Page 43 of Slapshot Summer
After filling themselves with a lunch of eggs, bacon, and pancakes, they spent the next few hours checking out the little town.The museum turned out to be ashellmuseum that was closed on Mondays, so they stopped at Sun-Sand-Books, where they browsed the mystery section and discovered they had several favorite authors in common.
At a cute little florist shop called the Sand Dollar Florist Boutique, Josh insisted on buying a small box of handmade chocolates to share later and a net bag that held seashells in a variety of sizes and colors for her—a memento of their time together.The romantic gesture broke off a little piece of her heart and reminded her that moments with him had an expiration date at the end of the week.
They headed back to the beach, where Josh stopped to help a kid build a sandcastle.The boy was struggling with the construction, which kept falling down, and Josh got the okay from his mom to lend a hand.Ofcoursehe did.What woman could say no to this man?
Lexi helped Josh move the construction site farther up the shore and away from the encroaching waves, and they spent the next hour getting wet while building several towers to the boy’s specs, with a lot of laughter and chatter in between.She couldn’t remember feeling so free, so alive, so replete.If only she could bottle up the sensations and hold them to her forever.
She paused to dust off her hands and sat back on her heels, observing Josh’s easy interplay with the kid.As they walked away later, she asked him if he had nieces and nephews—or maybe even a child of his own.Sure, she had deep biblical knowledge of him, butthesewere the kinds of facts in short supply.She wanted to know everything about him.
“No,” he chuckled.“I don’t have any children, and no nieces or nephews.I’ve spent a lot of time around kids, though, in goalie camps and children’s hospitals and different charity events.I even used to help out at the dance studio when I was home for the summer.Kids are a bag of laughs.I love looking at the world through their eyes—takes me back to my own childhood, when life was simple.They’re so straightforward and unapologetic.I love that.”One more piece of her heart might have broken off and melted.“How about you?”
“No kids of my own and no siblings, so no nieces or nephews.I’ve never really spent much time around them.Couldn’t you tell by how awkward I was with that little boy?”
“Not at all.You seemed very comfortable.”He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers.“I bet you’ll make a great mom someday … if youwantkids, that is.”
“I do.How about you?”
“I guess.Maybe.I don’t know.Haven’t spent much time thinking about it because it’s been all about hockey for so damn long.First I’d have to find a woman I could see myself having kids with, then I’d have to make sure she could put up with my bullshit.”
“Whatbullshit?”Lexi scoffed.
“Good point.While I myself am a real catch—and if you believe that, I have some crocodile-infested swampland I’d like to sell you—being involved with a hockey player makes for a stressful life.I’ve watched some of the trouble my teammates go through.It’s not easy on the wives and girlfriends when they don’t know how long they’re going to stay in one location, if they can put down roots, if they’ll have to yank kids out of their schools and away from friends.It sucks when that upheaval happens, and the player has little or no control.He’s a commodity.His family lives or dies by the same set of rules.”He swung their hands back and forth.“Look at my situation.If I had a wife, I’d have to break the news to her that I’m moving to Russia.Unless she’s from there, I doubt she’d be too keen on moving halfway across the globe with me.And if she decided to stay back in the US andnotbe with me?Those kinds of moves are tough on players too.I’dwantmy wife with me.You know, the old ‘someone to come home to’ thing.”
“If you’re on the road half the time, though, you’re not always coming home to someone anyway.”
He peered at her.“Not true.You come home to them at the end of a long, grueling road trip.Knowing they’re there waiting for you is probably even more comforting than seeing them at the end of every day.”He shrugged.“But I wouldn’t know.I just listen to my teammates talk—the ones in committed relationships anyway.”
She let those words settle in.Josh might be a playboy who’d honed his bedroom skills by sharing his bed with many partners, but deep down he was a man who wanted some of the simple basics of life.A lifelong partner to share the everyday joys and tribulations with.The more time she spent with him, the more these little discoveries surprised her—along with the fact that he revealed them in the first place.
They traipsed through the sand in silence until they reached the outskirts of the hotel.He tugged on her hand.“Can I buy you a drink?We can sit down and look up some other places to explore while we’re here,” he suggested.“We could even rent a car and drive up the coast.”His eyebrows waggled.“Unless you want to bag the activities, go back to your room, get naked, and stay that way for the rest of the week.I know that’s an activityI’denjoy.”
“You’re already enjoying it!”she laughed.
“Oh, but there’s so much more to appreciate.”He let out an exaggerated sigh.“Damn, it sounds like you want to keep busy doing other things besides letting me worship at the altar of Lexi Campbell.”
Oh.That was so … Wow.He’d left her speechless again.
Sex with Conrad had never been great, even when he’d consented to actual intercourse.She’d accepted it, convinced herself that the act simply wasn’t what everyone made it out to be, but how wrong she had been.If nothing else, Josh was gifting her that reality to hold on to.Would she ever meet anyone again who did to her what he did?Who made her feel the way he did?She could only hope.
“You’d be sick of me after a week in bed,” she said, flattered but embarrassed.Altar?Hardly.
He stopped and turned her by the shoulders so she faced him.“Not sure it’s possible for me to get enough of you, babe.One week of twenty-four-seven in your bed sure as hell won’t do it.”The expression on his face conveyed pure genuineness, and any doubts she might have had were wiped away by the kiss he laid on her mouth right afterward.The kiss was a soulful one, filled with emotions she couldn’t place.She wanted to melt into him, fuse with him.
When he pulled away, his breathing had accelerated.“I love kissing you.Your ex-fiancé must have had a screw loose.What the fuck was wrong with that guy anyway?”
The question caught her completely off guard, and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.She’d asked herself the same question after Conrad had called off the wedding, but time and doubt had eaten away at the narrative until she’d turned the question on herself.What was wrong withher?Being with Josh was making her realize she needed to flip it back.
Josh’s lips firmed into a contrite slash.“Sorry, baby.I was out of line.”
“No, you weren’t.It just surprised me, that’s all.”
They continued a slow walk toward the hotel’s outdoor patio.
“Can I ask you a question?”he probed.
She steeled herself, waiting for the emotional sweep that usually hit her whenever she revisited the breakup.“Yes, of course.”
“This Conrad guy—that’s his name, right?”She nodded.“Conrad claimed he didn’t love you and that’s why he broke up with you?”
