“Fine. I will. Let’s start with your first kiss through the camera hole.”
“That wasn’t our first kiss,” I blurt out.
She swats my arm. “Why didn’t you tell me he kissed you before that?”
I shrug. “I forgot?”
She rolls her eyes at me again but adds a dramatic sigh to the mix. I think I’ll call her the queen of eye-roll drama from now on. “Okay, then, who initiated the first kiss?”
“Luke did.”
“Have there been any other kisses?”
“Last night, after the game.”
She swats me again.
“Hey! I’m telling you now!” I whine.
“Fine. Who initiated that one?”
“Um…we both did.” Heat rises up my cheeks at the memory.
She looks off into the distance. “Oh, interesting.”
“What? What does that mean? Is that bad?”
She pats my arm as if to undo her earlier slaps. “No, that’s good. I was beginning to think Luke was doing all the work.”
Just as I’m about to get offended, she giggles.
“You’re a rat, you know that.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Soph, it sounds like he’s pursuing you like crazy. This is nothing like those three losers you dated. If you ask me, they did you a favor by bailing before things got too serious.”
She’s right. I think I initiated the first kiss in all three of those relationships. And none of them were out in public for the whole world to see. Luke said he didn’t do that for the crowd. I assumed he meant he did it for him. But what if he did it for me, too? Like staking his claim.
Despite my love for everything romance, I never imagined myself wanting a guy to say she was his, but I’m kind of finding the idea…hot. No one’s ever made me feel as desired or special as Luke does.
And after seeing all those women waiting for him after the game, I’m beginning to think I need to stake my claim on a very sweet,helpful, sexy, and sometimes grumpy hockey player.
I wonder what Luke would think of me then?
Practice is long underway by the time I arrive at the arena, so I head to my office to get prepped for Wade’s interview. As the goalie, he’s the last one I have left to interview, so I won’t need to be here as often. I’ve snapped more than enough shots of all the players for their individual articles.
That means I’ll only see Luke at games…unless we start officially dating. Maybe I should quit holding back and do a little pursuing myself.
The scent of roses alerts me to their presence first. A tall, pale pink vase filled with dusty pink roses dwarfs my small makeshift desk. I pluck out a folded piece of paper nestled between a few of the stems.
Sophie,
I decided to catch a last-minute flight to spend a couple of days with my sister for her birthday. When I get back, I’d like to take you on a date, if that’s okay. I’ll pick you up on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., if that’s okay.
Can’t wait to see you…
I hope that’s okay too,
Luke
