“Em…” Avery started.

She’d been quiet since coming back from her talk with Imogen. We sat out on the balcony with a half-empty pitcher of margaritas Olivia had mixed up—Colm had calmed down about her mixing drinks, as long as she wasn’t partaking. The noises Avery made when she drank them made me want to always keep the apartment fully stocked with them.

“Why did you ask me to marry you that first time?” She leaned back in her chair, the sunglasses she wore to shield her eyes against the setting sun obscuring her expression.

“The first time?” There had been so many times, but I’d never forget the first. It had been over summer break. She’d been lying on one of the deck chairs beside the pool in my back yard, her wet hair plastered to her skin after taking a dip in the pool. I’d finally been able to convince her to come over for a swim, and I’d ordered in some pizza, which sat between us on one of the tables.

Her bright blue bikini hugged her body as tightly as I wanted to. Sliding her glasses down her nose, she smiled at me. Her eyes were so full of life and wonder, and I couldn’t help my goofy grin. Slowly, she slid off her chair and sat on the edge of mine.

“I had fun. Thanks for having me over.” Her shoulders shifted and made her breasts bounce. I struggled to keep my eyes averted.

“It only took nearly five months of asking.”

“I know.” Taking my hand in hers, she stared down at it, tracing shapes on the back. “I’m not big on meeting the parents.”

I laughed, probably louder than I should have. “And I told you a million times, you never have to worry about running into them here. I’m more likely to find a raccoon tap dancing across the patio than I am to see them in this house.”

“Well, now I know.” She tilted her head with a sexy smile. “You have some sauce on your face.” Like it was instinctual, she lifted her thumb and wiped it away. I held on to her hand, keeping it on the side of my face. Maybe sensing this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill flirtation, she spread her fingers and rested her palm against my cheek.

“I want you to spend the night. Will you spend the night with me?” I held my breath, waiting for her answer. It seemed like the world stopped spinning while she thought it over. I was seconds from getting down and begging.

“I’d like that. I have to leave crazy early in the morning, but I’ll stay.”

It was the first night we made love. With her wrapped in my arms, my heart hammering against my chest, I said the words I’d wanted to say the first week I met her. I’d never been happier to unstick a locker in my life. She’d offered me half of her sandwich at lunch when I’d left my wallet in my gym locker after changing for PE. It was an automatic offer, like she hadn’t had to think twice, and it was the first step on the road that had led to her being the center of my world.

“Marry me, Avery.” My words came out like a croak, pushed through the tightness in my throat.

A gentle shove was the only response I got.

“Seriously, marry me.”

Leaning back, she looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Is that your way of trying to get me to agree to more sex? Well played, Em. Well played.” It was the first time she’d shortened my name. Somehow it felt like an intimacy line we hadn’t crossed before, even with what we’d just done.

“I’m serious.” I ran the backs of my fingers along her cheek.

She shook her head, but didn’t say anything.

“School’s out, and I miss seeing you every day. Come over as much as you want.” I skimmed my fingers along her shoulder and down her arm.

“Let’s go to sleep before you say something you regret, but I will come over as much as I can. Is it okay if I bring Alyson sometimes?”

“Sure, no problem.” Why does she want her little sister to tag along? Like a buffer? Am I pushing things too fast?

“Perfect.” She snuggled in tighter against my side.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I was completely serious, because I was, but maybe she didn’t want to hear that. I wasn’t exactly enamored with the idea of her little sister being there, but if I got to have Avery, I’d make whatever concessions I needed to.

Sunscreen scent mixed with chlorine had been the aroma of the summer. We’d gotten delivery for dinner most nights followed up by something she baked, and it had been our own personal paradise for three months. For the next two years, I’d gone about doing everything in my power to show her how serious I was.

“I asked because I wanted to marry you.” I stared into her eyes.

Her lips curled up, but there was no joke in mine.

“Are you serious? At seventeen you were seriously asking me to marry you?”

“I don’t know why you never understood that. I have always been one hundred percent ready to marry you. Did you always think I was joking?” My throat tightened. I’d been ready to make it official and she’d thought I’d been throwing around words that didn’t mean anything.

“No, not every time. By senior year, I thought you were serious, but somehow that was scarier. I…I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

I took her hand in mine, resting it on my lap. “I kept pushing. I just wanted you to know I meant it.”

The ring that had been in my pocket, sock drawer, and gym bag for months had been a testament to how ready I was to follow through.

“I wanted to say yes.” She stared at me with tears glittering in her eyes.

My heart soared and dive-bombed into the dirt at the same time.

“Then why didn’t you?” We could have been married, living the life we’d always talked about, maybe with kids of our own. A vision of a miniature Avery wearing a beautiful dress while running around in a grass-covered back yard filled my head.

“Because I was scared.”

“Of what?” I pulled her closer.

“Of what might happen if I screwed up your life.” She blinked hard to keep the tears at bay. It shredded my insides to see that my proposals had caused her so much pain.

“How could you have done that? You could never have screwed up my life.”

“You had all these plans, and none of them involved anything other than me. It all centered around being with me, giving up college and hockey, your amazing future, to be with me. What if I wasn’t worth giving those things up for?” A tear escaped her eye and she brushed it away.

