Status: Short and Sweet

Here

Four

December 2011

We ate in an awkward silence and it was killing me. I finally pushed my plate away and stood, “What do you want to talk about?”

Lacey looked out the window, “Promise me you won’t freak out?”

“Are you pregnant?” I asked.

“No!” she looked back at me and smiled, “Thank God no!”

Okay, one thing I was afraid of wasn’t true. Not that I didn’t think about having kids because I did, with Lacey. All the time. I hadn’t come to Chicago wanting the whole white picket fence deal, but I left after my first season wanting all of that typical shit.

“Okay then, what is it?”

“You promise?”

I let out a sigh, “Yes Lacey, I promise.”

“I need to put pants on, I feel like I should be wearing pants, and maybe shoes when I say this,” she went to get up off the bar stool but I grabbed her.

“Are you going to run after you tell me?” I asked.

“I might have to,” she was staring at the tiles on the floor.

I lifted her chin with my hand, “Look, Lace, whatever it is…”

She kissed me, completely out of the blue. Once second she was freaking out, on the verge of giving herself a panic attack, and the next she was pressed against my body kissing me. I kissed her back, out of habit or want, I don’t know, but I did. I loved the way her lips felt against mine and how she fit perfectly into my bulky arms. She always melted into me too, like she had been waiting for me to hold her or kiss her for her entire life. Like it was the last kiss we would ever share.

Fuck! I pushed her back from me, “No Lace, no. He can’t have you! He doesn’t want you,
at least not the way I do.”

Anger flashed in her eyes, then pain, then a small twinkle that I didn’t quite understand. I had a firm hold on her arms and was almost shaking her, “He doesn’t…”

She cut me off, “Love me like you do?”

“No, he doesn’t…” I answered and then trailed off realizing I basically just confirmed that I was in love with her in the worst way I could have.

“He loves you, he really does Lace, but just not the way that you deserve,” I had to say it now, “He doesn’t…”

She kissed me hard again but I pulled back, “Let me finish a fucking sentence,” I growled.

“Should have put pants on for this,” she backed away.

“I love you Lacey,” I finally said it.

Her face was void of any emotion whatsoever and it pissed me off. I wanted something, joy, anger, any fucking emotion would have been good at that point.

Her eyes went to her fingers as she played with the hem of the shirt, “Can I…God this is awkward,” she took a deep breath and looked at me, “Can I move in with you?”

I blinked and shook my head, “That’s your reaction?”

“I mean Brent and I are over and you just said you loved me and all…I need to get out of his place, he’s starting to get the idea that we’re just going to go back to the way it was and I don’t want to give him that idea. It’s just not fair to live with a guy you’ve been sleeping with
when you’re completely, madly in love with another man,” she bit her lip again.

I went to say something but stopped, “Wait, what?”

“Well, since he got back to Chicago he’s been trying really hard to get me back in his bed again and I keep telling him that it’s over, it has been since March. He just isn’t…”

“Since March?” I asked.

“Since March,” she confirmed, “Since you took me to that cabin up in the Dells.”

I was dumbfounded. I thought that they had kept their relationship going all this time and here she was telling me that she ended it months ago. I felt like an idiot for not asking or for noticing that she, in fact, had been with me more.

Looking back, all the signs were there. She had taken up a drawer in my room, a section of the closet, had a parking permit to the garage, grocery shopped, everything fit into place now.

Still, I was mad that she hadn’t mentioned it. I closed the gap and grabbed her arm, “Why didn’t you say anything?” I hissed.

“Well, I was here a lot more and you didn’t notice Brent acting all crabby?”

“You should have told me,” my hold got tighter.

“I didn’t want to freak you out or think I was moving too fast.”

I let go of her arm and turned around. I ran my hands over my face and through my hair, “Lacey, are you serious right now?”

“Going to put pants on,” I could hear her backing away.

I turned so fast that I was almost dizzy. I grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her up, making her squeak out of surprise, “No pants. Ever.”

“That’s going to go over well when your parents come to visit.”

“Where are your things?”

“In my car.”

I set her down and went to grab a coat, not even bothering with a shirt. Her keys were on the counter and I grabbed them before sprinting out the door.

When I came up I dropped all five bags at the door and rolled the suitcase in behind me. Lacey walked into my view, wearing pants now, “Pants. Off!” I ripped my coat off and charged at
her.

She squealed again and turned to run toward the living room. I caught her just as she was trying to fake me out around the couch, “Gotcha!” I pulled her against me.

“So I can move in?” she ran her hands up and down my chest.

“So you love me?”

“So you’re not freaked out?”

Lacey’s fear was real even though she was masking it with some humor. She was afraid that I was still going to tell her to hit the road after I told her I loved her and brought all of her things up in one short trip. I bit back the laugh I wanted to let out and instead shook my head, “I love you,” I told her again.

She slipped her arms around me, “Again.”

I closed my eyes and laughed, “I love you Lacey,” I lifted her up bridal style and carried her toward my bedroom, now our bedroom.

I set her on the bed then crawled on top of her, “Has he been an asshole to you?” I had been so caught up in my own emotions I had forgotten to make sure she was okay.

“Yes and no,” I rolled off of her and onto my side, “He wasn’t too upset when I first broke it off, but then when he came back for this season he got a little pissy. Guess the puck sluts aren’t as good as me,’ she smiled.

“They’re not,” I confirmed.

“He hasn’t been a jerk to you?” she asked.

“Not anymore than usual,” I told her, “Just a little off once in a while. But we’re teammates and you know Tazer would fuck our shit up if we did anything to ruin the team dynamic.”

“Good ol’ Tazer,” she smiled at me and scooted closer.

I kissed her softly, feeling out the situation just to make sure she really wanted this. When Lacey and I kissed it seemed like I could get a good feel for whatever situation we were in at the moment. She wore her emotions on her lips and I had to admit, it was a great way to find out what she felt.

This time I knew that Lacey was serious about everything just with the way the sweet kiss turned into a loving one with a little passion. I ran my hand up her body and to her neck, holding her in place. Our mouths opened and I slipped my tongue inside her mouth. She easily let me take over as I got her onto her back and hovered over her body.

I kissed down her neck until I reached the neckline of her shirt. I slipped my hands under the hem of her shirt and moved away to pull it over her head. I smiled down at her, “You know, you never actually said it.”

“Said what?” she ran her hands through my hair.

I raised my eyebrow and saw her smile at me, “Oh, that.”

I sat back on my heels and Lacey followed me. She kissed my stomach and up my chest. She looked up at me through her eyelashes as she kissed up my neck. Her hands traveled up my body, to my neck, holding it in place. When her lips were right below my ear she stopped, “I love you Viktor,” she whispered.

“How much?”

“Enough,” she smiled against my neck.

I smiled too, “So much that it scares me,” she whispered again.

“Don’t be scared baby,” I hugged her against me, “I won’t hurt you.”

“I know you won’t,” she sounded so confident.

“I’m just glad you’re here Lacey.”

She nodded at me, “I’m here Vik, I’ll always be here.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Done!

Hope you guys like it :) I literally started this story like 4 times in 3 days and deleted it all so I hope this one was one of my better ideas. And honestly, I'm not opposed to writing a prequel or sequel...so maybe in time.

So let me know :)