Edge (17 page)

How the fuck did he know that? “It was just the sex,” I said, knowing it was a load of shit.

“Maybe the sex is what brought your feelings to the surface.”

I sat down slowly, in a daze. “Shit.” I bowed my head and ran my fingers into my hair, pulling on it to release my frustration.

“It’s not a bad thing, Luke,” Kate said softly.

“Will you guys meet her?” I looked up to face them. “I’ve been thinking about asking her to visit me here. If she comes, will you meet her?”

“Of course,” Ryke said.

“She’s not like anyone I’ve ever been with. She’s amazing.”

“To tie you up in knots like this, she must be.” Kate climbed into Ryke’s lap in a recliner, raking her fingers through his hair lazily.

Their coupledom used to make me shake my head with sadness for all the ass Ryke would never have now. But looking at them now, I wished Dell was curled in my lap – her fingers in my hair. I’d become a lovesick pussy, and I was past thinking I could shake it.

Only one thing would cure my roller coaster moods – seeing Dell. Hopefully she’d forgive me for being such an asshole and come to Chicago.

Dell

I tried to arch one eyebrow, but my effort just made Kyler bust out laughing.

“What?” I asked, pulling away from the Jenga block I’d been about to snatch.

“You look like you have dirt in your eye, Mom.”

“That was my evil look.”

“It’s not evil. It’s funny.”

“You won’t be laughing when I get this block out,” I said, leaning closer to the tower to study it. I had it halfway out when my phone buzzed in my pocket and I jumped just enough to topple the blocks.

“I won!” Kyler pumped a fist in the air. I needed to talk to him again about winning not being everything. I didn’t want to raise a mini version of my father.

I looked down at the phone, surprised to see Luke’s name there.

Luke: I’m sorry about the other night.

Mmm-hmm. I was sorry, too. I was still fuming over his impersonal send-off after we had sex.

Me: Sorry about which part?

Luke: The way I left.

I’d just read the message when another one popped up.

Luke: The whole thing, actually. I shouldn’t have fucked you in a laundry room.

Me: Don’t apologize for that part. It just hurt my feelings when you walked out.

Luke: I fucked up. I’m sorry.

Me: Okay.

Luke: U and Kyler want to come to Chicago for my game Sat nite?

Me: I don’t know, Luke.

Luke: Please. I want to see u guys. I’m really sorry about the other night.

Me: What the hell was that?

Luke: I don’t want other women. I only want u.

Me: And that’s how u show it?

Luke: I was an asshole. I’m sorry. Tell me how to make it up to u.

Me: I don’t want to be your booty call.

Luke: You aren’t. I’m asking u to bring Kyler. I want to see u guys and I want u to meet my friends.

I wanted to stay mad, but he was clearly trying to atone. I grinned and looked at Ky. This was so spur of the moment. But if I didn’t commit now, I’d rationalize my way out of it.

“You want to go to a game in Chicago?” I asked.

“Sure. Will Grandpa be there?”

“Not this time,” I said, texting Luke back.

Me: I’m off that day, so we could.

Luke: I know, checked ur schedule. Say yes.

Me: Yes.

It would be a fun night away for me and Kyler. We could stay at a hotel and go to the toy store downtown. Hopefully since he knew I’d have my son, Luke knew nothing would happen between the two of us that night.

Just the thought of seeing him excited me, though. Hearing his voice, seeing his smile, hugging him as long and hard as I could tastefully get away with …

I stood and reached for Kyler, sweeping him into my arms so I could get my hug on.

“Mom,” he said, sounding aggravated. “I’m not a baby.”

“You’re my baby, though.”

He let me squeeze him a few more seconds before wiggling away. “Mom, what’s nut-cuttin’?”

“What? Where did you hear that?”

“Grandpa said it at his practice. He yelled that it was nut cuttin’ time. He sounded really mad.”

My pulse kicked up with anger. “He took you to his practice?”

“I wanted to go.”

I’d let my mom come up and get Kyler so he could spend a couple days and nights with my parents, but I had no idea Dad had taken him to practice. My son had probably been exposed to every profane word in the English language, plus a few foreign ones.

“I can’t believe he took you there.” I was seething – itching to call my father and have one of our ‘discussions’.

