Miles Dempsey
The minute I hit send on that text, there was no going back.
It had only been a couple of days since Tate had gotten a confession out of me. One that I had been holding in for weeks. Of course, it was him that finally got me to admit it. Since the moment I saw her, I felt a weird pull to her. The only reason I kept it to myself was because of the relationship between us those first couple of weeks.
It had been a long time since someone had that kind of effect on my feelings. I'm not even going to lie, it scared the shit out of me. I barely knew the girl and she was constantly on my mind. The more I got to know her, the worse it got. She just continued to infiltrate my thoughts. Now, she's all I fucking think about.
Getting close to her was never the plan.
Hell, being friends with her was never the plan.
After everything I've learned these past couple of weeks, Nola being in my life just makes sense. We were always meant to find each other. It was just a matter of time. Our lives were intertwined this whole time and we had no idea.
I've been going back and forth with myself every single day. There's a part of me that doesn't want to tell her how I feel about her. Then there's the other part of me that wants to tell her exactly how I feel. Both options have their pros and cons but in the end, I've decided that I have to tell her.
My heart outweighed my head in this one.
I'm trying to assure myself that every reason I'm telling her how I feel is better than not telling her anything. I want her to be mine more than I've wanted anything in a long time. Fear is still an emotion that's there. My anxiety is prickling at the thought of everything that can go wrong but I know she'll be the calm in my storm.
Her presence alone makes me feel safe.
I need her more than I need anything else right now.
So there's no going back. Tonight is the night.
She's going to be mine and even better; I'm going to be hers.
This is a conversation I don't know how to start. My hands are already clammy, throat dry. How the hell do you tell a girl you have feelings for her? I haven't done it since high school and I'm pretty sure I just kissed that girl. I'm not going to kiss Nola. I've already kissed her and I'm still thinking that wasn't the best thing to do.
Deep down she probably thinks I'm an asshole for it. I'll admit I am too. It's been a couple of weeks since then and I've yet to tell her that kiss meant something to me. Our relationship hasn't been the same since that night and we both know it. The final step is admitting that I've fallen for her. To tell her just how much she means to me and hope that she feels the same way.
JT wasn't home tonight. He went to Garretts, a fellow rookie, place after the game. About an hour ago, he texted me letting me know he was gonna crash there. Something about being deep into a video game he and Garrett liked to play.
When I found out Nola was going out with some of the guys' girls tonight, I knew she most likely wouldn't get drunk. I've been around Kaitlyn after a night out enough to know that despite Nola being the younger one, she was going to be the caretaker. I was texting her earlier for updates on Kait after Tate kept texting me to ask her since she hadn't replied to him.
I also just wanted to know what she was doing and if she was okay. Tate texted me a couple minutes after Nola replied to my messages telling me that Kait was home and a little too drunk for his liking. Those girls know how to party, especially Kait. I'm just hoping that being a babysitter tonight didn't kill her mood.
I switch on the TV downstairs to make it look like I'm not just waiting around for her to show up. It's been a while since the game ended so I've already switched into something a lot more comfortable. My muscles ache from all the contact earlier.
Game number three against the Oilers was successful. We were now up one game but by the way they played in game two, I know this round won't be easy. Luck was on our side tonight. Scoring two goals tonight felt good but they didn't come easy. The whole night, I had a little pest by my side. That pest goes by the name Jalen Williams.
From the moment I found out we'd be playing the Oilers in the playoffs, I knew this problem would arise. Williams and I don't get along on the ice. He likes to get me hot because he knows I'm a better player than him. He also knows that one text message to his girl is all it'll take to have her crawl back to me.
But I don't want her. Not anymore.
Allie Wilkinson wasn't even a thought in my brain anymore. I didn't care if she and Jalen were together again but I learned that knowledge unwillingly when he told me. Tonight's game was here in Los Angeles after the first two were in Edmonton. I'm sure Allie had been there tonight because, in the past two matches, Williams hadn't bothered me much. It was a fair game until tonight when he decided to be a jackass.
I kept my cool more than I usually do around him because I didn't want Allie to think her little boyfriend was getting to me. Both of them were an afterthought to me by now and all I was looking forward to was kicking their ass these next two games and moving forward.
