Puck Buddies by Valente Lili

Author:Valente, Lili
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Self Taught Ninja
Published: 2018-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Shane

We don’t talk about how it’s all going to work—whether we’re signing up for a long-distance relationship or if Bree might consider moving to Kansas City with me once we’ve got a few months of coupledom under our belts—but I’m not worried about it.

I’m not worried about anything.

Not a damned thing.

Life is good. So good I can’t bring myself to stress about the future.

All morning, as Bree and I clean up the campsite and get ready to head out—stealing kisses and grinning at each other like fools—I’m humming with happiness and gratitude. It’s so good to be with her like this. Together for real, without having to pretend that “just friends” or “friends with bennies” is enough for me.

Last night was so much more than sex.

For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to make love, to create something breathtaking and beautiful out of nothing but two bodies and everything one incredible woman makes me feel. It took all the willpower I possess to not let it all spill out, to stop myself from confessing that I’m falling in love with her and I can’t seem to stop.

Thankfully, now I won’t have to.

I’m on cloud fucking nine. I can’t remember the last time life felt so flawless, effortless, like I’ve finally clicked into the place the universe was holding just for me.

I grew up in a great family. The Wallaces were poor but rolling in love and laughs. It wasn’t until I got pretty far along in youth hockey and started outgrowing my goalie pads every six months—triggering weeks of our family surviving on Hamburger Helper and mac and cheese—that I realized we weren’t as well off as the other people playing in the league. But I never wanted for food or fun, and I always knew where I belonged.

For a relatively laidback kid like me, that was all I needed to grow up happy.

Still, beneath the surface, I longed for something more. I wanted to make a name for myself, to rise high enough to earn the kind of money that would ensure my mom never had to clean another client’s toilet, and my dad could quit risking his life crushing cars at the junkyard.

I was never ashamed of what my people did for money, but I wanted to give them a better life, an easier one. I knew, no matter how content we were, that it wasn’t fair that my family had been consigned to a lifetime of hard labor because we were poor people who’d come from even poorer people, most of whom hadn’t graduated from high school because they were so busy working to put food on the table.

My junior college welding degree was a step up for the Wallace clan. On the day I walked across that stage, my parents were so proud of me, every bit as proud as the day I was drafted into the NHL a year later. But for me, hockey was the holy grail.

I thought

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