Page 69 of Melt His Heart

My breath hitches when my eyes find Carson first.

“There’s your man!” Liam whispers, excitedly, nudging me a bit.

He’s looking around intensely. I try to bite back a smile. Is he looking for me? When we make eye contact after he finally finds me, he smiles at me as big as he can with his mouth guard and all.

I wave back, my ears burning.

I’m glad I could make him happy.

If the guys were on a losing streak, you certainly couldn’t tell tonight as they completely crushed and upset Ohio’s crowd by winning. Carson was out for blood on the ice throughout the entire game. He looked so hungry, so desperate. Anticipation is stirring my nerves as the game ends with their send-off rituals. The guys start making their way off the ice soon after.

Carson: wait for me by the player’s entrance i told them you’re coming

Me: Ok.

Liam looks over at me and smiles, “Go on! Shoo shoo, we’ll wait up for you.”

“Or should we just go back to the hotel? What if he’s taking him to his room?” Kevin whispers, but I obviously hear him.

“Guys, please.” I laugh.

“I mean, he’s kinda right,” Liam says, wiggling his brows.

“I’m definitely not ready for that!” I yelp, and they laugh as I’m walking down the aisle to where the player’s entrance should be.

“Good luck!!” Liam yells after me.

* * *

I reach the spot where Carson told me to meet him, and I wait for a bit. Players are coming and going as I stand outside the locker room area.

“Hey.” Carson says, and I snap my head toward his voice, “Thanks for waiting, sorry about that.”

“No..No, it’s ok. I wasn’t waiting long, and I brought my friends with me.” I say.

“Oh, good.” He looks a bit nervous; his cheeks are rosy.

“Wait, what happened to your wrist! Are you ok?” Carson says, his eyes widening as he closes the space between us before gently checking my injury.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just fell at practice,” I explain, looking down at the floor.

His gaze is so intense. I know he’s upset I got hurt. Probably even more upset, I never told him. Whether we’re talking or not, I know he would still want to know. But I didn’t want him to worry about me or come hunting me down to make sure I got home ok every day.

“What do you mean it’s nothing Juyeon?” He says.

“Seriously, it’s nothing. It’s already healing, and I’m fine. Can we just talk?” I sigh.

“Ok, but I want to check on this later, you hear me?” Carson’s voice is so stern, and him bossing me around is kind of turning me on. I chuckle at the thought, and he narrows his eyes at me.

“I heard you.” I drawl, snatching my wrist away.

“Alright, well, let’s go somewhere more quiet and talk?” He says.

“Yes, that sounds good,” I mumble.

He takes us to an empty room farther away from where all the players are celebrating and getting ready to head out. There’s a table and a few chairs; it’s probably a room they use for meetings. Carson puts his bag down before turning to me.

Now that I’m seeing him up close again after a while, I just want to press my lips to his.