The app on my phone that tells me someone is outside my door, rings, but I wait until she rings the doorbell. It takes her a couple of seconds before she does and I take my time walking over to the door. My anxiety follows straight behind me like a menacing bully. When I get to the door, I open it immediately. Nola stands there all five feet something gleaming up at me.
The smile on her pretty face makes my heart palpitate. How can someone be so gorgeous? "Smile on your face, I'm supposing tonight went great," I tease, opening the door wider for her. She steps inside and chuckles. We walk back to the living room, both plopping down next to each other on the couch. "If you think great is making sure Kaitlyn didn't hurt herself all night, then yeah, I suppose," she says.
I make a face at her words. Yeah, I knew she'd say something like that. Like I said, I've been out with Kaitlyn enough times to know exactly what that means. Tate's never been a big fan of the whole party girl Kait thing but he knows how to handle it. It started in college around the time they started talking again. They weren't dating so you'd think it wasn't a problem for him but it was.
He wasn't her boyfriend but he was her best friend.
So he always dealt with her party-girl antics.
"Sorry about that. I would have warned you," I tell her. "JT kind of warned me, I guess," she laughs, shaking her head. "It's fine really. The other girls didn't get as crazy as she did so they were a lot of help." That surprises me a little bit. Usually, if one of the girls gets drunk, all the others do too. "Tate will apologize in abundance, I'm sure," I assure her.
"Other than that, I actually had a lot of fun. The girls were really kind and we had a good time chatting about... girl things." A slight blush creeps onto her cheeks. It makes me feel good knowing the guys' wives and girlfriends were nice to her though. Nola's easy to get along with so it doesn't really surprise me. "That's good then. I'm sorry for calling you over so late. Do you have any plans tomorrow?" I ask her.
She purses her lips and shakes her head. "It's okay, I'm not a busy bee tomorrow," she tells me. Her words make me smile lightly. I've been wanting to spend more time with her but with playoffs, I don't have the time. "Did you enjoy the game?" I question. An emotion other than happiness crosses her eyes but she shakes it off quickly. "It was great. You guys did amazing tonight."
Nola smiles again which makes me pass over her hesitation. "You all have this in the bag. I feel it." God, I hope she's right. If we make it this far just to fail, I don't know how I'll handle it. I have an amazing team to help me accomplish that goal. "We'll see." We talk for a little less than an hour about other things than hockey. One thing that came up was the little situation going on with JT and Ember. It's been a while and they're still barely talking to each other.
Nola told me what happened between them and I feel bad for JT. Surprisingly, he hasn't been a Debby downer. I think he's distracting himself with hockey though. I make a mental note to talk to him about it soon. Suppressing his emotions isn't good for him. He tends to do it a lot.
After that conversation, I feel the mood shift slightly. To what, I don't know but the airs a bit more uneasy. Nola looks everywhere but at me when she says, "I've been doing something thinking lately. Well, not lately. More like just a couple of days ago. And by a couple of days, I mean just yesterday." When she notices that she's babbling, she shakes her head. "I wanted to talk to you about it." Her voice comes out in a whisper.
My heart starts to race. I thought I would be the first person to bring up the topic tonight but I guess I was wrong. What is she gonna say? Is she going to tell me she regrets what happened in Miami? Or maybe she doesn't. Maybe she's going to admit her feelings to me. Are our minds that bound together? I swallow the thick lump in my throat. I'm starting to think maybe I should be the one to say something first.
Before I can open my mouth, she speaks first. "I was thinking about getting back into figure skating again." Her face turns a light pink color. "I'm ready to start practicing again. Who knows if I'll compete at the competition in September but... I miss it and I think I should get back on the ice." That was the last thing I was expecting to hear but I'm happy.
A smile pulls at my lips. Looking at the girl in front of me, I see a true athlete. Someone who has resilience even after falling down. She didn't fail in my eyes. She may think differently but I'll never see her not winning Worlds as a failure. Nola put her name out there. She performed beautifully and caught the attention of many. I never wanted to force her to get back on the ice let alone skate in another competition in September.
I knew when the time came she would lift herself up and do it on her own.
