Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

“Never.” There would never be anyone else, only Ryleigh.

“I won’t build my life around you, Caspian, but I will build my life with you because I love you.” She looked up at me and paused, waiting for those three little words I had yet to say.

I’d always been more of an action kind of guy.

“Okay,” I said with a tight smile. “Then come see the rest of the apartment.”

“What?” She gawked at me.

“Trust me.” I kissed her gently. It was over way too quickly. Then I tugged at her wrist and all but ran for the door to the apartment, leading her down the stairs and into the hallway that led to the primary bedroom. “This is our room,” I told her, gesturing to the space as we walked through it quickly. “If you want to live here, that is.”

“Caz—” She held my hand and followed.

“Big bed, double dressers, high-end bathroom with jacuzzi tub for two is that way.” I pointed toward the French doors across the room. “And these are the closets.” I paused in front of two identical doors. “Yours is bigger, of course.” I hit the switch and the empty closet lit up before I tugged her toward the second door. “And this is mine.”

My hand trembled as I opened the door and turned on the light. “They delivered all my new merch this morning.”

“New merch?” she asked softly, coming to stand at my side. There were rows of clothing and built-in drawers, but I knew the jersey that hung at the forefront of the closet held her attention. “What. Is. That?”

I grinned, letting go of her hand and taking off my Reaper baseball cap. I put it into the empty space on the shelf, then grabbed the hunter green one right next to it, slipping it on. “What do you think? Is green my color?”

Her lips parted and her hands shook as she covered her mouth. “What did you do?”

“I got Silas to trade me.” I spun the hat backward. “Maybe you’re more used to seeing my hats like this. Better?”

“You got traded? From the Reapers?” Horror filled her face as her voice broke, her shoulders bunching.

“No, baby.” I took her wrists and gently pulled them away from her face, rubbing my thumbs over her pulse. “I asked to be traded. This isn’t something that happened to me. This is something I asked for. Begged for. I’m just lucky that Silas agreed.”

“But…why?” Tears filled her eyes. “You love your team.”

“I love you more, Ry.” I shrugged, because in the end, the choice had been that simple.

“You…But, London and Sterling and your friends—" A sob escaped her lips, and it wasn’t one of the pretty, staged ones. Oh no, she let it loose and wailed, shaking her head when I tried to pull her close.

I did it anyway, yanking her into my arms and tugging her against my chest as her shoulders shook. “Ryleigh, stop. Baby. Please.” Out of every reaction I’d pictured, this one had never occurred to me.

“But your life is in Charleston!”

I tangled my hand in the hair at the nape of her neck and pulled gently so I could see her face. “My life is wherever you are.”

That just made her cry harder, and I couldn’t wipe the tears away fast enough with one hand. “I don’t want you to give up your dream for mine.”

“I’m not.” My chest went tight, yet felt lighter, like loving her had lifted all the weight in my soul. “Listen to me.”

She sniffled, the sobs softening as her lip quivered.

“Damn, woman, you didn’t even cry when you broke your ankle jumping out of the hayloft,” I teased, chasing away the last of her tears.

“I was too pissed to cry,” she muttered. “I’d found the perfect hiding place, and then—” She shook her head. “Why does that even matter right now? You left your team!”

“Yeah, I did. But I only joined the Reapers to be close to London, and she doesn’t need me to watch out for her anymore. She has Sterling. She’s fine. The guys will be fine. They have each other. Hell, I have Kolton here, so it’s not like I don’t already have friends on the team. I left my other team for the same reason that you gave up your house. It wasn’t about the team—I love the sport. Will I miss the guys? Sure, but it’s not like we don’t know how to pick up a phone. Guys get traded every day. It doesn’t matter where I play hockey as long as I get to come home to you. We both get to keep our dreams, and the biggest part of mine is you.”

She searched my eyes, like she was trying to detect a lie and couldn’t find one. “But what happened to not falling in love in a month?”