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As my fingers thread into her ponytail, I’m lost. For two days, I thought I’d never get to press my lips to this mouth. Because of that, I have to make up for lost time. I deepen the kiss and she moans as my tongue moves into her mouth, my fingers cupping her face.
When she pulls back, she holds my face. “I love you.”
I wink. “Good, ’cause I love you.”
I go for more, but then the buzzer above me that keeps time on how long cars can wait starts sounding and I shake my head. “Man, the world doesn’t want us to make up!”
She smiles tentatively but it still doesn’t reach her eyes, and that really bothers me. I wish she hadn’t gone because if her family did anything to change her while she was gone, I swear, I’ll blow their house up.
Whoa, that was a little psycho.
Clearing my throat, I put the car in reverse and ask, “You sure you’re okay? Matty didn’t try anything else, did he?”
She shakes her head, wiping her face as I drive off. “No. Just a lot going on up here,” she says, tapping her head.
“Like?”
I feel her look over at me as I turn on to the interstate. “I mean, do you want to do this now?”
I shrug. “We can, or you can wait,” I
say as I turn, going toward Nashville. “I packed up a dinner and figured we could go up to my special love nest.” I give her an exaggerated wink, but she doesn’t even crack a grin. Dread settles deep in my gut because I know something is seriously wrong. “Avery, baby, you’re scaring me. You’re not gonna break up with me again, are you?”
She shakes her head. “God, no. I’m just freaking out. I’m sorry.”
“Why? It’s okay. We are gonna be okay. No matter what, I love you and we will work through this,” I stress as I turn on to the road that will take me to campus.
“I hope so,” I hear her mutter and my heart speeds up.
“What does that mean?”
“Let’s just wait,” she says, wiping her tears as she pulls her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
“Okay.”
Reaching over, I tuck my hand between her legs and she leans on my arm, her tears wetting my sleeve as I drive. I don’t know what to say, and I don’t know what is happening. Of course, I think the worst. She is going to break up with me and soon. My heart is in my throat as I drive silently to the arena. This wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to chat, be happy to see each other. But obviously, I was wrong on that.
Which scares the living shit out of me.
When I get to the arena, I park on the side and get out, grabbing the basket from the back. I notice she is at the back of the car, bundled up in her jacket. I go to her, wrapping my arm around her waist and kissing her temple. “I love you.”
She looks up at me, her eyes drowning in tears, and she nods. “I love you more.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I know she’s not lying. She does love me, I see it in her eyes, but I also see fear and that stops me. What the hell is she scared of? Before I can try to ask, though, we start for the arena, going inside and up the many stairs to my special spot. I stopped by before getting her and set everything up to make it even more special. I’m all about ambiance when we are making up. I had hoped she would be impressed, but when I look at her face, she is still crying. “Avery?”
She looks up. “Yeah?”
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
She shakes her head, falling to her knees, patting the spot beside me. “A little overwhelmed. This is so beautiful,” she whispers as she takes in the candles I need to light and the bouquet of roses waiting for her. “You are so sweet,” she cries and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry, Jace.”
Okay. We are doing this now.
Going to my knees beside her, I set the basket beside us and gather her in my arms, holding her tightly. “Baby, I was wrong too. I shouldn’t have said that I didn’t know if I wanted to break up. I was just so overwhelmed with it all and scared. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was putting my career above—”
“No, I understand because hockey is your life. I’m sorry that I acted the way I did. It’s a horribly sore spot for me and I overreacted.”
“But I shouldn’t have made you feel like that. I want both—my career and you. I mean, I hope you’re okay with being at the top with my career because I’ve worked so hard for it. But I want this, I want you. Always.”