Gathering her up in my arms, I sat her across my lap. My attempts to show her how important she was to me had only pushed her away. The words caught in my throat.

“I wouldn’t have been giving anything up to be with you.” She opened her mouth, but I kept going. “I don’t mean I would have had it all, but none of that mattered. I was on the fence about hockey. Playing without the Kings wasn’t what I wanted. College—I had no idea what I even wanted to study. If I was unsure of where life was taking me, there was one certainty, and that was you. You were my everything.” I ran my fingers along her nape.

“But I couldn’t be your everything. Having that pressure on me scared me shitless. It was only a matter of time before you realized it was a mistake, and then what would happen? You’d be stuck, or at least not have the same opportunities you would have otherwise, and I’d have been heartbroken if I’d taken something from you.”

I was shaking my head before she finished. “You were never taking anything from me—never.” The conviction in my voice bounced off the walls. “I didn’t mean for you to think you were shouldering the burden of me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Both her hands twisted in my t-shirt like she was desperate for me to believe her.

“I know.” My lips twisted in a grim line. “Looks like we both screwed things up.”

“We were kids. Hell, we’re still kids in some ways.”

“You’re about to become a business owner, and I’m a professional athlete—I don’t think we qualify as children anymore. Is that everything?”

Her eyes got wide, but she nodded. “Yeah.” She disentangled her hands from my hold and got up. “Let’s go to bed.”

I followed her down the hallway to our room. “I know you’re going back tomorrow, but I want you to know I’m coming with you.”

“No—why? You’re here to have fun with the guys. Wasn’t that why you were ready to run me off?” she teased. “Stay down here. I’ll try to come back whenever I can.” She poked her head out of the bathroom with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

“In Percy? You’re more likely to end up stranded on the side of the road.”

“Percy is ride or die. We will never part.” The toothbrush foam made her look like a mad dog.

“Then let me buy you a new car. You can save Percy for special occasions.” Her eyes got wide in the mirror and the toothbrush clattered into the sink. After rinsing out her mouth, she rounded on me.

“We’re not doing that, Emmett. We’re not playing the ‘I’ll buy you something to get what I want’ game.”

“Who said it was a game?” I tugged her into my arms and nipped her earlobe, making her yelp. “Quiet or you’ll wake everyone.” I dipped my knees and palmed her ass, lifting her up onto the countertop.

“Like they aren’t used to it already.”

“If you won’t let me buy you a new car, it looks like you’ll have to compromise. I can come up with you. You can stay at my place, and you have no excuse not to since Alyson is gone. We can drive down here together whenever you have time off.”

“But—”

“New car or you stay at my place.”

“Have I ever told you you’re infuriating?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“You used to tell me all the time, but I haven’t heard it in a while.” I grinned back at her. “I can handle some work stuff in the city, make sure all the paperwork is signed for the next funding round at my foundation. It will be a productive time for us both.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “Just don’t try any shifty stuff, okay?”

I traced my finger over my chest, crisscrossing my heart

“I can see in the mirror that your fingers are crossed behind your back.” She laughed and pushed past me to the bedroom. Crawling under the covers, she flipped them back on the other side and patted the mattress with her hand.

I wanted that every day. We hadn’t talked about the fact that I lived across the country yet. She would own a business in Philly, and I’d be playing hockey in LA. When we weren’t playing games, we were practicing. It was eight months, not including the playoffs, over eighty games a year. What did that mean for us and the plans I was already making in my head?

She backed up into me as I lay on my side. Her hair tickled my nose, and her ass pressed against my cock.

“It’s so late.” She yawned.

“Just ignore him and he’ll leave you alone,” I whispered into her ear.

She grumbled and snuggled in closer, which wasn’t helping in the erection department.

“I can drive you back tomorrow and you can leave Percy here. Give him a rest for a while.”

“Mmm.” Her fingers stroked the arm I’d thrown over her chest. The tickle of her brushing against me was worth it.

In a blink her breathing evened out. Her ability to pass out never ceased to amaze me. Having her safe in my arms was where she should have always been. Now I had to figure out how to keep her there. She’d resisted me when we were younger, and she was stronger now, even more independent. How did I get her to let me help? She’d used my computer earlier to check on the bakery…

The risk of castration was too high if I interfered. I could tell she wanted to do it herself, wanted to help her friend and start on the new chapter in her life, but I needed to make sure I was included in hers, so I’d start by including her in mine. Gingerly rolling out from under her, I grabbed my phone and sent my parents a message.

Me: Mom and Dad, I’m going to come up in a few weeks right after my birthday. I won’t be coming alone. I’m bringing Avery with me, so please, for the love of God, stop whatever matchmaking plans you’re already setting in motion. We’ll be in the city starting tomorrow.

The phone buzzed twenty minutes later.

Dad: Thank you for letting us know. We will try to see you in the city before your birthday.

We’d drive to the city the next day. Avery would get her bakery, I’d get her, and everything else would fall into place. She rolled over in her sleep and snuggled against me, and I brushed her hair back from her face.

Things were finally turning out as they should, and I couldn’t wait for the next phase of our life to start.