Mile High: Chapter 36

Having Stevie at my game, wearing my jersey does a whole lot of things to my possessive side. Outside of my sister, I’ve never had someone at the arena for just me. I have no idea how Maddison has done this, game in and game out since college. Having my girl here steals all my focus. My eyes keep wanting to wander up to the seats to see how pretty she looks with her curly hair and the Raptors’ jersey across her chest, regardless that I’ve had the same view for weeks now.

I almost can’t believe I get to have her here, and it’s as if I need to keep checking to make sure it’s actually true.

“Last shift, Rio, let’s go!” I yell out as my blue-line partner and I take the ice for the final shift of our afternoon game.

The boys have been playing great, earning the most points in the NHL for February, which has translated into the month of March. But more than earning another two points for today’s win, once the final buzzer goes off, we’ll have secured a number one seed in our division for playoffs, something that hasn’t been done in the Raptors organization for years.

Buffalo’s goalie has already left the ice, giving them a six-on-five advantage. But regardless, we’re already up two goals with the final seconds on the clock winding down. And once Rio causes a turnover, shooting the puck down the ice and scoring in the empty net, the celebration begins.

As the buzzer sounds, the guys pile on our goalie for his shutout win. The United Center fills with shouts, cheers, and music blaring for our team.

We were the first organization in the league to secure our playoff spot, and now we’re guaranteed home-ice advantage as long as we’re in it.

The giant mob of my teammates makes their way to the bench, hugs and glove bumps exchanged with the coaching staff before heading down the tunnel to the locker room. But before I make it off the ice, Maddison jumps on me.

“Zee, baby, let’s go!”

I wrap my arms around him. “Holy fuck, we did it!”

We hold on for a moment before taking a second to look around the arena, where red, black, and white cover the stands.

Since Maddison got here five years ago, it’s been our mission to change the culture around this team. We’ve consistently made the playoffs but haven’t lasted long. We’ve been good, but we’ve never been great. This year though, this year we’re great.

And this year, we have a real shot at the Cup.

As soon as I open the door to the Maddisons’ penthouse, Rosie rushes in like she owns the place, just as she does every time she comes over here. She sniffs the couches and toys, looking for Ella, I’m sure, before she gives up and goes to Maddison for love instead.

“Hey, man. Where is everyone?” I close his front door behind me.

Maddison bops around the kitchen with MJ strapped to his shirtless chest as he prepares Logan’s birthday dinner. Bending down for a moment, he gives Rosie the attention she’s so desperately asking for.

“My parents had to swing by the office after the game, but they’ll be here soon, and my brother should be up any minute.”

Taking MJ out of the wrap my best friend is wearing, I grab a seat with him at the kitchen island as Rosie sits attentively next to Maddison, hoping he might drop something while he cooks.

“I told Stevie I was on the way. She should be up here soon.”

“Oh, she already came up. She left with Logan and Ella to go get their nails done as soon as we were back from the game.”

“Wait, really? She came by herself?”

I kind of assumed Stevie would’ve been intimidated to come up alone before I got here, knowing Maddison’s place is going to be packed with Logan’s friends and family soon. But at the same time, I love that she feels confident enough to do it on her own, especially around my people.

Maddison eyes me from across the kitchen island.

“What?” I ask.

“You do know that she and Logan have sat together at our home games for weeks now, right? They’re friends. And Zee, I hate to break it to you, but lately, Ella talks about Stevie more than she talks about you.”

“You’re lying.”

Maddison holds his hands up in defense. “Ella asks Stevie to do her hair at every game, and your girlfriend lets my daughter scroll through her pictures of all the dogs at SDOC. So, good luck beating that, my friend.”

Okay, I’m happy that my people like Stevie, but there’s no need for them to like her more than me.

Holding MJ in one hand, I pull my phone out and text Stevie with the other.

Me: I heard my niece might like you more than me. We can’t be having that, sweetheart.

Stevie Girl: Not my fault that I’m way more fun than boring Uncle Zee.

Me: Boring? I’ll show you boring.

Stevie Girl: Can’t wait.

The smile on my face is painfully big as I stare at my phone screen.

Me: What color are you painting your nails?

Stevie Girl: Go hang out with your best friend.

Me: What color?

Stevie Girl: Why does it matter?

Me: Because I’m going to be seeing them wrapped around my dick later. I feel like I should have a say.

