Off Limits (15 page)

We collapsed in a damp, messy heap together,
fighting for breath, trembling.

“I love you.” I managed to formulate words.

His lips touched my shoulder. “Love you too, Jenna.”

Back in New York, I started looking for jobs in Chicago, applying online for a bunch of them. There were jobs at pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturing companies, United Airlines, universities, and a lot of financial management companies…I applied for those because, hey, I needed a job, but really, I was hoping to find something different. When I Skyped with Andrew and
told him about that, he got frustrated.

“Baby, you don’t need to apply for jobs you don’t really want. Just move here and stay with me while you’re job-hunting. Take your time and find the right one.”

I sighed. What he said made so much sense, but I wanted to do this on my own. Quitting my job on a whim, moving to another city, and moving in with a man seemed like a crazy thing to do. But it
was Andrew…and it was tempting. I wanted to be with him and this long-distance thing was shitty.

Then I came across The One—the job I really wanted, a position at Pinnacle, a human resources company that provided services to businesses to help them improve employee engagement. That was something I was passionate about, and this company had a great reputation as progressive and innovative, and
was growing nationally. It was exactly the kind of work I wanted to do. I filled in my online application and, with my fingers crossed, submitted it.

I started getting callbacks and did a few telephone interviews. When I moved on to second-round interviews, I had to use some vacation time and fly to Chicago. I’d also been looking for apartments and running them past Andrew, but that frustrated
him too. He ruled out most of them because they were too far away from him, but I couldn’t afford to live in the kind of place he did.

We also knew we needed to tell my parents what was going on.

I’d scheduled interviews for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning, so planned to stay in Chicago till Sunday. We agreed this would be a good time for Andrew to invite my parents to come see his new
place, when we could both be there and tell them our news. He made the call and they planned to arrive Saturday morning and fly home Sunday evening.

I stayed at his place while I went for my interviews, of course, even though he was out of town on a road trip to Florida. I was envious of him enjoying sunshine and palm trees while I was battling blowing snow, and disappointed at the timing. Just
when I was there in Chicago…he wasn’t.

This was the lifestyle I was getting into. It was Andrew, and I loved him beyond anything, but he had a crazy life with a lot of travel. Was I going to be able to handle being in a new city where I hardly knew anyone while he was off on road trips? What if he got traded again and we had to move somewhere else?

I twisted my fingers together and bit my lip
as I looked out the immense windows of his apartment overlooking Lake Michigan, pondering these things. But I’d moved to New York not knowing many people, and I’d never had problems making friends. In fact, I looked forward to meeting new people. I’d be okay, and I’d make sure I had my own life so when Andrew was away I’d be busy and happy.

I took the opportunity to explore the neighborhood,
and despite the frigid temperatures, I found myself falling in love with Chicago. Thursday evening I went over to one of the players’ houses. Paul McDonald’s wife, Kim, had invited some of the other wives and girlfriends to come over for wine and appetizers, so that was nice to get to know some of them better.

Friday afternoon I got the phone call from Pinnacle, saying they wanted to schedule
an interview with me. I was jumping up and down when I ended the call, clutching my cellphone in both hands. I’d scheduled the interview for Monday, even though I was supposed to be back at work, which meant I then had to make a quick call to my boss to request one more vacation day. She was annoyed, which sucked, but it was now certain that I’d be leaving there anyway. Then I had to change my return
flight to New York, which made me feel sad, because weirdly, now I found myself not wanting to leave Chicago.

I went shopping at Eataly and bought a bunch of things I thought we’d need for the weekend with my parents, and felt right at home putting them away in Andrew’s gorgeous kitchen.

By the time he got home on Friday, I’d made a decision.

“Welcome home!” I threw my arms around him when
he walked in the door of his apartment.

“Now, this is a nice way to come home.” Still in his jacket, he carried me into his living room and sat on the couch with me on his lap. “Want to come home to you every time, Jenna.”

“I know. I want that too.” I leaned back a little to meet his eyes. “I decided that I
am
going to move in here with you.”

“Yeah?” He flashed a beaming smile. “That’s great!”

I nodded, smiling too. “I missed you so much. I want to be with you as much as I can. With you traveling so often, and me working full-time—hopefully—it’ll be hard to find time if we’re living miles apart.”

