EDITH
(Seventeen months later)
Australia took a little longer than I’d expected. I had told Apollo that I wouldn’t be back until Thanksgiving, but as I wait in the stands for the clock to count down to the Raccoon’s first game of the season against the Indy Storm, energy sizzles in my veins.
Savannah is on my left. Justin hasn’t played on the team for over a year but she supports the guys as often as she can. And she still wears his number on the back of her shirt.
To my right, Eloise stands with her hands clutched against her chest, beaming with pride. Her hot-shot goaltending boyfriend is rumored to be signing a very lucrative deal with a certain home-state based NHL team, and she hasn’t stopped smiling since he got the call.
We’re right at the front of the stands. First row, at the plexi and ready to scream like we’re being chased by a dinosaur as our boys hit the ice. Tori is late, as usual, but she’s gotten less reluctant to come to games than she used to be. I guess things changed while I was gone. Yet in many ways, everything feels the same.
A shiver slithers up my spine at the nip in the air, the door to the tunnel opens and Ares steps out onto the ice. Eloise practically leaps into the air as she starts screaming. Tori comes into the aisle, Penelope behind her, fingers in both ears, shaking her head.
“She used to be the quiet one of the group.”
Pen hugs me like we haven’t seen each other in a year, and it takes all I have not to cry my eyes out right there in the rink. “We’ll talk later, okay? When you’re ready to share.” She gives me an extra squeeze,thatsqueeze. The one that puts you back together when you’re broken.
And while I felt broken before I left Cedar Rapids to embark on my healing journey on the other side of the world, deep down, I know I’m not. But it sure as hell feels good to know I have such a strong and stable network of people who have my back.
When Pen pulls back, Tori gives me a quick hug then hooks her thumb over her shoulder. “He still clueless?”
I nod, rolling my lips between my teeth.
“You’re going to make our big, bad captain cry on the opening night of the season, aren’t you?”
Shrugging, I nod again, searching the ice for my prince of darkness.
Our eyes meet, his stick is poised in the air, ready to shoot the puck at Ares for their warm-up drill. He drops his stick and skates straight to where I’m sitting. Mouth hanging open, he points his glove at me.
“You’re h-here,” he stammers.
I nod, turning a slow circle so he can see my shiny de la Peña jersey with the C embroidered on my chest. He brought it to me on his visit last year, but I haven’t had a chance yet to break it out for a game on home ice.
Artemis has to physically coax Apollo to move from the plexi. Pollo’s staring at me like he’s seen a ghost. Before he turns back to warm up, his wicked grin appears. “I’m fucking you so hard after this game,princesa.”
My body hums in response, and I don’t even have the decency to be embarrassed. “Score on the ice, score off the ice.”
“Goal for goal?”
I can practically see the competitiveness rising in my guy. Knowing he’s going to score just so he can fuck me all night, I nod. “Goal for goal.”
Penelope groans loudly enough to be heard. Tori fans herself. “So fucking hot.”
Savannah laughs so hard her shoulders shake. “I wouldn’t like to be the Storm tonight. You’ve lit a fire under him.”
A sharp tap on the glass brings my attention away from the pulsing need between my thighs. I haven’t seen Apollo since the summer. My sex drive has only increased in his absence, and knowing he’s actively playing with the sole purpose of winning orgasms tonight... well, that’s enough to set my soul on fire.
Raffi stands on the ice, a wicked grin of his own in place, head cocked to the side. He’s pointing at Tori, who seems to be doing her level best not to acknowledge his existence. Her face is red, really red. I don’t know her as well as I’d like to, but her discomfort screams embarrassment, so now I’m curious. Last I’d heard, the extent of Tori’s relationship with Raffi was dumping a drink over his head and cussing him out in the bar.
This is an interesting progression.
Things reallyhavechanged in the last year.
Raffi smacks the glass again, then again, making it particularly difficult for anyone, especially Tori to ignore him. Dude’s three seconds away from having an all-out toddler meltdown right there during warm-ups.
When she finally gives in to the fact he’s demanding her attention, satisfaction ripples across his face, but he doesn’t seem smug. This whole exchange is fascinating to me. It screams of Raffi being in the dog house. From what I know of her, Tori is a strong woman, a badass, and certainly not intimidated by Raffi, or anyone else on the hockey team. And yet, her cheeks are the color of a Coke can.
He gestures for her to move to the side, waiting patiently for her to acquiesce. When she’s far enough away from the net that protects the plexi behind the goal, he flicks her a puck. “For Wyatt.”
