Breakaway (Beyond the Play, #2)(110)

“Penny,” he says, his voice breaking.

“Please, Cooper. I’m choosing you first. Over everything. Choose me back.”

Finally, finally, he reaches out and pulls me into his arms. I sob, burying my face in his chest. His hand strokes down my back, and he murmurs, low and rough, “I’d choose you in every universe. I took my heart out of my chest and handed it over to you, raw and red, and it’s yours forever. You own it, and even if you try to give it back, if you abandon it, I won’t take it.”

“Will you take mine?”

He tilts my head up and kisses me. “Yes.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

I sob-laugh, wiping at my eyes. “Good. Because we need each other. And what cat parents would be if we got divorced?”

He hugs me tighter. For a long moment, we just breathe each other in. Even though I’m still shivering, I feel warm inside and out.

“Don’t even say that word,” he murmurs. “When we get married, that’s it, Red. Tangy’s just going to have to deal with us being insufferable.”

Marriage. I like the sound of that. As far as I’m concerned, we belong to each other already, but one day, it would be nice to make it official. I don’t care what the future looks like, so long as I get to spend it with him.

He puts his chin on top of my head, sighing like he’s put upon. “You’re shaking. We’re not declaring our love for each other and then dying in a snowbank in the middle of Manhattan, come on.”

I glance over at the rink. “You know what would warm us up?”

The dude operating the ticket booth and skate rentals seems bemused to hand us each a pair of skates, plus a pair of ugly but necessary athletic socks for me. Cooper needs the cheering up, and I need just a bit more magic from this night.

We skate onto the rink holding hands. It’s awkward, holding up my skirt far enough I don’t run right over it, but Cooper keeps me steady. We’re not skating well—it’s laughable, for a figure skater and a hockey player—but that doesn’t matter. He keeps stopping, balancing us both so we can kiss. Eventually, we give up the pretense and just sway in place. Whenever I look up, I can’t decide whether to stare at him—my new forever—or the glittering handfuls of stars in the sky.

I think it’s the best skate I’ve ever had.





66





COOPER





When I wake up, all I know is Penny.

Her lavender perfume, still lingering on her skin. Her bright hair, spread out on the pillow. Her freckles. Her starburst birthmark. Her eyelashes, so long they nearly brush her cheeks. The lithe curve of her body, and her smooth, fair leg thrown over mine. Her pixie nose and stubborn lips. The bites I left on the insides of her thighs, her breasts. A picture of perfection, naked and beautiful and all mine.

Her snoring, too. But I’ll never tell her that one.

I can’t believe that I considered, even for a second, about giving her up. She’s right. No matter how it started, we’re it for each other. I might’ve been wrong about Uncle Blake, but I’m not wrong about her.

I’m half-hard already, thanks to sleeping naked and tangled with her, and I feel no qualms about waking her with a kiss. When we eventually made our way to the Plaza—after ice skating at Wollman Rink and a late-night bite at a hole-in-the-wall falafel place—we snuck upstairs without even thinking about going back to the gala. We warmed up once and for all with a shower in the enormous, luxurious stall. Fucked in it, too. And then again on the floor. And then finally in the bed. Despite all that, I’m nearly ready to go again.

She stirs when she feels my kiss and my hand stroking through her hair. “Babe,” she mumbles.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

She opens one gorgeous blue eye. “Is it morning already?”

“Something like that.”

She stifles a yawn with the pillow. “Need coffee.”

“All out of coffee, unfortunately. Can I interest you in some morning wood?”

That gets her to sit up. “Cooper!”

“Ah, there she is. My personal sleeping beauty.”

“I’m going to smack you with this pillow.”

I just grin at her. “And I’ll say thank you.”

“I’m going to pee.” She slides out of bed, stretching, giving me a view of her pretty body. Those love bites look fucking fantastic on her. “And use mouthwash. If I can walk straight.”

“If I have my way, you’ll never walk straight again.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s blushing. I love her for so many reasons that have nothing to do with the fun we have together, but I can’t deny that finding my sexual soulmate means the world to me.

I lean against the pillows, giving my cock a firm stroke. It’s fucking satisfying, knowing she still feels me that deeply. When she comes back a couple minutes later with minty fresh breath, she slips right into my lap. She fits against me so well. She kisses me, tangling our tongues together as she grinds down on my cock. I kiss back, running my hand down her back, squeezing her ass. She moans into my mouth softly. My balls ache, drawn up tight; like always, her mere presence has me pressed right against the edge.

“Need to be inside you, baby girl,” I whisper. “Can I have you?”