“YOU’VE FOUND HER.”
Sara’s words play in my head on repeat for the rest of the evening.
They echo steadily through my brain while I skate with my family. Only getting louder when we return to Beckett’s house for a family dinner that both of my parents make an appearance for.
“You’ve found her.”
When Beckett and Liv walk into the house carrying a small stack of pizza boxes, Sara’s eyes meet mine, and I swear she’s silently speaking those words again.
My brother’s expression is blank, and his eyes are hazy.
“What’s wrong with him?” Gavin asks our sister-in-law, grabbing the pizza boxes from Beckett. He sets them on the kitchen counter, then quickly turns back, brows lifted in question.
Liv glances at her husband, lips quirking up, and lets out a little hum. “We got some news at the doctor’s office.”
“Everything okay?” Sara perks up from her spot beneath my arm.
Liv nibbles on her lip and glances at her husband again. He now has his palms pressed flat against the counter and his head hanging between his shoulders.
My stomach sinks at his posture. “He really doesn’t look okay.”
Liv gives a wobbly smile, making me feel a modicum better. “We’re having girls. Two of them,” she squeaks.
Finn launches himself into the air, his gold chain hitting him in the chest with a thwap when he lands, and pumps his fist. “Yes! Still the only boy!”
Beckett’s face is green when he looks up. “Period panties,” he whispers.
Liv scoffs and slaps him lightly on the back. “Ignore him. He’s got a little PTSD after living with all my friends. He’ll be fine.” She shuffles over to the cabinet and pulls a stack of plates down. “Beckett, pull yourself together. The twins won’t get their periods for at least another twelve years. You’ll be over fifty by then. Act it.”
Beckett turns a horrified look in her direction, his hands still firmly planted on the counter, as if he needs it for support. “Kick a man when he’s down, why don’t ya?”
Gavin sidles up to him and squeezes his shoulder. “Come on, old man. Just think of all the hockey boys who are going to be begging to date your daughters.”
Beckett lunges for him, and he hustles back, out of his reach.
A laugh bursts out of me at the scene, followed by a wave of warmth when Sara leans against me. I pull her in tighter to my side as we watch the disaster of a show that is my family.
I can’t stop from tipping her chin up and lowering my mouth to hers. It’s as if there’s a magnetic pull between us getting stronger every day.
“You’ve found her.”
It’s after ten when we finally get back to our apartment building. Finn begged us to stay until he fell asleep, and then Aiden serenaded us with a moving rendition of “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. He, of course, changed the words, but they were no less moving. Beckett, Gavin, and I hummed in the background. Liv and Sara stood in the doorway, soft smiles on their faces, recording the entire thing. I’m sure it will be on the Bolts and Rev’s pages tomorrow.
I don’t even fucking care. Spending the day with my girl has left me all warm and gooey, like a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream melting on top. If today’s shown me anything, it’s exactly what Sara said. I’ve found her.
The instant the elevator announces our arrival on her floor with a ding, I’m herding her through the stainless-steel doors, desperate to get her alone in the privacy of her home.
“Whoa! Look who it is!” Daniel is kicked back on the couch in the communal living area. He’s accompanied by a group of guys all wearing sweats and watching a movie.
“Nice slippers,” Sara teases with a laugh.
Hall lifts his feet and kicks them up and down, showing off gigantic Elf slippers. “Buddy’s the man!”
“It’s not even December.” I roll my eyes at the guys, though I can’t help but smile. I’m honestly surprised they’re hanging at home and not out causing trouble on their last night before another ten days on the road.
War raises his brow at me and nods toward Sara. “You guys have plans tonight, or you want to join us?”
Sara’s wide eyes and gaping mouth have me choking back a laugh. I’m glad to see she’s just as eager as I am to get away from the guys.
I shake my head. “We’re good. Enjoy the movie.”
War tosses a piece of popcorn into his mouth and settles back against the cushions. “Eh, I don’t blame you. Shiny toys are more fun. Just ask the playmaker.”
“Stop teasing me with your glitter dick.” Hall groans. “I get it. I’m not as cool as you.”
“We need to move out of this place,” I grumble, pushing Sara along.
She laughs. “I don’t know. It’s kind of quaint. It’s like they’re sending you off. Real teamwork there.”
“Make sure you don’t come back with your Skittles!” War hollers as we round the corner.
