More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
I clutch the cup in both hands like a dragon with his egg. This isn’t just an iced latte. It’s an iced oat-milk honey latte with a double shot of espresso and vanilla-sweet-cream cold foam with a drizzle of caramel on top. It’s basically an orgasm in a cup.
My coffee lands next to us with a splat. I cry out as I watch it leak all over the sidewalk. “My orgasm!”
There’s nothing wrong with you, Karlsson. I’m weird because I’m weird, not because you’re weird. You’re perfect, okay? You just be you, and I’ll be me, and we’ll just be weird and awkward together. Sound good?”
Henrik Karlsson made me breakfast this morning. In his apartment. Shirtless. Yeah, watch me ride the high of this moment until the next freaking ice age.
We’re getting married. Today. Now. Oh, I am so fucking fucked! And not in the fun way.
I know what leaving looks like, and I know what it means to the ones left behind. So, I’m here, ready to put my own happiness on the line to help keep a family together.
As I stand here, heart racing, the truth settles over me: I don’t want Teddy out with another man tonight. I want him home, laughing with Karro on the couch, making banana splits, and teaching me to braid her hair. I want him home with me.
When you’re generous, people take from you. They fucking drain you dry. And you’re too goddamn nice to stop them. You would let the life drain from your own eyes if it meant you were seen by others as a good person.
“You men, I swear. Never in my thirty years in the League have I dealt with so many personal revelations on one team. I mean, how does this even happen? How are you all gay?” Next to me, Novy snorts. But Jake sits forward in his chair. “Well, not to be too pedantic here, sir, but Caleb is actually queer, and I’m bi. I’m pretty sure Novy is straight, plus Morrow. And Mars is just . . . well, Mars,” he finishes with a shrug.
“Teddy O’Connor is my partner, and that’s all you get to know. That’s all any of you deserve. He’s mine, and I will fight as fiercely for him as I have for every other man on my team. More so, because at the end of the day, my teammates go home to their partners. I go home to Teddy. The only question you get to ask me about him for the rest of my time in this League is how happy he makes me. And my answer will never change: He makes me very happy. Now, someone ask a question that’s actually about hockey.”
“And Mama, you know I love you. I respect you. And I’m truly sorry for all the hurt I caused.” Hands on his hips, he stares her down. “But if you ever talk to my husband like that again, it’ll be the last time you ever talk to me.”
“But in that darkness,” Henrik goes on, “Teddy was the light. He guided me back to life, back to living. The rings we wear became a tether. So long as I have him, I can keep fighting.”
“Thank you,” he whispers, his fingers trailing down the line of my shoulder. “For what?” I feel his smile as he leans in, kissing my brow. “For waiting for me.”
Teddy looks around, eyes wide. “Ohmygod.” He grabs my arm. “Babe, they’re right over there.” Langley follows his gaze, clearly confused. “What’s up?” “He thinks Novy still hates him,” I tease. “Shut up. You didn’t see the look of haunted betrayal in his eyes.” I pat his arm. “Why don’t you be a good little guppy and go say hello.” “Are you kidding? Flounder is a total coward.” Grinning ear to ear, Tess shouts, waving them over. “Poppy! Girl, hey!” “Seriously,” Teddy hisses at her. “That staff better be able to do actual magic, you witch!”
Tasting him on my lips is like coming up for air. I was drowning, and he saved me. I was lonely, and he brought joy and laughter into my life. I was lost, set adrift, and he found me. He reeled me in and moored me to him. We are bound now. Irrevocably. Teddy is my life and my love. To the end of my days, he is my home.
