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I get behind the wheel, and BJ climbs into the passenger seat. “I hope it was okay that I stopped by. I don’t want to interrupt your practice. I know this is a big competition.”
“It’s more than okay. I love that you showed up. I totally lost track of time, and honestly, I was getting sloppy. We weren’t making progress. Maybe we can work it so you stop by once a week like that? We can even make a date out of it—go for dinner after so we get some hangout time. We’ve both been super busy lately, and I feel like all I get to do is sleep next to you.”
“I could do that for sure.”
“We’ll pick a day a week so we get in us time. Sound good?” He sets his hand palm up on the center console.
“Yeah. That sounds great.”
“Perfect.”
When we get back to his place, I heat up the pasta and meatballs while BJ sets the table. Quinn’s car is gone, and so are he and Rose. There’s a note on the fridge saying they went on an emergency chocolate run.
BJ shovels food into his mouth like he hasn’t eaten in days and slouches in his chair with a groan when he finishes. “That was freaking amazing. You are a wizard in the kitchen.”
“I had loads of help.” I love that meal-making around here can be a team effort. Everyone pitches in, and most of the time we try to eat together.
“Wanna cuddle in my bed?” BJ’s eyelids are droopy.
“Are you hitting the food-coma stage of the evening?”
“I might need a ten-minute nap before we get to the good stuff.”
I think he needs a ten-hour nap, but I don’t argue. I follow him to his room and snuggle into his side. He falls asleep in seconds. I lie here for a few minutes, just enjoying the closeness. There’s no way I’ll wake him in ten minutes though, so when I’m sure he’s out cold, I slip out of bed, cover him with a blanket, and close his bedroom door.
I go back to my place and find everyone in the living room. Lovey is sandwiched between Lacey and Quinn on the couch, and River and Josiah are crammed in the lounger together, looking damn well adorable. Rose is curled up in a beanbag chair on the floor. Laughlin, who randomly shows up these days, is lying on the floor, using the corner of Rose’s beanbag chair as a pillow. It looks super uncomfortable.
Lovey frowns. “Where’s BJ?”
“He fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow.” I drop into one of the gaming chairs.
“After you boned?” Rose hands me a box of chocolates and the flavor map.
“Sadly, no.” I find a vanilla buttercream and pop it into my mouth before I pass the box to Quinn.
“We vacated the premises so you could have the place to yourself.” Rose motions to the TV. “And now I’m invested in this ridiculous movie, so I have to watch to the end, even though it’s highly predictable.”
“We’re probably missing key plot points with all your moaning,” Laughlin grumbles.
“Who even invited you?” She pokes him in the cheek with her toe.
“I would not recommend doing that again unless you want to be minus a toe. It’s rather difficult to pirouette without them.”
“Whatever, Dracula. I quit ballet, so my toes are no longer essential.” She turns back to me. “Go back and wake him up.”
“He’s exhausted. He needs the sleep. He’ll text if he wakes up.”
But I have a feeling he won’t. He’s been burning the candle at both ends, and I don’t want to be the reason something happens to him on the ice.
30 THE FALL I DIDN’T KNOW WAS COMING
BJ
We work it so Winter drives me and picks me up from skate practice with Adele at least once a week. It means we get a little extra time together. And I’ve started setting an early alarm so we can have morning sex at least once a week. We also try to have breakfast together and meet for lunch often. Twice we’ve gone home for a little lunchtime fun, but we were almost late getting back to campus both times, so that’s off the table.
Winter is settling into college life, finding the balance between school, hockey, and friends. My parents brought her mom to visit and see her play last weekend. They won the game, and we went out for a celebratory dinner. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Well, almost everything.
Adele has on days and off days, and it’s tough to predict what version I’ll be skating with. The closer we get to this competition, the more ice time she wants. The last few days she’s been handling the complicated combinations, though, so that’s good. I can’t record all the time, and when I’ve managed to do so lately, I seem to get the sessions where she’s nearly flawless, so I can’t figure out where we’re going wrong. And when my mom comes up on the weekends, Adele’s skating has been on point.