She unlocks her door, but before she steps inside, she turns back to me, her expression soft. “We don’t have to do anything tonight.”
That feeling in my chest from earlier squeezes tighter, washing away any thought of the idiots outside. Words she’s not ready to hear dance on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them down.
“It should be special.” She slides her jacket off, avoiding my gaze.
“It’s special because it’s you.” My voice comes out far stronger than I feel.
Sara hangs her jacket up and finally focuses on me. Whatever she sees in my expression has her smiling one second, and in the next, she’s pressing me against the wall with one palm, lifting up on her toes and kissing me softly.
“Okay, give me a few minutes. Just um—watch Pacey or something.”
I laugh and drop a peck to her lips. “You want me to cry the first time we have sex?”
A teasing glint sparkles in her eye. “Oh Saint, you’ll definitely be crying, but there won’t be any tears involved.”
She disappears into her bedroom before I can come up with a cocky response. It’s probably for the best. I’m a thirty-year-old virgin. I’ve got nothing to be cocky about.
You won’t be a thirty-year-old virgin much longer, that cocky asshole inside me says. He sounds kind of like Aiden.
With a chuckle, I settle on her couch and turn on the television, though I don’t turn on Dawson’s Creek, despite Sara’s suggestion. I prefer to watch it with her anyway.
I twiddle my thumbs for a solid twenty minutes, doing my best to tamp down on my racing thoughts, before she finally calls to me from her bedroom, her voice soft.
TV turned off again and remote put back in its place, I wipe my hands down my pants and heave myself up. As I amble slowly toward her room, I focus on breathing steadily, trying to get my head on straight.
The instant I push open the door, I know it’s no use. This girl is my undoing. Sara is perched on the bed in nothing but my jersey, wearing a coy smile, her blue hair highlighted by the soft glow of the candles she’s strategically lit throughout the room.
“You’re gorgeous.” My voice is nothing but a rasp. She’s stolen the air from my lungs.
“And you are everything I’ve ever wanted.” There’s a vulnerability in her tone. A raw honesty.
God, I like her unscripted like this. The crazy girl who owns my heart. My life changed the moment she entered it, and it’s about to change again. Not because of sex. Not because I’ll no longer be a virgin. But because after tonight, there’ll be no denying it. She’s the one.
I clear my throat to once again rein in those rambling thoughts, then pull my shirt over my head.
“God, that’s hot,” she murmurs.
When I look up from where I’ve draped my sweater over the bench, she’s sliding her fingers close to what I now can see is her bare pussy.
“What is?” I get to work on my belt next, but I can’t tear my focus from her.
“The way you took off your sweater. With one hand. Fuck. Brooks, do you have any idea how gorgeous you are? All you have to do is breathe, and I’m ready to combust.”
I smirk, and pride rises in me. It’s nice to hear that she’s as obsessed as I am.
“Oh yeah? What are some of the things you like?” Fully naked now, I stalk to the bed and kneel beside her.
She watches my every move, rubbing soft circles against her clit. Rather than wait for an answer, I grasp her hips and slide my jersey up her torso a bit so I can have a better view of what she’s doing.
“I like when you fuck me with your tongue.”
“What else?” I stretch out on the mattress and motion for her to settle that sweet pussy on my face.
She doesn’t disappoint. She never disappoints. Clutching the hem of my jersey in one hand, she straddles me and lowers her ass to my chest.
I grip her thighs and pull her to my lips, where I torture her for a bit, getting her so wet and worked up she’s grinding on my face.
“Your cock, Brooks. I need it. Please.”
I circle her clit with my tongue one more time and give it a nip. Then I drop my head back and take in the gorgeous woman on top of me, her trembling thighs and heaving chest and her pink cheeks. “Condom?”
Sara’s blue eyes hold mine as she looks down at me. “Only if you want it. I’m on birth control.”
A guttural sound starts low in my chest and rumbles out of me. “Fuck.”
She smiles as she shimmies down my body, and I see stars when she grinds her hot, wet lips against my hard length.
“I want to feel all these piercings inside me, Brooks. Will you let me do that? Will you let me ride you while you’re completely bare? Let me feel every inch of you?”
Her teasing tone has my cock weeping. I grasp her hips and hold her in place. “Are you sure?”
