Page 99 of Slapshot Bride

“Sit.”

I sit on the couch. She goes upstairs and comes back with the small tub of arnica cream I keep in the master bathroom drawer that she now apparently also knows the location of.

She sits behind me on the couch, pulls my shirt up off my back, and puts her palm flat between my shoulder blades.

“Lord,” I groan before I can hold back.

“That bad?”

“I need more of that, baby.”

She laughs. She works the cream in with the heels of her hands. She has strong hands, and they’re soft too. It’s a contrast I wasn’t prepared for. I close my eyes.

“How close is the first game?”

“Preseason opener in nine days. Home game against Vegas. Regular season opener two weeks after that.”

“Are you ready?”

“For preseason, yes. For the regular season, ask me in two weeks.”

That gets a laugh out of her.

“Are you nervous?”

“I’m never nervous the week before a game. I’m nervous the morning of. Then I’m fine.”

Her hands move up the back of my neck.

She works the knot between my shoulders with her thumbs, slowly, and I let my head fall forward. I don't think about anything for a long minute except the feeling of her hands on me.

Eventually, she wipes her hands on a towel, and I turn.

My arms are around her in a second, and I pull her to straddle me on the couch.

“Shower?” I kiss her nose.

“Yeah.”

I carry her upstairs.

The shower is slow. The water is hot.

She washes my hair like she has been doing it for years, and I wash hers, and we don't talk. She kisses me under the water once, without escalation, just her mouth on mine and her hand on my jaw.

I pull back just to stare at her.

Hair slicked back by the water, and eyes so trusting. My gaze travels over her. Her naked body. Perky breasts with the tiny rosy nipples pointing at me, and my hand moves. I cup one and squeeze.

“Easton…” Her voice is small.

“God, you’re so beautiful. I could stare all day.” I lean in, whispering against her lips.

Her arms immediately circle my neck to hold me in place, and I chuckle.

“So needy, huh?”

I walk us backwards until her back hits the wall, and I brace my hands on both sides of her head to keep her in place. Then my mouth finally claims hers.