Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,50
is just muscle and no fun. But laying the new tile allows us to watch the project come together…”
“You’re a good man,” Ryder told him. “Only reason I’m here is because I helped you get the tile. There’s no chick I would spend a day doing this for.”
Miikka chuckled. “Someday, there will be. It’s okay. You’ll know when you meet her.”
“Not for a long time,” Ryder said with a grimace. “But hey, I’m happy to hang out today and get out of that damn apartment. It’s too small.”
“You’re not going wherever home is for the summer?” Logan asked him.
“Yeah, I’ll go home to Ontario soon but I have to find a place to live first. I’m in one of those month-to-month places and I hate it. I’m not gonna want to deal with it when I get back, since we’ll be getting ready for training camp, so I’m going to spend a few weeks finding a place and getting my shit moved in. Then I’ll take off.”
Miikka was thoughtful. “I may solve this problem for you,” he said.
“Yeah?” Ryder glanced at him curiously as they crowded into Charli’s master bathroom.
“I might move out,” he said slowly. “Logan will need a new roommate.”
“You guys have a house?” Ryder asked.
“You’re moving out?” Logan asked at the same time.
Miikka paused. “Char-lot is very special. I sleep here almost every night now anyway. I plan to talk to her about it this weekend.”
“Cool.” Ryder nodded, grabbing a hammer. “I’d be down.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Logan told Miikka with a scowl.
“Sorry,” Miikka said quietly. “I just thought of this today. I’m tired of going back and forth and I think it’s time for us to get more serious. I was going to talk to you but then Ryder said he needed a place to live…”
“I get it.” Logan nodded. He turned to Ryder. “I guess we’re going to be the last two standing soon.”
“What do you mean?” Ryder asked.
“Guys that are single. The rest of the team is dropping like flies.”
“Donovan’s single,” Miikka pointed out.
“It won’t take him long,” Logan said knowingly. “I can see it in his eyes, he doesn’t want to be single. I get it, he’s older than us, so it makes sense, but man, I can’t even fathom settling down.”
“It’s all about the woman,” Miikka said. “It changes once you meet the right one.”
“I believe it,” Ryder said. “But I’m having a hell of a time trying them all out until I do.”
“Ditto.” Logan fist-bumped him.
“All right, we have work to do.” Miikka got on the floor.
Miikka’s truck was in the driveway when Charli pulled up to the house and it occurred to her he rarely went home anymore. He took Tara back and forth, of course, but he’d slept over every night since the season had ended and his toiletries littered her bathroom. She went in through the garage now that he’d fixed the door and found him in the kitchen looking spectacularly sexy in a cutoff muscle shirt and shorts. He was kind of sweaty and she reached out to wrap her arms around his neck.
“What have you been doing today to make you all sweaty in my kitchen?”
“I have a surprise for you,” he said, kissing her. “Come.”
He tugged her up the stairs and into her bedroom.
“Close your eyes,” he directed.
She did as he asked and he pulled her towards the bathroom.
“Okay,” he said.
She opened her eyes and gasped. “Oh my god, you took out all the old tile and… Is that the new tile we talked about?” She moved towards the box in the corner of the room.
“Yes. I ordered them for you and removed the old tile so we could put in the new tile together.”
Tears inexplicably filled her eyes and she turned to him. “How did I get so lucky to find you?”
“Why are you crying? You don’t like the tile?”
“No, I do.” She swiped at her eyes. “You’re just such a good guy… I love the tile and I think I love you!” She threw herself in his arms and he closed them around her tightly.
“Minäkin rakastan sinua,” he whispered back.
“That better mean I love you too,” she said against his chest.
“Yes.” He stroked his hands down her back. “Why does this make you cry?”
“Because I’m so damn scared. Every time I trust a man, he hurts me and I don’t have it in me to go through it again.”
“Not me,” he said. “Never me.”
“We’ve only known each other six weeks,” she said. “And