Best Played (Salt Lake Pumas) Page 11

  I tried to put those thoughts aside as we settled next to each other on the flight. “So, what are you most looking forward to about getting home?” I asked, trying to dwell on positives rather than negatives.

  Olle gave me a look that implied that I should know the answer to that. And really, when that answer was ‘hockey’, I rolled my eyes. Not at him - or his obsession with work - but rather at myself for not having predicted that to be the answer.

  Then, Olle laughed. “Not just that,” he said with some amusement. “I look forward to the gym, too,” he grinned. “But also just seeing the guys. It’s weird to get time off from them when we’re still playing. They’re like my family.”

  I nodded at that. From what I knew of hockey and the players, and I knew a fair bit from how many interviews I’d read, being close knit was important to their gameplay.

  “I’ll have to introduce you to them,” Olle hummed, surprising me. “I mean, they’re not as chill as your family, but they’re alright. Most of them anyway,” he laughed.

  “I have met Will already,” I pointed out, my tone teasing. He’d been going out with my best friend for over a year, and they’d even moved in together, so, of course, I’d spent some time with Will.

  It would be exciting to meet the rest of the team as something other than their friend’s girlfriend’s friend! That relationship always felt just a bit too tenuous for anyone really to notice me.

  But if Olle introduced me, that would be different. “I meant more what about your house will you be most excited for?” I clarified. As much as I loved my family home, I was still eager to put my favorite music on and dance around in a way I couldn’t do with other people in the house.

  “I’m excited about sleeping in my own bed,” Olle admitted, shooting me a look. “It’s not that your old bed wasn’t nice, but it’s not... you know, my bed.” And yeah, okay, that was fair enough. Though, I couldn’t help wondering if Olle would miss sharing a bed with me.

  He seemed to sense that thought, because his tongue darted out to wet his lips as he glanced at me. “The company was nice,” he told me gently.

  My cheeks flamed, but I held my head up, giving Olle my best cheeky grin. I only hoped that I might get to show him how much more exciting sharing a bed with me could be.

  But maybe Olle wasn’t interested in that. He seemed respectful, not the kind of guy who would take a girl to bed unless she actually meant something to him. And I had no idea whether I meant something to Olle now, or ever would.

  “Nice?” I asked, teasingly. “I’d like to be thought of as better than just nice.”

  That startled a snort from him. It pleased me, knowing that I could make him laugh. Even if it was while joking around about sharing a bed. “Well, if anyone asks, I promise to say that you were much better than just nice,” he assured me before, honest to God, winking at me.

  This time, I did have to look away, my blush no doubt already crimson. Biting my tongue, I did well by not telling Olle that I would be more than happy to demonstrate my bed skills beyond sleeping.

  “I had a really nice time this week,” Olle told me. “Your family is very lovely and so is the vineyard. It certainly lived up to your descriptions, which is high praise in its own right.”

  It warmed a place inside of me to think that Olle had really appreciated Tennessee. It was far more than I’d ever expected of this trip. But then, so were the kisses we’d shared.

  The thought made me bite back a sigh. I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, how much I was going to miss having Olle around. Even if he did want to take me skating, it wasn’t going to be the same!

  I wanted to say my family would be glad to have him back, anytime. But that wasn’t true. Once they believed we’d broken up, there’d be no reason for them to ever see Olle again.

  “Well, if you ever want a fake girlfriend for some press event...” I teased. Maybe part of me was hoping that Olle would say he didn’t need a fake girlfriend.

  “You’d be my first pick, Roxi,” he promised.

  I knew it was teasing. There was no reason why it wouldn’t be, but my heart still skipped a beat. I wanted to be Olle’s first pick for all the things. Not just fake dating. Better yet, real dating!

