“I told them I’m Victor’s daughter-in-law.” He pulls back and stares at me. There is a slight smirk on his face.
“Why didn’t you call me?” I feel the tears coming. He hugs me tighter and he kisses the top of my head.
“I figure you didn’t want to talk to me. I left those cards and I never heard back from you.” His voice is sad as we pull out of the hug, but he doesn’t let go of my waist. I wrap my hands around his biceps.
“I got the cards, but you should’ve called.” Tears are streaming down my face and I want to kiss him so badly. “How’s your dad?” I look over my shoulder to see that Victor is still out.
“Better. He had a heart attack and right now, he is sedated. The doctor is hopeful he will make a full recovery. How did you know I was here?” He pushes a stray hair that came loose from my ponytail behind my ear. I shiver under his touch.
“Nichols told me. I was waiting for you outside the players entrance. I needed to talk to you and I left a message on your voicemail. When you didn’t call back, I remembered you had a game.”
Levi looks at me confused. “You need to talk to me?”
I nod. “Yes, I had a talk with my dad tonight and he actually had some insightful things to say.”
“Wow, you talked to your dad?” Levi seems as shocked as I was.
“I know, crazy right? Anyway, he got me thinking about us and,” Levi cups my cheek and his thumb wipes my tear away as I continue, “I love you. I wasn’t sure if I could forgive you, though. It wasn’t until I was racing here that I realized you were all I wanted and I could forgive you. Under two conditions.” I step out of his hold and stare him down. I look into his blue eyes and I can see the happiness is coming back to them from my words.
“Anything, Smarty. I’ll do anything to have you back.” His face grows serious as I hold up my first finger.
“One, you must never, ever, ever hurt me or my brother like that again.” I state firmly.
“I promise. I never want to see that look in your eyes again.”
“And two,” I hold up my other finger. “You have to win me the Stanley Cup.” I hold back my smile.
“You want me to win the Stanley Cup?” He smirks at me.
“Yep.” I cross my arms.
“Deal.” He grabs my arms and I crash into his lips. I missed his lips and his touch. I slide my tongue into his mouth. He is amazing.
I’m breathless when we pull out of our kiss. I look at him and I see he is looking slightly pale and I figure he hasn’t left the room since Victor has been there.
“Hey, have you eaten?” I ask him. He shakes his head. “Come on.” I hold his hand and try to guide him to the door, but he doesn’t move.
“No, I’m not leaving him.”
“He is asleep and you can’t stay in this room forever.” He looks almost scared to walk away from his dad, but he needs to leave the room. He finally nods and we head out. Levi does stop at the nurses’ station and tells them he will be back shortly.
In the cafeteria, we grab a couple of sandwiches and drinks. Levi sits right next to me and hasn’t stopped touching me since I got there. We eat in silence, until Levi finally speaks.
“I really missed you, Smarty. I’m so sorry about everything.” He leans into me and looks at me. “I was selfish and when I fell in love with you,” he pauses and caresses my hand, “I didn’t know how to tell you and I didn’t want you to find out.”
“Levi, I’ve never been so hurt in my life.” Tears are filling my eyes. “I wanted to kill you.”
Levi scoffs. “You did hit me pretty hard.”
“Yeah, I know, my hand stung for a week after.” I give him a half smile. “But, I never want to feel that way again.”
Levi kisses me. “I promise.”