The Puck Drop by Jaqueline Snowe

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Michael

I couldn’t believe Ryann and Jonah surprised me. My goddamn sister knew I was in a funk and borrowed Jonah’s dad’s car. They drove thousands of miles to cheer me up for Thanksgiving weekend. Getting the call from her yesterday morning was exactly what I needed to get out of the shitty mood I’d lived in the past two weeks.

“I don’t like the fact you drove here in a day.  No humans should have that many energy drinks. It could destroy your body,” I said to my sister, who rolled her eyes.

I’d never been in love before, and this part of it sucked. How unfair was it that getting my dream job meant losing the girl I fell for? I scratched a hand over my chest as Jonah came out from the bathroom.

“You sure your coach won’t mind if we skate?”

“He’ll love getting to meet you.” I already texted Coach Simpson and asked permission. It made zero sense to me that this honest, hard-core guy was such a horrible father. While I wished Naomi had taken a chance on us, I understood why she didn’t. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

“Well, the guys are stoked that you’re coaching. I’m not the only one who’d play for you, Michael.” Jonah’s intense eye contact might’ve put some people off, but I knew what it meant—that he was serious. He adjusted the strings on his hoodie as my sister stood at the open door, not moving or saying anything.

“Ry, what are you doing?” The cold air blew in, and while we were supposed to head to the rink, we weren’t in a hurry. I had nothing to do on weekends besides hockey, and we’d already played last night.

“Uh, someone’s here to see you.”

“Cal?” I said, taking a few steps toward the door and glancing over my sister’s shoulder. I frowned. Cal wouldn’t be here. He had plans with Dan. Then who could it…shit.

Naomi was outside my place wearing a large sweatshirt and beanie, looking terrified. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes wide, and she clasped her hands in front of her stomach. Her knuckles were white, and my instinct was to take her fingers and give them warmth. Her beautiful face had dark circles under her eyes, and there was evidence she’d recently cried.

God, I wanted to hug her, but that moment passed. It wasn’t my job to comfort her, not after she broke my heart. A few beats of silence passed between us, the sound of cars the only thing audible besides the rush of my pulse in my ears. Say something.

“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice gruff and deep like I hadn’t slept great. Which, I hadn’t.

“You’re busy.” She blinked a lot and took a step away. “I can… come back?”

Ry put a hand on my arm and squeezed. “We can keep ourselves entertained for a while if you need space, Michael.”

“No. Naomi’s running away again anyway,” I said, my eye twitching at her slumped shoulders. For one second, I thought… maybe she was here because she missed me. Or realized we were amazing together. But if that were true, she wouldn’t be trying to leave the first chance she had.

“I’m not running away. You have a visitor,” she fired back, the redness in her cheeks growing toward her neck. I loved her blush, and I made a fist at my side.

I opened my mouth to say something when she interrupted. “You miss your sister like crazy, and she’s here, obviously far from home. You deserve to spend time with her. We can talk later.”

Whoa. I liked that fire brewing behind her eyes. The girl afraid of confrontation had grown some courage.

Ryann narrowed her eyes at Naomi and pursed her lips. “Jonah and I are going to grab food. We need real sustenance after that road trip. Maybe you’ll be here when we get back, maybe not. If you are… well, I hope we can get to know each other.”

My damn sister walked past Naomi, stopping a few feet away and looking back up as Jonah followed. The guy didn’t even glance my way before putting his arm around Ryann and walking on the sidewalk.

That left Naomi and I here, and I was nervous.

“Can I come in?” she asked, her voice small and lacking her usual zest. I missed that N-energy and her jokes and her anecdotes about data and murder shows.

“Right, yeah.” I moved out of the way as she headed inside my place. I was confused that she was still here and not running. Maybe it was the fire I saw in her eyes. Either way, I was glad she was here even if it was for a short time. Her familiar scent filled me with an aggressive longing for home. I ran my hand through my hair as she paced the living room. Everything about her was fucking cute. Her orange Chucks, her little steps, the way she held her hands behind her back. I guess being in love made me a little insane. “Stop pacing, Naomi. Why are you here?”