“He let me blow the whistle.” Kyler grinned proudly. “And I got to score in their net. It was cool.”

I softened a little. As brash as my Dad could be, Kyler was his pride and joy. His only child was a daughter, and now he had a boy to be rough and tumble with. And it was probably good for Kyler, since he saw his dad so infrequently.

“Alright, guess I better get us a room in Chicago,” I said.

“Can we stay somewhere with a pool?”

“Sure.”

“Is Sadie coming?”

“If she wants to.”

He ran to her room to ask her, and I opened my laptop to search for a hotel. Had I forgiven Luke too quickly? No. He’d apologized, and I didn’t want to be one of those women who played stupid mind games.

I couldn’t wait to see him, even if it was just at a game he was playing in. Maybe he’d have time for lunch with me and Kyler before we left. A slow goodbye to whatever it was we had would be good for me. Luke Hudson wasn’t the kind of man a woman could quit cold turkey.

Dell

The suburban house I parked in front of was incredible. It was a sprawling brick home with a horseshoe drive. Like my parents’ home in Nashville, it was luxurious. Private, well-landscaped and mansion-sized.

When I saw Luke’s SUV in the driveway, I sighed with relief. I didn’t think I could meet his rich friends alone. He’d said he’d hurry over here from the pregame skate, and he must have.

“Whose house is this again?” Kyler asked as we walked up to the arched front door.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ryker. Mr. Ryker is on Luke’s team.”

“So Luke’s never coming back to your team?”

A momentary pang of sadness hit. “Probably not. He was just getting his knee all better on my team. His real team is here in Chicago.”

“Did you help get his knee all better?”

“A little.”

Kyler pressed the doorbell and soon a gorgeous, petite blonde woman pulled the front door open.

“Hi guys, come on in.” She smiled and reached for me with a hug. “I’m Kate. I’m so glad you guys are here.”

A little girl with a light brown ponytail ran into the entryway.

“Kyler?” Her smile was as warm as her mother’s. “I’m Melody. Wanna play in the playroom?”

“Let him come in and see everyone first,” Kate said, closing the door. “Can I take your coats?”

We handed them over and she hung them in a closet and led us into an enormous kitchen with a vaulted ceiling, warm wood cabinets and huge stainless appliances. My heart went into overdrive when I saw Luke leaning against a large kitchen island. He pushed off and approached me.

“Hey, you made it.” His happy grin made my panties burst into flames. I’d gone
years
without sex and never felt this way before. I stood behind Kyler, my hands on his shoulders, hoping Luke would get the message that I didn’t want to confuse my son with any public displays of affection.

“We did.”

“Hey, Kyler.” Luke bent down and reached out to shake his hand. Kyler shook back silently. “You remember me?”

“Yeah. I wish you were still on my mom’s team.”

“Me too. But I’m really glad you came to visit me where I live.”

“Is this your house?” Kyler asked.

“No, this is my buddy Ryke and his wife Kate’s house.”

A tall, dark haired-man with a body that matched Luke’s stood up from the table of a small kitchen nook. “I’m Ryke,” he said, approaching us. Like Kate, he hugged me warmly. He shook Kyler’s hand and leaned down to talk to him and Melody.

“You guys wanna roller skate in the basement?” he asked. “We’ve got a huge concrete floor down there.”

“Yeah!” Melody yelled, looking at Kyler. “It’s really fun.”

They took off and Kate led Luke and I into a cozy sitting room.

“I have to go see if AJ’s awake yet,” she said. “And then I’ll grab some drinks. Dell, what can I get you? Iced tea? Water? Soda?”

“Water would be great,” I said.

“Luke, you want water, right?” she said, turning to leave the room.

“Yep. Thanks.”

The room was suddenly too quiet as Luke and I stood alone. We’d slept together, but I felt nervous in this
meeting his friends
setting.

“Your friends seem really nice,” I said.

“Can I kiss you while we’re alone?”

His longing expression melted me. “Please,” I said softly.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. “I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you. And I promise not to be an asshole like I was the last time we saw each other.”

“There were parts of that encounter I have no complaints about,” I reminded him.

He smiled and kissed me. It was a long, lazy kiss – more of a hello than any of the words we’d spoken since my arrival.

“You smell good,” he said, pulling away.

“Thanks.”

