Then he sends me an address and quickly adds me to the team group chat.
That’s . . . new.
But I can’t deal with how fucking pathetic it is that it’s new. Instead, I reach for something else to say.
“Oh, I’m looking for a place around here, so if you’ve got any tips for realtors or like areas where I should look, I’d love to get some advice.”
Yeah, I technically already found the one I want, but I haven’t talked about it again with Eli, and this is the only topic that seems good right now.
Lucy snorts loudly. “Man, the fans are gonna love that.” His smile isn’t mean at all, but I still tense up.
Patrick finally joins the conversation there.
“Yeah, they’ll see it as him getting ready to spend the rest of his life here. Good job.” He directs that last one at me.
I relax, but during my checkup with the doctor and all the way back to the city, I can’t help but hear those words over and over.
Maybe Iamimagining spending the rest of my life here.
20
Eli
I recognize how stalkery I am when I check the SUV’s location every hour or so throughout the day, but I refuse to feel bad about it because the important thing is that as soon as the little green dot is in front of the house, I can shut down any work-related stuff without having to hurry.
It’s been a productive workday. Spending most of it at the office with Dad was fine, but when he told me he was done early and we could go home, I was relieved.
I left him downstairs chatting with Ruko and Lyla a couple of hours ago, and now that Lex is back, I know we’ll have dinner together—like a family.
A weirdly shaped one, that’s for sure, but family nonetheless.
I still want at least a few minutes alone with Lex before that, though, so I’m waiting by the door of the office when I hear him coming up the stairs.
I like that, like me, he prefers using them instead of the elevator, that it’s something we both do to come to our bedroom. Because that’s what it is now, at least in my mind. I know Lex wants to get another place, and I’m all for that actually, especially if he’ll let me build myself another fortress office and I can spend as much time there as possible.
But that doesn’t mean this has to stop being our room, right?
“Hey,” he says as soon as he sees me leaning against the door frame. The fact that a smile lights up his face is seriously the only thing that matters to me, but I do register the absence of a brace over his nose.
I walk over and cup his cheek.
“How are you?”
My insides melt a little when he nuzzles my hand back. I stroke his skin with my thumb on instinct, and when he kisses my palm before bending to add another kiss to my lips, I feel an overwhelming sense of joy flood my body.
“I’m okay. The Demons’ doctor checked me out and everything’s still where it’s supposed to be,” he jokes, and I smirk, but only briefly. “She said I can be back on the ice for no-contact practice in two weeks, and if all goes well, I could play with a full shield in three weeks. I’d have to have that for at least a month and definitely not get into any fights.”
“That sounds good,” I mumble, but the anxiety I’ve been feeling all day wasn’t about the doctor’s appointment. “And the meeting with the coach? The GM?”
He tilts his head from side to side as if deliberating.
“It was weird,” he settles on.
“What? Weird how?”
He pulls me into the bedroom and goes right to the closet as he launches into a play-by-play of everything that happened.
I’m still processing when he’s changed into comfortable sweatpants and a soft T-shirt.