"That's an amazing idea, Scott. Your face glows differently when you're doing what you love, ice princess," I tell her. She smiles and I swear it takes up her whole face, going all the way up to her eyes. I wanna pull her close and just kiss the fuck out of her. "Your aunt has been asking me when I'm going to visit her again. I think I'm gonna start practicing at BI again," she adds. I could see how much my aunt loves Nola.
She was ecstatic when my mom told her about our friendship. Aunt Claire said we made a great team and I'm guessing she was referring to the time we hosted the ice skating classes together. God, that feels like eons ago. Nola and I could barely stand each other and now we were closer than ever. I don't want to go back to that time ever again. I like the present. It's so much better.
"You should. I'm proud of you." I wrap my arm around her shoulder and rub it gently. "Thanks," she mumbles, "I'm proud of you too." Looking down at her, I furrow my brows. "What for?" She licks her lips before saying, "Everything. You've been doing really great recently. With everything going on."
My heart swells at her words. She's proud of me. Life has been crazy recently in more ways than one and yet I'm still here. I'm still okay. A big part of that is thanks to her though. I'm not sure if she knows that fact.
"You've been a big reason as to why I haven't lost my mind, Scott. I don't think I would have made it through that as well as I did without you. You keep me grounded," I breathe. Nola stares so deeply into my eyes with her dark hues. Her head falls back slightly, falling on my arm that is still wrapped around her shoulder. She opens her mouth up to speak but it's like she can't find the right words.
Me too, Scott. Me too.
"You mean so much to me," her voice comes out so soft, I barely hear it. I turn my body toward her, pulling her closer to me. Her breath hitches when I do this and she looks up at me slowly. Her blue eyes glass, so much emotion in them. My breathing has become heavier as I resist the urge to fucking kiss her. Cupping her cheek with my hand, she brings her hand up to do the same to me.
"If you could look in my head right now and see how I feel about you, you'd think I'm insane," I admit. I'm fucking crazy about this woman. There's no holding back anymore. Nola presses her forehead against mine and shakes her head. "I'm almost positive I feel the same way," she breathes, her chest rising and falling more quickly. I pull away and take her hand in mine.
"Nola, you've become such an essential part of my life these past couple of months. I don't know when it happened... but I fell for you. Now, I'm in it deep. When I'm with you, time stands still. Nothing else matters. Not hockey. Not every fucked up situation in our lives. Nothing. Just you and me. No one's ever been able to touch my heart the way you do. I'm a prick. For every time I've put you through shit and just for that, I probably don't deserve you. But fuck, you're the only person my heart wants. It's you or no one. I meant what I said that day, Nola. We're meant to be. I'm meant for you."
Words shoot out of me like water from a sprinkler. Every single word is the truth. The truth I've been hiding from her and myself for weeks. Months.
A tear cascades down her red cheek but I wipe it quickly. Why is she crying? My heart starts to race even faster. "Don't cry," I choke out. She shakes her head and grabs my face in her hands. "I'm happy. God, I'm so happy," she cries. "I-" She stops herself, shaking her head a little more. "I feel the same way, Miles. You're the person my heart has been reaching for."
Nola lets go of me for a second to straddle my lap. It catches me off guard for a second, but I invite her closer to me. My hands find her waist as she wipes her tears. Her face is filled with red splotches, her nose reddened as well. She still looks gorgeous. Still, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I tuck a strand of her loose hair behind her ear so I can get more of a view of her face. "Can we close this distance between us? Once and for all?"
By distance I mean, not being together. I need to be hers. All hers.
She seems to understand what I'm saying because she nods. Shortly after, she's leaning in. Her lips hover over mine in the position we're in. Her warm breath tickles my lips. "This one means something." She doesn't give me a chance to reply, smashing our lips together. I feel full-body chills as our mouths move in sync with one another. Suddenly, all I'm thinking about is her lips and how soft they feel.
My hand tangles in her blonde hair, grabbing the back of her head. Her tongue parts my lips and finds mine with a sexy need. God, I'm a lucky man. She's everything I've ever wanted and more. Nola sucks on my tongue shortly, getting a deep groan out of me. Unintentionally, she moves up my lap, causing me to flinch. That might not have been the best thing to do.
I start to feel myself harden underneath her so I pull away as much as I don't want to. She scoots back on my lap again and I start thinking about the most serious things to get rid of my hard-on. We just got together, sex isn't even a thought in my head right now.