Sara’s lips tip up in a soft smile, all hints of teasing gone. She leans down and brushes her lips against mine. “Please, Brooks. It will be a first for me too. And I get to experience it with you.” She brings her mouth to mine again. “God, I feel like I’m the virgin. You. This relationship—this is a first for me.”
The underlying meaning is clear. It’s not about the sex. It’s that we’re making love. Tonight is a first for her, because there isn’t another person in existence that either of us could share this connection with.
The physical may feel incredible, but it’s the pull between us, the tether that connects us, the deep friendship that gives our relationship such a firm foundation. The trust, the love.
I don’t need to give her a verbal confirmation. The way I kiss her back is answer enough. Our tongues dance, the moves choreographed by some greater power, as she positions me. Then she deepens the kiss and lowers herself over me slowly.
“Fuck.” All the air escapes my lungs as her hot heat squeezes me like a vise. It’s otherworldly, spine tingling. When I bottom out, filling her completely, every nerve-ending in my body ignites.
“Yes, Brooks. Oh fuck. That feels—you feel. Oh my God.”
Her rambling thoughts pull a chuckle from me, but then her pussy squeezes me, and I hiss in a breath. Her hands are in my hair, tugging, pulling it so taut I have to angle up into her mouth to ease the burn. “I’m going to fuck you now,” she murmurs against my lips.
I snag the hem of my jersey and pull it over her head. “Need these.” Curling up, I suck one nipple into my mouth. Her responding gush warms me further, and I almost lose it. Damn. My girl loves when I play with her nipples.
She throws her head back and babbles incoherently again, but then she snaps her spine straight, presses a palm to my sternum, and pushes me back. Eyes locked with mine, she begins to ride. Her tits bounce, then her head falls back again, and she sends me hurtling into a new type of pleasure. What the fuck is this perfection?
Sara is in total control, riding me, moaning my name. Every single second is nothing but bliss.
“Your bedazzled penis is officially my favorite toy,” she gasps out.
I give her ass a light tap. “Sara.”
She lets out a breathy laugh. “It’s perfect, Brooks. You’re perfect. I fucking—God, it’s like you were made for me.”
Her movements get more frantic, more frenzied, and my vision gets hazy. Every sensation, every emotion, blends together, sending me into sensory overload or some shit like that. I’m on the precipice. I’m going to come so damn hard I might black out.
“Need you to come, crazy girl.” I press my thumb against her clit.
“Yes, Brooks.” Her screams get louder. “You’re such a good boy.”
Her praise does it. I fucking explode inside her. In response, her pussy clenches down, milking my orgasm from my body.
“Yes, Brooks. Fill me up. Let me have it all.” She slumps against my chest and holds me tight as I continue to jerk inside her, her soft whimpers and moans of pleasure a seductive soundtrack to the moment.
I settle a hand on her back, pressing in deep, reveling in the feel of her, the way she envelops me, the way she’s draped over me. And in that moment, I can’t not say it. Maybe it’s the hormones, or maybe it’s her death grip on my cock. Regardless, the truth comes spilling from my lips.
“I love you, Sara.”
My admission echoes between us. Her breath hitches, but she doesn’t pull back, and she doesn’t tense.
She doesn’t need to say it back. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“I’ve known it for a while.” I glide my fingers gently over her bare back. “We promised one another the truth, and that’s mine. I love you, crazy girl. I’m crazy in love with you.”
Hands pressed to my chest, she lifts up and fixes her blue eyes on me. They’re glistening and filled with a mixture of surprise and what I’m almost certain is love. “Will you come to my mom’s house this week to meet my family?” She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “My brother is actually a huge fan.”
With a low laugh, I relax against the mattress. This is big for her. I’m not disappointed that she didn’t say it back. She’s opening up, and that’s so much bigger than words. She doesn’t need to say them, because I feel them enough for the both of us. And we’ve got time.
“Oh yeah? A fan of me?” I tease her, squeezing her sides.
A warm, relieved smile spreads across her face. She’s not ready to say more, and I won’t push her on it.
“I wouldn’t say he’s your number one fan, but you are his favorite player.”
“Who’s my number one fan?”
She licks her lips and dips lower. “Me.”
Still inside her, and happier than I’ve ever been, I smile. “Yeah, crazy girl, I’d love to meet your family.”
