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I nod and let him pull me up. “It was an exhausting day.”

“I only want to be with you right now.”

A warm glow spreads in my chest. “Me too,” I murmur. And isn’t that the greatest injustice of all? We just want some peace and quiet. The struggle to get it sometimes seems unbearable.

In bed, he snuggles up close to me. His warmth, the trust he places in me, is so overwhelming that it envelops me. I feel like I’m in a cocoon I never want to leave.

An evening spent with my and his friends went well.

I realize that this isn’t a sign of how all our public appearances will turn out. But the certainty that Evan can let his guard down here, between us, is all I could ever wish for.

Chapter 15 – Evan

I’m grinning like a loon at Parker from across the breakfast bar. It’s unavoidable. He hands me the blueberries, which I sprinkle onto my cereal.

For Parker, this is already his second snack of the day, while I got to sleep in.

“Don’t you have any rituals at all?” Parker peers at me skeptically as I pop a spoonful into my mouth.

“Mhm.” I wave my spoon around. “Not here at home. At the arena, though. The locker room. My tape.”

Parker tilts his head and smiles.

“You don’t have to take that seriously. But this season is getting better with every game. There’s no way I’m changing anything about my routine.”

He raises his hands defensively. “I’m not asking you to. I just find it interesting.”

I don’t believe a word he says. He must think I’m crazy. But I don’t care at all. With today’s game, I can break my record from last year. If things go even a bit well, I can surpass the points and goals I had at the end of last season. “You’ll see when I come back today as the winner. You’ll be here, right?”

Parker nods. I’m probably imagining it, but his smile seems reserved. “I might even watch the game. We’ll see how busy I am.”

I quickly grab his hand and squeeze it. “I’d love it if you watched it. It feels right. The first goal today is for you. I promise. Some camera will catch my salute to you.”

He nods with a smile. “What if you don’t score a goal?”

“That’s absolutely not an option.”

Parker intertwines our fingers. “All right. You score a goal for me, and I’ll prepare a surprise for you.”

“A reward for a goal?” I stand up and step in front of him. Parker spreads his legs so I can fit between them. “That’s a double incentive, you know.”

He grabs my hips and pulls me toward him. “Just a double incentive?”

Laughing, I kiss him. “Definitely triple. Quintuple.”

“An odd number?” He’s grinning from ear to ear now.

I run my hand over his chest and ignore the undertone suggesting that Parker thinks I’m a little odd. “Of course, an odd number.” Even numbers make me nervous. They don’t bode well.

“Like your jersey number. Seventy-seven.”

“An absolutely perfect number,” I murmur.

Parker tilts his head back and laughs. “True. Now that you mention it.”

I run both hands up to his neck and rest them on his shoulders. “You can make fun of me all you want. I’m sticking to my opinion.” And my superstitions.

“And you should.” Parker’s voice softens. “You’re lucky it’s March the third today. Three three. I’m expecting a masterpiece.”