Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
How long will it be until we can go out together publicly? Will I ever be able to go to Donovan’s with him and hang out with his friends? Why am I lying in bed next to a very naked Hayes and obsessing about all these things, when I’m not one to obsess about anything?
Today definitely isn’t the day to worry about all that. Today, Hayes will meet my parents, and we’ll be like a real couple.
He shifts beside me, and I turn on my side so I’m facing him. Hayes’s honey-brown eyes are open in a way that says he was lying here awake for a while too.
“Hi,” he says softly.
“Hi.” These little hi’s have become our thing now.
“I don’t like Dallas. They suck. Basically, the worst team ever.” He leans in and presses his lips to the cut beneath my eye that I got in the Dallas game. I’m also nursing some painful bruised ribs that the team is keeping hushed.
“You want to defend my honor?” I ask, heart all soft and mushy at the thought.
“I’m not one for fighting myself, but maybe I can get my father to buy the team and fire that guy who slammed you into the boards.”
I laugh, chest fluttering with lightness, and somehow my ribs hurting less than they did before. “You can’t do that to all the hockey players who hurt me.”
“Why not?” he asks with a soft smile that feels like he’s handing me the world.
“Are you that rich?”
He chuckles. “Okay, that’s a good point.”
“I’m honored you would try, though.”
He nods, gaze turning worried. “What if they don’t like me?”
Ugh. Hearing him say that hurts. “They will.”
“But what if they don’t?”
I shrug. “Then I cut them off.”
His eyeballs nearly pop out of his head, but when I laugh, he grumbles, “You asshole!” and swats my arm.
“Ouch!” I clutch my ribs, though that’s not where he hit me.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?” When I look up at him and give him my mischievous smirk, he says, “I’m not talking to you until your parents come.”
Hayes moves to get out of bed, but I pull him to me, trying not to wince at the ache in my torso. “They’re going to love you because you’re sweet, cute, hold ice to my face when I need it, and want to buy a whole hockey team just to trade a player for doing his job against me. If that’s not the best boyfriend in the world, I don’t know what is.”
I kiss him deeply, languidly. Hayes melts under my touch as I roll on top of him, holding myself up on my arms and thrusting my hard cock against his.
“We can’t…have sex…before your parents come over,” he says breathlessly.
“That’s hours away.” My mouth travels down his throat, and he tilts his head back, giving me access.
“Still…what if they, like, know.”
I can’t help laughing again. “I’m sure they know we have sex, baby.”
“Well, not today! At least not until after they leave. I’m going to shower and then start cleaning the house.”
He slips out from under me, and I let him go easily. “The housekeeper came yesterday!” I call after him.
“Never can be too clean, Rylan!” He closes the door behind him, and I fall onto my back, with what might possibly be the world’s biggest smile on my face.
God, I love him. So fucking much. And while that should scare the fuck out of me, it makes me maybe the happiest person on earth.
*
“So, Rylan says you’re from New York?” Mom asks Hayes, who honestly, is looking a little green.
“Yes, ma’am. Mostly. Well, that’s our home base, but we traveled a lot. We had a house in LA too, and one in London. I didn’t really have a typical upbringing. Not that my parents were bad. They weren’t—aren’t. They gave me so many experiences, but they’re both workaholics, and our relationship is different from yours with Rylan. But yes. New York is where I was born and basically lived and I have no idea why I can’t stop talking. I’m going to…go to the kitchen and hide now.” He scrambles off his chair and rushes into the house.
“He’s nervous,” I tell them. “He’s never done this before. It’s a big deal.”
“Should we go?” Dad asks.
“I didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable by pushing to meet him. We can wait until he’s ready,” Mom adds, and that right there is one of the many reasons I love my parents so much. They’re so fucking bighearted.
“No. It’s fine. Just let me go talk to him.” I go into the house and find Hayes in the kitchen. The house is open concept, with the kitchen right across from the living room, so there’s not really anywhere for him to hide. He has his face in his hands, though, and that makes me feel guilt too.