Page 83 of Tough Call

His smile in that moment reminded me so much of the boy who’d been the center of my world a lifetime ago. And suddenly everything in that world made sense.

Of course we found each other again.

Of course we ended up here.

Of course we fell in love.

How could this have gone any other way?

He stroked my wet hair. “I don’t know how to do this. When we’re on opposite sides of the world for half the year. But… I want to.”

“Me too. We’ll figure it out.”

“We will.” His expression turned playful. “Maybe after we go inside and I rock your world again, hmm?”

I laughed, dizzy with… fuck, with everything.

“Sounds like a perfect plan. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 27

MADARS

I’d had entire relationships that didn’t involve as much sex as we’d had since he’d arrived in Spain, and I was in heaven. It was a miracle I could still skate whenever we joined Mülly and Emilia at the rink, but I had no complaints at all.

And tonight I’d finally said it. I’d told Connor I loved him. He’d told me he loved me too! This was fucking amazing.

So was lying beside him in bed after I had, as promised, come in him twice. He was curled against me, his head on my shoulder, and we’d both dozed off for a little while. Now I was awake and he was still breathing softly and slowly.

Closing my eyes, I smiled and ran my fingertips up and down his arm. I tried to imagine how seventeen-year-old me would’ve reacted to peering into the future and seeing Connor and me like this. The thought made me chuckle. That version of me had been way too focused on two things—hockey and horniness—to even imagine a future with someone. Then again, if someone had asked me back then to imagine that future, I wondered if I’d have pictured myself with Connor.

Well, whatever the future had looked like to teenage Madars, here I was, lying in bed in a Spanish villa, ridiculously in love with Connor. I still wasn’t sure how a long-distance relationship would work in practice. I knew a lot of players who did—in Switzerland, I played with guys from Norway, Austria, Denmark, and France, and they made it work with their partners. A former teammate’s fiancée had been in Canada, and the captain of Lausanne’s women’s team was married to a goalie in California. So, I knew the transoceanic thing could and did work. I had no doubt Connor and I could make it work. And I mean, we’d been making it work since Prague, hadn’t we? So it wouldn’t take much to⁠—

My phone trilled to life.

Normally, I wouldn’t bother with my phone when I was in bed with someone, but there were a few ringtones that let me know a call was too important to ignore.

I carefully untangled myself from Connor and reached for the nightstand.

“Hmm? What?” Connor murmured. “Is that your phone or mine?”

“Mine.” I picked it up. “It’s my agent.”

Connor immediately let go. No argument. No objection.

I accepted the call in Latvian. “Sveiki, Kirils.”

He didn’t beat around the bush, and there was a grin in his voice as he asked, “How do you feel about playing in North America?”

In the same instant, excitement shot through me and my blood turned cold. A chance to play in the NAL? Fuck yes!

Except… I was in bed with an NAL ref. Not ideal.

I glanced at Connor, who was watching me curiously. To Kirils, I said in Latvian, “You know I want to.”

“I do, and I just got off the phone with Vancouver’s general manager. They’d like to offer you a professional tryout for the upcoming season.”

I had never experienced more mixed emotions at once than I did in that moment. My heart slammed into my ribs as I felt around for Connor’s hand. He closed his fingers around mine, the contact soothing even as it sent guilt and panic swirling through me.