Wait. Did she say overnight?
“Um, are we going there for dinner, because that seems like a long drive just for—”
“No. We both live with people who are loud as shit and don’t believe in knocking. So we’ll stay tonight and drive back in the morning. We’re both done with finals, so—”
“Yeah, but I have game-day skate at noon and—”
“I know. I swear, we’ll leave by 9, which puts us back more than an hour before your skate. I get it. I would never put your game in jeopardy, Spence. I just know you’ve been super-stressed, so I wanted to do something to help you relax.”
I take a breath. She’s being super sweet and I’m back to my grumpy self. And she’s right—I do need to relax a little, and I’d have never taken a time-out like this myself.
I reach over and squeeze her thigh gently. “You’re amazing. Thank you. Seriously, what did my grumpy ass ever do to deserve you?”
Paige
“There it is! I knew it! Sophie was just here with some of her friends—a sort of cathartic weekend—and she left behind some goodies,” I say, producing a bottle of tequila and another of Fireball. We grabbed some takeout when we got here and we’ve spent the afternoon relaxing, watching movies that are so bad they’re amazing, and getting each other off in every way conceivable.
“Oh, hell no. Shots and I do not mix.”
I arch my eyebrow at him. “Am I wrong or did we meet over a game based on drinking shots?”
“You are correct,” he says, stepping around the corner and standing in front of me, placing a kiss on my nose. “And, if you’ll remember, I hosed you down with freezing cold water and you thought I ghosted you for a couple weeks. So, no shots for me.”
“Fair enough.” I smile. Leaving the bottles on the counter. “You ghosting me was probably the worst decision you’ve ever made, so I can understand you wanting to stay away from anything that may have contributed to that ill-conceived plan,” I joke, grabbing my water bottle and heading back out to the living room.
“Let the record show for the four hundred and fifty-seventh time, that I did not ghost you. I went to get towels.”
“Right. I forgot.” I say nodding unconvincingly.
The fire is crackling, the TV’s on low, and blankets cover nearly every surface. We’ve camped out and made a little love nest, even though the bed in the main bedroom is huge.
“It was,” Spence says, sitting on the couch.
“Was what?” I turn to him.
“The worst decision I ever made.” He looks serious as all hell.
“I was teasing, you goof. I know you went to get towels to help me dry off but Lily had a crisis and, well, you know the rest,” I say, swatting at him, aiming to knock his Moo U cap off, but he catches my wrist gently in his hand and brings it to his face. Those gorgeous green eyes look right into my blue ones, as though he can see into my soul.
“I’m not teasing. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done and I’m fucking grateful you called me on my shit. Yeah, Birdy and I pulled a couple stunts last year, and it took me a minute to adjust to the freedoms of college, but that idiocy was nothing compared to me thinking I could avoid you or ignore the way I felt about you after just one night.”
He pulls me onto his lap and I curl into his body. It’s the safest place I’ve ever been and I’m quickly getting addicted to the feeling I get when we’re together. Is he a mess sometimes? Yes, but so am I. What’s that old line? We both have baggage, but at least it matches. Life is better with Spence by my side.
“I love you, Paige,” he says the words quietly, but confidently. I open my mouth to respond, but his finger on my lips stops the words from coming.
“You don’t have to say it back. You don’t have to say it now, or even feel it. Just let me give this to you. You’ve given me so much, just let me give this to you.”
I nod, understanding, and he lifts me up and carries me into the bedroom.
“I should have planned this, huh? I should have lit candles or gotten rose petals or, hell, I don’t know, but—”
“All I need is you, Spencer. You and your love. Everything else is just an accessory.”
He turns off the overhead light and pulls back the covers. My hoodie and leggings are in a pile on the floor, and Spence makes quick work of his sweats and T-shirt. He picks me up once again, my center brushing up against his dick. God, I need him already. He sits us on the bed and scoots back until he’s resting on a wall of pillows, and I’m straddling his sex. Everything has gone quiet. I don’t hear the noise of the furnace or the chatter of roommates or the slamming of doors. None of that exists here. It’s only Spence and me.
As if he, too, senses the rightness of this moment, he pulls me toward him for a long, sensuous kiss. We want the same thing, but there’s no rush. It’s like we have all the time in the world—like we’ve created this little bubble that nothing bad can penetrate. The connection I feel with Spence is something I’ve never felt before. He gets me—he loves me—flaws and all. In this moment, I know that any adversity that comes our way, we’ll face together.
Breaking the kiss, I brace my hands on his shoulders, lift my hips, and sink my body down onto his cock. He hisses in pleasure and I gasp at how good—how full—it feels.