“I took the world’s fastest shower to get here after my skate, so I hope I’m okay.” He furrowed his brow with concern.

“You’re good.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and sank into him.

“You’re staying the night, right?” he murmured against my hair.

“Yes. I got a room at a place downtown.”

“You can stay with me, Dell.” He pulled back and gave me an admonishing look.

“Not with Kyler.”

“I have a guest room.”

“It’s fine, really, Luke. Kyler wants to go swimming before we leave in the morning, so I got a room at a place with a pool.”

“I wanted you to see my place. It’s nothing special, not like this place or anything, but—”

“Another time,” I said, kicking myself for suggesting I’d be coming back.

“Okay. You know they have a pool here?”

I arched my brows with surprise. “You mean, here in this house?”

“Yeah. Ryke’s got some bank from endorsements.” He led me to a couch and we sat down together. “That reminds me, my agent called me the other day and told me some outfit wants me to be the spokesman for their deodorant.”

“That’s great! You should do it.”

“Think so?”

“Well, if your agent thinks the numbers are right, sure.”

“Ryke does underwear ads and I get deodorant? That’s kinda bullshit.”

“It is backwards,” I agreed. “He’s married and you’re not. You should be the one looking all sexy on billboards.”

“You think I look sexy in underwear?” He wove his fingertips into my scalp and stroked a hand through my hair.

“I like you better out of it,” I said, returning his meaningful look.

“Still asleep,” Kate said, strolling into the room with a bottle of water in each hand. She took one look at us and froze. “Oh, sorry.”

“No, you’re fine,” Luke said. “Come hang out with us.”

He put an arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him. This wasn’t something I’d had a chance to miss, because we’d never had it. But I was pretty sure that after I left in the morning, I’d miss it then. I liked snuggling into the hard contours of his body and smelling the fresh fabric softener in his shirt. Maybe not the sexiest scent in the world, but I was the only one close enough to smell it on him, and that did something to me that I liked.

Kate was telling us about their baby son, AJ, when Ryke walked into the room. He approached the chair she was sitting in, and she stood up though he didn’t even ask her to. When he sat down, he pulled her into his lap and she kept talking, not missing a beat.

With several empty chairs in the room, I thought it was about the sweetest thing I’d ever seen.

“So Dell, you’re a hockey trainer?” Ryke said. “What made you decide to do that?”

“My dad’s a hockey coach.”

“Anyone I might know?”

Probably. “Butch Price.”

“Holy shit, that’s your dad? He’s got the best record in the league.”

“I’m my parents’ only kid, so I’m sure many a swear word was screamed in the delivery room when a girl came out.”

Ryke laughed and rubbed a hand over Kate’s thigh. “Nah. My daughter plays. Did you ever play?”

“Never wanted to after seeing my dad light into grown men over hockey every day.”

“I can understand that.” He glanced at his watch. “Luke, I hate to say it, man, but we have to head back to the rink soon.”

Luke sighed his disapproval. “Yeah.”

“Dell, I hope you and Kyler will stay for the afternoon and ride to the game with us later,” Kate said.

“Sure, we’d love that.”

“Can we all have dinner after?” Luke asked me. “Will it be too late for Kyler?”

“No, it’s not a school night so that’ll be fine.”

“Good.” He surprised me by leaning in for a kiss. If I’d had time to think about it, I might have been embarrassed since his friends were right there, but instead I was wrapped up in his sweetness. This was the opposite of the man who’d screwed me up against a washing machine. He was trying hard to show me he was sorry.

“Good luck,” I said when he pulled away. He kissed me again, this time a little deeper. It stirred a reminder of our last encounter between my thighs.

“Mom!”

I jumped away from Luke at the sound of Kyler’s approaching voice.

“Mom, they have a pool!” he cried, rushing into the room. “In their house! Can we go swimming?”

“Um …”

Kate jumped in. “Sure! Do you like swimming, Kyler?”

She herded him out of the room and I turned back to Luke. “Sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be. I shouldn’t have been all over you like that. It’s just hard to control myself around you.”

He kissed me on the forehead and rose from the couch. I told myself this was like getting an appetizer and no meal. I’d gotten a taste of my desire for him, and his for me. But other than a little kissing, this visit would be a reminder of our hands-off introduction to each other.