Page 113 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

Our eyes locked onto each other, soaking in the moment.

Then her stomach rumbled, and I couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle.

“First things first, let me get the pizza started. I brought out a speaker if you want to connect one of our phones and play some music.”

“Sure,” she said easily, heading for the speaker where I’d left my phone. I went back inside to grab everything I needed, setting the patio up in a makeshift kitchen.

I’d kept the pizza oven on the patio, far away from the tent. It was supposed to take only a few minutes to heat, and I’d read the instructions thoroughly earlier, so it was a fairly painless process.

Ten minutes later, I used the pizza paddle to slide our pizza into the little oven.

Soon the scent of fresh crust and savory spices filled the air as music filtered through the speakers. I wasn’t sure what kind of music she liked, but she’d gone with a gentle folk mix. It was one I recognized listening to when I was trying to wind down after games.

Then she was walking toward me.

My eyes stayed glued to her every movement. The way her hips swayed, the way her hair stirred in the breeze, the way her scent was bright and warm and perfect.

As she stepped into my arms, I wrapped them around her, holding her close and hugging her tight for a moment before releasing her just enough so she could breathe.

She let out a happy, contented sigh. Something she did every time we touched her now, which only made us want to hold her more.

“Wow, this looks incredible,” she said, peeking into the oven at the bubbling pizza.

“That reminds me, I need to turn it so it stays evenly cooked,” I said, sliding the pizza paddle in and rotating it.

After only a few minutes I was pulling it out and setting it on the table I’d set up for it to cool.

Then I slid in the tray of homemade breadsticks.

“You even have butter and Parmesan out here. You thought of everything,” she teased.

“That’s my job.” I gave her a wink.

When everything was ready, we sat down in the tent. I served her first, then myself, topping off her champagne before we dug in.

She let out a little groan as she chewed her first bite, her eyes practically rolling back in her head.

“This is incredible, alpha. Thank you for going to all this trouble for me.”

“How many times do we have to tell you that you’re never trouble?” I said.

She ducked her head and took another bite, fighting back her smile. I think she liked the reassurance, and I was always willing to give it to her.

“How was work today?” I asked.

“Really good,” she admitted. “I don’t know that I want to work at the diner forever. I’ve been thinking more and more about what I want to do now that I don’t have to hold down two or more jobs.”

We made it clear that she no longer needed to work at all, let alone multiple jobs. Coach held her job at the arena and I knew she’d taken it so she could keep Gavin on the team.

He had a spot regardless, so I hoped she’d soon figure out something that made her happy and fulfilled.

“Any leads yet?”

“No,” she admitted. “Sometimes, I think I’d like to be outside working. I feel like I’ve spent so much of my life cooped up and hiding away that I just want the freedom, but I don’t know what that would be. I’ve never learned how to garden or anything that would be useful for a career outside.”

“We’ll figure it out. And if you want to go back to school, that’s fine, too,” I encouraged.

“How was practice today?” she asked, pointedly changing the conversation.