my years on this team, everyone has only ever called you Sterling. And at that table, she called every other player by his last name…except you. If you two are going to keep whatever you’re doing a secret, then you have got to cover your tracks a little better than that.” He stared me down.
Shit.
I couldn’t confirm or deny, not without breaking my promise to London that we’d keep this quiet, so I simply nodded and got into my car as quickly as possible. We’d have to be more careful at the arena, but at least I’d get her to myself tonight.
Two hours later, I held London’s hand as we entered a cornfield maze.
She tensed as we turned a corner and were surrounded by corn stalks in every line of sight.
“If it gets to be too much, maybe look up?” I suggested, pointing to the clear blue sky above our heads. We still had a good two hours of daylight, so we’d be out of here long before it turned inky black.
“Good idea.” She took a deep breath as we came to a T juncture. “Which way?”
“You choose.” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the back of it. I’d learned that London did much better in confined spaces if it was her choice to begin with. In fact, the only area in her life where she liked to give up control was in bed with me.
There, she didn’t care if I was above her, behind her, or had her pressed against a wall. She was all in, and damn did I love that about her. I loved a lot of things about her, which was making it increasingly difficult to act like we were only acquaintances at the rink.
“Let’s go left,” she suggested, tucking a strand of long, dark hair behind her ear.
“Left it is.” We made the turn and continued into the maze. “You know I’ll be at the New Year’s Eve thing, right?”
“I already marked you down,” she said with a nod as a mischievous smile spread across her face. “I put down Brogan, too.”
“Demon?”
“He said adult-only, and it’s black tie and eighteen and up, so he went on the list.”
I laughed. “Oh, my brave, beautiful woman.”
“He doesn’t scare me.” Her nose crinkled, and she led us right at the next fork. “Well, maybe he’s a little intimidating, but when you grow up with Caz, you become immune to the broody, angry thing. Add Maxim to the mix—” She snapped her mouth shut.
“It’s okay.” I squeezed her hand for reassurance. “I just tell myself that he’s two different people, and your brother’s best friend, Maxim, is not the same person I share genes with.”
“You always say that. Share genes.” She took us straight when there were three options, and we passed a family who was coming out of the left, the husband muttering in agreement that he should have listened to his wife.
“That’s because it’s all we share.” My jaw ticked. “It’s not exactly easy to look at the guy and know that he was the reason I might have a father, but don’t have a dad.”
She tugged me to the right, where the path turned quickly again, closing us into a dead-end. “Why didn’t you say it that way before?” Her brow knit in concern and her fingers stroked over my knuckles.
“There’s nothing to say,” I bristled slightly but softened at the compassionate look in her eyes. “Look. You know that I didn’t know about them for years. I know that Sergei paid my mother a lot of hush money because I wasn’t exactly something he wanted advertised. He already had a family. He chose that family. And all the stuff that makes a family—love, memories, loyalty—none of that exists between Maxim and me, or his siblings. So yeah, we share genes. That’s it.”
Her shoulders rose and fell as she sighed, long and hard. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” I cradled her face. “You didn’t do anything.”
“For putting you guys in that promo together. I would never do it knowing what I know now.” Her gaze dropped.
“Hey.”
Her eyes rose to meet mine, and I brushed a kiss over her lips.
“If you need something from me, I’ll give it to you. That’s how this works now,” I said softly.
“And what do you get out of the deal?” Her hands rose to my chest.
“You.”
“Is that right?” She smiled slowly.
I nodded. “This is real to me, London. I’m in. I’m so in that—”