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January 3 - January 11, 2025
“Take all the time in the world,” he calls out. “You’re worth the wait.” “Do you use that line on every girl?” “You know there aren’t any girls.”
Tattooed arms, dark hair, light eyes that border on gray. Six-foot-six, with muscles in places I didn’t know people could be strong. He’s all-around handsome, but his smile is his most devastating characteristic. Wide and bright, it stops you in your tracks. It’s genuine and a little shy, like he can’t believe he’s lucky enough to live a life like this.
It’s jealousy, I think, not of the person but of their situation. Of having someone to come home to every night. Someone to share their day with, the good, the bad, and the mediocre moments in between.
Lacey tilts her head back and laughs, and it’s such a bright sound. It might be below freezing outside, but her laugh is warm. Inviting. Sunshine in human form, and one of my favorite noises.
A giant fuck you to anyone who’s ever told her she needs to tone it down, because Lacey laughs like she does everything else in life: without a care in the goddamn world. I like that about her.
Aiden treats Maggie right. He loves her loudly and softly, in front of everyone and when no one is watching. I always catch him looking at her, this dopey smile of adoration on his face, like he can’t believe she’s his.
Shawn spins his finger and I roll my eyes, turning to show him his name on the back of the jersey I’m wearing.
When the huddle breaks and the defense takes the field, he’s still looking at me, and I don’t see an ounce of strain on his face.
There’s an ache in my chest when I imagine the thousands of people out there happy, living with their person and content as a clam.
When she doesn’t pull away, I smile big and wide. She gives me a shy grin in return and I press my lips against hers, kissing my best friend in front of seventy thousand people without a damn in the world, just as snowflakes start to fall from the sky.
“Send me your location when you leave tonight?” I blurt out, then I slap my forehead with the heel of my palm. “Just in case.” “Worried about me, Holmes?” she teases, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I’m your boyfriend, Lacey,” I say lowly. “Fake boyfriend,” she whispers so softly, I have to press my phone against my ear to hear her. “Doesn’t matter. Fake. Real. I don’t give a shit. I take care of what’s mine, and right now, you are mine.”
“Is there a reason you’re pretending to not know how to skate when I distinctly remember you winning the junior hockey league MVP when we were eight?” My ears turn red, and I dip my chin. “Because I like watching Lacey pretend to know what she’s talking about.”
“Anything I can help with?” he asks, and I shake my head. Not unless you want to fuck me in a gingerbread house at a Christmas tree farm.
“We can keep pretending we’re just fuck buddies, Lacey, but you’re wearing my shirt with nothing underneath it. What about this feels fake to you?”
“Do you—I still want to kiss you,” he says. “I always want to kiss you, even if we’re the only ones in the room. Is that… would that be okay with you?” “Yeah.” I wrap my arms around his neck and bring him close to me. He tumbles onto the mattress, knees knocking against mine. “That would definitely be okay, because I always want to kiss you, too.”
buy four or five magnets every time I travel somewhere,” I explain. “I give you one, but I keep the others in case you don’t like what I picked. In case yours breaks or gets lost. In case I stop coaching tomorrow and I can never go back to these places, I want to be able to keep giving you something. I have this plan to give you a new one every year until you’re the magnet girl.”
I don’t want to let you go just yet. Can I keep you a little while longer?” My bottom lip wobbles. My hands tremble, and I sniff. “How much longer?” I ask. “How does forever sound?”
“Forever is a long time,” I say. “And it still wouldn’t be long enough.
