Losing an Edge (Portland Storm Book 13) (27 page)

As soon as he set me down, Connor demanded his turn to be carried by Tarzan.

“Looks like that one backfired on you,” I said.

The way he looked at me, I got the impression he was more than okay with that.

“
WHAT DO YOU
wear to a wedding for two gay men?” Levi asked me from down the hall. “I mean, I know that probably sounds like a stupid question, but…”

“Just wear whatever you’d put on for any of your teammates’ weddings,” I called out in return. “Any of the suits you’d use for going to or from a game should work out fine.”

“You’re sure?”

I sighed. “You don’t need to put on a tux, but I’m not taking you with me if you come out with a tracksuit on.”

“Okay. Got it.”

I looked myself over in the mirror, checking to see if there were any holes in my hairdo after all the curling and hairspray and whatnot. It looked all right, from what I could tell. I wished Levi had a handheld mirror, or that I’d thought to bring one of Sara’s over with me when I’d moved in a little over a week ago. But I hadn’t, and he didn’t, and so far I hadn’t found the time to run to the store and buy one.

There hadn’t been a single peep from Guy in all the time I’d been living here. No more creepy notes on my car. No sign of him showing up in parking lots at any of the places I tended to go. He had gone silent enough it was tempting to forget all about him.

I couldn’t, though. The last thing I needed to do was let down my guard. He’d pounce the moment he thought I wasn’t expecting him to do anything.

I’d kept up going to Krav Maga classes and had otherwise gone about my life as though nothing were wrong.

If only that were the truth.

The most natural, normal thing about life since moving into Levi’s apartment was learning to be around each other so much. I wasn’t certain why I’d pushed against him for so long. We were good together.

Insanely good, actually.

Most nights, when he didn’t have a game, we curled up together on the couch for hours, our arms wrapped around each other, watching whatever show was on that night—
Black Sails
and
Impractical Jokers
were his two favorites, but he didn’t put up any fight at all when I asked him to watch
Downton Abbey
with me. Sometimes we kissed. Sometimes we went quite a bit further than kissing, but we never ended up going to bed together. Not yet, at least. It was becoming more and more difficult to go down the hall to my bedroom at the end of the night without trying to drag him along with me. Not only that, but I could tell it was taking every ounce of patience he could muster to take things as slowly as we both realized we needed to take it.

I wasn’t sure how much longer we’d be able to hold out.

For that matter, I wasn’t sure how much longer I
wanted
to hold out.

My one saving grace was that the team was due to leave for another road trip in a few days, so then we
couldn’t
jump each other’s bones. Not while he was gone. That trip would also coincide with me needing to be more on my guard again. With Levi and my brother out of the picture, it was far more likely that Guy would strike again. I had to be ready.

With my hair as good as I could manage and my makeup looking decent, I shimmied into the dress I’d picked out to wear today—a soft, coral pink, since that was the color Jesse requested I wear to go with their Valentine’s Day theme—and slipped into my shoes.

I glanced at the clock. We should’ve left five minutes ago. “You ready?” I called out again as I rushed into the living room.

Levi was standing there looking sexier than should be legal in a soft gray suit, striped pale violet shirt, and a teal tie. I stopped short, just to look my fill.

“Shit. Should I have worn pink? I know you told me they were doing pink for everything. I should’ve thought of that. I can go chan—”

“No time to change. We’re already late. You’re fine like this.”

He grabbed both of our coats and helped me into mine. “Only fine?”

“If you ask Jesse, he’ll probably say you’re
fine
.” I snapped my fingers and head, mimicking Jesse’s move. “And I agree with him.”

Levi pecked me on the nose, his dimple making an appearance, and then ushered me out the front door.

By the time we arrived at the courthouse, the parking lot was jam-packed. We had to find pay parking off the street and hike a short distance to make our way inside. We found seats near the middle just in time.

Anthony came out first, in a black tux with pink cummerbund and bowtie. Then Jesse came out in an insanely fabulous white tux with matching pink accents, including a top hat. The justice of the peace brought everyone to order, and the guys said their vows. It was a quick, tasteful service.

In no time, it was over, and we were all headed back to Anthony’s house for the reception. Or really, since Jesse had put it together, I supposed we should call it a party.

Sara and Cam were there—they’d left the kids with Sara’s dad for the afternoon, although I wasn’t sure how they’d convinced Scotty to keep the two little hellions. Since she’d been such a big part of the planning, Sara basically ran the show after everyone was inside. She was good at bossing people around and making sure everything was done the way Anthony and Jesse wanted it.

Levi and I found the happy couple and gave them our presents. Jesse made a big show of kissing both of us on the cheeks to thank us, which made Levi blush and stammer.

“Never been kissed by a gay man before?” I asked, teasing him once we were alone again.

“There’s something I can check off the bucket list.”

“Just be glad he didn’t kiss you like this,” I said, stretching up on my tiptoes and sealing my lips over his.

I kept it short because today was not about the two of us. Apparently I didn’t keep it short enough. Cam caught my eye once I’d broken off the kiss, and he ground his jaw in the distance.

Behave
, I mouthed at him across the living room.

