Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Because it was the only time I got attention,” she says simply, and my heart breaks for her as understanding dawns. “Getting yelled at, being told I was a keen disappointment to the Frazier name, and that I would amount to nothing was way better than being ignored, as fucked up as that sounds. I was ignored so much those tiny snippets of actual attention from them is what sustained me.”
“Jesus,” I hiss out in anger.
Stephanie just shrugs. “It’s not like they were abusive or anything.”
“That’s fucking abuse,” I growl, but it doesn’t faze her. She knows it’s abuse even if she tries to shrug it off.
“It’s what I was used to, and honestly, I adapted, Luc,” she says softly, her hand coming to my arm, which she strokes almost as if she’s comforting me.
“You shut yourself off,” I mutter, still bristling with hostility toward her parents.
“And that’s adaptation,” she says matter-of-factly. “It’s how I survived.”
Fuck, I goddamn hate her parents. I want to rail at them and tell them what selfish, evil bastards they are. But honestly, I’ll probably never meet them according to Stephanie and how she thinks they’d react to the baby.
“When are you going to tell your parents?” I ask her now that I’m thinking about it.
She shrugs, her eyes dropping down where she picks at the edge of the sheet bunched around her waist. “I should probably get it over with.”
“We’ll call them together,” I reassure her. No way in hell I’m going to leave her alone while one of the greatest things to happen to her will be met with no enthusiasm and probably disdain.
“What about your parents?” she asks, lifting her head up again to look at me.
“Probably tomorrow,” I tell her. “I wanted to give them a few days after Simone dropped the bomb on them.”
“But they won’t be mad, right?”
“They’ll be stunned, but once that wears off they’ll be thrilled,” I tell her confidently. “Trust me on that.”
Stephanie smiles at me wistfully before she lies back down in my arms to snuggle. “That’s nice.”
She’s loose and relaxed, and it seems a perfect fit between the two of us. I decide to take advantage of it. “We have an afternoon game tomorrow.”
“Against the Cougars,” she says, and I’m not surprised. Total Cold Fury fan.
“Want to go to it?” I ask casually, and then I hold still to gauge her reaction.
She’s still settled and comfortable in my arms, which is a good sign. She doesn’t even hesitate when she says, “Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. Assuming tickets are available.”
I chuckle and squeeze her. “Trust me…you can get a ticket.”
She pulls up her head and looks at me in question.
“Honestly, Stephy,” I say with a tone of mock censure. “You’re sleeping with a player for the Cold Fury. I think I can get you a ticket.”
“I don’t want you to go to any trou—”
My mouth hits hers and she’s silenced immediately by the kiss I bestow upon her. When I release her lips, I run my nose along hers. “I have season tickets, Steph. Simone will use one tomorrow and you can have the other.”
Her answer is a tilt of her head, and then her mouth is back on mine for a deep kiss that sparks and then flares lust within my body. Just like that, I’m not tired at all and ready to go again. It’s Stephanie’s way of showing me that I made her happy and that she accepts my invitation to the game.
My hand slides down to her ass, and I push my fingers through her legs to touch her wetness from behind. Stephanie moans into my mouth and my dick turns as hard as granite just from that tiny touch and her response.
I had more to say to her, but this takes precedence. This will always take precedence because it’s so fucking good. But after we’re done and settled back in, and before I drift off to sleep, I need to remember to tell Stephanie she’s mine for the rest of the day after the game. It’s time she stepped out of this little bubble we’ve created together and I know she’s ready, because she admitted yesterday this is no longer casual.
Slowly but surely, I’ll get her wanting more from me than just the best sex I know either of us has ever had. I can live with just that, but I don’t want to, and I want her to want more too.
Chapter 14
Stephanie
I follow Simone up to the front door of Lucas’s house. I’m ashamed to admit it didn’t take much for him to get me to come over after the hockey game, but I am not ashamed to admit I had a blast at the game. Simone was the perfect person to sit next to. She’s wild, uninhibited in her enthusiasm, and generally made a spectacle of herself as she cheered on her brothers and heckled the other team. While they were very focused on their jobs when the puck was in play, they would sometimes cut their eyes her way as we sat in the front row right beside the penalty box and I could see they were amused at her antics.