walked into the office. “Isn’t that what you really want to know? If there’s anything more substantial than just sex between Gabriella and me?”
“Whoa.” Jax held up his hands. “Where did that come from?”
“Have you forgotten you warned me off Gabi?”
I hated when Nolan called me Gabi. I’d gotten so used to that deep, sexy, drawn-out Gab-ri-el-la that it almost seemed sarcastic when he called me what everyone else did.
“Yeah, I had forgotten that, because it was out of line. I was out of line.” Jax erased the distance between them. “If you think I’m anything less than ecstatically happy about you finding a woman who is worthy of you, then you don’t know me at all, brother.”
They glared at each other—which made no sense.
“Well, good,” Nolan finally said.
“Dumbass.” Jax looked at me. “If he gets out of line? He’s really ticklish below his ribs.”
“Jesus, Jax. You had to tell her that?”
“Yep. See you both tomorrow.” He paused in the doorway and turned around. “For real, Nolan, if you want to talk about any of the LI stuff, I’m here.”
“Thanks.”
Nolan didn’t move until he knew his brother was gone. Then he came up behind me, banding one arm across the front of my body and tilting my head to get at my neck.
The feeling of his warm mouth and the nip of his teeth made my knees weak. “God, I love the taste of your skin after you’ve been on the ice. The salt of your sweat turns your sweet scent into this warm musk that drives me fucking insane. I want to strip you down, bend you over, drive into you when you’re still wearing your skates.” He nuzzled my damp hairline and the air from his rapid breaths sent shivers flowing through me. “You’d have to rely on me to keep you balanced. You’d have to trust that I could wring every bit of pleasure out of you with my fingers between your legs, my mouth on your skin and my cock buried deep inside you.”
“Nolan.”
“I’ve been fantasizing about that a lot. One of these days? I’ll make it a reality. But for now . . .” He spun me around and clamped his hands on the sides of my head, smashing his lips against mine. This ravenous kiss proved how perfectly we meshed; how I needed this verbal and physical reminder of who we’d become to each other.
Everything.
He slowed the kiss gradually, then kissed my chin, my jawline, my temples, my eyebrows, my forehead, all while holding me in a way that felt like he needed me to hold him up too.
“You all right?”
“Been a surreal day.”
“How’s Archer?”
“Better than yesterday. He hates being seen as weak, so he refused all visitors after his brothers left this morning. He wouldn’t even let Mimi come.” Nolan stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. “Is it asking too much if I want you to stay with me tonight?”
I hadn’t slept well last night, and Nolan had stayed at the hospital, so I wondered if he’d slept at all. “I’ll need to borrow your toothbrush again. And your robe.”
“Of course.”
* * *
* * *
After a long shower, Nolan barely lasted long enough to eat an omelet.
I crawled in bed with him until he fell asleep, then got up and worked on my coaching strategy. No rec team from Lakeside had ever been invited to the Cities’ End of Season Invitational Tournament, so my girls were pumped to compete.
As excited as I was to start a new challenge, I wondered how much I’d miss coaching.
And refereeing.
And teaching workshops to girls who acted like I was a rock star.
And watching the newbie players become seasoned.
And the time I spent alone on the ice. And the time I spent on the ice with players who loved the sport as much as I did.
I’d miss Margene.
And learning from Jax.
And how was I supposed to walk away from Nolan now that I’d found him? When I finally mustered the guts to tell him about the required move that went along with the job, would he accuse me of putting hockey above everything else?
If he asked me not to take the job, what would I say?
He’d say you should’ve told him the job required you moving to Duluth as soon as you knew that was a stipulation.
Sleep was pretty damn elusive for me after that.
* * *
* * *
Nolan woke up energized.
Very energized.
He hadn’t let me out of bed until he’d “made up for” his