Trivial Pursuits (Chicago On Ice Book 2) (16 page)

“You’re going to walk around for me naked?” Landon teases. “Best gift
ever.
”

I feel my cheeks grow hot. “Um, no, that’s not it,” I say, laughing. “Let me go get it.”

I get up and head down the hallway, past the clothing we ripped off the night before, and retrieve the jewelry box from my tote. I head back to Landon’s room, grinning at him.

“Now this isn’t an anniversary gift,” I say, climbing back into bed next to him. “Just something for you.”

“I should be wounded you already forgot our anniversary,” Landon jokes as he takes the box from me. “You’re a terrible girlfriend.”

Girlfriend.
My heart dances the second that word escapes his lips.

“I’ll find a way to make it up to you,” I say smartly.

Landon grins and slides the ribbon off the box. He lifts the lid, setting it aside, and unfolds the tissue paper that the bracelet is wrapped in. Then he lifts up the bracelet.

“It’s a shark fin bracelet,” I say softly. “In honor of our date at the Shedd.”

Landon traces his fingers over the metal and sea glass fin I made. “Livy,” he says quietly, lifting his gaze to meet mine, “you
made
this for me?”

I nod. “I noticed you liked wearing leather bracelets, so I fused the two ideas together for something uniquely you.”

Then I see something in his expression change. A softness falls over him. Landon seems genuinely touched that I did this, that I noticed something about him and created this present just for him.

“I love it,” Landon says, putting the bracelet over his left wrist and fastening it. “Thank you.”

Then he leans over and brushes his lips against mine.

Landon lays back down, and I snuggle into him, tracing my fingers over the sexy tattoos on his arm.

“So when did you get flowers?” I ask, curious.

“Yesterday. After you said you’d sleep over.”

Happiness fills me.

“You’re a romantic inside, you badass defenseman,” I tease.

“Shut up. Only GiGi knows that. And now you,” he says, dropping a kiss on the top of my forehead. “My girls know the truth.”

My girls.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sweeter phrase than that.

“You should sleep,” I say, wondering how on earth he’s going to skate in a few hours at practice.

Landon groans. “I know. But I can’t help it. I’m distracted by the first woman who has shared a bed with me.”

I laugh. “What?”

“I’m being serious. I’ve never had a woman stay here before. I always go to their place so I can leave.”

I realize what he’s saying. I’m the first woman he’s letting in. Into his life. Into his home.

And hopefully into his heart.

I grin happily at him. “While I’m honored to be the first woman to sleep here, you’re a hockey player who needs to sleep now.”

Landon sighs heavily. “I’m evil in the morning. I hate mornings.”

I laugh and snuggle back down on his chest. “I won’t talk to you. I’ll just make you coffee and shove you into the shower.”

Landon yawns. “Will you join me?”

“Um, no,” I say, giggling. “Otherwise you’d be late, and you’d be in trouble with the Buffaloes.”

Landon is quiet for a moment. I think he’s about to drift off sleep but then he speaks one more time.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmurs softly.

“Me, too,” I murmur back.

And I know there’s no place else I’d rather be.

Forever.

Chapter 21

TriviaPlayOrPass!

True or False: Dark clothing should be washed in cold water when doing the laundry.

I practically float home from Landon’s place, happiness filling every inch of me. The March day is absolutely beautiful in my eyes, with crisp air and blue skies. It’s cold, but my heart is warm.

Love.
Love makes everything beautiful.

I turn down the street to my parents’ house. Landon wasn’t even cranky this morning like he claimed he would be. In fact, he was sweet and loving and despite the lack of sleep, happy.

Maybe he feels it too,
I think hopefully.

So after showering and changing, I kissed him goodbye and headed out the door. I have a lot of work ahead of me today, and while I’ll no doubt have Landon imprinted on my brain, I need to upload a few new pieces to Etsy, ship some orders, and send over three more designs for HRH Alessandra to reject.

I ease my car up to the driveway and see my brother Jamie’s car parked near the garage. I grin. Ah, of course. It’s Wednesday morning. The day Jamie has no classes and brings over all his laundry for my mom to do. I roll my eyes. Jamie is nineteen, a chemistry major at Northwestern, and while he can figure out complicated things in the lab, he can’t grasp that reds shouldn’t be washed with whites.

I consider this mystery of mankind and park my car next to his Prius. I pick up my tote and purse, climb out of my car, and head around to the back door and step inside.

“Hi,” I call out, dropping my bags on the mudroom countertop and shimmying out of my coat.

“Hi, honey! Do you want some coffee?” Mom calls out cheerfully. “I have kringle, too.”