Even though I know it would be the hottest thing.
I mean look at her.
No. No.
No thinking about sex.
I try and distract myself by saying, "It meant something." Her brows furrow slightly. She still looks a bit hazy from our kiss. "The kiss in Miami. It meant something. Just as much as this one did," I say. "It meant something to me, I just didn't know if the feeling was reciprocated," Nola tells me. Makes sense. Especially because of everything afterward. "Every moment with you means something, okay? Don't forget that." She nods and I cup her cheeks. She leans into my touch.
Nola takes a seat back next to me and I feel a small pang of disappointment. Immediately, I pull her closer to me again. Laying my head on hers, I hope this moment never ends. She can't leave me. Not now.
As if someone heard my thoughts and decided to say 'fuck you!' a phone starts to ring. Nola and I lift our heads to see which one it is. It's hers. She turns her phone and the contact reads 'Brother 1'. Her brows furrow and she turns to me. "Why is Kayce calling me at 4 in the morning?" she questions like I have the answer.
She answers the phone before the line dies and puts it on speaker. It makes me feel good that she trusts me enough to hear a conversation between her and her brother. When the line clicks, the sound of a turn signal is the first noise that comes through. "Kayc?" Nola speaks first. "You answered. I wasn't expecting you to," he says cooly. "Where are you? Did you steal Dad's car again?" she asks him.
The line is silent for a couple of beats. "Yes, but for a good reason." His voice is tight like he's clenching his jaw. "Brooks snuck out to a party in Los Angles and now Joey is texting me through his cellphone telling me he blacked out and I needed to come save him," Kayce explains, sounding pissed. My eyes widen slightly. Should I be listening to this conversation?
"What?!" Nola says sounding distraught, standing from the couch. "Like drunk blacked out?! Also, a party in LA? How did he even get here?! And why would you let him?" She's told me plenty of stories about her younger brother's recklessness but I'm as shocked as she is right now. "You think he told me he was leaving? No, he snuck out with Joey and those other imbeciles he surrounds himself with. I'm on my way to pick you up by the way," Kayce talks quickly.
Nola shakes her head despite her younger brother not being able to see her. "I'm not home. I'm at Miles' place. Send me the address and I'll meet you there," Nola replies. "What? No. Text me the address and I'll pick you up," Kayce retorts. Before she can fight back, he hangs up. Nola groans and then turns to me. Her brows are crinkled in that cute way when she's thinking about something too roughly.
"I'm sorry," she sighs, walking over to me again. I stand up and wrap my arms around her waist. "I really didn't want to leave you tonight." She rests her chin on my chest, looking up at me. Me neither, Scott. I push back more hair from her face and she stands up straight suddenly. "Can you come with us? I'm really worried about Brooks and I don't know if Kayce and I ca-"
"I'll come," I cut her off to assure her. She nods and pulls out her phone to text Kayce my address. We have about ten more minutes of alone time before Kayce tells us he's here. Nola gets into the passenger side while I hop in the back. Her younger brother stays planted in my driveway, his head turning to look at his sister.
"Who said he was invited?"
"I did, now drive."
I try not to take his words to heart or even respond since Nola did for me. She looks back at me and I can see the 'I'm sorry' written in her expression. It's fine. I thought Kayce and I were cool but maybe I was wrong.
He doesn't argue with his sister, pulling out of the driveway. It takes us about twenty more minutes to get to the address. When we get off, people are leaving the party. It's a bunch of high school kids, drunker than they need to be, hopping into different cars. I'm hoping they all have designated drivers or an Uber.
"This house is massive," Nola whispers. I look at the house we're standing in front of. It didn't even catch my attention until now but she's right. Kayce stares at his phone impatiently. "I texted Joey. I'm waiting for him to respond,"he tells us.
"You guys wait here. I'll see if I can go find him," I tell them. Kayce doesn't contend but Nola grabs my arm. "Let me come with you," she says. I shake my head. "Wait for his friend to reply and then text me where you guys are when he does, okay?" Nola looks hesitant but eventually, she nods.
I almost kiss her forehead until I remember her brothers here so I hold back. Giving her a nod, I descend into the large mansion in front of me. Shouldn't be hard to find the kid in here, right?
God, I hope not.