“Confrontation is really tough for me.”

“I know,” I said, my voice softening just a bit. It hardened though when I asked, “Are you planning on yelling at me?”

“No. No, Michael.” She stilled and looked at me with love in her big brown eyes, I got that weightless feeling of hope again.

I wanted to grip that feeling, but I held off. Naomi had hurt me. I cleared my throat and waited her out. Yes, I’d stopped us from being friends because it was too painful. Wait—was that why she was here? To push for friendship again? Fuck. I wasn’t sure I could do that. My pulse raced, and my stomach felt like it was filled with rocks as I raised a hand. “Look, if you’re here about ending our friendship—”

“I love you, you wonderful, gentle man. I fucking love you, and I messed up, and I had this entire speech planned out, and my brain went to shit,” she said, blurring the words together so it came out in one breath. Her face went fire engine red, and she tossed her hands up in the air. I was stunned, unable to move, speak, or breathe.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was too scared. I’m sorry I let my issues with my dad interfere with us. Am I too late? Do you hate me now? If you do, I get it. Maybe we can be friends again? I don’t know, I just… I want to hold you and see how you’re doing. I want to watch hockey just so I can talk to you about it. I never want you to feel alone again because you’re not. I’ll be your person, and you can be mine.” She sniffed, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

My brain went in overtime to digest all her words. She said a lot, but the biggest thing that stuck out was that she loved me. She fucking loved me. “You love me?” I asked, needing to hear it again to be sure.

She nodded and bit her bottom lip. “It snuck up on me in the best way. But I do. I love you, Michael Reiner.”

She walked up to me, nervously, and cupped my face with her small hands. My limbs went into shock because I couldn’t move. I wanted to tell her I felt the same way and kiss her, but nothing happened. I remained still, like a cardboard cutout.

She traced her soft padded fingers over my cheeks, lips, and rested her hands on my shoulders. “Before you say anything, I went to my dad. I confronted him about everything. It scared the shit out of me. I yelled. I cussed. The old me never would’ve done that. Ever. I would’ve lived my life secretly hating him and wondering why I wasn’t enough.”

“Naomi, baby,” I said, covering her hands with mine. This woman had my whole fucking heart. “God, I love you. You must—"

“No, shh, please.” She smiled, her watery brown eyes pulling me in like a damn magnet. “You inspired me. I knew I needed to confront that part of my past to be with you. It wouldn’t be fair for me to hold onto these thoughts and blame hockey. You’re going to be such a fine coach, and I can’t wait to see you grow and mentor players. You lead with your heart and soul. But it was your openness and willingness to have tough conversations that helped me find the strength.”

A ball formed in the back of my throat at her words. I’d been praised on my leadership, my charisma, my looks, but Naomi’s affirmation hit me in my soul. “Are you alright?”

“Am I okay?” she asked, recoiling. “You’re asking me if I’m okay when I was the one who fucked this up?”

I couldn’t wait anymore. I had to have her, hold her against me and kiss her like I’d thought about every second of every day since she left. I cupped her face, dropped my mouth to hers, and kissed her. I hoisted her up and wrapped her legs around my waist, sliding my tongue into her mouth so I could taste her. Breathe her in. Be with the woman who loved me back.

“Michael,” she said, grinning against my mouth.

“Shh,” I said, mocking her from earlier. “Let me kiss the woman I love.”

“I was groveling though.” She kissed my neck and ran her fingers through my hair over and over. She pulled back and looked down at me with love all over her face. “I want to be with you, Michael. Please, am I too late?”

“No. No more groveling.” I walked her toward my bedroom and kicked the door shut with my foot. Feeling the weight of her words, her hands on me… I was turning into putty. “You’re not too late. I’ve fucking missed you.”

She pulled back, cupped my chin with her small hand, and stared at me. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I was so worried you’d pick hockey over me that I ended up doing it to you.”