Ooooooooh man. Kringle sounds so good right now. Danish flakey pastry with filling and icing on top, served with a hot cup of coffee? I should totally say no to that. But in celebration of me being in love, I’m going to say
yes
instead.

I wander into the kitchen and see Nana and Jamie studying me as I move across the maple-colored hardwood floor. “What?” I ask, furrowing my brow.

“Doing the walk of shame this morning, big sister?” Jamie grins, cocking an eyebrow at me.

Gah!

“No!” I say defensively. I quickly turn and grab a mug out of the cabinet so I don’t have to look at them.

“I’d have no shame, Livy,” Nana pipes up. “I’d hit that, too. That Landon has a nice, tight behind.”

She did
not
just say that. She did not.

“Mother!” my mom cries.

“Ah, don’t ‘mother’ me. He’s hot. I’d do the walk of shame for that cutie pie.”

“Stop,” I say, reaching for the ancient Mr. Coffee machine pot and pouring some of the dark-roasted brew into my mug.

“I still can’t believe you’re hooking up with
Landy Holder,
” Jamie says, his voice full of awe.

I shoot him a look. “We’re
not
hooking up.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

“We’re dating,” I say firmly.

“Yeah, Landy
dates
lots of girls,” Jamie says, swiping his tablet to another page on whatever he’s reading.

“No. I’m serious,” I say. “We’re together.”

I say it with all the confidence in the world. After last night, I know where I stand with Landon. And it’s the happiest place I’ve ever been because of the love I feel for him.

“It’s true, Jamie,” my mother says, backing me up.

“He talks coupons with your mother,” Nana interjects. “If that doesn’t scream committed, I don’t know what does.”

Jamie furrows his brow. “For real?”

I grin at him. “For real.” I open the fridge and find the carton of vanilla coconut creamer. I add a splash to my mug and slide open the silverware drawer to retrieve a spoon. I swirl the creamer into the liquid and grab a seat next to Nana at the kitchen table.

“So you’re dating Landy Holder?” Jamie asks again.

“If you don’t believe her, check out at Landy’s Instagram this morning,” Mom says, breaking off a piece of her kringle with a fork and popping into her mouth.

“What?” I ask, grabbing a plate and cutting off a wedge of kringle.

“He posted the
cutest
picture of you,” Mom says, beaming at me. Then she swipes a few things on her phone and passes it over to me.

I glance down, and sure enough, Landon had snapped a pic of me holding GiGi, right before I headed out the door. I was giving her a goodbye nuzzle, and he must have secretly taken the picture.

The butterflies in my stomach dance in happiness as I read the caption:

Landon94 Will miss #mygirls on the road this week @JewlerybyLivy

Love fills me as I read his sweet words over and over. He’s falling for me. My heart and my head both know it. Landon values what we have found with each other as much as I do.

Even though he doesn’t leave for Canada until after the game tonight, my heart already misses him.

And I’m going to count down the days until he’s back in Chicago and I’m in his arms again.

I come home after my day volunteering at the after-school program, and apparently I’m not the only one missing Landon. After I talked to the kids about St. Patrick’s Day and we began making handprint leprechauns with paint, the children asked me where Landon was. I explained it was a game day so he needed to rest and take a nap, and they found that funny. Apparently Landon never told them about the nap before, so I explained that to them as we worked. Then I took pictures of them doing their art, and I promised I would send them to Landon later so he could see what he missed today.

Now I have enough time to check my business messages, grab a quick kale Caesar salad, and head out the door to go to the game tonight with Aubrey.

I slip through the back door, and as soon as I do, my cell starts ringing. I fish out my phone and see it’s Collins. Oh, crap, does Alessandra hate the next round of designs, too?

“Hello?” I say, holding the phone with one hand as I slip out of my coat on one side.

“Hey,” Collins says, sniffling. “Are you busy?”

I stop what I’m doing, my coat half-hanging off me. I know Collins. She’s upset. I can hear it right away in those few words.

“What’s wrong?” I immediately ask.

There’s a long silence. Collins is never at a loss for words, so all my internal alarm bells are ringing now.

“Collins?” I ask again.

Suddenly she bursts into tears.

“What’s going on?” I ask, panicked.

My mom appears in the doorway, concern etched on her face. She silently helps me take off my coat, and I mouth “thank you” and “Collins” to her.

Mom knows everything that is going on with Collins and Gabe, so a look of understanding passes over her face. She nods, and leaves me alone.

“I really need a friend tonight,” she finally says, her voice shaking. “I know it’s last minute, but can I come over?”

I freeze. I’m supposed to go to the Buffaloes game tonight with Aubrey and sneak a few minutes to say goodbye to Landon after the game.

And as much as I want to see Landon, and as hard as it is to know I’ll miss a goodbye before he catches a plane, my friend needs me more tonight.

