Chapter 24 - Just three little words

Keegan’s POV

Three years ago, I had given up any personal life I had and did nothing but work, I lost sight of a work-life balance, and I had suffered for it. Now I had met someone who made me remember to take a breath, that life was not just about working yourself into an early grave and made sure that I had fun.

Three months had passed since our trip to Mexico, and hearing him call me his girlfriend had finally stopped shocking me. I had worried that once the novelty of having sex with me, he would get bored and want to move on. Even he admitted that he had not seriously dated a girl since high school, but Ryder had proved me wrong. The time he spent on the road was the hardest, but even then, he maintained contact daily, whether it be text messages, photocalls or FaceTime. I never had to worry about whether he thought about me while he was away because he proved that he did trip after trip. I no longer had any concern about the Laker Girls.

When he was at home, Ryder had been busy setting up his charity, and it was going to launch in the new year and be tracking applications in preparation for the next summer holidays. There had already been a lot of interest and support from third parties, all of whom had pledged some hefty donations once it was up and running. Even many of his teammates were offering their assistance, whether it be with donations of their own or agreeing to help out with the camp over the summer. Ryder was beyond thrilled with the feedback so far.

Being our first Christmas together, I took some more time off of work to celebrate the holidays. Ryder still had to train and had games, but thankfully he had lucked out, not having any on Christmas Eve or Day. Much to her brother's annoyance, Faith and I filled the holiday period decorating every inch of the house. He didn’t mind Christmas itself but said it was like a bunch of elves had spewed all over the place. Little did he know that we took that as a compliment and only increased our efforts.

Tonight was Christmas Eve and the teams Christmas party. Faith was so excited to come with us and had told me that it was the only Lakers event she looked forward to every year. I was under strict instructions from her that we had to leave on time as she refused to be late, which meant I had to start getting ready a lot earlier than normal.

I styled my hair in an elegant side braid and impeccably applied my make-up, going for a smokey eye and a bold red lipstick to complete the look. It was Christmas, after all. Once I was done, I slipped my dress over a lacy red thong, admiring the finished product in the mirror. Courtney had chosen a red satin dress with a halter neck, sweetheart neckline, and no back meaning the back of the dress rested just above my ass. The material clung to my curves like a second skin, and the thigh high slit on both sides of the dress completed the look. It was the sexiest dress I had ever owned and once again a dress that I couldn’t wear a bra with. I was starting to think she did this on purpose.

When I walked out of my closet after putting on my red sparkly heels, Ryder was waiting for me looking extremely yummy in his tux and considering he visibly swallowed as he looked me up and down, I was confident that I had knocked it out of the park.

“I’ve changed my mind. Let’s just stay in.” He suggested, his voice husky with lust.

I laughed, rolling my eyes at him, “Do you want to be the one to tell your sister we aren’t going out tonight because you’re horny?”

“Fine”, Ryder grumbled.

We headed downstairs where Faith was passing the floor waiting for us.

“You look, beautiful little sis. Did Courtney send that over for you?” My boyfriend queried.

“Nope.” She replied, giving a little spin, “Keegan made it for me as an early Christmas present.”

After we got back from Mexico, I had been sketching in the kitchen one night while Ryder had been out of town, and Faith had fallen in love with one of my drawings, so I agreed to make it for her. The top part of the dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and black sequins all over the bodice, the skirt a deep purple, satin playful bubble skirt that just covered her knees. She had paired it with silver accessories and silver wedge shoes, and it looked amazing. She got a chance to look grown-up without looking too grown up.

Ryder leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the lips trying not to mess up my lipstick, “You did good, baby.”

I looked away, blushing with embarrassment. All the dresses I donated to the community centre was done anonymously. So this was the first time I had actually put my name to one of my designs. So hearing someone praise it was weird.

