She grumbles, opening the door, looking sexy as hell in a pair of sleep shorts and my discarded T-shirt from the night before.
I love losing all my clothes to this girl.
“Did you forget something?” she mumbles in her sleep state.
“Yes. This.”
I kiss her deeply, making her grip me as I pull her as close as I can. When I pull back, she looks a bit more awake but still dazed.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth. That was gross,” she tells me.
“I don’t care.” I kiss her again, making her giggle. “I’m coming to Thanksgiving with you.”
Her eyes widen. “Excuse me?”
“You heard right. I’m coming to your mom’s for Thanksgiving. Cleared it with my mom and all. She’s excited to meet you at Christmas and has a bunch of questions for you. I’m going to be late now, but I wanted to tell you.”
Her eyes are glistening as she hugs me tightly. “Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you too, beautiful.”
Way more than she could ever know.
twenty-five
The crowd is nuts tonight. Class is out all week with Thanksgiving in two days, but you wouldn’t know it. Not with the crowd that has shown up to cheer on the Wolves.
It doesn’t hurt that this team is one of their main rivals and also happens to be the team that hurt Beckett last year. The Garrison Ravens have no idea the storm is coming their way. These guys have been gearing up to take them down a notch or two.
As the guys come out on the ice, I can’t help but feel the buzz in the air. Kellan turns toward us as he always does, blowing me a kiss. I catch it and hold it to my heart.
It’s become our own little pregame ritual. He admitted to me that during the away games I can’t come to, he feels off because I’m not there to do it with him. Athletes are a superstitious bunch.
I won’t lie, though. Feels good to know that I can do something to make him feel better about his game. He’s especially nervous going into this one. He wants to win, but not for himself. He has grown so close to the guys that he wants to win for Beckett. He hates that they got away with the cheap shot on him last year.
I don’t blame him. I remember Clay being a complete terror after that game. He ranted and raved about the asshole who did it when he called to tell us about it.
“They better not play dirty this year. I will shank a bitch,” Peyton mutters to me.
“Upset that Beckett got hurt, huh? Seems like you care more than you let on,” I joke, nudging her.
“Oh, she does. Sometimes I come home and find her hanging out in the living room with him.” Grace winks at Peyton.
“Once. You saw that once. I was waiting for you to get home because someone wanted some alone time in our room.” Peyton gives me a pointed look.
I shrug. I can’t deny it. It’s not often, but I have asked her twice now if she could maybe take a little longer to come home so I could have some sexy time with Kellan. If I don’t we would never get any time to ourselves. Next year, I really need to get an apartment. In fact…
“Grace, what are you doing for living arrangements next year? The hockey house will be off the table, right?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’m not sure. I haven’t even started to think about it because if I do, then I start to think about the fact that Clay will be drafted, and he might end up somewhere far away from here. That makes my heart ache, so yeah, I have been playing ostrich.”
“Can’t bury your head in the sand forever, but you still have time. I was thinking, if you stay here, want to get an apartment together? You too, Peyton.”
Peyton bites her lip. “I don’t know if I can afford it. It’s why I stayed in the dorms this year.”
“I’m in. I don’t want to move back to the dorms and have to get another roommate. I would never dream of stealing Peyton from you. Could we maybe look into it, Peyton? Figure out if there is anything that might work?”
“No promises, but yeah. I’d be willing to look into it with you guys,” she says.
