Chapter Twenty-Seven

Myles

The whole team is here at the Christmas party, including the significant others of some of the players. Tonight, the party is at a high-end hotel. The champagne is flowing, and everyone mingles. I can’t take my eyes off Flynn in that blue dress. Not only does it remind me of our make-out session at the department store, but it shows off her amazing body. Problem is Nils can’t take his eyes off her, either; Jamie and Derek seem to be struggling, too. I want to go all caveman and tell them to look the other way. Oli is giving out that vibe, too, but they don’t seem deterred.

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” I whisper in her ear and take a little nibble. “I think we should have kept this dress for private times.” My hand drops slowly to her behind.

“I love wearing it. It’s definitely not my usual, but it makes me feel good. I sometimes forget that I’m only twenty-five,” she admits, taking a small sip of her champagne.

“I sometimes forget that, too, but it’s about to change. I plan on making sure we both have some fun.” I wink, and she understands the hidden meaning in my words because her cheeks flush.

My friend Dave comes up to us with his wife. “Flynn, this is Dave and his wife Kelsey.” She hasn’t met them yet because Dave doesn’t hit the clubs after games.

Flynn extends a hand to both of them “Nice to meet you both.”

“You, too.” Kelsey smiles widely. “I heard you’re from Canada. I am, too,” she says, starting a conversation with Flynn.

“Oh no way! Where you from?” Flynn asks, intrigued.

“A small town outside Halifax. You probably haven’t heard of it.” She grins. “What do you think of the party?”

Kelsey asks her to walk with her to the bar. I need to speak to Dave, and I didn’t want Flynn to overhear the conversation. He’s got a yacht docked on Lake Michigan, and that’s where Flynn and I are headed tonight. I want to confirm our plans. Dave and I speak quietly. When I feel a hand on my shoulder, the touch is light, but when I turn my head, I see it’s Brittany, one of the puck bunnies.

I flinch back, moving her hand from my shoulder. “That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.” Brittany lowers and raises her eyebrows suggestively.

“Sorry, Britt, I’m here with someone.” My tone is tense, and I feel like I’m walking on eggshells, worried what Flynn will think of this interlude.

“That’s okay, handsome. I can wait until later.” Britt winks at me then brushes her hand along my chest and down my abdomen, stopping at my belt. I’m fucking holding my breath. Some of these girls don’t like to hear no.

With my teeth clenched, I say, “Brittany don’t touch me. I’m not available. I told you I won’t be available later—or ever, for that matter.”

Her sultry smile turns into a frown as she stalks away from me. A look at Dave tells me he’s amused.

“It’s not fucking funny,” I quip, feeling my blood pressure rising.

“Fuck, man, welcome to my world. Do you know how many times I’ve turned those chicks down? A lot, and they still keep trying.” He’s amused, while I’m irate. I just got Flynn back in my life. I don’t want anything coming between us. I hear her clearing her throat from behind me.

Kelsey walks up to Dave and kisses him on the cheek. It makes me wonder how they work around this aspect of our life. I know he never fucks around on her.

“Hey, Tink.” I lean in to give her a kiss on the cheek, but I can tell she isn’t amused. I excuse us and pull away from Dave and Kelsey and onto the dance floor for a slow dance. My mouth brushes her ear. “I don’t know how much you witnessed, but I want you to know, I’ll always fight them off. You are it for me,” I say as we sway together. I hold her gaze to try and read her thoughts.

“I’m shocked, but I’m not mad.” Her smile turns into full-on laughter. “Your face was priceless, Myles. You looked like you were about to lose your shit on her.”

My eyes narrow. “This isn’t funny. I just got you back. I won’t ever be ready to let you go.” I pull her in close to me, and she rests her head on my chest. I cup her head against me.

She doesn’t pull from my embrace. “I’m not in a rush to go anywhere, either. I don’t think you’d sacrifice us for a hookup,” she says, and I let out a long breath of air. “I’m glad I eased your mind.” She snickers.

I watch Oli off to the side, dancing with one of the bunnies. It makes me a little worried that he’s constantly hooking up. The lifestyle takes a toll on you after a while, and not in a good way.

“Did I mention you take my breath away,” I say close to her ear as we dance hand in hand, one of my arms wrapped around her waist. I feel her breath quicken. She pulls her head back to look in my eyes. She still won’t kiss me in front of her brother. I get that this thing between us is still fresh.