  Maybe I should have asked, but, before I could, the air hostess came around asking if we wanted a snack and then Olle announced that he could use a nap. As some sort of last hurrah of our fake relationship, I dozed off with my head on Olle’s shoulder

  No matter how hard I tried to make the most of them, minutes seemed to fly by as we filed off the plane and collected our bags. Neither of us had driven to the airport, and we lived in opposite directions. There was no reason for us to put off our goodbyes any longer.

  Except that I didn’t want to say goodbye!

  I forced a smile. I didn’t want Olle’s last glimpse of me to be as some sad, pouting damsel. He would remember me well, I was determined about that.

  “I’ll be cheering for you at the next game,” I promised. “You’d better not let a week of relaxation slow you down any.”

  “Oh, now she cares about the effects on my gameplay,” Olle laughed, but I knew it was teasing. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that if he’d actually thought this week away would affect how he played, he simply wouldn’t have come.

  But he had. He’d agreed to pretend to be my boyfriend and had gone on to do such a good job I now wished it wasn’t fake.

  There was a pause, a sort of silence that wasn’t awkward but held the potential of becoming so. We looked at each other and, for a moment, I felt like I’d forgotten all words ever. What could I say? ‘Oh have a good life’? We would see each other again. I hoped.

  “Will you let me take you skating?” Olle asked.

  My heart jumped up into my throat, my eyes widening with surprise. Yeah, obviously, Olle had already asked me to go skating with him once. But I hadn’t really expected him to bring it up again. Especially after what he’d said about hockey coming first.

  Instead of immediately saying yes, I forced myself to breathe. “Are you sure you have the time?” I asked. But I wanted to be clear, to make absolutely sure that Olle understood what I was asking so there wouldn’t be any more doubts.

  “I mean, obviously, you have the time for skating once. But what if it leads to more? I don’t want to come between you and hockey.”

  A small frown settled between Olle’s brows and I was so sure he was going to tell me that I was right. He didn’t have the time. Hockey came first. Work was important to him, he’d made that clear.

  But Olle shook his head, like he was trying to clear it and, even unwillingly, my breath caught in my throat in anticipation.

  “I want to take you skating,” Olle told me. “Like on a date,” he clarified. “I’d very much like to take you on a date, Roxi. Skating or otherwise. Will you let me? Would you like me to?” There was almost a hesitance in that second question, like Olle truly thought I’d say ‘no’.

  That glimpse of vulnerability made me like him even more. Olle wasn’t like other guys. He wasn’t one of the men who’d been so arrogant in assuming that I could change my schedule to suit them. He actually wanted to know whether I liked him.

  “Of course, I’d like you to!” I answered, reaching out and resting one hand on Olle’s arm. It was all I could do not to kiss him right there and then, before we’d been on even one date.

  I smiled, gazing up into his eyes. “I just didn’t want to get my hopes up if it was going to be one date and then nothing.”

  He looked down at my hand and then at me again. “I can’t make promises, but I think we’ll manage more than one date,” he told me so truthfully. That, too, was nice. The fact that Olle didn’t try to pretend that he could predict the future. We’d take it as it came, but I, too, thought we could do better than just one date.

  And then, despite what I had been thinking, Olle took a step closer. His free arm came up, hand sliding to my back as he pulled me to him.
It was as if the world stopped existing. All I could feel was him, the way he smelled, the way heat radiated off him.

  Looking up, I just about managed a smile before Olle’s lips were against mine, kissing me slowly but with so much determination.

  One hand tightened on Olle’s arm. The other pressed against his chest, caught between our bodies. My lungs ached as Olle kissed me breathless, but neither of us wanted to pull away.

  The kiss was so perfect. It felt like, after a week of pretending, Olle and I could finally be real with each other. His passion as he poured it out for me was genuine; it made my heart cartwheel in my chest.

  When my head started spinning from the lack of oxygen, I pulled back, but just barely. Enough that I could meet Olle’s eyes and smile gleefully up at him. “I definitely want more of that,” I informed him. “When can we go skating?”

