“Kai.” This time, she pushes on my chest slightly, and with only a slight grumble of discontent, I back off.
“Make it quick, baby. I’ve got a lot of kissing to do.”
She giggles, and it’s music to my ears. “I’m definitely okay with that plan, but can we talk for just a minute? I need to say some things to you.”
Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I drag her over to a chair, drop down on it, and pull her into my lap. She shifts a bit, but I just hold on tight. “If you’re gonna talk and not kiss, you’re gonna be in my arms for it.”
“Fine.”
I peck a kiss to her nose, smug that I shut her up so easily. “Now. Talk.”
She lets out an adorable huff but follows it up with a soft smile that’s so full of love, I swear it takes my breath away.
“I love you, Kai. I love us. And I can’t walk away from that again. You’re what I want for my future. Above all, I want you, and me, together. Everything else that matters, doesn’t matter as much as you. That’s what I needed to realize, and I’m sorry I had to break us eight years ago to figure it out. But I know now that family, friends, my career, that can exist anywhere. But there’s only one of you, and it’s in Vancouver. And that’s reason enough for me to stay.”
I exhale slowly, feeling my eyes grow damp. “Damn, Iz,” I whisper, gathering her in close and bringing my forehead to meet hers. “Are you sure?” I hate that I have to ask. But even with her words, even with her flying here to be at my game and surprising me with her decision, there’s still a tiny, insidious voice in my head that says this can’t be real.
“More sure than I ever have been about anything in my life,” she replies, with such confidence, it overrules that damn voice, silencing it for good. “Didn’t you used to say we were the endgame? I still believe that. Do you?”
I’m nodding before she even finishes talking, and I don’t give a fuck if she needs to talk some more, I need to kiss her. My lips are on hers, taking everything she’s offering and giving even more in return. I love this woman with every beat of my heart, every breath that I take, and every cell of my body. She’s more than just my endgame, she’s my everything.
And it looks like I’ve got a second chance to prove that to her.
Chapter thirty-six
Isabelle
“Why is your hotel so far away?” I half pant, half whine as Kai’s lips travel down my neck. We’re in the back seat of a car my mom somehow arranged for us, and I want to beg the driver to speed up. At the same time, we don’t need to draw any more attention to the fact that we haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other for the last ten minutes.
“Almost there,” he mumbles against my skin, his hand dragging up my bare thigh to the hem of my shorts. He moans under his breath before suddenly moving back to his side of the car and sitting on his hands.
“Stay over there, wicked temptress,” he teases, eyes flashing even in the low evening light.
I let out a light giggle and copy his position, sitting on my hands. We haven’t done anything too naughty. Good thing, too, since the driver keeps eyeing us in the rearview mirror. I’m not sure if he recognizes Kai, but we don’t need to take chances.
Thankfully, a couple of minutes later, we’re dropped off in front of a very swanky hotel. Kai grabs my hand, threading our fingers together with a soft smile as we walk inside and go quickly to the elevators. We managed to beat the team bus here, which I’m grateful for. I don’t want to have to talk to anyone else when all I can do is stare at Kai.
“I wonder if we can get Coach to look the other way when I sneak you into my hotel room more often,” Kai murmurs, stroking his hand down my hair that I twisted into a braid before we left the stadium. “Normally, wives and girlfriends don’t get to stay with the players, but hey, maybe we can get a special perk with you being his stepdaughter.”
I lift up on my toes to kiss his cheek. “I think tonight is a one-time thing. Let’s not push our luck.”
Kai chuckles and takes his hat off to set it on backward before leaning down and kissing me properly. “Nah, don’t worry about it. He knows he can’t go far without me.” The cockiness in his tone might be warranted, but I still slap his chest for it.
“Ego, much? It doesn’t matter, I don’t want things to be awkward for any of us. He’s married to my mom, remember? I live with them?”
Kai crowds me against the back wall of the elevator. “No.”
I raise my eyebrows as the doors open on his floor. “No?”
He doesn’t respond, instead taking my hand and half dragging me down the hall to what I assume is his room. He stays silent all the way there until we’re inside and the door is closed and latched behind us.
“No. You’re not living with them anymore.” That confident, bordering-on-cocky tone falls way, and in its place is a thread of vulnerability. “I want you to live with me, Iz. I want to wake up with you every morning and come home to you every night. I want to know that you’re sleeping in our bed when I have totravel. I want lazy mornings in the offseason, and I want us to cook dinner together, and I want us to shower together, and —”
“Okay, I get it.” I laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him. “If you want me to move in with you, then I will.”
He kisses me before pulling his head back slightly. “Seriously? That was way easier than I expected it would be.”
I tilt my head to the side before removing his hat and letting it fall to the floor so I can rake my fingers through his hair. “Why would I fight you on it? If we’re living together, I can have orgasms on demand.”