“Yes. I’ll come pick you up. Why don’t you pack an overnight bag, and we’ll have a sleepover like we did in high school. And Mom is making pot roast in the crock pot.”

Collins sniffles. “Will your mom have her perfect mashed potatoes?”

I grin. Mom spares no fat with her butter and sour-cream-loaded mashed potatoes. Ones I pass up in favor of lighter cauliflower mash, but ones that Collins thinks are the best side dish on the planet.

“Of course,” I say. “And while it won’t solve everything, it will certainly taste good.”

I manage to get a laugh out of Collins with that. I tell her I will swing by in about fifteen minutes to pick her up.

Then I lean against the dryer and call Landon. I know he’s up now and getting ready to leave for the arena in a bit.

He answers on the second ring, and I swear I’ll never get sick of hearing his raspy, just-taken-a-shot-of-brandy voice.

“Hey Sweetheart,” Landon says easily. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Yeah?” I ask happily.

“Yeah. I already miss you,” he says softly.

“I miss you already, too,” I say truthfully. Then I clear my throat. “Remember my friend Collins?”

I doubt he does, guys never remember conversations like this.

“Your friend who broke up with the future fiancé?” Landon says easily.

I smile. Landon continues to surprise me at every turn.

And his remembering what I say is one more thing for me to love about him.

“She just called me. Something has happened and she’s a wreck.” I pause for a second. “Landon, Collins needs a friend tonight. I have to be there for her. I’m so sorry I won’t be able to see you at the game,” I say disappointment filling me.

Landon is quiet. My heart freezes. I hope he understands this, that of course I want to see him tonight, but I have to be there for Col—

“Sweetheart, I get it,” Landon says. “And you know what? Your kindness and compassion are qualities I admire in you.”

“I’m so glad you understand. And know I hate missing you like this. I wanted to be able to kiss you goodbye, Babe.”

Gah! I realized ‘babe’ instinctively came out of my mouth. I mean, it’s one thing for him to give me a nickname, but does Landon want one from me so soon?

“Babe?” Landon questions.

Ugh. “Um, yes. Unless you want me to call you something else,” I add quickly.

“I like babe. Or you could go with ‘Big Daddy’ after last night,” Landon teases.

I feel my face flame with embarrassment, and then Landon laughs.

“Are you blushing?” he asks.

“No!”

“Liar.”

I laugh. “Okay, I am. But for that comment I’ll call you Pookie.”

Now Landon is really laughing. “No, you won’t.”

“Oh yes I will!”

“You do realize you can call me
anything
and I’ll love it, right?” Landon says.

I do,
I think, falling more in love with him at this moment.

“Thank you for being wonderful,” I say softly. “Sugar Pie.”

Landon cracks up and so do I.

“It’s easy to be wonderful when your girl is doing something wonderful for someone she cares about,” Landon says seriously. “But I’ll miss kissing you goodbye tonight.”

“I will, too. But I’ll make it up to you when you get home,” I promise.

“You’ll make it up to me tomorrow with computer sex,” Landon teases.

“Gah! No!” I cry, thinking of my family and the last time they accused me of that.

“Come on now, Pudding Pop, you’ll owe me,” he says, laughing.

“Not that!” I say. “Unless I get to call you ‘Love Muffin.’”

“I think we have a new game,” Landon declares. “How will we outdo each other with nicknames? Do you accept this challenge,
Sprinkles?
”

“You could at least call me ‘Kale Chip,’” I counter.

“Shit, that’s better than ‘Sweetheart,’” Landon declares. “But my little Kale Chip, I have to go.”

My heart deflates as I know I need to say goodbye. “Okay.”

“I’ll call you after the game,” Landon assures me. “Tell Collins I said hi.”

“I will. Have a good game tonight, Babe,” I say, going back to the nickname in my heart for him.

“Will do, Kale Chip.”

And I don’t even need to see Landon to know he’s smiling.

I end the call and sigh happily. Even though I hate missing his game, I’m happy with what just happened. Once again, he continues to surprise me. Landon values the traits I have as a person, and even if it’s at an expense to him and what he wants, he’s the kind of man who will stand by me and encourage me to do whatever I need to do.

Another step forward
.

I have all the confidence in the world it’s all steps forward from now on. We’re growing together. Unlike my feelings for Troy, this love is different. It just is. I feel it in every fiber of my being.

And I have no doubt that Landon will fall as much in love with me as I have with him. The hardest part was actually getting him over his fear, which happened when we made love last night.

I see nothing but smooth sailing ahead.

With that thought in my head, I slide back into my coat and head out the door, knowing nothing will change what we are building.

Not ever.