Before I can interject, he frantically continues.
“I used to love life on the road, because for a moment I could forget I didn’t have anyone at home. But the only reason I enjoyed traveling this season is because you were there. I had the best part of home with me. I fell in love with you while we were a mile high in the air.”
“Miles,” I finally interrupt.
“What?”
“Miles. Like seven miles in the air.”
His lips tug in a smile, but he holds it back. “Sweetheart.” He closes his eyes with faux frustration. “I’m kind of having a moment here.”
My chest heaves in a silent laugh. “I’m sorry. Please continue.” I motion for him to do so.
“Thank you.” His lips press in a hard line, but he’s fully amused. “Anyway, as I was saying. I fell in love with you while we were miles high in the air, and I’m begging you to love me back.”
My face softens in understanding.
“I’ll believe you, Stevie. I promise I will. Whatever you say, I’ll believe you.” He pauses. “Do you still love me?”
A moment of silence and hesitation lingers between us. Zanders’ eyes plead with me to love him back, and how could I not? I’ve never stopped. I just wanted him to let me.
And now, not only is he letting me, but he’s begging me to.
Taking a few quick strides, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down to me. His lips are as I remember, soft and warm, but he’s frozen in place, unmoving as if he doesn’t believe this is happening.
Finally, after a beat, he catches on, his mouth melting into my own, taking everything I have to offer. His hands slide around my lower back, the metal of his rings pressing into my body with his commanding touch. His tongue traces the entrance to my lips, which I quickly give him access to, and it isn’t until the cheers from outside grow exponentially louder that we separate, but barely.
I inhale a breath through the small part in our lips, needing to fill my lungs with oxygen.
He rests his forehead on mine, whispering his desperate question once more. “Do you still love me, Stevie?”
I look up through my lashes. “Of course, I do. I’ve always loved you. I just wanted you to let me.”
He closes his eyes, and when they reopen, it’s as if the weight of the world has fallen off his shoulders. “I thought you gave up on me. After you didn’t come to the game—”
“I was there.”
He pulls away slightly to get a better look at me, his hold keeping my body tight to his.
“I tried to get to the ice, but there were too many people. I waited for you at your apartment instead.”
His brows soften with understanding. “I stayed at Rio’s. We all did. I never came home.”
“I called.”
He lightly laughs. “My phone broke.”
A smile lifts on my lips. “I could never give up on you. I love you.”
He pulls me in, hiding away in my neck. “I love you so much, Vee.”
I run a gentle hand up the back of his neck and scalp, basking in the words I didn’t think I would ever hear.
He holds on a little longer, and a little tighter before his head pops up from my shoulder. “Cheryl.” I turn around to see the shelter’s owner, watching us with so much pride on her face. “Can I steal her for the day?”
She clasps her hands, tucking them under her chin. “Please do.”
“I need you with me out there.” Zanders moves a rogue curl from in front of my face. “There are a lot of people outside. Are you okay with that?”
I stand confident. “It doesn’t bother me anymore.”
Zanders’ smile is soft but proud. “That’s my girl.” He cups my face, his lips finding mine for a moment.
Slipping his ring-covered fingers through mine, Zanders leads me outside past the reporters and through the maze of fans with Rosie behind us both. There are way more people out here than I anticipated, all eyes on us.
“There’s our girl!” I hear from one of the buses. Looking up, I find Rio leaning over the railing of his bus, his signature boom box held over his head with music blaring.
“Stevie!”
“We missed you, Stevie!”
“Get it, EZ!” continues from the line of buses with all the hockey boys I worked for this year standing on the top deck, watching.
Zanders quickly guides us to his bus, allowing me to climb the stairs first, and as soon as I step onto the top deck, I’m attacked with a hug. It takes a moment for me to register that Lindsey is the one holding on to me as tight as she can.