“I’ll have to take a look. I didn’t expect you to bail on me.” He snorts. “You gonna be able to do this, Tully? Have a career when your head’s full of her?” He’s saying it in a teasing tone, but I know he wants to be sure that I can focus when I need to.
“I proved myself with over forty wins last season and am about to do it again, remember?” I tease back. “I’ve got this.”
Lola has been so supportive of my passion for hockey. I don’t think she ever saw herself as someone who’d be frequenting hockey games, but she shows up, wearing my jersey and cheering me on. She’s never given me a hard time for how much I have to practice. Last week, she fell asleep on my chest watching game tape, when she could’ve been doing anything else.
“She makes me better, and when I’m on the ice, it’s just me and the puck. No noise. I’m all in.”
He’s quiet for a beat and then chuckles. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that? Who knew the best center the hockey world has seen in years would be such a romantic?”
“Yeah. I’m your pain in the ass who’s about to sign something big. This is gonna pay off, right? For both of us. Just…give me this weekend. I’ll go wherever you want me to go after that.”
Another exhale. “Fine. But you’re buying me dinner when you ink the deal. And a couple bottles of good wine.”
“Deal.”
I unlock the door to the hotel room, and Lola tugs me close when we step inside.
“That was the best dinner.” Lola sighs. “I loved that restaurant.”
“Me too.”
The restaurant was candlelit, with windows fogged from the warmth inside. We sat in a corner booth, knees touching under the table, talking and laughing about nothing and everything.
“Thanks for this getaway,” she says softly. “This place is beautiful. And I didn’t even know how badly I needed to get away from campus.” Her hands lock behind my neck. “But thebestpart is having forty-eight whole hours with you.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking—I couldn’t wait to just be together.”
“Hi,” she murmurs.
“Hi.” I press my mouth to the side of her neck, right where her pulse beats steadily. She sighs, tilts her head to give me more room.
We don’t rush. Tonight feels different—like every touch is deliberate, like we’re memorizing each other all over again. I kiss her slow and deep, tasting the last sip of wine on her tongue. Her hands slide under my sweater, coolfingers against my skin, and I shiver, even though I’m burning up.
Clothes come off piece by piece, scattered across the rug like we couldn’t be bothered to fold them. She laughs softly when my belt buckle clinks against the floor, and then she pushes me backward toward the bed, eyes dark and bright at the same time. The quilt is thick and soft under us. I roll her beneath me, kiss her collarbone, her ribs, the dip of her waist, until she’s arching and whispering my name like a plea.
When I slide inside her, it’s so good it almost hurts—hot, tight, perfect. She wraps her legs around me, nails digging into my shoulders, and we find that rhythm we’ve always had, the one that feels like coming home. Her breath catches every time I hit just right; mine stutters when she clenches around me. She starts to come, and I bury my face in her neck, breathing her in, moving slow, then faster, deeper, until we’re both trembling.
My orgasm starts barreling through me. And that’s when it hits me. No condom.
“Lola—” My voice is wrecked as I pull out. “Fuck. I didn’t?—”
Her eyes snap open. “Shit,” she breathes.
I finish across her stomach instead, hot pulses that leave me shaking, forehead pressed to hers while I try to catch my breath. She’s breathing hard too, one hand in my hair, the other resting on my chest like she’s steadying us both.
For a second, we just lie there, sticky and stunned.
Then she starts laughing—quiet, breathless, the sound bubbling up like both relief and panic.
“What were we thinking?” she says.
I kiss her temple, then her mouth, soft. “I’m sorry. I got…lost in you.”
“Me too.” She traces my jaw with her fingertips. “But you pulled out. We’re fine…right?”
“Probably,” I echo, but my stomach twists anyway.
We’re twenty-one. We’re not ready for accidents. Not even close.