I stand confident. “It doesn’t bother me anymore.”
Zanders’ smile is soft but proud. “That’s my girl.” He cups my face, his lips finding mine for a moment.
Slipping his ring-covered fingers through mine, Zanders leads me outside past the reporters and through the maze of fans with Rosie behind us both. There are way more people out here than I anticipated, all eyes on us.
“There’s our girl!” I hear from one of the buses. Looking up, I find Rio leaning over the railing of his bus, his signature boom box held over his head with music blaring.
“Stevie!”
“We missed you, Stevie!”
“Get it, EZ!” continues from the line of buses with all the hockey boys I worked for this year standing on the top deck, watching.
Zanders quickly guides us to his bus, allowing me to climb the stairs first, and as soon as I step onto the top deck, I’m attacked with a hug. It takes a moment for me to register that Lindsey is the one holding on to me as tight as she can.
I wrap my arms around her back as she squeezes my neck. “I’m sorry my brother was an idiot.”
We both shake with laughter until she pulls away, holding me at an arm’s distance, a thankful smile on her lips.
“Stevie!” Ella attacks my legs, so I bend down, making myself eye level with her. “You do my hair?”
“Absolutely.”
The bus begins moving, the parade continuing.
Maddison and I share a quick wordless conversation from across the way. He offers me a thankful smile before Logan wraps me up in a hug.
Zanders’ hand finds the small of my back. “I want you to meet someone.”
He guides me to the almost as equally tall man standing with Lindsey. “Vee, this is my dad. Dad, this is my girlfriend, Stevie.”
My eyes burn a bit, but I hold it in. Of all the progress Zanders has made, this is by far the most important. His dad always loved him, as did I, but he had a hard time believing us both.
And now he does.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I tell his dad, brows pinched together.
He releases a breath of relief. “Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to meet you, Stevie.” His tall frame bends down, arms slinging around me. “Thank you,” he quietly whispers for no one else to hear.
Words stick in my throat. I can’t speak, so instead, I quickly nod into his hug.
We share an understanding smile before Zanders’ arms are around my shoulders once again, my back to his chest.
He urges me forward to stand at the railing with him, all of Chicago’s hockey fans below us, and at this moment, it hits me that this is the first time we’ve been in public together without hiding. And for someone who was afraid of the recognition that followed Zanders around, I don’t mind the attention one bit.
I want everyone to know he’s mine.
He peppers kisses along my neck and shoulder as I find my worn-out ring on his pinky finger, spinning it before repeating the exact phrase he used the morning he took it.
“Mine.” I melt back into his touch.
His hold tightens. “And you’re mine, sweetheart. None of this”—he nods below us—“was right without you. You’re my first and only choice, Vee, and never again am I going to make you feel like you’re not.”
This is all I’ve ever wanted, to be chosen by the person I care about the most. I had friends in school who only chose to spend time with me because of my brother. I’m a twin, and I was still my own mother’s second choice. I’ve had a relationship where his first pick was anyone but me.
But here, with the person I value more than anyone else, I’m chosen.
“All right, you two,” Maddison interrupts, teasing us. “This is a family-friendly event.” Though, his own hand rests on his wife’s ass.
Zanders flips him off with one hand and uses the other to hook around the back of my neck, capturing my mouth with his once again.
“Fucking love you,” he murmurs against my lips. “I’ll follow you anywhere, Stevie.”
I put that conversation on pause and instead nudge his nose with mine and kiss him once more.
“Linds!” he shouts back over his shoulder. “Let’s pop those bottles of champagne! We won the Stanley Cup, and I got my girl back. Now we can celebrate!”
56
ZANDERS
“We need to get you some new Forces.” I open my apartment door to let Stevie in first, but Rosie finds her way in before either of us can.
“No, we don’t.”
“Vee, they’re supposed to be white. Yours are...not.”
She kicks them off with a bit of an attitude, leaving them at my front door before strutting towards the living room. “You’re too pretty for your own good. You know that?”
I chase after her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind. “You love me.”
She giggles in my grasp. “Yeah,” she sighs. “I do.”
The parade was fun and all, but I’ve been waiting to get her back home all day. My place has a different energy when she’s here. It’s brighter, more fun. It’s a home when she’s inside, and I truly don’t plan on ever being without her again.
I just don’t know what that will look like. I don’t know where I’m playing next year. I don’t know if Stevie signed on a place in Seattle. Everything is still up in the air, but the most important thing is that I got my girl back, and we can figure out the rest together.
“Vee, we should probably talk about what’s next.”
“Later.” She walks backwards into the living room while peeling the flannel off her shoulders, dropping it to the ground.
From across the room, my eyes go wide, my mouth falling open. I’ve only been able to fantasize about the memory of her over the last few weeks, but now, here in my apartment, I have the real thing once again.
My eyes quickly dart to my windows, ensuring the curtains are closed before my stare immediately falls back to my girl. Stevie unbuttons her jeans, all the while her blue-greens are locked on me.
“Rosie!” I call out to my room, where she’s probably passed out on her dog bed, exhausted from an exciting day. “Stay in there. Your mom is about to make your dad real happy.”
Stevie silently laughs as she pushes the denim over her hips and ass. My lingering gaze slowly works its way up her thick thighs, over the soft skin of her belly, and to her tits that I’m all too obsessed with, hidden behind a tank top that’s so tight it may as well have been painted on.
I can feel my eyes hooding over as I take slow, leisurely steps towards her, my hands out in front of me, ready to touch and love on the body I’ve missed far too much over the last few weeks. But as soon as I reach her, she takes a step back, maintaining a distance from me.
She wears a sly smile on her lips, her eyes shining with amusement as she shakes her head to tell me no.
“Stevie,” I draw out. “I haven’t touched you in weeks.”
She lifts a single brow. “I know.”
“I need to touch you.”