“You were scared,” I said, kneading the dimples in her back. “You’re not anymore. Why?”

“Because not loving you wasn’t an option. Because my issue was never about hockey. And because…“ she said, stopping to kiss me slowly. She slid her tongue into my mouth and groaned, sending all my blood below my belt.

My heart felt put together again, and this sexy woman ground her hips against me. I wasn’t going to last long at all once I had her naked. I cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss, showing her without words that all was forgiven. We all had our baggage, and if she was willing to communicate about it more, then we’d work through our hurdles together.

She pawed at me like she couldn’t get close enough, and when I set her on the bed, she looked at me with flushed cheeks and a pretty smile. “I never finished my thought.”

“I’m not stopping you.” I winked as I reached for her button. She wiggled her hips as I slid her pants off her body and moaned as I ran my hands up and down her thighs. “Fuck, I love your body.” I kissed her inner thigh. “And your heart. Your mind. I love all of you Naomi, baggage and all.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled me back up to her face. “I won’t mess this up again. I need you to know that. I might be an idiot sometimes, but I never want you to question how much I care for you.”

I kissed her, softly, before running my hands under her shirt and placing one over her heart. It beat fast under my palm, matching my own erratic pace. “I never doubted how you felt about me. I saw it every time you laughed with me. Every time you held my hand in yours and rubbed your finger over my palm. Every time we shared things with each other that were hard. Love isn’t enough sometimes, which is a scary truth. But I know it was your fear holding you back, not your emotions, and I’m so proud of you.”

“Of me?”

“Yes.” I grinned at her and let my hand wander toward her nipple. I pinched it, and she bucked on the bed. “For fixing things with your sister. For standing up for yourself with your dad. For giving us a chance…love is terrifying, but I want to try, with you. We each have our own shit to deal with, but we can do it together. That’s all I wanted. I’ve suffered a lot of loss, which makes finding joy rare. You are my joy, Naomi Fletcher.”

She sighed and gave me a huge, heart-stopping smile. I scooped her up, intent on kissing her. She had her own ideas though. She crawled onto my lap and traced her finger over my chest. “Your relationship with Ryann inspired me to be a better sister and maybe even a better daughter. You have such a good heart, Michael. I want to prove to you I’ll take care of it.”

I kissed her, hard, and she let out a deep moan. Her words took root right in soul, where I wanted to keep them there forever. This feeling had to be what life was about. Two puzzle pieces that fit together, that formed a team. After being a lone wolf for most of my adult life, her words were reassurance, promise, and hope.  My throat felt tight and rough as I stared down at her, unsure how to relay how much she meant to me.

“You are my person, by the way.” I kissed her softly. “If you weren’t sure, you are.” I pressed my lips against hers again. “Damn, I missed your mouth.”

“What about your sister? She must hate me,” Naomi said, trying to scoot away from me. I traced the outside of her damp panties, and she stilled.

“She’d never hate anyone I loved.” I ran a finger down her slit, watching how her pulse raced. “And I’ve been talking about you for months, Naomi. Now, enough chatting. I want to devour my girlfriend before they come back.”

“Your girlfriend?” she squeaked out, her eyes going wide again.

“Yes.” I slid her panties to the side and inserted one finger into her. She panted and wet her bottom lip before I nipped at it. “We’re together. Exclusive and together. You and me. You got any problems with that, Fletcher?”

“No, none at all.” She gave me a breathless smile as I added another finger. I was going to get my girlfriend off twice before finally having her again, and after, we could go hang out with the other two people in my circle.

It wasn’t large, and yeah, the thought of getting hurt again worried me, but life wasn’t filled with guarantees. I knew that the hard way. So, I was going to enjoy every second I could with the woman I loved, the one who had snuck past all my damn walls. The girl who saw the real me, the grief and sadness and happiness all mixed into one and wanted me anyway.

She said she was going to prove to me that she deserved my heart?

Well, game on, Fletcher. I would prove to us that we were meant for each other.