He raised his hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb, an eternity of love pouring from his eyes. “No.”
I tried—and failed—not to let that hurt. “Okay.”
He pressed his lips to mine in a sweet kiss and traced my bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. “December Howard. You deserve everything I can give you. My body, my heart, my name. They’re already yours, we’re just missing some paperwork. But you’re right. I don’t want this deployment to change anything about us, and if I weren’t leaving in ten days, we wouldn’t even be considering eloping. We’d probably have some huge mountaintop wedding, right?”
I couldn’t contain the smile that spread across my face. “We could ride the chairlifts up. And imagine the pictures!”
He laughed, pressing another kiss to my lips but pulling back before I could lean in for more. “I won’t let this deployment steal that away from us, too, so I’m not asking you now.”
I pushed away the thought that I’d ruined any chance of him asking again, and trusted in him. “But you will ask again.”
“On our terms, and no one else’s.”
I nodded. “You and me against the world,” I whispered.
“Always,” he finished with a kiss.
“You sure you don’t mind snagging notes for me?” I asked Luke before sipping my latte.
“You sure you don’t have an Ephesus application to hand me? There is a deadline, even for a shoo-in like you.”
“I’m not a shoo-in, and I still haven’t decided if I’m going.”
He rolled his eyes. “Sure you have. You can’t turn this down. You won’t. You’re not deciding, you’re rationalizing it between your head and your heart. But think of it this way—if you go on the dig, you’d actually be physically closer to Flyboy than you are here in Nashville.”
“I guess I’d never thought of it that way.”
“And as for the notes, what else am I good for as a TA in Senior Seminar?” He shoulder-bumped me as we carried our takeout coffees back to the classroom.
“I know I’ll miss class the day he leaves, but I’m not going to mope for longer than twenty-four hours,” I said, mostly to promise myself. “Then I’ll be back here to kick ass.”
“So one more weekend, huh?” He shot me the look…the one that dripped with so much sympathy that it triggered my stop-pitying-me reflex.
“Yep. And I’m going to make it perfect for him.”
“Why don’t you guys get away? I bet my dad wouldn’t mind covering a suite for you guys near the beach somewhere. Atlantic City, maybe?”
“That’s so nice of you to offer, Luke, but even all your dad’s money can’t get the army to cooperate. He has to be able to report within four hours, so that’s too far.”
“Hmmm.” He opened the door for me and we walked inside, taking the stairs toward the room. “Wait. Flyboy was hockey boy first, right?”
“Most definitely,” I answered, my stomach immediately fluttering at the thought of watching him play again. God, the way he moved on the ice never failed to turn me on to the point I was ready to rip off that sweaty uniform right there on the ice. And the way he handled that stick with his hands…
“Earth to Ember,” Luke sang.
“Oh, sorry.” I shook my head.
“Okay, well, if you’re done mentally fucking your boyfriend, I think I might have an idea. Remember that little expansion team my dad owns?”
I paused mid step, making Luke back up to fetch me. “I’d hardly call the Louisville Bobcats little. They’re an NHL team.”
“Yeah, well, I guess he got bored with hotels. Anyway, how about we get you guys phenomenal seats to the Sunday game, and then follow up with a suite at 21C? A little sports for him, a little pampering for you, some hotel sexy-times… What’s not to love about that send-off?”
The gears in my mind raced. “He owns the Bobcats.”
“I think I just said that. Really, Red, you’ve never cared about the money before, and this little thing does it for you?” He arched an eyebrow.
“No, it’s not the team…it’s the ice.”