Offside Hearts (Love and Hockey Book 1)

By the time we leave the party a few hours later, it’s late in the evening, and we’re accompanied to the door by both of Margo’s parents. We say our goodbyes, and then Margo’s mom goes in for another hug, and her dad smiles and offers me his hand. I’m grinning from ear to ear as we step out into the brisk Boulder air and head to my car. Margo waves out the window once more as I put the car into drive, and then we pull away from the curb and hit the road.

“I had a really great time today,” I tell her. “Your family is amazing.”

She nods as she fiddles with the temperature control knobs on the dash, her gaze soft. “I’m glad you think so. They seemed to like you too, which is a very good thing because they mean the world to me.”

She sighs and looks out the window as we turn onto the freeway.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” she murmurs absentmindedly. “Just got lost in thought a little.”

“What’s on your mind?”

She smiles at me, looking a little sad, or maybe just contemplative. “My family and I all got really close after Sebastian died. If we hadn’t leaned on each other back then, I don’t think any of us would’ve made it through that whole thing intact. I just… I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

“I hope you never have to find out,” I say honestly. Before we left, she showed me a few pictures of her brother that were placed around the house, and I can tell how much she and her family hold on to and honor his memory.

“Yeah, me too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know my family isn’t perfect. They have their faults, for sure, and they can be chaotic and messy like most families are, I suppose. But I love them so much.”

“Of course you do. What’s not to love?”

I have my eyes on the road, but I can tell she’s looking at me, so I glance in her direction and flash her a quick smile.

“What?” I ask.

“I’m just really happy to hear you say that,” she admits.

“Were you worried I wasn’t going to like them or something?”

She shrugs, fiddling idly with a lock of her hair. “No, not necessarily. I just thought that it might be a lot to deal with all at once. Meeting pretty much my entire family at a single party, and then, you know, I was a bit preoccupied some of the time, so I couldn’t be there to help ease you in and out of conversations with people.”

“I’m a big boy,” I say, laughing. “I know how to navigate a conversion or two.”

“Right, no, of course,” she agrees quickly. “That’s not what I meant.” She makes a clicking sound with her tongue. “I think I was just still stuck on what happened the last time I introduced a guy to my family. It didn’t go so well, and I guess I was braced for the worst today because of that.”

Smirking, I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. “Oh, yeah, April did mention something about your last boyfriend. She’s not a fan, by the way.”

“I know.” Margo laughs. “April was never shy when it came to telling me just how much she disliked Philip. The rest of my family at least tried to hide their disdain as best they could, but after we broke up, they all came out of the woodwork to tell me what a jerk they thought it was. And they weren’t wrong.”

“What did he do while meeting your family that was so bad?”

She makes a face. “He was just… moody. He only spoke up when the topic of conversation was something he was interested in, and then he would talk over everyone else and dominate the entire discussion. It was so awkward. Not to mention, he picked a fight with me after we left, saying I had ignored him the whole day, which wasn’t true at all.”

“Wow. He sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Yeah, he was.” She wrinkles her nose. “He was just really immature and arrogant. He acted as if he should be the only person I loved in the entire world, and that if I were giving affection to anyone else—including the members of my own family—that I was somehow taking something away from him. Like he deserved to have all of my attention, all of my love. Obviously, that wasn’t exactly going to work for me.”

A scowl crawls across my face as I think about what an idiot this guy must’ve been to try to take a woman like Margo away from her family. I already hated this asshole from everything else Margo has told me about him, and now I have one more reason to dislike him.

“For the record,” I state firmly, “I would never do anything to come between you and your family. The bond you have with all of them is amazing. I know I haven’t spent that much time with the Lucas family, but I got the sense that you all care about each other so much.”

She grins fondly. “Yeah, we do. Although now that I think about it, you didn’t ask any embarrassing questions or try to find any of the pictures of me as a dorky little kid.”

“Nah,” I say, shaking my head. “I’ll save that for next time.”

Margo beams at me, clearly pleased that I’m planning on there being a next time, and I rest my hand on her thigh.

Today was a pretty fucking good day. Meeting Margo’s family was incredible, and as I rub my thumb gently across her leg, I have a sudden caveman-like surge of pride that she’s still got my cum inside her. The thought goes straight to my dick, and I shift in my seat as I start to get a little hard.