Stevie Girl: You’re ridiculous.

I shoot Stevie a hundred dollars via Venmo with the caption “Red, please,” but she denies it, sending it right back.

Stevie Girl: You’re not paying to pick my nail color.

I send the Venmo payment again.

Stevie Girl: How much do you think it costs to get your nails painted?

Me: I don’t know. $100? Red, please.

Stevie Girl: Fine, this will cover Ella’s too.

Me: Make sure she knows her favorite uncle paid.

Stevie Girl: Don’t worry, I already told her it was from me.

Me: When you get here, I’m gonna have to take care of that attitude you have today.

Stevie Girl: Looking forward to it.

Me: You drive me insane, and I miss you, so hurry up.

Stevie Girl: Ditto to the drive me insane part. And the miss you part. Great game, by the way. I’m so proud of you.

Me: Thanks, Vee. I can’t wait to celebrate with you.

“So,” Maddison says, pulling my attention back to him. “Have you told Stevie you’re in love with her yet?” He tries to hold back his knowing chuckle but fails miserably as his chest begins to vibrate with laughter.

“Don’t,” I warn, not ready to think about the word that has scared the shit out of me my entire adult life.

“Where’s Lindsey? Logan said she never showed up at the game.”

“There were major delays getting out of Atlanta, I guess. She’s still coming, even though I told her not to worry about it, but I think she wants to meet Stevie. Her flight lands any minute.”

“Wants to meet Stevie? Or wants to steal Stevie?”

“Probably a little bit of both.”

I help Maddison get the lasagna in the oven, and by help, I mean I hold his son so he can cook, just in time for all of Logan’s friends and family to come over. Their nanny is the first to arrive, but he’s more so just one of their best friends from college that they pay as their nanny so he can live in the same building as them and help with the kids when they need it. Maddison’s parents and brother are next, followed by Logan’s best girl from college.

“Uncle Zee!” Ella bursts through the door, running right at me. “I got yellow!” She holds her hands up, showing me her tiny little nails painted the color of sunshine, topped with gold glitter.

“Wow. Those look beautiful, EJ.” I pick up my niece, placing her on the opposite knee of her brother.

“Stevie bought me them.”

“Oh, did she now?” My pointed gaze finds my girlfriend walking through the front door, acting all innocent and shit.

Stevie comes behind me as I sit in a high-top chair at the island, snaking her hands across my chest before wiggling her freshly painted fingernails in front of me.

They’re blue.

I stare at them for a second, and I’m not going to lie, they look good next to her light brown skin and gold rings, but she picked this color to test me. I know it.

“Ella Jo, I’ve got to talk to Stevie alone for a second.” I pick up my niece before putting her on her feet. At the same time, I hand MJ off to his mom.

“Happy Birthday, Lo.” I pop a kiss on Logan’s cheek as I drag Stevie behind me, her cute laugh echoing off the walls.

She knows what she’s doing.

Opening the bathroom door at the end of the hall, I usher her inside. Her face is equally smug as it is excited as I follow her in and urgently close the door behind us.

“What is this?” I pick her up, placing her on the sink counter, standing between her legs.

“What? You don’t like my nails?”

“This isn’t what I asked for.”

Stevie giggles at my faux disappointment. “I didn’t ask for your opinion. And besides, do you really think that the color of my nails is going to change whether or not you like how it looks with my hand around your dick?” She holds out her hand, admiring it. “I think blue will look just fine.”

Keeping her eyes locked on mine, she unhooks the clasp on my pants before unzipping me. Sitting up straighter, she brings her mouth to mine, but my lips fall open when she finds my cock. Stevie takes it out, trailing her tongue against my bottom lip at the same time.

“I don’t know, Zee. I think blue looks pretty good. What do you think?” She gives it a soft tug, quickly causing all the blood in my body to rush straight to my dick.

Looking down, I’m mesmerized by her bronzed fingers, gold rings, and sky-blue nails as they stroke my cock at the perfect pace.

“Mm,” I hum. “Yeah…yeah, blue works.”

She softly chuckles as she continues stroking me, her mouth working over the sensitive spot below my ear. My palms find the glass mirror behind her, anchoring myself. My head falls to her shoulder as I continue to push into her hand, watching myself move in and out of her fist.

“Congratulations on your game,” she softly says, kissing and sucking on my neck.

