Overtime(81)

“I love you,” he said roughly in her ear as he thrust one last time, a harsh moan leaving his lips. “So f*cking much.”

Letting her ankles go, she wrapped her arms and legs around him as his cock pulsated inside her, filling her. He took a few steps back and then sat down, her ass hot against his thighs as he took hold of her face and kissed her swollen lips. Threading his fingers in her hair, he squeezed a fistful of her hair as he deepened the kiss and her belly fluttered with desire for him.

With love.

Pulling away only a breath, he kissed her lips once more before she opened her eyes to look at him. His eyes were full of such tenderness, such need, it left her fighting for her next breath. Reaching up, her fingers traced his lips and she couldn’t feel anything but utter completion. Before, when he’d been gone, waves of missing him and yearning for him would drown her. But now, she was drowning in her love for him.

He was really there.

He was really hers.

And nothing could take him away from her.

Not even him.



She is finally mine, Jordie thought as he watched Kacey dress. His body was still shaking with the aftershocks of their amazing lovemaking but also with the deep-down, life-altering connection he had with her. Sitting on his bed, he couldn’t believe it. When she said it was too good to be true, she wasn’t lying. They just fit. It was like they went right back to how they were. Except now, he wasn’t denying his feelings. No, he wanted to scream them, not only at her but also to the world. He was with the girl of his dreams. His everything.

He still worried though. What if he relapsed and hurt her all over again?

No. He couldn’t think that way.

This would work. They were meant to be.

“You’re thinking too hard,” she called from the bathroom. “This was your idea, mind you.”

He smiled. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“You. Us.”

“Good things?” she asked, putting her hair up in a little ponytail before turning the water on.

“I just want this to work.”

She looked over at him and asked, “Is there a reason it wouldn’t?”

He shrugged. “I could f*ck up again.”

She nodded. “But you could not.”

He smiled, hopeful. “True. Hoping I don’t.”

“Me too. I’m invested, remember?” she said with a grin, but her eyes were serious.

“Me too, Kace,” he promised before standing up and grabbing his phone off the dresser.

As he opened his Facebook app, she said, “Then we are good.”

He grinned as he sat back down, praying to sweet baby Jesus she was right while he typed her name in. But before he could ask for her to be friends, she was there, pushing his hands apart and climbing into his lap, her legs wrapping around his waist. Threading her fingers through the hair on his jaw, she smiled as she met his gaze.

“Do you know what I love about you?” she asked, her thumbs grazing his bottom lip.

“Everything?” he teased and her grin grew.

“Well, duh,” she laughed. “But I love your drive, your tenacity. You won’t give up on anything.”

He gave her a deadpan look. “I gave up on myself though.”

She nodded. “Everyone does at some point in their life. It’s about getting back up, and you have. Am I worried you’ll hurt me? Yeah, but that’s only because I want this to work so damn bad. I’ve wanted you to be mine for the rest of my life for a very long time. But for so long, you were unattainable. But still I loved you because I know you, and I know what you are capable of. When you want something, you go for it. Hence why you are sober now and also why you are with me.”

She was right. Even with everything he had been through, the molestation, the death of his friend, and even fighting to get into the NHL—because it wasn’t as easy as everyone thought it was to be as good as he was—he never gave up. He fought to be normal, to not hurt, to win. And when it became too much and he failed, he picked himself back up. That’s why for so long he didn’t believe he had a problem. When he needed to stop, he did, but this last time, he was in far too deep. Everything was drowning him, his career was hanging in the balance, Kacey was gone, and he had no one because he’d pushed them all away.

But again, he did it. He picked himself back up.

“So whenever that fear creeps back into your mind, just remember that you don’t back down, that you fight for what you want,” she said, leaning her head against his. “I believe in you, Jordie, or I wouldn’t be sitting in your lap right now, feeling so damn perfect. Only you can make me feel like this, so please don’t ever stop.”

“I won’t,” he promised, his eyes meeting hers.

“Good,” she said with a wink. “Now come on, I’m hungry. I’m gonna eat while you get interrogated by the family.”

She pressed her mouth to his, and his eyes drifted shut as her lips warmed his. Pulling away, she kissed his cheek before climbing off his lap. Smiling, he stood up and followed after her, his phone held loosely in his hand. He hadn’t forgotten what he was doing before their little talk, but before he could do what he wanted, she stopped at the door and turned to him.

“Should I go out my door and you go out yours?”