Page 44 of Slapshot Summer
Another nod.Oddly, the question didn’t yank at any tender strings this time.
“There wasn’t another woman?Or a man?”
“Neither that I’m aware of.I didn’t hear about him dating anyone for months afterward.Then I lost contact with the friends we’d had in common and honestly didn’t bother to find out what he was doing.”
“Yeah, I get that.You trust someone to the point where you’re willing to share the rest of your life with them, and thenboom!You’re blindsided.”
She snorted a laugh.“I didn’t tell you the best part.The night he broke up with me, he sent me a text right after with a link to a song, saying it would explain everything.”
Josh cocked an eyebrow in question.
She turned to look up at him.“Ever heard ‘It’s Over’ by Level 42?”
“If I have, I don’t remember.”
“Well, it’s all about someone leaving someone else, and they’re sorry they’re breaking their heart, blah, blah, blah.They go on to say they couldn’t pretend anymore.Apparently, that was supposed to explain everything.Of course, it explained nothing.How do you stay in a relationship with someone youdon’tlove for three years?And I was such a dummy.I can’t believeIlet it go on that long, especially when I look back on it.The clues were there the whole time.”
Josh squeezed her hand.“You’re not a dummy.You’re warm and caring and trusting, and you loved the guy.It was natural to believe what he told you.”The hotel loomed before them, and he paused to look at her, his silver eyes flashing.“I can’t say I understand because I’ve never been there, but I like to think I havesomeempathy.So while part of me wants to be sorry that happened to you, I’m not sorry.If you were still with him, I wouldn’t be standing here with you in this gorgeous setting getting to know you.You’re special, Lexi Campbell, and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”
A flush blazed from her toes to her scalp.
He must have noticed her beet-red skin because he smiled.“Did I just embarrass you by saying that?”
“No, I just … I’m not used to—”
“Somebody saying how much they enjoy being with you?Well, that’s a fucking shame because you should hear that every day for the rest of your life.”He placed his free hand against his heart.“I’m honored I get to say it right now, even if it does make you feel uncomfortable.After this week, you remember those words, so when the next guy comes along, you know your worth.”
The words hit her like an arrow to the heart.They were so sweet, so heartfelt, and yet so final.He was making it obvious that what they shared in this moment was temporary; it wouldn’t go beyond this week.But what had she expected?To find her Mr.Right at a hotel in Florida after one week?That stuff only happened in Hallmark movies and in the dreams the wedding industry sold.
Shewasembarrassed, though, and felt like toeing her foot in the sand with an “Aw, shucks.”
“You’re just saying that because of our physical … connection.”She waved her hand between them.
He looked to the gathering clouds overhead.“Maybe.It could be driving what I’m yammering on about, but I mean every word.As for the physical connection itself, I love how we are and what we do in bed together.I’ve never felt anything close to this with anyone before.”He took both her hands in his and pulled her so close she felt the heat radiating from him in waves.“I’ve got to say this.I love giving you pleasure, and I feel like a selfish bastard because it probably does more for me than it does for you.You’re so damn responsive that I feel like a superhero when I take you, whether it’s with my mouth or my cock.You’re incredible, Lexi, and I literally can’t get enough of you.”He lifted his head and scanned their surroundings before looking back down at her.He placed one of her hands on his fly, where said cock was thick and heavy and straining against his zipper.“This is what you do to me.I lose all self-control when I’m with you.I don’t understand what forces are involved, but I don’t believe this is only because of a physical connection.”
What was he saying?What, if anything, could she read between those words?Her brain was too muddled to puzzle it out, so she kicked the question to a back corner.And God, if he was rehearsing his lines on her, he was damn good at it.She was sold.She didn’t dare entertain how many times he might have repeated the same thing to other someones.Deep down, though, her foolish heart told her he was sincere.
She began to pull away, but he kept her hand trapped there.“No one can see us.”His words came out scratchy like sandpaper.Leaning into him, she palmed his crotch, trapping it between them, stroking him with her fingertips.
“Fuck,” he gasped.
“Let’s skip the drink,” she whispered, loving how her touch made his hard-on swell to something resembling a steel-encased length of wood.“Right now I could stand some more exploring in my bed.”
He gently thrust against her palm.“We never got a chance to test out that fancy shower of yours.Now might be a good time.”He looked around again before cupping her breast.He deftly undid the top button of her blouse, and his clever thumb hooked below her bra and strummed her nipple.It immediately furled into a tight little bead.Hers wasn’t the only touch that garnered a powerful reaction.“We both got a little wet and salty playing in the sand.Probably a good idea to clean up.Or I could just lick the salt off you.Or both.Wouldn’t want to dirty the sheets, now would we?”His baritone slid over her like warm chocolate.
The throbbing at her juncture from this morning had quieted during the day, but it suddenly began pulsing with need again.“You mean the sheets we’re planning to dirty?”
“Ah, but they won’t be salty or sandy.”
“True.And I hear goalies are very limber.Could come in handy in a shower.”
And there came that bright gleam of lust in his orbs.“What you heard is true.Ready to find out how limber?”
So ready.
“Take me back to the room, Josh.”
Chapter 16
