The Pucking Girl Next Door (Power Play Off The Ice: Snowed in for the Hoildays)

14. Smith

Chapter 14

Smith

" H ave you been worrying about that this whole time?" I ask her.

"Ugh. Maybe?" she says as she picks her fork back up and starts shoving her food into her mouth as quickly as possible.

"Why are you worrying about this right now?"

"Listen, I'm not a casual girl. I'm clingy and insecure. I need to know that we're moving toward something."

"I know you are not a casual girl. I wasn't expecting to just have sex with you and be done. All of you belongs to me, not just your body."

Her body visibly relaxes with my words. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass I should’ve made sure I had said that to her right after we had sex. Annabelle needs to be reassured about things. I remember that from when we were kids. I should've known better, and honestly, I'm surprised she's not spiraling even more.

"Will we have a long distance relationship?"

Placing my silverware into my bowl, I get up and go over to where she's sitting at the table. I kneel on one knee and cradle her face. "Baby, I don't have everything figured out. I have to go back to Texas for hockey the day after Christmas. But I don't want to spend what time we have left worrying. We'll figure out all the details soon, but what I know is that I want us to be together, whatever that might look like. Let's spend Christmas day together and we can go from there."

Annabelle nods at my words, but I can still see that mind of hers working overtime. I brush my lips softly across her billowy ones. We both start off slowly, just feeling each other out but quickly catch fire. When her stomach growls between kisses, I quickly pull away.

"You need to finish eating before we do anything further." I tell her as I step away and go back to my food.

"Seriously, though, Annabelle. We will figure it all out. I promise."

"Okay. I trust you Smith," she says as she dives back into her food.

Something inside me warms with her words, but also my stomach drops because I've never really had someone trust me completely before. Not like this. Is having someone depend on me for everything, something I can commit to? My eyes peer up from my bowl, glancing over at the sexy woman across from me, and something within me settles. Because I was right, she is the only one for me.

***

The next morning, I wake up to Annabelle in my arms, and nothing gets better than this. I keep my eyes on her as she continues to sleep. Yesterday was the perfect day, starting with waking up with her in my arms, making love to each other, cooking, playing games and just getting reacquainted with each other. After her freakout, neither of us talked about the future. Our conversations brought me back in some ways, talking about childhood memories that I didn't mind reminiscing about.

Annabelle stirs a bit and rolls over on to her other side, allowing me to sneak away. Today is Christmas. Even though she's tried to hide it, I know she's sad about not being with her family. I want to make today a day for her to remember, starting with breakfast.

I try to rack my brain on what would be a good breakfast meal for her, then I remembered she mentioned in one of our many conversations how much she loves French toast. Grabbing my sweatpants, I pull them on and sneak downstairs, leaving Annabelle asleep in the bed we shared. I see the fireplace as soon as I reach the living room and head toward it to start a fire. I turn on the switch and smile as I imagine us sitting in front of it while we eat breakfast. Hopefully, she'll find this romantic.

Heading to the kitchen, I start to make breakfast as I plan more ways to make today memorable. Since I have to leave tomorrow, I want her to never forget this moment, the Christmas that I made her mine.

When she finally comes downstairs, breakfast is done and I just have to plate it up. She says nothing to me as she heads straight to the coffeepot and begins pouring herself a cup. Yearning to touch her, I stop what I'm doing and wrap her in my arms carefully, so as not to spill her coffee. "Merry Christmas, baby," I whisper in her ear.

I can feel the goosebumps that pebble her skin as she spins in my arms. Stepping up on her tippy toes, she gives me a quick kiss. "Merry Christmas, big boy." Looking around the kitchen, she looks at me puzzled, asking "Did you make breakfast?"

"I did. Why don't you go get yourself settled in front of the fireplace and I'll bring out the plates."

Grinning like a little kid on Christmas, she gives me another kiss and runs off toward the living room. I don't waste any time and grab our breakfast plates walking toward my future.

When I enter, I'm surprised because Annabelle moves quickly. She's pulled out a blanket and laid it down for us to sit on in front of the couch with a view of the fireplace. Right now, she's grabbing the pillows off the couch and is lining them on the floor for us to have something comfortable to lean against.

"It looks good," I say as I head to the blanket she set up, placing our food down on the ground. "I'm going to go get a coffee for me. Do you need anything else?"

Annabelle shakes her head. "Nope. I'm good," she says as she settles down on the ground, grabbing her plate. I can't help myself and watch her begin to eat, filling me with pride that she seems to like the meal I made for her. She must feel me watching her because she looks up at me arching an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to go get a coffee?" she asks giving me a wink.

"I am. I love the way you're flirting with me by the way," I say as I walk away knowing that her skin is now flushed with my compliment.

When I return, I sit down and eat. Annabelle grins at me between bites, when she points to her food. "This is good, Smith. Thanks for making my favorite food."

"My mom used to make this recipe for me, and I wanted to share it with you."

Her face softens at my revelation. "I'm glad that you shared it with me."

Not wanting this moment to get too sad I decide to change the subject. "How do you like your job?"

"Ugh, it's okay."

"You don't like it?"

"Not really. I'm super busy and my boss is kind of a bitch."

"Why don't you quit?"

"I can't just quit. I have bills to pay."

I shrug my shoulders. "You don't need to work. I can take care of you." I let the words slip out of my mouth without even thinking. Even though I'm ready for us to dive right in I should've known that was the wrong thing to say. The air in the room changes instantly. I need to fix this because I did not want to get in a fight on Christmas day.

"You could come live with me that way I can fuck you every moment I can," I joke with her as I place my dishes to the side of the blanket.

Her brow furrows at my words. "What the fuck, Smith?"

Before she can get any angrier, I lunge at her and tickle her. She laughs every moment my fingers are on her, and not one to give up on an opportunity, I mumble while grinning, "I was just kidding, but let me show you what it's like if I were to fuck you every day."