  He laughed, but didn’t do anything to take a step back or to pull away from me. Instead, Olle shifted in closer if at all possible. “I’m free on Sunday,” he told me. “I’m going to be a bit busy the next few days, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see you.”

  The words made warmth bloom through me. He wanted this. He wanted me. All my worries about his work coming first seeped away. Maybe preemptively, I knew that, but it was impossible not to smile up at Olle when he was saying such nice things.

  “Hey,” I said, my tone teasing. “You’re not the only one who just got back to work after a week’s vacation. I’m gonna be pretty busy the next few days, too.” It was true. A week at my parents’ vineyard really hadn’t given Olle any kind of insight into the controlled chaos that was usually my calendar.

  I smiled up at him so widely that I could feel it in my cheeks. “But I want to see you, too, so I’ll make time.”

  My work wasn’t as important to me as hockey was to Olle, I was sure. But my own life was important. We’d just have to find whatever time we could together.

  “Alright.” Olle nodded. “We’ll make time for each other.” And yeah... that was basically the most romantic thing he could have possibly said to me.

  I told Olle as much, making him give a deep, hearty laugh. “Well, good,” he nodded, pressing another kiss against my lips. “I’ll call you tonight? It’ll be strange to go to sleep without you there.”

  That sent a thrill through me. And yeah, it was definitely going to be weird to go to bed without Olle’s warm body beside me. I smirked, feeling much more confident than I had earlier when we’d been teasing each other about how ‘nice’ I was in bed.

  “Hopefully, you won’t have to do that too many times in a row,” I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows. Now that we were pursuing something real, I wanted to explore exactly what we could get up to.

  But not before our first date. So I forced myself to take a small step back, checking that our luggage was still at our feet.

  “You’ll call me tonight,” I agreed. “And you’ll help me get this suitcase to my Uber?”

  Again, Olle laughed.

  “What kind of fake boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?” he teased. It was funny, too. Of course, the hope was that he’d very soon no longer be a fake boyfriend. But I’d still make him carry my suitcase.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Olle

  The ice was always home, whether we had a game or whether we were just training. The coolness of the air made me feel like there was more to breathe. A kind of tightness that seemed to always be there disappeared the moment my skates hit the ice. It had always been that way. And I was sure it was like that for a lot of hockey players, ice skaters, speed skaters, anyone for whom ice just felt right.

  I imagined this was what lifetime sailors felt like when they stepped on a boat. The steadiness that came with that.

  So yeah, I was pretty excited to take Roxi skating.

  She was, as it turned out, genuinely awful at it.

  It was maybe the most charming thing I’d ever seen.

  “Oh my God,” I laughed. “Do you have lead inside you or something? You’re attractive, you are, Roxi, but gravity is maybe too attracted to you,” I teased, skating over to help her up again. She must, by now, be at least 20% bruises. This was not the kind of date I had planned.

  But it was funny.

  “I’m pretty sure you are supposed to stop this from happening!” she argued, but there was no heat in her tone. If Roxi had proved anything over the last half an hour, it was that she was genuinely able to laugh at herself.

  She clung to me, fingers wrapping around the muscles in my arm. It reminded me of the night I’d driven her home - only this time, the caress didn’t feel too intimate.

  As I steadied her, skating backward and letting her hold onto my hands, Roxi did her best to follow. “Who taught you to skate?” she asked. “Was it your parents?”

  “Yeah, my dad did first,” I said, nodding. “Then, when I kept asking to skate more, he took me to play hockey. The dream! He loves having a hockey player for a son,” I laughed. It was true that I was closer to my mom, we had a connection that was just good, but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my dad’s company, too.

  I turned slightly, dragging Roxi with me. She wobbled, but, this time, before she could fall, I did catch her. Steadying her again, I smiled before proceeding. “I was never this bad, though,” I informed her.

  She snorted, and it made me smile to know that she trusted me enough to really let go around me. She wasn’t trying to be perfect. I guess a week of basically living together at her parents’ house had freed us both from that.

