Page 279 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Then we are outside again. The summer air is cool against my skin, and the sound of everyone talking follows us onto the porch.

I stop at the top of the steps. Jamie turns.

“What?”

I look back at the glowing windows. At the silhouettes moving inside. At the place where twelve people dropped everything because Jamie called and where no one hesitated to welcome me back.

“That was your first stop?”

He nods. “First stop.”

“How many are there?”

“Four tonight.”

My eyes widen. “Four?”

“I have a lot to show you.”

He steps closer.

His hands settle at my waist. “I want you to know all of it, Annette.”

“All of what?”

“My life, me.”

The teasing leaves his expression. “I don’t want there to be pieces of me you haven’t seen.”

My heart gives one hard, painful beat.

“Jamie—”

“The team is part of my world.”

He glances toward the house. “They’re the loud part.”

I laugh softly.

“But there’s more.”

His fingers tighten gently at my waist. “And before tonight is over, I want you to know all of it.”

The words should frighten me. Once, they would have.

Because I know Jamie well enough to understand what he is saying. This is not a tour. It is an invitation.

He is not showing me the places in his life, he is asking me to belong in them.

I rise onto my toes and kiss him. “I’m ready.”

When I pull back, his eyes are bright. “You sure?”

I take his hand. “I drove two thousand miles.”

His smile comes slowly. “That you did.”

Together, we walk back toward the truck. First stop complete. Three more pieces of Jamie’s world await.