“Don’t stop,” I plead. “Fuck, Vee, you feel so good.”

My chest quickly rises and falls as the mirror behind me fogs over thanks to my heavy breathing. Fuck, she feels amazing, stroking me at the perfect pace. Her legs wrap around, heels pressed into my ass as she cups the back of my head with her free hand, holding me to her.

“Blue looks so much better than red.” She continues to touch me, pulling a needy whimper from my throat. She lifts her knees on either side of my body, trying to ease the ache between her legs as her back arches, pushing her tits into my chest.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard when we get home. You’re not going to be able to speak after I’m done with you, let alone tell me what color you painted your nails.”

I can feel myself throbbing in her grasp, ready to come—

“Hey, Linds!” Logan calls out down the hall, causing Stevie to stop her movements, frozen on the counter.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I whine, my head falling to her shoulder.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Stevie’s eyes are wide as she quickly releases me.

I look at the hard-on I’m sporting, wanting to cry out from how painful the buildup is, needing a release, but of course, right now is the moment my sister decides to make her fucking entrance.

Stevie really did have the right idea with the blue nails because right now, I’ve got some majorly blue balls.

“Zee, your sister is going to catch us in here together,” Stevie panics. “This can’t be how I meet her for the first time.”

“Relax.” I push her curls out of the way. “She’ll think you’re ten times cooler if she catches you giving me a handy in the bathroom.”

“Stop.” She laughs, swatting me in the chest as she stands from the sink. She smooths her shirt, then wipes her lips. “Do I look okay?”

I cup both her cheeks, resting my forehead on hers. “You look fucking perfect, Vee. Like you always do. Don’t worry about Lindsey. She already likes you.” I press my mouth to hers, hoping to calm her down.

But it does fuck-all to calm me down. I still have a giant hard-on that needs to be tucked in my waistband. Motioning towards it, I remind her, “You’re going to need to take care of this real soon, though.”

She palms me through my pants, causing me to hiss from the sensation. “Deal.” She seals it with a kiss before heading out to the hall before me.

I wait a moment, making sure the action happening in my pants is hidden enough before I follow her out.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You would,” is the first thing Lindsey says when I turn the corner.

She stands down the hallway, in front of the main entrance, with her suitcase in tow.

“Hey, Linds.” I walk behind Stevie, placing my hand on her lower back. “This is my girlfriend—”

“Stevie!” Lindsey bursts, quickly rushing her and engulfing her in a crushing hug. “I’m so excited to meet you. You have no idea.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” she laughs.

Maddison and Logan stand at the end of the hall, watching the entire interaction with knowing smiles on their faces. I scratch the back of my head before holding my hands up to remind my sister, “I’m here too.”

“Cool,” Stevie deadpans.

“Great,” Lindsey adds.

My sister holds on a little longer before she finally looks up at me, rolling her eyes. “Jesus. Always needing attention.”

She lets go of Stevie to hug me, but my hug lasts a whopping two seconds.

She hooks her arm around Stevie’s, taking off with her. “You got my bag, Ev?” she calls over her shoulder.

I stand with my two best friends as the three of us watch my sister kidnap Stevie, taking her to the couch and excitedly chatting on about God knows what.

“So, does everyone like my girlfriend more than me? Is that how this works?”

“Yes,” Logan answers without hesitation.

“Welcome to the club, my man.” Maddison adds a pat on my shoulder before taking my sister’s bag to stash away from the front door.

Sometime after dinner and birthday cake, I find myself alone with Logan and Maddison once again as we collectively clean up the dishes in the kitchen. Between Ella and Lindsey, I’ve barely seen Stevie all night. They’ve stolen her away from me more times than I can count.

But I’ve got to say, I can’t help but love the way all my favorite people love her. She’s so special, and sweet, and hilarious and hasn’t recognized her worth due to the company she kept. People were in her life to get closer to her brother. Then there’s her mother, who always made her feel like she wasn’t enough. But here, with these people that are my family, she’s more than enough. She’s welcomed and wanted.

I wrap my arm around the birthday girl. “Thanks for being so cool to Stevie. She’s never really had good friends, so it means a lot.”

Logan’s head melts into my side. “That’s wild to me because we all really like her.”