“Exactly.” He rubbed his nose against mine. “Good. And you
will
be working. How’d the interviews go?”

“Oh! I got a call from Pinnacle today! I have an interview with them Monday.”

“Oh wow!
That’s great, baby. That means you’re staying another day?”

We talked about that and my other interviews, and the things I’d done around his apartment to get one of the extra bedrooms ready for my parents. “I’m a little nervous about this,” I admitted to Andrew. “Not only are they going to find out we’re together, but we’re actually…together. Like, sharing a bedroom.”

“Heh. They put you and
Jon in separate rooms at Christmas. That was epic.”

I laughed.

“Jon didn’t seem too bothered by it. What a dipshit.”

I lifted one eyebrow.

Andrew smooched my lips. “No way I’d be in the same house as you and not have you in my bed.”

Something fluttered low in my belly.

“Even if Mom and Dad are here?”

“Yep. I mean, I get that this might be a shock for them. But you’re mine, Jenna baby. You
sleep with me. Not alone.”

Warmth flooded me. “Okay. I hope they’re all right with this.”

“They have to be.”

Considering he was the one who’d spent years trying not to betray my parents’ trust, he was pretty relaxed about this. I, on the other hand, was a mass of nerves. I don’t know why. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just hoped they weren’t somehow disappointed in either of us.

Andrew
picked up Mom and Dad at the airport Saturday morning. I was still in bed when he left, so I took my time getting up, having a shower and eating some toast for breakfast. I did a quick cleanup of the kitchen.

The door opened and voices reached my ears as Andrew, Mom, and Dad entered the condo. Mom was exclaiming how beautiful it was. They walked into the living room and Mom stopped dead at seeing
me standing there. Dad plowed into her from behind. “Whoa, Brenda.” Then he saw me too.

The look on their faces was priceless. Their mouths fell open, their eyebrows pulled together, and Dad said, “Bugsy? What the hell…?”

Mom looked from me to Andrew, and then back. And then an expression of pure joy blossomed on her face. It was unmistakable. She clapped her hands together and watched Andrew
toss his jacket onto a chair as he crossed the room toward me.

He clasped my hand. “We thought we’d tell you in person.” He drew me closer. I pressed my front to his side, slid my arms around his waist, and smiled up at him.

When I looked back at Mom, tears were streaming down her face. My own eyes flew open in dismay. “Mom!” I rushed at her. I’d never seen my mom cry. Ever. “What’s wrong?”
I set my hands on her shoulders. She just sobbed.

I looked helplessly at Dad, who also appeared kind of choked up. “I think she’s happy, Bugsy.”

I turned my gaze back to Mom. “Yes? Happy?”

She nodded, her face wet. Then we fell into a hug, and she rocked me back and forth. “Please tell me this is what I think it is,” she sobbed. “Are you two together?”

“Yes.” Now I was crying too, dammit.
“We are.”

“Finally. Oh my God. I thought it would never happen.” Mom cried more.

I turned my head to meet Andrew’s eyes, which danced with amusement and relief. Dad moved to Andrew to take his hand, then gave him a one-armed hug and a backslap.

“Gary”—Andrew met his eyes—“I never forgot what you said. About staying away from Jenna. But we’re adults now and I hope you’re okay with this.”

“Jesus.
She was a baby then.”

Andrew’s long exhalation of relief was audible and our eyes met.

“I’m not anymore, Dad,” I said.

“I know that, Bugsy.” Warmth filled Dad’s eyes and he turned back to Andrew, his hand gripping Andrew’s shoulder. “And there’s no other man in the world I’d rather have you with than Andrew.”

Andrew’s jaw tightened and he blinked rapidly. “Thank you, Gary.”

“What happened?”
Dad released Andrew’s shoulder and stepped back. “At Christmas we kept hoping you two would finally figure things out, then Jenna left…”

“You were hoping for us to get together?” I pulled back to peer at Mom.

“Yes. Oh my God, yes, honey. For so long. I mean, not when you were fourteen, but later. We could see how you both felt. We just didn’t know what to do. Neither of you seemed to realize
it, and then you came home with a new boyfriend and…Well, tell us what happened.”

