My phone buzzes.
Liam: Team just left for the airport. Coast is clear.
Before I can text back, another text comes in.
Liam: Ready?
Me: Yeah
Liam: Good, because I'm outside your door.
I laugh out loud, surprised and delighted. I grab my bags and cross to the door, flinging it open.
And there he is.
Liam is leaning against the doorframe, hair slightly messy, looking unfairly good for someone who just played a physically exhausting hockey game. But it's his smile that gets me. It’s wide and full of excitement.
“Hi,” I breathe.
“Hi yourself.” He steps forward and pulls me into his arms, burying my face in his chest.
He smells like his soap and cologne. All the guilt, all the anxiety, all the worry about lying to Jennifer, all dissolve the moment I'm in his arms.
This is worth it. He's worth it.
“I missed you,” he murmurs against my hair.
“You just saw me at the arena a few hours ago.”
“Doesn't count. That was work Avery. I missed this Avery.” He pulls back enough to look at my face. “My girlfriend.”
I reach up and touch his jaw. “I'm here now.”
“Yeah, you are.” He leans down and kisses me. When he pulls back, his eyes are dark with want. “As tempting as it is to shut this door and not leave for two days, we should probably go.”
“How practical of you.”
“I have my moments.” He grabs my bags with one hand, keeping the other on my waist. “Ready?”
“More than ready.”
We take the elevator down to the lobby. “I ordered an Uber. It should be here in two minutes.”
“An Uber? That's very normal of you.”
He grins. “I'm a man of the people tonight. Plus, nobody in Toronto knows or gives two fucks who I am.”
We slip out a side entrance where a black sedan is already waiting. The driver barely glances at us. He just confirms the destination and pulls into traffic.
The drive to Yorkville takes about fifteen minutes. Liam holds my hand the entire way. The driver has music playing softly, giving us a bubble of privacy in the back seat.
“Nervous?” he asks.
“A little. You?”
“Terrified.” But he's grinning. “Terrified you're going to see this suite I booked and think I'm trying too hard.”
“Are you trying too hard?”
