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“Have a good night, everyone.” I leave out the door, but all I can think about all night is I finally get Skylar to myself tomorrow, and I’m going to make it count.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Skylar
“This is a really nice building,” I say to Liam as we head up to his apartment in the elevator. He picked me up from home this morning to bring me here. He’s holding my purse while I hang on to both my crutches.
“It’s nice.” He nods. “A lot of the single guys on the team live here. My buddy Evan is my next-door neighbor. We were at Westfall together. The team owns the units,” he explains.
“So is this building puck bunny central? A place where single hockey players entertain their so-called fans?” I know I sound insecure, but it’s because I feel insecure. Liam is leading a fancy life. He’s on top of the world living out his dreams. In comparison, I didn’t live out any of mine, even though I would never want to change my life because I have Crew, but I would’ve liked to have finished school just to give us a better standard of living.
Liam’s lips pinch. “I can’t talk for my buddies, but I can tell you, I haven’t been with anyone since before my accident.”
I do the calculation in my head. “That’s almost three years,” I say in shock.
“She does math,” he jokes, but it fades, and his features turn serious. “I haven’t wanted to be with anyone but you since then.”
His revelation sucks the breath from my lungs and makes the center of my chest feel full in a way it hasn’t in a long time.
We arrive at his floor. He holds the elevator door while I swing my way out to the hall ar on crutches. His apartment door is a short walk from the elevator. He unlocks the door and extends his hand for me to enter first.
“This is really nice,” I say, looking around.
The off-white marble entrance fades into a light-wood flooring. He has a huge brown rustic leather sectional in the middle of the room with a large television, and beyond that, I see a long dining table. The place is warm, rustic, and not what I was expecting for some reason.
“Come take a seat,” he says, placing my purse down on the couch.
“I should take off my boot. I don’t want to mess up your floors. The place is spotless,” I say because I can’t help but notice.
“I have a cleaner come in a couple of times a week. She cleans for most of my teammates who live in this building. It’s convenient.”
I take a seat on the couch, and Liam kneels in front of me. “I’ll take your boot off for you so you can be comfortable.”
He reaches down to pull it off, and I envision myself as some sort of Cinderella whose prince has finally found her. I’ve always loved fairy tales, but from a young age I had shit luck. I knew it was never going to happen for me.
“Thank you.” I smile.
“What can I get you to drink?” he asks. “I have a kick-ass coffee machine that will make you any kind of fancy drink you like.”
“How can I say no to that,” I joke. “A latte would be great.”
“Regular milk or oat?” he asks.
“Look at you, being all fancy.” I laugh.
“I like to spoil myself with small things.” His eyes turn a little dark.
He moves an ottoman closer to me so I can elevate my broken ankle, and then he turns away to where I’m guessing the kitchen is. “Make yourself at home,” he calls out.
I’m wearing an oversized cream hoodie sweatshirt and flared joggers. It was the only thing I could find this morning to go over my cast. There was no way I wanted to cut another pair of pants.
He returns a few minutes later with two mugs in hand. “Here you go. Did you want to hold it, or I can place it on the coffee table,” he offers.
“The coffee table is good. I’ll wait for it to cool down a little.”
Liam takes the seat beside me, and I take in his fresh mountain breeze scent.
“You want to watch a movie or something?” he asks.