The ride to the venue where the party was held was only about thirty minutes, and when I stepped into the building, I was in awe. The place was a white Christmas wonderland. There were are least five enormous live pine trees covered from top to bottom in baubles scattered around the room with tons of presents wrapped beneath them. Icicles and snowflakes hung from every inch of the ceiling. It was magical. Out the back area, there was an entire area filled with at least four inches of fake snow that was being enjoyed by all of the kids who were making snowmen and snow angels. They had gone all out.
One thing I had learnt about being around this team is they were one big family. It wasn’t just all about the players. They involved everyone close to them. Faith ditched us as soon as we got there, something about finding the general manager’s kids who she was friends with. They all hung out together at these events and generally stuck together until Santa visited all the kids. Apparent he gave really good gifts.

Ryder and I made the rounds, saying hello to as many people as we could before he went to the bar to get us some drinks and left me to admire the pretty decorations on my own.

“I’m starting to think fate keeps drawing us together, Miss Marshall. Although I had been hoping you would have called me by now.” A Russian voice called out from behind me.

I closed my eyes, mentally kicking myself as I turned around for not considering that Viktor might be here tonight. He was, after all, a friend of the owner. I had been hoping that he would get the hint that I was interested in him by now, but I guess I had been sadly mistaken. When I went back to work after our vacation, I got an embarrassing display of flowers that I had assumed were from Ryder. Imagine my surprise when I opened the card and saw the message from Viktor welcoming me back from my trip and again requesting a meeting when he was next in town, right next to his phone number. I knew taking them home would start shit with Ryder, so the card went in the shredder, and the flowers stayed in the break room for everyone to enjoy.

“My apologies Mr Komarov, I’ve been meaning to call to thank you for the flowers, but everything has just been crazy busy,” I advised as I glanced around for any sign of Ryder, hoping he would come and save me from this awkward conversation.

“Please call me Viktor.” He requested as he sipped his drink, his eyes slowly studying my entire body, making me uneasy, “You intrigue me, Keegan. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since you first stormed into your father’s office. I have never met a woman before with such spirit. Would you do me the honor of having a drink with me? I would love to know more about you.”

My heart started racing, and not in a good way. This man could not take a hint when I was trying to let him down easy. I guess it was time to go for the jugular. “Look, Viktor, I’m flattered. I really am. But I have a boyfriend.”

“And there is nothing I can do to change your mind.” He quizzed.

I shook my head, “no, I’m sorry you can’t. I love him.”

Oh, shit, had I really just said those words?

“Ah.” Viktor stated sadly, “love is a difficult thing to bet. It was lovely seeing you again, Keegan.”

He grabbed my hand, lifted it to his mouth and brushed his lips along the back of it. As much as I wanted to pull my hand back, I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of all of these people. But his touch made my skin crawl. The next thing I knew, he was dropping my hand and disappearing into the crowd.

“Was that who I think it was?” Ryder growled as he came up beside me, holding out a glass of champagne.

I took it gratefully and skulled the whole thing in one go, “Yes, it was.”

“And what did he want?” He asked, glaring in the direction that Viktor went.

I bit my lip as I contemplated whether to tell him the truth or lie, but I decided on the truth, “He was saying hello and asked me out for a drink.”

Ryder’s face contorted with rage, “That son of a bitch can’t take a hint, can he.”

He was about to storm off and go after him, but I grabbed his arm, “It doesn’t matter, Ry. I promise. I told him that I have a boyfriend who I love, and there was no chance for him.”

“You what?” He asked in shock.

“You’re really going to make me say it again?” I teased, smiling at him, “I love you, you idiot.”

I thought I had said it originally to get Viktor off my case, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew I meant every word of it. Even if he wasn’t quite there yet, I needed him to know how I felt.

Before I could even count to five, he grabbed my face, pulling it towards his until our lips crashed together. Our tongues danced together, neither outdoing nor overpowering the other. They were in perfect sync.

When we finally pulled away, most of my lipstick had transferred to him, but he didn’t seem to care. “I love you too, Keegan.”