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My mom tears up. “I don’t know whether to be happy for you or terrified.”
“Me neither.” I say, my voice cracking.
My mom and I part ways after lunch and I hit the gym while she heads back to their hotel to find my dad. I spend the entire afternoon feeling sick to my stomach about disappointing my parents.
When Clint gets home from hockey practice, I’m chopping mushrooms for a stir-fry. He drops his hockey bag by the door and scoops me up in his arms. “I’m so sorry about your parents. They must hate me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Sure it is. If I wasn’t so damn good at oral…”
I chuckle in spite of myself. “It’s true. Your skills are dangerous and should be used wisely.”
“Do they hate me? I bet they hate me.”
“My mom is worried about me, but she seemed to find the humor in the whole thing. But, let’s just say it’ll be an uphill battle to get my dad to accept you.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Dani. I really wanted to do everything right when I met them.” He kisses me on the forehead, then pulls back. “I’m going to have to work extra hard to win them over.”
After dinner, Clint makes love to me tenderly, gazing into my eyes as he moves over my body, making sure I know I’m loved. It’s late by the time we fall asleep in each other’s arms again, and somehow, I know everything is going to be all right. Clint does that to me. He calms me in a way no one else can.
I have to win gold now. It’s more important than ever. If I can win, they’ll accept him. If I lose, my dad will never forgive Clint for costing me my dreams. The pressure is on, but as I snuggle into Clint’s body and smell his skin, I know I can do it.
Twelve
Clint
It’s early the next morning when I walk Dani over to the rink and drop her off. Instead of staying to watch, I go to her parents’ hotel. I’m not the kind of guy to put something off, not when it’s important. And no one has ever been as important as Danika. I’ll do anything to make her happy. She told me which hotel her parents are at, so I get a cab over there, then ask the desk clerk to call their room for me.
The phone rings several times before the voicemail picks up. I’m about to leave a message when I see them step off the elevator. I hang up the phone and start toward them. Her dad notices me first and clenches his jaw. Then her mom sees me and says, “Oh,” then looks away.
I stop in front of them and say, “Mr. and Mrs. Cruz, I’m Clint Sullivan.” I reach out my hand to shake Mr. Cruz’s, but he folds his arms across his chest.
For a small man, he’s doing a pretty good job at being intimidating. “We know who you are,” he says with a glare.
“I came to apologize about yesterday. That was pretty much the worst way I could have introduced myself to you.” My heart pounds in my chest as I talk. “I’d like it if we could start over.”
“You defile our daughter in a disgusting locker room and then you want a do over? I don’t think so, pal. Just stay away from her before you ruin her life.” He points a finger at me while he talks, his entire face red with rage.
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy when I came over, but right now, most of me wants to turn and walk out. But I won’t. Instead, I hold my ground and go all in. “I don’t know if it’ll make any difference to you or not, but I’ve never felt this way about a woman before. Dani is a remarkable girl and I’m in love with her. I intend to marry her, if she’ll have me.”
“Marry her? You’ve known her for about ten minutes.” Mrs. Cruz narrows her eyes at me.
“I know how crazy that sounds, I really do, Mrs. Cru. But the moment I laid eyes on Danika, something happened that’s never happened before to me. I just knew it in my bones that she was the one for me.”
“Your bone, you mean.” Her dad spits out.
“No, sir. It’s not like that with us. It’s so much more. She’s all I think about. I want to protect her and take care of her and make sure she’s happy all the time. It was all I could do to drag myself away from her this morning, even though she’s at practice and I’d just be sitting in the stands watching.” I rake one hand through my hair and shake my head in frustration at myself. “I sound like a total crazy person right now.”
Mrs. Cruz’s face softens. “No, you don’t. You sound like a man in love.”
Her husband turns to her. “It doesn’t matter how he feels, Yvetta. He’s going to screw up her chance at a gold! He’s going to steal her dream from her.”
“I would never do that, sir. I’ve been helping her get ready.”
“Oh, I heard your kind of helping. That’s the last thing she needs right now.”
“Come with me. Come watch her skate and you’ll see. Everything has fallen into place for her out there. She’s amazing.”
