Page 115 of Icebound Hearts
He kisses me the same way he did in the car on the ride home, hungry and desperate—except now, it’s tinged with something else too. Something I can’t quite put a name to, but that lights a fire inside me, sending heat licking through my veins.
When we finally part, he rests his forehead against mine, our faces still so close that our noses are almost touching.
“Don’t be sorry,” he whispers, his breath warm on my skin. “Don’teverbe sorry, heartbreaker.”
I swallow, nodding lightly. He presses another kiss to my mouth, firm but more chaste this time, then draws back, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip.
“I hate that you had to see any of that,” he murmurs. “She shouldn’t have been here. I entertained her bullshit for too long after we split, always hoping that it would somehow lead to her becoming a better, more invested parent for Jake. But it never did, and I can see now that I was just clinging to false hope. This is who she is, maybe who she’s always been, and it’s not going tochange. SoIhave to. I have to stop making any space in my life for her and her toxicity.”
I nod again, reaching up to rest my hand over his. “You deserve better than that, Sawyer. Even if you don’t ever want love or marriage again, you deserve to have people in your life who love you for the incredible man you are, not for what they think you can give them.”
He drags in a slow breath, letting his eyes fall closed for a moment. Then he lets it out, his dark gray eyes glinting in the lamp light as he reopens them.
“Thank you, heartbreaker,” he murmurs, stroking my cheek. A small, wan smile pulls at the corners of his lips. “I know that kind of ruined the mood, but… will you come up to bed with me anyway?”
He’s not wrong about the mood. The heat that sparked between us earlier has cooled, the flame of desire doused by the bucket of ice water that is his ex-wife. But I nod anyway, because I definitely don’t want to go back to my room alone right now.
He gives me one more soft kiss, then the two of us head upstairs together.
We get ready for bed, and after I slip out of the dress and tug on a worn, comfy sleep shirt, Sawyer pulls back the blankets in invitation. I crawl up onto the bed beside him, draping one arm and one leg over his tall, muscled body. He wraps one arm around me, holding me against him, then presses his lips to my hair.
“Goodnight, heartbreaker,” he murmurs.
“Goodnight, Sawyer.”
He turns off the light, but instead of letting sleep pull me away, I just lie in his arms with my eyes closed, savoring it. Drinking in every little detail, from the feel of his chest rising and falling beneath my cheek to the dull thud of his heart against my ear. The way he smells, a blend of spice, bourbon, and oak.The warmth of his body as it seeps into mine, and the way his fingers trail slowly up and down my arm.
Because these are the things I’ll miss the most when I’m gone.
Chapter 38
Sawyer
The crowd explodes in cheers, drowning out the whistle signaling the end of the game that just brought us one step closer to the playoffs. There are thousands of beaming faces in the crowd, most of them cheering for the Aces, but my eyes immediately scan them for Violet’s.
There she is, holding Jake at her side and waving excitedly at me as Jake squirms in her arms. I make a heart with my hands at the two of them, knowing that Jake will be the only one who can make it back at me. He does, his little hands making more of a circle than a heart, and Violet laughs but keeps waving.
I take a victory lap around the ice with the rest of the Aces, then follow them into the locker rooms to freshen up. Dunaway tells us that there’s already a gaggle of journalists wanting to talk to us, but while we’re arguing about who’s going to go do the interviews, I hear my phone ringing in my locker and rush off to get to it and answer it before it stops.
It’s Desiree, my agent, so I swipe to answer and bring the phone to my ear, despite all the noise in the locker room. “Hi, Desiree. You caught me at just the right time. I’m hoping you’re calling because you have good news?”
She laughs on the line. “Well, that depends,” she says with the hint of an accent. “How do you feel about a commercial opportunity with Beaumont?”
I almost drop the phone because they’re one of the biggest brands in hockey. “You mean liketheBeaumont? The equipment company?”
“That’s the one. They liked the media package we had put together for you, and they’re interested in having you shoot a commercial for their newest line of skates.”
“Are you serious?”
“Sawyer, I’m your agent. I’m always serious when I call with something like this. So, what do you say?”
A grin splits my face so fast it hurts. “Hell yes! Let’s do it.”
“Excellent. I’ll let them know and be in touch with you about next steps. I’m sure they’ll be pleased as well. You’re quite the rising star, you know.”
“You’re my agent. Aren’t you supposed to say that kind of stuff?”
Desiree laughs into the line again. “Now you’re getting it. Congratulations. Talk soon.”