He chuckled, but his eyes were searching hers, checking to see if she was okay.
“Or maybe it was because I could sense in my sleep that I was wearing awesome pajamas.” She took a step back and motioned at the flamingos in all their glory. Then she met his eyes. “And the fact that I was so toasty warm.Thank you.”
He gave her a smile. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He moved his hand, like he wanted to reach up and maybe cup her cheek but then decided against it.
“I need to apologize.”
“No, I do.”
She held up a hand. “Hold on. I really need to. I could tell last night that it was probably a bad idea to head out into the storm and that I was just being stubborn about it and not listening to reason. I was on edge from finding out that you wanted to leave and apparently decided to react by making a phenomenally bad decision. I’m very sorry that I made a choice that caused you to get into a bad situation to save me. And I’m also very grateful that you did.”
“I don’t want to be traded.”
She froze. “You… don’t?”
He shook his head. “No. I mean I did the day I was traded here. But then I met you and everything changed.”
“It did?”
He met her eyes. “Everything.” And then, after a long moment, he put his hands on his hips and looked up, his feet skating him in a small, tight circle. “And then, after getting home from a hard game in Charlotte, I ran into my dad yesterday morning.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh?” She didn’t know where his dad lived, but she had gotten the impression that it wasn’t close.
He nodded. “We didn’t talk for long. Just enough for me to notice that he had a new wife, a son, and a daughter, and to make a comment about him replacing us.”
Katie winced.
“Yeah, I didn’t handle it well. And then, apparently, because I’m a glutton for punishment, when I arrived in Mountain Springs yesterday, I drove past the house we used to live in.”
“You mean the place where you lived when your parents’ marriage imploded— ”
“— and I became an angry teen. Yeah, that one. It was stupid, I know. It was like everything in a twenty-four-hour period started taking me down. First, smaller things, then bigger and bigger, and I decided to finish it off with a bang. To fully bury myself in every hard thing.”
“Connor, that sounds awful. Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped.” She paused for a moment. “Okay, I recognize the contradiction in wanting you to come to me for help when I didn’t go to you for help. But I would have listened.”
“You are really good at that. And at helping me to see the bigger picture.” He tried to hide a smile and added, “As long as I don’t lead with ‘I want to be traded away from here.’”
She looked down, laughing quietly. “Yeah, probably best not to lead with that.”
“Anyway, it kind of all got into my head and I started only looking at that, which wasn’t so helpful. If I had looked at the whole picture, I’d have known exactly what I wanted. I want you.”
A warmth and light filled her whole chest at hearing his words. “You know,” she said, “I was fully ready to come out here and do everything I could to convince you to stay. Even with hair that has spent way too much time in a hood and while wearing hockey-playing flamingo pants.”
“You definitely convinced me to stay.” He reached out and placed a hand at the side of her neck, his thumb lightly brushing the skin just in front of her ear, and she leaned into his touch.
Then he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her close, and gently pressed his lips against hers. There was something about this kiss that was different from any other they’d shared, and it wasn’t just the waist-high wall that was between them. It felt more sure. More confident. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sunk into him, soaking in the feel of being cherished by this man that she couldn’t imagine loving more, yet knowing that every day, she would love him more than she had the day before.
Eventually, they ended the kiss, and she looked out over the ice. “So… Do you think they have skates here that are my size?”
His eyebrows rose. “Do you skate?”
She shrugged. “Kind of. I haven’t for years, but I went with friends for fun when I was a kid. I never had a teacher or a coach or anything. But I’d like to try.”
He took her to the skate rental area and she put on a pair, walking over to the ice with wobbly ankles. With one hand on the short wall, she stepped onto the ice, and one skate slid more than the other. She had to hurry to try to pull her feet together. She went a little way on the ice, moving slowly and with tiny strides. Still holding onto the wall, Connor at her side.
“Are you good?”
She nodded. “I’ve got this.”