Tell him to behave
, he mouthed back.

I laughed and shook my head, then tucked my hand into Levi’s arm and led him off to talk to some other acquaintances from the world of figure skating.

Before long, it was time to cut the cake. A woman who was so hot she made me look like a bum came out with the aforementioned ice cream cake with chocolate-covered-bacon roses for decoration. I’d never seen anything less appealing in my life, but it was exactly what Jesse wanted—and Anthony would never deny Jesse anything if he could manage to avoid doing so.

Mia Quincey got herself into position and choreographed the two of them cutting into the cake. I blinked, and then ice cream was flying. Literally.

“Um” —I looked at Levi, wide-eyed— “ready to skedaddle?”

“It’s okay for us to sneak out early?”

“Unless you really want to get hit with ice cream and bacon?”

He took my hand, and we made a mad dash for the front door, laughing and grabbing our coats on the way. We were still laughing by the time we were in the car and moving.

At a stoplight, Levi turned to me and brushed something off my cheek, then put it in his mouth. “Hmm. Bacon and ice cream isn’t half bad. Who knew?”

I was about to tell him that apparently Jesse did, when he leaned over and kissed the same spot on my cheek, flicking his tongue against my skin. Then I couldn’t say anything. Heck, I couldn’t even breathe anymore, not after my initial gasp from the contact.

He straightened away from me and started driving again when the light turned green.

The rest of the way to his apartment, my ability to concentrate was nil. All I could think about was the soft touch of his lips and tongue against my skin and how I wanted more of it.

Once we got inside, Levi came up behind me and helped me out of my coat. The warmth of the material had barely left me when the heat of his lips replaced it. He kissed me right where my neck melted into my collarbone, and I shivered. That was one of the spots he’d discovered early on—one of the ones that made me melt into a puddle of goo and had me willing to do almost anything he suggested.

“Cold?” he murmured, his lips still making contact with my skin. He wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me back against him.

I shook my head. “Not cold. If anything, I’m hot.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” he teased.

I was tempted to elbow him in the ribs, but I was too short to reach him there. I might accidentally hit him somewhere that might cause damage, or at least put a quick end to what I hoped we were starting. Instead, I linked my hands with his, threading our fingers together.

“I got you a Valentine’s Day present,” he said, his mouth so close to my ear that his voice sent reverberations through my whole body. “I hope that’s allowed at this point in our relationship.”

“A present?” I asked, both elated and upset at the same time. “I didn’t think to get you anything.”

“Good. Because I want this to be all about you right now.” He took a moment to hang our coats in the closet, then reached for my hand and led me into the living room. “Sit here and close your eyes,” he said, nudging me onto the couch.

“I’m not good at keeping my eyes closed.”

“No, you’ve got too much of Connor in you. Can’t do what you’re told.” He winked. “Close them, or I’ll blindfold you.”

I bit my lip to suppress a grin. “You could blindfold me if you want.”

He stared for a minute. Then he shook his head. “Don’t give me ideas. Close your eyes.”

I closed my eyes and waited until I heard him doing something in his bedroom. Then I opened them again. He was right. There was a bit of Connor’s devious streak in me. Maybe that was where he’d gotten it, because that little boy’s nature was about as different from Cam’s as possible.

A moment later, Levi came back carrying a small box, big enough to hold a stack of index cards. “You’re supposed to have your eyes closed,” he said accusingly.

“Should’ve gone with the blindfold. Here.” I patted the seat next to me. “Let me see.”

The expression on his face was a combination of amusement and annoyance. I figured that meant good things to come. He sat next to me, putting an arm around me the way he almost always did, and passed the box into my hands.

“Go on, nosy,” he said.

The lid was labeled
Cadence’s Daily Treat
. I lifted the top off the box and set it aside. Sure enough, it was filled with note cards. The first one said
Present this card to redeem one romantic afternoon walk at the International Rose Test Gardens followed by dinner of your choice
. I flipped through the box, scanning the different cards. They were good for all sorts of things: a kiss to be delivered even when one or both parties were angry, a dinner prepared by him, an authentic and heartfelt apology (whether he felt like he’d been wrong or not), a bubble bath, a thorough cleaning of the kitchen, a candlelit massage, a day spent babysitting my niece and nephew so I could hang out with my brother and sister-in-law without the kids getting in the way, a weekend getaway to the beach (schedules permitting), a foot rub, and even a few labeled
Lady’s Choice
. Some were clearly meant for when he was on the road or when I had to travel for competitions, since they offered things like an uninterrupted hour of Skype time, flower delivery, or travel arrangements to wherever the team was playing.

I set them all back in the box and returned the lid to its position. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s not difficult. Every day, you pick a card, and I give you whatever’s on the card. I’ll restock it whenever it starts running low, so there are always plenty of options.”

“But…” No one had ever done anything like that for me before, let alone doing something for me every single day. With Guy, it had always been about what I needed to do for him.

“But nothing,” Levi said. “Every day, no matter what, you get to pick a card. And you get whatever is on the card, no questions asked, no arguments, no hesitation.”

“No matter what?” I asked. Because the wheels had started spinning in my mind.

“No matter what.”