I may have been with more than my fair share of women before this, but nothing—nothing in the entire fucking world—has ever felt as good as sliding into my Sunflower raw. And the look on her face when I pressed my cum back inside her? I’ll remember that for the rest of my damn life.

The rest of the drive is quiet and easy. We stop at a gas station about halfway back to Denver, and by the time we pull up outside her apartment, it’s almost eleven p.m.

Margo got out to pee at the gas station, but she’s been dozing ever since then, so I reach over and gently cup the side of her face.

“Hey, Sunflower,” I whisper. “We’re back.”

Her eyes blink open, and she turns to face me, suppressing a yawn. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to pass out.”

“It’s fine.” I brush my thumb over her lower lip. “I would’ve let you sleep and carried you up to bed, but I have an early practice tomorrow morning, so I should probably head home.”

“I get it.” She leans over the middle console and presses her lips to mine. “Thank you for coming with me today. It was really fun.”

“Anytime,” I murmur, palming the back of her head to deepen the kiss.

She unbuckles her seat belt and slides out of the car. As she does, her hand reaches up to the hollow of her neck where her locket usually sits, and her eyes widen.

“My necklace,” she gasps, running her fingers around her neck and digging in the folds of her collar. “It’s gone.”

“Maybe it fell off in the car,” I tell her. I take off my own seatbelt and turn on the overhead light as the two of us begin searching the area around the front seat.

“It’s my grandmother’s necklace,” she breathes, her gaze scanning the seat and floor. “I never take it off. Oh my god, I can’t believe this. It’s not here. Shit!”

When she looks up at me, she has tears in her eyes, and it breaks my heart to see her so distressed.

“It’s alright,” I say. “We’re gonna find it. Don’t worry. We just have to retrace our steps. Where’s the last place you remember having it?”

She chews her lip distractedly. “Um, I don’t know. I had it on this morning when we left. And then—oh, wait! I know I had it on shortly before we left my parents’ house, because my mom reached out and fixed it when it got twisted around. That was when I was sitting on the couch next to her after most of the party guests had already left.”

“Okay, great.” I give an encouraging nod. “I’m sure it slipped off while you were sitting there on the couch. Maybe your mom accidentally loosened it somehow instead of fixing it, and it came off. Why don’t you give her a call and see if she can find it?”

Margo pulls her phone out of her pocket, frantically making the call. Her mom picks up right away and Margo explains the situation to her, then sits on the phone, impatiently tapping her foot, as her mom presumably searches the house.

“You don’t see it?” Margo asks after a minute or two. “Not in the couch cushions? Or anywhere else in the living room?”

I can tell from the look on her face that her mother is only delivering bad news, and she sighs before saying goodnight once again and hanging up. “It’s not there.”

“For sure?”

She shrugs. “I mean, my mom says she’ll keep an eye out, but she searched the whole living room and front room area and didn’t find anything.” The tears that were forming in her eyes earlier spill over her lower lids, and she covers her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I lost it. That necklace is one of the most important things I own. My grandma gave it to me a few years before she died, and I always felt like it kept a part of her with me. I just—god, how could I lose it?”

“It’s not your fault,” I say, pulling her into my arms and holding her tightly. “You didn’t mean to.”

“I just feel terrible,” she whispers. “I shouldn’t have…”

She trails off, resting her forehead against my chest, and I run one hand over her hair, smoothing the soft blonde strands. After a minute or two, she pulls away, forcing a smile.

“I know it’s silly,” she says in a low voice. “It’s just a thing, and at the end of the day, no one is hurt or anything. I’ll get over it. And I’m keeping you up late when you just said you have an early practice. You should go.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

She nods, taking a breath and blowing it out. “Yeah, I’m fine. It sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll probably feel better after a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“The best part of my day,” I confirm, tilting her chin up with two fingers.

I can tell she’s putting on a brave face for me, but I don’t say as much. She looks tired after such a long day, so I let her go with one last kiss and a smile. She walks up to her building and disappears inside. Then I hop into the car and turn the key.

The engine purrs to life, and I tear out into the night.

Only, I’m not heading home.

The first place I look is the gas station where I filled up the car just before we got back into Denver. There’s no sign of the necklace there, but for good measure, I go inside and ask the clerk to give me a call if he happens to find it or if someone else turns it in. I hand him a slip of paper with my number on it, and sucks air through his teeth as he takes it.