“You look super hot yourself.” Her hand on my shoulder moves lower, to my chest.

“Let’s get out of here,” I say, eating her up with my gaze. It’s still a little early, but we’ve had dinner, danced, and mingled… It’s enough.

She nods quickly. “Good.” I place a soft kiss on her lips. She heads over to Oli to tell him we’re leaving, and when she does, he gives me a wary look. It makes me a little sick inside, but I don’t know what to do. I hate keeping secrets from her, but this isn’t my secret to tell. Even though I know I’ll be a part of the fallout. It makes me selfish I know but I’ve been deprived of her for so long I feel like a starved man.

It doesn’t take long for us to drive to the pier where Dave’s yacht is parked. “Where are you taking me?” Flynn looks over to me curiously after we pull through the gate of the marina.

“Dave, the guy you met at the party, is lending me his boat for the night,” I answer, because I like playing with Flynn. I enjoy getting a rise out of her. Always have.

Her lips purse together. “A boat,” she repeats. Her teeth chatter even though the heat is blasting in the car. She doesn’t have much material covering her body, even with her waist-length coat.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.” I grin.

“Fun?” she accentuates. “It’s the second week of December. I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion,” she reminds me.

“That dress is perfect. And don’t worry, I have the whole evening planned.” I wink as I park the car. I reach into the back seat and grab an overnight bag we packed. All our needs will be taken care of on the yacht, which is fully stocked with food, wine, and a waitstaff.

“Is this going to be like Oli’s and my sixteenth birthday? Because if it is, I’d rather just sleep in the car.” Her comment throws me off, then the memory comes back to me, and I burst out laughing.

“Hey! My intentions were honorable that night,” I counter. Flynn and Oli’s father planned a camping trip in Algonquin park for their sixteenth birthday. Everyone was hanging out by the campfire. We were on summer break. We didn’t see each other often, and so I wanted to do something special for her. It was before the night she tried to kiss me.

“You took me on a trek at night in Algonquin park. We could’ve been eaten by a bear. You lost our route and we almost froze to death. Thank goodness Oli and my dad found us.”

“I wanted you to see that pond I found. I figured with the clear sky it would be amazing at night with all the stars,” I argue, my brows dipped together. “My intentions were good. Or maybe not, because I thought of kissing you a thousand times over that night.”

“It would have been the best sweet sixteen present.”

Tonight, I wasn’t going to let our history of missed opportunities repeat itself.

“I kept you from freezing that night.” I’d held her close to me and wrapped her body with mine as we sat in the dark forest trying to figure the right way back to the campsite.

“I’m not going to freeze tonight, am I?” She cocks a brow and looks over to me like she isn’t sure. I grab the bag and leave the car without an answer.

“I won’t allow you to freeze tonight, but I may kiss the hell out of you.” I walk over to her and throw her over my shoulder.

She wasn’t expecting me to do that, and she yelps. “Myles Sanders, put me down now.”

“Shh. Someone is going to think I’m hurting you.” I walk down the boardwalk. “I don’t want you to get your heels stuck in the planks,” I explain, and she settles down, which makes it easier to carry her.

We reach Dave’s yacht. It says The Kelsey in big letters along the side. A man dressed in a suit waits for us at the entrance.

“Good evening, sir.” He nods. I place Flynn down on the flat surface and notice as her eyes turn to saucers. “Madam.” He nods to her, too, only she doesn’t answer him as her gaze remains trained on me.

“A boat is what we used to fish with on the lake back home. This is a yacht.” She walks deeper into the main room. The indoors are heated, so the man offers to take her jacket. “Holy shit, this is nice.”

I pause to watch her. “I’m glad you approve. You deserve the best.”

The man takes my coat, too, and then mentions something about a night cap.

“I would have been happy with your apartment,” she says. I know it doesn’t take a lot to please Flynn.

“I want this night to be special.”

She smiles.

“I want it to be memorable.” I grin.

“You don’t know what that means to me, all of this effort.” She waves her hand around the yacht. We are on a main level with tables scattered around the space and some chairs along a bar off to the side.

“You hungry?” I ask, but really, I only have one thing on my mind, and by the look in her eyes, she does, too.

“I can’t think of food right now,” she says with a nervous laugh.

“Come here.” I walk toward her and extend my hand. She takes it, no questions asked.