black darkness of my bedroom, eyes closed and tears breaking through the closure like a forceful dam overriding its barrier, I said it aloud. Crying from self-doubt and self-pity, I spoke to the empty, lonely walls of a home I worked hard to get all by myself and I heard those words in my own voice and cracked. The dam broke, it destroyed, but it also left a life to be cherished in its wake.
Hearing me admit I wanted someone to save me from my own doing sounded so foolish. Cheeks and pillowcase soaked in tears, my eyes flew wide open and I began to laugh. I thought I could never measure up to the strong women of today, but it’s because I never tried. Watching another person succeed should inspire. I wanted to be inspiring.
Slowly, I began to dominate my will. It started the night I went to that damn hockey game. Getting up on that karaoke stage with my best friend was another step on the ladder out of the pits of my comfort zone. Meeting a guy who made me want to be brave. He challenged me with infuriating joy.
I wasn’t free of insecurities, but that’s okay. I looked at those as a way of making me a better human being. Not being rid of all weakness meant I will always have an obstacle to overcome and keep me evolving.
Which is what this trip was all about. Brooks asked and I reverted to my old ways. Fear of uncertainty held me back.
I did not want to let him down or disappoint him, but more importantly, I didn’t want to let myself down.
A car waited outside McCarran International for the five of us traveling together. Kate and Mila were the only wives to get sitters for a couple days, and the other two—Sierra and Maddie—didn’t have any kids yet. I remember seeing Sierra at Chelsea’s housewarming party, she’s the fiancé of Andre Cantin. Maddie, girlfriend of Larson McCoy, didn’t attend many social events. She and I were a lot alike. But I got along great with all of them despite feeling so very opposite.
After falling for Brooks, I think it’s safe to say there’s a likeness in every opposite even if you may not see it on the surface.
Falling for…
We rode along as the driver took us over to Caesars Palace. The team stayed in a hotel off the strip, but we paid for rooms for one night on the strip. I’d never been to Vegas. Gazing out the window in the early afternoon sunlight, I remained in awe as we passed one casino after another. Massive buildings with flashy fronts and so many lights even during the day.
The driver circled the large SUV around a fountain with statues and greenery. Beneath the awning, the car came to a stop and almost immediately a valet was opening the doors. Bellhops proceeded to take our luggage.
Wide-eyed and mesmerized, I followed the girls through the opulent lobby up to the concierge desk. A lovely statue of three women took up the center and was decorated with large red and gold bulbs and garland, and an array of poinsettias covering the ground at their feet.
Once checked in and with our separate room keys, Kate orchestrated all of us to have brunch together before heading over to T-Mobile arena. We parted ways to freshen up in our rooms and would all meet at the casino’s restaurant in thirty minutes.
Aware of the heart-stopping amount of money I dropped on a room at Caesars Palace, nevertheless, my jaw fell to the floor when I stepped inside the room.
I didn’t go places, I didn’t travel, so even though this was for one night, I didn’t hesitate (much) when I paid the bill.
But holy snazziness, Batman!
Neutrals and creams and golds decorated every surface of this room. The cream, tufted king size bed sat to the left, a large floor to ceiling window on the other side overlooking the strip below. A small sectional sofa was positioned between the bed and window. Decadent gold-framed mirrors hung on the walls, and a gorgeous claw foot bench at the end of the bed that I would have considered taking home with me if it wasn’t so obvious to walk out the front doors with.
The silky curtains were pulled back. I walked up to the glass and stared down at the tiny humans below me. I’d never known such luxury.
Knowing I needed to wash the stench of airplane off before meeting the others, I pulled my phone from my purse and took a seat in the corner of the sectional to call Brooks before I did anything else.
I’d managed to keep it quiet that I would be here, but now I was bursting at the seams to tell him.
After a couple rings, he answered.
“Hey, Angel.” His deep, relaxed voice sent a wave of jitters down my body. I hope I never lose the feeling his endearment ignites within me. Beyond excited and getting hit with a wave of emotion at the thought of seeing him and spending a night with him in this room, I couldn’t work my vocal cords enough to find a response. “Babe, you there?”
I threw my head back on the cushions and smiled. “Yes.”
“Is everything all right?” Brooks lowered his tone, concerned.
“Yes. Sorry. I, ah, didn’t realize how much I missed you until I heard your voice.” It was still hard for me to find comfortability in being honest with my emotions for Brooks. Such fierce feelings that overwhelmed me at times.
“Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” I imagined a faint blush rising on his cheeks, but that had to have been impossible for a guy like him.
“Did I catch you at a good time? Probably getting ready for the game, right?”
>
“We bussed in about twenty minutes ago. I’m putting my gear on now for warm-ups. But I have time to talk.”
“All right.” Smirking I ask, “So what are your plans tonight in Sin City?”
“Hang with the guys, gamble a little, find a bar to spend most of the night in. Usual stuff,” he laughed.
“Is that what we would have done had I gone?”
“Some of it. But I’d be spending my night in you.”
Squeezing my legs together at that thought, I reply with a suggestive remark, “I like that plan better.”
“Well as soon as I get home that’s what I’ll do.”
“No, tonight. I’m here.”
“What?” He speaks low, not believing me. “You didn’t want to fly without Chelsea.”
“Sorry about that. I slipped into my old ways, afraid of participating and socializing. But I got with Kate, with the help of Chelsea, and now I’m here. Sitting in a beautiful room at Caesars Palace. Seriously, it’s so stunning I don’t know how to function, afraid I’ll mess something up.”
“Seriously, Jo, you’re here?” He held his breath.
“Yeah…that’s a good thing right?” Worry sank in at his second questioning.
“Fuck yes it’s good!” Brooks’s exhilaration traveled through the phone from miles away. “That just made my day, Angel. Damn, I can’t wait to see you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” I replied with a soft exhale. “I need to freshen up. I’m having brunch with the girls in a few, but I wanted to call you and let you know so maybe you’ll find me in the crowd later.”
“I think I would have found you even if you didn’t tell me. Being anywhere near you always pulls me in.”
“Brooks,” I sigh, biting my lip with a happy smile.
“Sappy shit, I know.”
“You’re rare sappiness is something I like most about you.”
“Glad you get me, Jo.” Brooks takes a deep breath. “I hate to ruin this very happy moment for us, but since you’re here I think you should know. Werner got traded to Vegas yesterday evening. He flew out immediately to make today’s game.”