“Sure,” he grunts. “If someone brings in a nice locket that they found out there by the pump, I’ll give you a call, but you probably shouldn’t hold your breath. Most people would pocket that sort of thing.”

I shrug. “It’s worth a shot.”

After that, I head back toward Boulder, trying to think if there’s any other place that Margo might’ve dropped it. If she really is sure she had it later in the evening, and if it isn’t in the car or at the gas station, there’s only one other place it could be.

Her parents’ house.

Which means I’m gonna have to drive all the way back there and try to search the area around her parents place without disturbing them or waking anyone up.

When I arrive back at their house, I notice that all the lights are off—which makes sense, since it’s going on midnight—so I try to stay quiet as I park the car and step out onto the sidewalk. I take my phone out and turn the flashlight on, hoping like hell that none of the neighbors will see me out here and think I’m some sort of prowler.

I spend nearly an hour going back and forth, up and down the sidewalk and driveway, but my search is fruitless.

Sighing, I fold my arms and glance back at the house. It’s too late for me to knock on the door and ask if I can search inside—not to mention, that might offend Mrs. Lucas, who apparently has already searched everywhere she thinks it could be.

I’m on the verge of declaring defeat, but I can’t quite bring myself to give up. So I turn my flashlight on once more and hunch down at the edge of the grass, starting my search all over again on one side of the lawn. I make my way across, then back again, then across, and then back again.

It’s time consuming and tedious, and there’s a light dusting of snow on the grass which makes it harder for me to see. Every few feet, I have to reach out with my bare hand and push the snow aside to make sure I haven’t missed anything.

Finally, just off to the side of the pathway that leads up to the house, the light from my phone catches something shiny. I dart over to where the glimmer caught my eye, and there it is.

The necklace.

“Yes,” I whisper-shout, snatching it in my hand and gripping the cold metal tightly.

A second later, the porch light flickers on—illuminating me where I stand like an escaped prisoner who’s just been caught by a flood light. Shit. I freeze and slowly turn around to see Jim Lucas silhouetted in the doorway of his home, frowning at me.

“Is that you, Noah?” he calls out into the dark.

I walk over to him, smiling sheepishly. “Yes, hi Mr. Lucas, sir. I mean—Jim.”

“What the hell are you doing? It’s after midnight. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” I rush to reassure him. “Everything is fine. I really hope I didn’t wake you and Mrs. Lu—I mean, Carol. I just came back to look for Margo’s necklace. She was really upset when she realized it was gone, and since I didn’t have anything going on tonight, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to retrace our steps. And it didn’t hurt, because look! I found it.”

I hold the necklace up to show him, and as I do, the pendant starts to slide down the chain. Jim reaches out just in time to catch it before it falls to the ground.

“That explains how she lost it,” I say with a frown. “I think the chain is broken.”

Jim hands me the pendant, fixing me with a dubious look. “So, let me get this straight. You drove all the way back to Boulder and searched through a bunch of snow and wet grass for an hour, just to find my daughter’s necklace?”

I rub the back of my neck, which is suddenly very warm. Now that he puts it that way, I sound a bit crazy. “Yeah, I did,” I admit. “It’s… really important to her.”

He studies me in the cool illumination of the porch light, his gaze tracking over my face as if he’s seeing something there that he didn’t before. Then he gives an approving nod. “Well, it’s actually a very good thing you found it when you did, because we have someone coming tomorrow to replace our sprinkler system. They’ll be digging up the front yard, so they probably would’ve buried the locket in the process.”

“I’m glad I came back, then. Although I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

He chuckles. “It’s alright, son.”

“I’ll get out of your hair,” I tell him, glancing down at the locket and the broken chain in my hand. “Hopefully I can find a place to get this fixed.”

There’s a jeweler in Denver who helped Carol get a pair of vintage earrings refit,” Jim offers. “He does great work, and he’s fast, but he’s not cheap.”

“I don’t care about the money.”

He laughs. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” He asks for my phone, and I give it to him. He puts the name into my maps app so that I can find my way. “There you go. He’ll have a new chain that matches the pendant, I’m sure of it.”

“Great.” I glance from my phone’s screen to Margo’s father. “Thanks.”

He gives me another scrutinizing look, then smiles. “I should be the one thanking you.”

I frown. “For what?”

