Chapter 64 CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Chapter 64 CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
 JOSH’S POV
 “You’re back?”
 I wasn’t expecting to run into my parents when I pushed the front door open. I was too excited to think about all the possible consequences that could come to life with me suddenly showing up in the middle of the night.
 “Yeah, I am,” I walked slowly into the living room. I tried to avoid their gazes but I could still feel their eyes on me as I walked past them in an attempt to head straight to my room. “Hey. Yeah,I came a day earlier. I mean, the training camp was pretty much over already so it doesn't really matter.”
 “Why though?” my mum was relentless. “Why did you come home a day earlier? Why didn’t you just wait for the rest of your teammates? Is your coach aware? Does he know you—”
 “Yes, mum, he is aware,” I paused my steps to answer her. I sunk in a deep breath, slowly turning to face her. “There’s no training scheduled for tomorrow. All the rest of the guys would be doing is getting into the bus back and nothing else.”
 Under normal circumstances, I was certain that conversation would have taken the wrong turn already. I would have gotten irritated at her questions and she would have gotten defensive. My dad would also have chipped in and somehow, they’d spin the whole conversation, end up fighting and whether they took the credit or not, have me blaming myself for the entire thing.
 But not tonight. Not when all I could think about was seeing Eva one more time.
 “Good night, mum,” I nodded as I resumed my steps. I couldn’t allow them ruin my night. “Good night, dad. I’ll be in my room.”
 I didn’t wait for a response from them before turning around. With quickened steps, I rushed to my room, slamming the door the second I was in.
 The speed at which I got into the shower was almost alarming. I tore my jersey off my skin, took a bath despite how I wished the faint fragrance of her perfume wouldn’t leave my skin and then got dressed as quickly as possible.
 Less than twenty minutes later, I was back in the living room, now with my car keys in my hand. My parents were now nowhere to be found and taking that as an opportunity, I rushed out of the house, got into my car and began my very impatient drive to Eva’s.
 The smile that barely left my face all along easily widened. My fingers curled around the steering then raked through my hair, every memory from an hour ago replaying in my mind over and over again.
 It felt like I was on top of the world. The dopamine rush I felt was second to none. I couldn’t believe it was all happening and even more, couldn’t believe it took me this long to make it happen.
 Eva was now my girlfriend. We were actually now dating. Fuck, Eva actually liked me back.
 The urge to mentally calculate how long it had been since the feelings became mutual was tempting but I pushed it away for later. For now, all I wanted to do was bask in my thoughts— she really did like me.
 Not as another older brother, not as another hockey player on her brother’s team. But as Josh Evans.
 By the time I approached their building, my cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling. I never smiled that much other than when she was around me. But now, even the mere thought of her was able to get me smiling hard.
 And as terrifying as that realization was, I didn’t mind it.
 I pulled over just a block away, glancing at the time as I did. It was past midnight already.
 “You’re ridiculous,” I muttered to myself as I unclasped my seatbelt. I was meeting up with Eva past midnight at their house. Just a couple of weeks ago, it wouldn’t have mattered even when her parents were home but now, things were different. Really different.
All I’d taken away from my car was a single step when I immediately spotted Eva from a distance.
 She was standing in front of the house, still dressed in the gown from earlier, her arms wrapped around her. Looking as beautiful as ever, I could see her leaning forward to take nervous peeks around the street.
 But the moment her gaze landed on mine, all that nervousness seemed to fade away.
 The same way every thought that once clouded my mind faded away.
 I closed the distance between us in seconds, lifting her in my arms before I could stop myself. I gave her a twirl as she wrapped her arms around my neck, the sound of her giggles filling the air.
 “Put me down,” she held onto my shoulders, her body language a direct opposite from her words. “It’s late. What if someone sees us.”
 “You’re right,” I stared at her directly in the eye for a couple of seconds before putting her down eventually. “It is late.”
 My fingers moved to her face, brushing the few strands of her that got caught up in the wind just few seconds ago. “Did you wait long?”
 “No,” I could tell she wanted to shake her head but was too frozen to move. “I was scared you weren’t going to show up, actually.”
 “I promised to, didn’t I?” I was now caressing her face. “Of course, I’d show up. I told you I needed to see your face one more time.”
 I watched her eyelashes flutter as she looked away from me to stare at the ground. My eyes followed her movements, watching her toy with her fingers for a while before speaking up again.
 “It’s late. And a bit cold outside. Do you wanna come in?”
 I immediately swallowed. Of course, I wanted to go in.
 But I knew if I did, it wouldn’t take long for me to cross lines I probably shouldn’t be crossing so quickly.
 “Your parents are home, right?” I took a step closer to her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.
 “Yeah,” she rested her head against my chest. “They are in.”
 “I don’t think me coming in this late is a good idea then,” I kissed her hair softly then sighed. “Peter isn’t in.”
 She fell silent, her arms around me tightening. I mirrored her movements, my nose gently nuzzling around the nape of her neck.
 “Yeah, you’re right.”
 Neither of us spoke for the next couple of minutes. Or even moved. We just remained there for a while, our chests rising and falling with similar rhythm, our lips occasionally meeting in the quiet between breaths.
 And when we eventually pulled away from each other and said our temporary goodbyes, I knew the scent I was forever going to cling onto was not just that of her lavender hand cream.