  We could just be natural around each other. I’d had no idea that it would feel so good so quickly.

  “Yeah, I didn’t imagine you were,” she agreed. “I was never this bad at riding horses, either. I mean, I fell off from time to time, but never more than once a day!”

  It was tempting to point out that I had been fine with the horses, but we both knew that Hansel had scared me a little. Instead, I shook my head, giving Roxi’s hands a squeeze.

  “You will get better,” I informed her confidently. “You’ve got me teaching you, after all. Now, the most important lesson...” And I did very well at the dramatic pause I gave that statement, before smirking slightly. “Don’t fall.”

  Roxi laughed, the sound making my heart feel lighter in my chest. “I’m trying!” She held on tighter to my hands, so that if she did fall, she would very probably take me down with her. I didn’t think I’d mind all that much.

  She followed me for one entire circuit of the ice, not letting go for even a second. She grinned with triumph when we got back to where we’d started.

  “Okay,” she insisted. “Now just one hand.” She let go of my left, wobbling a little more but managing to stay on her feet. “Have you taught anyone to skate before?”

  “No,” I answered truthfully. It did nothing for my credibility, of course, but no, I had never needed to teach anyone to skate. Pretty much all of my friends played hockey or at least knew how to skate. Any girlfriend I’d had in the past had either known how to skate or not been interested. That left me with no one to teach how to skate.

  I hoped to one day teach my kids to skate, if I was lucky enough to have any. But that was hardly the sort of thing you brought up on a first date.

  Skating backward, slowly, while my hand still gripped Roxi’s, I gave a small shrug. “Do you think that’s the problem? I’m not teaching you well enough?” Perhaps it was!

  “Yes,” Roxi answered, making me laugh. From the glitter in her eyes, that had probably been the point. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve tried to teach people to like wine, but I don’t really know how to judge whether I’ve been good at it.”

  I wondered, for a moment, whether Roxi felt that was something she’d be missing out on with me. But if it was, the way she was still clutching my hand made me think she probably didn’t mind.

  “I did teach Steph to ride a horse,” she admitted. “She wasn’t as scared as you, but she didn’t get
why I liked it so much, either. I guess you’re used to people not being as into hockey as you are?”

  “Most of my friends are as into hockey as I am,” I pointed out with a grin. “But yeah, kind of. I get that not everyone’s obsessive about it. Which is fine. Probably even good.” It was a long time since I’d felt that just because I loved something, everyone else should, too.

  Turning slightly to lead Roxi, I gave a small smile. “I was scared of the horse riding,” I agreed. “But I also liked it, because I got to see how much you loved it. You’re beautiful anyway, but on a horse, it’s like you light up brighter than the sun.” The words then made me grin at Roxi. “Tacky poetry was my second career choice,” I informed her.

  Though she laughed, I could tell Roxi was pleased. Her smile was very nearly as wide as it had been when she’d been riding Gretel. She lifted her free hand, touching the side of her hair almost self-consciously. “That’s the first time you’ve told me that I’m beautiful,” she observed. “I guess we kind of missed some steps.”

  She had a point. Because we’d already pretended to be in a relationship, I hadn’t even realized that I’d never given Roxi a compliment she could believe came from the heart. I resolved there and then to make sure I did it more often.

  “I did tell you how nice your arms were, though,” she teased. “Even if I was a little drunk.”

  That earned her a snort from me. One of Roxi’s hands traveled up to my arm, giving the muscle a small squeeze. Like she was reminding herself what it had felt like. Just to see if she’d blush, I flexed then. The crimson that flushed her cheeks was utterly adorable and I could hardly resist pulling Roxi against me, my lips meeting hers.

  Unlike our kiss at the barn, this was slower, more deliberate. My tongue slid against her lips, seeking access, which, when granted, I took on with gusto. We kissed slowly, exploring each other. When Roxi pulled back, it was only to wobble on her skates.