“For treating my daughter the way she deserves to be treated.”

There’s a four car pile-up on the interstate leading back to Denver, and I find myself sitting in late-night traffic for nearly an hour, which means I don’t get home until about three a.m. By the time I shower, which is a necessity after digging around in the snow and mud all night, and get into bed, it’s 3:40.

Practice will start promptly at 8 a.m., which means if I want to get a new chain for Margo’s necklace before that, I’ll have to make sure I’m at the jewelers right when they open at seven. So I set my alarm and try my best to get a little shuteye.

I’m exhausted when the blaring sound wakes me up at seven, but I down three cups of coffee, throw all my gear into my bag, then head out. I arrive at the jewelry shop just as the guy is turning over the “Open” sign in the window, and when I show the owner the broken chain, he smiles and says he has one just like it. He goes digging through some drawers behind the counter, then comes back with a chain that’s basically identical. He tells me it’ll be $350 because it’s real gold plating, and I hand him my credit card without hesitation. He charges it and puts the pendant on the chain for me before tucking it into a little box.

Then I drive across town to Margo’s apartment and call her from my parking spot outside.

“Hello?” she says, sounding a little groggy.

“Shit, did I wake you up?”

“No.” She yawns partway through the word. “I was already up. I just wasn’t up, up, you know? I was lying in bed on my phone. What’s going on?”

“Come outside.”

“Huh?”

“I’m at your apartment,” I tell her. “So either buzz me up, or come down if you’re not afraid to face the cold.”

“Why are you here? Doesn’t practice start in like half an hour?”

“Yes. Which is why you gotta hurry.”

“Noah, what’s this about?” she asks, but I can hear the muffled sounds of her getting out of bed as she speaks.

“I have something for you. I’ll meet you by the door to your building,” I tell her, then I hang up the call and get out of the car. I’m aware of how exhausted I must look, with a five o’clock shadow on my jaw and serious bed head from having laid down with wet hair last night, and I scrub my hands over my face a few times to try to make myself appear a bit less zombie-like.

Margo steps out of the front door right as I’m heading up the walkway, wearing a fluffy robe and a pair of winter boots. She pulls the robe a little tighter around her body, bracing herself against the cold winter morning.

“Noah, it’s so early. Is everything okay?”

“Hopefully it will be now,” I say, handing her the box I got from the jeweler.

She frowns as she takes it from me, confusion crossing her features. Then she lifts the lid and gasps. “Oh my god! You—you found it?”

I smile. “Yeah.”

“How? Where? When?”

“It was in the front yard at your parents’ house. I went back to look for it, and I found it outside.”

She sucks in a breath, her mouth dropping open a little. “What, last night? You went all the way back to Boulder last night?”

“Yeah.” I gaze down into her soft gray eyes. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were sad, so I figured I’d try to do something about it.”

She blinks rapidly, her eyes shimmering. Then, before I can say anything else, she throws herself into my arms, wrapping her own arms around my neck and pressing her lips to mine. It catches me by surprise, but I kiss her automatically, as if it’s the one thing my body would know how to do even if I was in a catatonic state. Her mouth is soft and warm against mine, and the kiss deepens as I curl over her, palming the back of her head and bending her backward a little.

We straighten up after a moment, and she stays on her tiptoes, her forehead pressed to mine as she gazes into my eyes.

“Thank you,” she breathes. “Seriously, Noah, this means the world to me.”

“Well, you mean the world to me, so it was an easy choice,” I tell her honestly.

She lets out a quiet laugh, her fingertips drifting over the light stubble on my cheek.

“I got you a new chain too,” I add. “The other one was broken. Here, let me help you put it on.”

We separate, and she turns around and lifts her hair out of the way so I can clasp the necklace properly, then turns back, pressing her hand over the little locket. Something is still glinting in her eyes, and she stares at me for a long moment as if she doesn’t know what to say.

The silence stretches between us, loaded with emotions I’m not sure either of us are ready to voice yet, and my heart beats harder as Margo reaches up to press her other hand against my chest.

“Noah, I…” She swallows. “I’m so lucky I met you.”

I can’t quite tell if that’s how she intended to finish the sentence when she started, or if there was something else she wanted to say. But either way, my answer is easy.

Smiling down at her, I rest my palm over her hand and lean down to kiss her again. “No way, Sunflower. I’m the lucky one.”