One Pucking Destiny (Crane Hockey #4)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

BASH

W e can’t get back to my place fast enough, and with all the people out celebrating, it seems to take forever. I loved every second tonight. Being out in the open with Ari—holding her hand, kissing her, and not caring if anyone saw—was thrilling and something I’ve wanted for a very long time.

Tonight was the first time she’s actually been fully immersed in my life, and what a grand opening of our relationship it was.

All that aside, I’m ready to get her alone.

On the way home, she opens up about all the thoughts floating around in her mind since yesterday, leading her to make the decision she did. She tells me about her conversation with her mom and what a cathartic experience it was.

Every word she utters fills me with soul-deep elation. This is what I wanted for her, and not only because it’s good for our relationship. No one should have to go through life surrounded by a wall of fear holding them back.

I always hoped we’d get here, and I truly believed we would. But I can’t deny the relief that’s engulfed me since she said my three new favorite words: I choose you. For as much as I love her and would choose her every time, I needed the same.

And now I have it.

Now, I have her.

“So this is where Sebastian Calloway lives,” she says as I lead her into my home. “Nice.”

“It’s just a rental. Though now that I have you, I’d say it’s time to start looking for a home.”

She hangs her purse on a chair in the dining room. One of the smallest rooms in my place, it’s about the size of her entire apartment. “You know I still have a year of clinicals to do before I can move here.”

“Of course. First things first, we’ll get you a bigger place by school and buy a house here. We can spend time between the two, depending what our schedules look like. And obviously, somewhere in all that, we’ll get married. ”

Ari throws her head back in laughter, and it’s the most beautiful sound. “Um, I’ll have you know we’ll never be married with a proposal like that. Plus, we’ve been dating for like an hour.” She playfully slaps my chest. “And, most importantly, I will not be getting rid of my apartment. I told you, I love it there, and I will stay there until graduation.”

I circle my arms around her waist and pull her close. “We’ll see.”

“Oh, you will see me living there. That is what you’ll see.”

“Fine.” I kiss her forehead. “I can visit you anywhere. We’ve had some fun in that closet of yours… what’s another year of it.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Taking her hand in mine, I give her a quick tour of the place. While the house is nice, it doesn’t hold any significant value to me. I’m rarely here. When I’m not busy with the Cranes, I’m visiting family. The space within these walls has never felt like home. Our next house will be so much more with Ari by my side.

Ari gives me a wicked smile as we enter our last stop on the tour, my bedroom.

Pulling her against me, I press my mouth to hers, savoring the way her lips feel against mine. The sweet way in which she tastes, a mixture of mint and raspberry, has my body desperate for her. Kissing Ari is a dream. Everything about her kisses, from the way she moves her tongue to the faint sighs she releases as we explore one another, feels so familiar. My body instinctively knows how to make her tongue increase its cadence or her moans intensify in volume.

I’ve always been able to read her so well. The very first night we were together, I felt like we were connected in a way that I’ve never felt with anyone else. From that first moment, she’s held me in a trance, capturing my heart whether she meant to or not.

Cradling her face in my hands, I pull away from the kiss. “Did today really happen?” I smile against her lips. “Is this actually real?”

In a span of hours, my dreams have come true. It’s surreal.

She slides her fingers through my hair. “It’s real. You are a Stanley Cup champion.”

“And the part about you?” I lean my head back to see her whole face.

“That I’m in love with you?”

I grin. “Yeah, that part.”

“Also true.”

“Good. Just wanted to hear it one more time.”

A whisper of sadness dances across her features. “I’m so sorry, Bash. ”

I shake my head and kiss her forehead. “Don’t be. We all get there in our own time. I’ll never fault you for needing to work things out at your own pace.”

“Thank you.” Her grasp on my hair tightens, and she kisses me. “I promise to make it up to you by telling you how important you are to me and how much I love you. Everyday.”

“You don’t have to make anything up to…” My words falter as she drops to her knees and undoes my jeans.

She pulls my jeans and boxer briefs down before circling her hand around my shaft. “What were you saying? About not having to make it up to you?” Her eyes glint with mischief as she peers up through her lashes.

“Yeah, definitely make it up to me,” I groan as her tongue swirls around my tip.

Still holding me in her hand, she kisses along my skin and over my cookie tattoo. “I love this.” She presses her lips against the tattoo once more. “I think I wanted it here so it would only be for me.” She looks up at me again with a serene smile on her face. “Whether I wanted to admit it, I think deep down I knew I was falling for you over bye week. This cookie is something sweet that only you and I share.”

Before I can answer, she takes me in her mouth once more, and all rational thought leaves my head .

Ari moves her mouth, swirls her tongue, and works her hands with such precision that I’m writhing in what feels like seconds. She asks me to explode into her mouth, and I do without hesitation.

Scooping my arms beneath hers, I pull her up from the floor and kiss her senseless as we rip off items of clothing, frantic to get into the bed.

With her lying naked before me, I kiss every inch of her perfect body. When I reach the butterfly tattoo, I run my finger along it, tracing its outline like I have so many times before.

“Will you finally admit that the fact that we have the same tattoo is fate?” Every time I lay eyes on her tattoo, the butterfly, bright with multicolored strands of smoke as wings, it does something to me.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just a coincidence that I went to the same tattoo parlor as you and your sister?” She smirks.

I pin her arms down to her side and pull one of her nipples into my mouth, sucking hard. Twisting, pulling, and sucking—she laughs because the move that I’ve done before is sweet torture. “Take it back,” I tease, continuing to provide the most delicious torture.

“But can it really be classified as fate, Bash?” She laughs, a beautiful sound.

Giving her nipple a break, I hold her stare. “Two strangers went to the same city, same tattoo shop, got the same tattoo, went to the same bookstore, reached for the same book, went to the same bar, and ended up in the same bed, only to end up at the same vacation months later. If you don’t admit that our love has been written in the stars from day one, I swear to God, Ari…”

She chuckles. “Come here,” she says with a grin. “I release her arms. Straddling her body, I lay atop her. She cradles my face in her hands. “I believe you were always meant to be mine.”

“For real?” I quirk a brow.

“For real. There is no way we would be lying here if that wasn’t the case. You would’ve moved on from my ass a long time ago if we weren’t meant to be.”

I drop my lips to hers. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

Those three little words coming from her lips will never get old.

“And… I don’t know.” I circle my hand around her hips until I’m squeezing her ass. “This ass is near impossible to move on from.”

“Fair enough,” she teases, threading her fingers through my hair. “So tell me… how does a Stanley Cup champion like to celebrate? It’s your night, after all.”

I kiss her. “Inside you.”

She reaches between us and circles her hand around my length. “That sounds perfect to me.” She positions me at her entrance, and I slide in.

We release a collective moan.

The entirety of the city may be partying until dawn in celebration of tonight. But this right here is exactly where I want to be.