“Let’s at least take your jackets.” I swiped my hands over my cheeks and stepped back. I hung Mom’s coat and Andrew dealt with Dad’s jacket and I found a box of Kleenex, which Mom and I shared as we mopped up, now half laughing and half crying. Andrew offered to make coffee and we all ended up in his big kitchen,
sitting at a granite-topped island while he brewed lattes in the Keurig and handed them out.

We summarized things, of course. We didn’t tell them about that weekend in college. We did tell them about Andrew flying to New York right after his New Year’s Eve game and showing up at my place. And Andrew did tell them that he’d been worried about disappointing them and losing them.

“Oh, Andrew.”
Mom shook her head. “I told you at Christmas, you’d always have a place in our family. What changed?”

He shrugged, but he held her gaze steadily. “Selling the house. Thought it meant I was losing my family again, but it made me finally realize that even though all of you are important to me, it’s Jenna I can’t live without.”

Mom actually got teary again, which was alarming to me, and I handed
over the Kleenex box. My heart felt full to bursting with love for Andrew and my parents.

“Selling the house wouldn’t have made you lose us,” Mom said. “You should know that, silly boy.”

Mom calling big, buff Andrew a boy made me smile. But then, she’d had to be tough to deal with an alpha husband, two sons, and an adopted hockey player. She turned to me. “So how will this work? Long-distance
relationships are hard.”

I nodded. “I’m moving to Chicago.”

Mom and Dad exchanged glances.

“I know what you’re thinking. This seems fast. But I’ve already been looking for a new job and had some interviews this week. The long-distance part
has
been hard.”

Mom’s eyes warmed. “You two are both smart kids.”

I shook my head at the “kids” part but agreed. “Yes, we are. And even though it seems
fast, we’ve known each other for so long…it feels right.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am.” Mom sighed. “I’ve wanted this for you for so long. For both of you.”

I bit my lip and cast Andrew a shy glance. “Me too.”

He wrapped a big hand around mine and pulled me into his arms. “Oh baby.” His words were uttered in a low tone near my ear. “Me too.”

Andrew had to go to his game day skate, so
Mom and Dad and I hung out at his apartment for a while until he got back. Then Andrew got me to pull up Google Maps on his computer and gave us detailed directions of how to find our way around and then get to the arena. While he took a game day nap, Mom and Dad and I went out to do a bit of sightseeing and then have dinner before the game.

We had a lovely meal at one of the restaurants Andrew
had suggested, managed to get to the arena to pick up the tickets he’d left for us, and found our seats. The arena buzzed with energy as the players warmed up, music pounding out of speakers.

“You’ve seen Andrew play lots of times, right?” I asked my parents, gripping the plastic cup of beer Dad had bought me while I tried to find Andrew on the ice. There he was, with no helmet, skating with
a bunch of guys, all shooting pucks at the empty net. The Aces goalies were both doing laps around their end of the ice along with the remaining players. The New York Rangers skated at the other end.

“Yeah,” Dad said. “We went to L.A. to see him play once when they had back-to-back home games, and we’ve gone to Boston a bunch of times when he’s played there.”

“This is only the second time I’ve
seen him play live since college.” I sipped my beer, swallowing down the now bittersweet memory of the last college game I’d been to. It had always been a sad memory…but now we were together again. My heart swelled up in my chest and I had to blink back tears of happiness.

Mom smiled at me, and I could still see how delighted she was for us.

“But I watched some games on TV,” I confessed.

The
players congregated near the blue line and took turns shooting the puck at the goalie, now in net. I watched Andrew rip a hard shot past the goalie’s glove hand and smiled.

The Aces won that night. Andrew got three assists, which was awesome. He came close to scoring a couple of times, but helping on that many goals was great. After the game, Mom and Dad waited with me where Andrew had told us
to, on the now nearly empty concourse. He appeared, looking so damn sexy in a dark suit and tie, his long black coat open over it. His face was still flushed and his hair neatly brushed back after a shower.

“Hey.” He strode up to me and kissed my mouth, then hooked his arm around my neck and turned to Mom and Dad. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to do a few interviews. Enjoy the game?”

“Yes!
So much. You played great!”

“Good game, Andrew,” Dad said. “You were on the ice for all four goals. Had some good chances yourself.”