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And I thought I wanted to kiss you the first time.
That impulse was almost irresistible tonight. I didn’t care if my lip hurt or itched. Literally the only thing stopping me from saying fuck it and kissing him anyway was that he probably wouldn’t like it. Neither of us needed our first kiss to feel like we’d squashed a spider between our lips.
I cleared my throat and gestured for him to come in. “Hey. Didn’t have any trouble finding the place, I guess?”Smooth, Tanner. Well done. Jesus.
“GPS brought me right to it.” He looked around the foyer and living room and whistled. “Wow. Nice place.”
“Thanks. I’ll probably upgrade if the Yellow Jackets extend me, but I like it.”
Isaiah met my gaze. “You think they will?”
“I hope so.” I shrugged. “My agent said negotiations are going pretty well, and it’s not like I’m a huge cap hit. Unless they need some trade fodder after this season…”
He actually looked worried at that.
“Relax.” I squeezed his arm. “I’m pretty sure Coach Martinson has made it known he wants them to keep me. Come on in—let’s have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”
That seemed to shake him out of the temporary funk. “I’m good. Thanks, though.”
I was good, too, so after he’d taken off his shoes, we moved into the living room and sat down on my couch. I was so damn nervous and excited about him being here, I couldn’t even think of something to say.
Fortunately, he didn’t have that problem. “I’m surprised you don’t have any fresh bruises or stitches.” He gestured at his own face. “After last night.”
“After—oh, the fight with Smeds?” I rolled my eyes. “Nah. He knocked my helmet off, but I didn’t let him get any hits in after that.”
Isaiah laughed, shaking his head. “You’re braver than me. He’s huge!”
“Pfft. You should’ve seen that dude who broke my jaw in major juniors.”
Isaiah’s eyes widened. “No shit?”
I couldn’t help rubbing the left side of my jaw gingerly. “Yeah. Big-ass Swedish D-man who was so easy to provoke.”
“Why am I not surprised you provoked him?”
I shrugged with mock innocence. “What? It was just a little bit of chirping.”
“Uh-huh. And how much of that chirping was about how you could kick his ass?”
“Well… I mean…”
Isaiah laughed. “That’s what I figured. You do like fighting, don’t you?”
“I’m a hockey player.”
“But there isn’t really that much fighting anymore, is there?”
“There is when I’m on the ice.”
God, I would never get tired of the way this man laughed. Eyes sparkling, he said, “So you’re just trying to keep the old ways alive?”
“That, and sometimes people fuck around and need to find out.”
“Of course they do.”
“They do!” I showed my palms. “I can’t let them get away with that shit!”
“Says the guy who has neveronceinstigated a fight.”
