AllFreeNovel
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It’s safe against his giant body. Neither of us are dressed, and our skin fits together, replacing the warmth the tumultuous morning stole from us.
“Remember what I said? You and me against the world.”
I want to believe him so badly. He’s a real live superhero, right? The hero always wins.
“C’mon. Lemme see you smile and tell me you love me, baby,” he says.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the whole baby thing. That’s what I call you—I’m taking it back.”
“Don’t Jack and Mercy call each other babe?”
“Yeah, seventeen times a minute. It’s annoying as fuck.” But whenever I tell Jack to his face how annoying they are, a wistful smile spreads across his face as if “annoying” is an achievement.
“Let’s be annoying, too,” he says.
His eyes glisten and he’s a serene statue, standing on the mountain of Olympus. My hockey God boyfriend. “I love you, baby.”
“Love you, too, baby.”
* * *
I’ve texted Rhett like the clingy bitch I am, all damn day.
Have you landed yet?
Have you met with your dad?
What the fuck did he say?
If you break up with me, he’ll be the least of your worries.
He might as well know who I really am. This is me under pressure. Not that I don’t do well—I’m an athlete, we’re made to do well under pressure—but I’m an anxious kitten the whole time.
I don’t need to text him to know he hasn’t landed. They don’t fly commercially, but I have the FlightAware app, which allows me to track his plane. Yeah, I’m one of those boyfriends—who knew?—but so is he.
In some ways, Rhett and I are polar opposites, but in others, we’re exactly the same. I can’t concentrate enough to do my schoolwork, and I’m tempted to scroll through socials if just for the distraction. I’ve gotten good at laughing at the things people say about us, but I promised Rhett. If he doesn’t want me on there, it’s got to be something more than the usual.
The minutes tick by so fucking slowly that I actually wish Jack was here to pass the time with. We could play fucking crib or something. Yeah, I’m there. My nerves are too frayed for anything productive today, so I do something I haven’t done in forever and watch TV.
Three episodes into Sex in the City reruns later, my phone lights up withBaby. I’m a fucking sap who changed him from Hockey Gorilla to Baby when he left his apartment earlier.
“Just landed,” he says and all the commotion on the other end says he hasn’t reached the quiet of his hotel room yet. I conjure an image for myself of his firm ass squeezing in his jeans as he walks with his travel bag slung over one of his large shoulders. And just because he’s him, I throw in a nice picture of the dark hockey hair I’ve become fond of against my will, whipping against the wind. Maybe he’s walked straight off the team’s private jet and onto the tarmac like they do in the movies.
“Come home.” The pit in my stomach grows the further he is away from me. It shouldn’t. I should be used to this by now. I’m not and I may never be. The pit was grapefruit sized this morning and that was before he left. It’s a watermelon now.
“Less than forty-eight hours, then another home game. Soon as I get to my hotel, we’re doing video sex.”
I stole one of his jerseys. I’m gonna surprise him by wearing it later. “Okay. When do you meet with your dad?”
“He gets here early tomorrow morning. You’d better be watching the game tonight. I’m quizzing you later, and I’ll know if you just watched the highlights. A spanking for every wrong answer.”
I laugh through the tears, too distraught to snark at him. “I’ve got a date with Kam to watch the game.”
“It had better not be a date. You don’t kiss anyone but me, got it?”
“Only you.”
Hanging up is harder than it needs to be. He’s not that far. He’ll be home tomorrow night. What’s wrong with me? It’s the thing with his dad, throwing me off. Gotta be. Maxwell isn’t trustworthy in the best of times, and his dad isn’t going through the best of times. I’ll feel a lot less frantic when I’m in Rhett’s arms again. Fuck Merc’s lecture this time around. He can hear about how, yes, I do need to be in his bed as soon as he’s home.