“Yeah, I think it was more so she didn’t do a good job of standing up for herself when people would try to use her friendship to get closer to her brother. She’s starting to figure it out, though.” My admiring gaze finds my girlfriend in the living room with Lindsey.

“Zee.” Logan nudges me. “She’s great. But more than that, she makes you like who you are, and that makes me love her.”

I watch as my girl and my sister sit on the floor of the living room together, a glass of wine in Lindsey’s hand and a beer in Stevie’s. Rosie is passed out next to Ella on the couch, who is currently in a sugar coma due to the chocolate birthday cake still smeared across her mouth.

“What are you two talking about?” I find my way to the living room, taking a seat on the couch as I pull on Stevie’s hand to join me. She climbs on my lap, tucking her feet under my leg, and offering her beer for me to take a swig.

“Stevie is trying to convince me to adopt a dog,” my sister announces.

My girlfriend’s smile is wide and not so innocent.

“Oh yeah? And how’s that going?”

“She wants us to go by Senior Dogs of Chicago in the morning.”

Stevie’s laugh is quiet, but I detect the mischievous undertone in it. I know what she’s doing.

“Then I hope you’re ready to take a dog back to Atlanta because I went there once, and I was done for.” I motion towards the Doberman, happily sleeping on her back next to my niece.

“I’d be so into it if I were ever home, but I live at the office these days. Stevie, how many do you have at home?”

Her freckled cheeks turn a slight shade of rose. “Oh, I don’t have any of my own. I live with my brother, and he’s allergic. But I get to volunteer at the shelter and love on them every day, so that’s a win.”

I pull her into me. “Besides, Vee is over at my place almost every night anyway. Rosie is as much her dog as she is mine.”

Stevie brushes me off, shaking her head. “It’s okay that I don’t have my own,” she tells my sister. “As long as I get to help them all find their forever homes, it’s okay that it’s not with me.”

I swear, everything that comes out of this girl’s mouth has me falling a little more.

She’s an interesting mix of soft and firm. Insecure and confident. Bold and shy. But regardless of the duality of her personality, her heart is always tender and open.

“Ev, the headlines have been ridiculous lately,” Lindsey changes the topic of conversation.

Stevie’s focus bounces anywhere but me or my sister, her body stiff and uncomfortable as she sits on my lap.

I run a soothing hand up her back. “They’re just looking for anything because they haven’t caught me out on the town partying or leaving the arena with anyone.”

Stevie awkwardly adjusts. This has been a bit of a sore subject for her lately. I can handle people shitting on me, but she has a hard time reading the lies, regardless that this was something we agreed upon until I can get my contract extended.

“Did you see the one yesterday about you having a secret love child, and that’s why you haven’t been photographed out?” Lindsey’s head falls back with a laugh.

“I do have a child.” I rub Rosie’s belly. “She’s just not a secret.”

I was hoping to pull a little smile from Stevie’s lips with that, but it’s no use, so I wrap my arm around her hip and pull her into me a little more.

“It’s sucked lately,” I admit. “Having to hide this and keep Rich off my back about everything else. More and more people camp outside my building, and getting Stevie over from across the street has been harder to do.”

“You guys should just move in together,” Lindsey casually states.

Stevie coughs up her beer, turning into a sputtering mess.

Glad we’re on the same page with progressing at a normal pace regardless of everyone around us assuming we’re going to move at the speed of light.

“Linds, if you could try not to make my girlfriend choke, that’d be great.” I lean my lips in close to Stevie’s ear, whispering, “That’s my job.”

Her mouth falls open, swatting me in the chest.

“Damn. I still can’t believe you have a girlfriend.” Lindsey shakes her head. “But at some point, you’ve got to put a stop to all the media crap, Ev. Your fans love you, and they’ll be stoked to know you’re happy. They’ve had fun with your unlovable bad boy bullshit because that’s all you’ve given them. But you’re going to need to show them who you really are and give them a chance to love that guy.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Stevie agrees under her breath.

“And if they don’t like the real you, well then I’ll fucking sue them. I’m a lawyer. I can do that.”

My sister’s humor relaxes the three of us, so much so that there’s finally a smile back on Stevie’s face.

I know Lindsey’s right. Stevie, Logan, and Maddison have all been preaching the same thing, but it freaks me out to change it up and show my true colors this close to a re-signing date. I’m only a couple of months away. I can deal with the bullshit narrative until then.

I just hope Stevie can too.