Grace
Two Days Before Christmas
Sitting in the wives and girlfriends’ suite watching Jaxson and the rest of the Ospreys play hard against Washington, D.C., felt a lot like Christmas had come early.
It wasn’t often this happened. Most of the time, friends and family had an area dedicated for us, a place where we all sat together in a higher-level section of the stands. But every now and then, there would be a suite open, or the GM would buy a suite at an away game for us as a little gift.
Like I said — it was like Christmas coming early.
I was reveling in the feeling of being at a game, period — at getting to watch my boyfriend in his element. It was one thing to strip that hunk of a man down in the privacy of our home, to have an up close and personal view of every muscle, every lean line and hard edge and sprawl of ink. I cherished those moments.
But fuck, it was nothing compared to watching him dominate on the ice.
He was so hot. From the moment he stepped out to warm up and stretch, to the very last second of play, he was determined. I salivated each time he skated out to play a new game, especially when he wore his Ospreys hat backward with a little tuft of hair popping through the front and around the sides. My core would fire up when he did his groin stretches — of course, I wasn’t alone in that. I had to share my fantasy of Jaxson with thousands of other hockey fans, female and male.
I didn’t mind, though.
Because at the end of the night, it was me he took to bed.
Warmups were just a tease. It was when he skated into action for the first play that the real sex appeal started to ooze. He was just such a beast, blocking goals well before they got to Will Perry, and applying pressure to any opponent who skated into the defensive zone. My favorite was when everything would line up just right for him to score a goal. That wasn’t even his job, but when he had the chance, he took it.
Watching him slice that stick through the air, hearing the sweet sound of the buzzer when the puck finds the net, getting the up top view of him celebrating? It was magic.
I especially loved when he pointed up at the box. I didn’t have to see his face to know he was winking, and that he was looking right at me.
The game was an anxiety-inducing shit show, the 2-2 tie lasting long enough to send us into overtime. We won — thank God — and I immediately bolted from the suite and made my way down to the waiting area.
I’d been on a ski trip with some friends in Tahoe and hadn’t seen Jaxson in ten days.
I couldn’t get to him fast enough.
It was always the worst part of the night, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for him to do his after-game bike session or shower or both. At least he wasn’t the last one out. He was usually far from it, in fact. But still, the wait killed me.
Finally, about an hour after the last buzzer sounded, Jaxson swung through the door with a wide grin. He dropped his bag just in time for me to leap into his arms, and then we were making out while a symphony of groans, giggles, and catcalls played in the background.
Jaxson’s hand splayed the side of my face when he pulled back, his forehead against mine and a longing sigh leaving his chest.
“Fuck, I missed you.”
“Missed you, too, Brittzy.”
He smirked, setting me back on the ground. He grabbed his bag in one hand and my hand in the other, steering us toward the parking lot.
“Great game tonight.”
“I did it just for you.”
I smiled, leaning into his side.
“I got a rental car,” he said when we hit the parking lot.
I cocked a brow. “Oh?”
“Our next game is on the twenty-seventh in Tampa,” he reminded me, as if I didn’t have the schedule memorized. “That gives us… three nights, if you count this one, before I need to get back for practice.”
“So, basically — Christmas Eve and Christmas.”
“Precisely. I know your parents are going to Tampa, but…”
“I think my family can survive a Christmas without me,” I said. “They have Vince and Maven, and Maven’s parents will be there, too.”
Jaxson slung his bag into the trunk of a G-Wagon, which made me smile, all the memories of summer rushing back just at the sight of it.
“Your stuff at the hotel?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Mine, too,” he said. “What do you say we swing by there just long enough to change that.”
I folded my arms over my chest, leaning my weight on one hip. “What exactly do you have in mind, Jaxson Brittain?”
He crooked a grin, fisting his hands in the jersey I wore — the one with his name on the back — and pulling me into him.
“Wanna go for a drive?”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“Careful, that got you into trouble last time,” I warned.
“It was the best kind of trouble.”
He kissed me with that, and I wound my hands around his neck as I breathed all of him in. My heart never beat the same as it did before I met him. It was smoother now, steadfast — the way only a heart that belongs to another can. I felt safe in his arms. I felt at home no matter where we were.
“Well, since we missed the sunset… I guess we ride at dawn?” I asked.
“How about you ride at midnight,” he teased, sucking my earlobe between his teeth. Chills swept my body as I bit my lip.
“You know, for all the road tripping we did, we never tested getting freaky in the car.”
“Not true. We pulled off the road more than a few times, if I recall.”
“Hmm… I guess my memory has just faded, it’s been so long…”
Jaxson growled, swooping me up into his arms and carrying me to the passenger side of the SUV. Except he didn’t open the front door. He opened the back.
“Allow me to remind you,” he rasped against my lips.
“Good thing these windows are tinted.”
“Think you can be quiet?”
“No chance.”
“Then I really hope this sucker is soundproof, too.”
I giggled as he laid me down, locking us inside and pinning me between him and those plush leather seats. As we fogged up the windows and made a new memory, I counted out all that I was grateful for — just like I had that morning I was heartbroken on the beach in Florida. That was before I knew I’d be driving with Jaxson less than two hours later, before I knew I was about to embark on a summer that would change my life forever.
It was winter now, the air frigid outside the car we were steaming up, and one truth was as clear as the night sky had been in Yellowstone.
Jaxson and I had a love that transcended the seasons.
And there was nothing I was more grateful for than that.
