Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 83927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“You know you shouldn’t be eating that shit,” I tell him, indicating the packet of potato chips sitting beside him.
Tank ignores my comments and goes straight for the dig. “You like this chick more than you’re letting on.” He says it like it is a hard, well-known fact while turning in his seat to face me front on.
Great. The big bastard wants to talk.
I sit in silence for a second, going over my time with Dani, and I realize that this is definitely more than just trying to get in her pants. I want to get to know her, be with her, and wake up with her warm body curled around mine. Hell, I even want to be the guy she comes running to when her day has gone to shit and be the sorry dickhead who gets sent to the store when she runs out of tampons.
Fuck me.
“Yeah, man,” I admit, looking him in the eye. “I do.”
He nods his head and gives me a smile that clearly says I told you so. “What are you waiting for then? Ask her out.”
“I fucking have,” I groan, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Twice already. She keeps shooting me down.”
Tank lets out a booming laugh. “Shit, I never thought I’d see the day the great Miller Cain gets rejected.”
“Shut up,” I tell him, reaching for the potato chips. “It’s not like that.”
“What’s it like then?”
“I don’t know, man. It’s obvious she’s into me, but she was burned by her ex and isn’t ready to start anything,” I explain. “And she’s pretty damn certain that I’m going to break her heart.”
“Are you?” he questions. “You’ve only known this chick for two weeks. Are you sure it’s not just something physical?”
“Trust me, if I do, it wouldn’t be intentional,” I tell him. “She draws me in. I thought it was just about sex, but it’s more than that. Hell, I crave her attention. She’s the first girl in a long time who’s left me needing more.”
“I know the feeling, man,” he tells me with a smirk, referring to Sophie. “Give her the time she needs. If she’s as serious about this as you are, she’ll come around when she’s ready.”
“Since when did you start getting all soft?” I joke.
He scoffs but answers anyway. “Since I’ve realized that I’m leaving this place at the end of the season, and I’ll do whatever it takes to have that girl come with me.”
“Fuck,” I say, shocked at his admission. “You’re in deeper than I thought.”
“Yeah, I know, man,” he says. “At least Dani is the relationship kind of girl. Sophie is hard as ice when it comes to getting her to admit anything.”
“Don’t stress man,” I say, getting up and clapping him on the back. “You’ve got all season to convince her.”
“Nah, I’ve got to lock her down before she gets bored and moves on,” he laughs. “Now, what do you say we actually head to the gym and then to Micky’s for a beer?”
“Sounds like the best fucking plan you’ve had all day.”
Chapter 9
Danielle
“Check this one out,” I laugh as I flick through the photos from the shoot. Sophie and Jared squish in to get the perfect view of the man-meat on the screen.
Jared leans over my shoulder to get closer, stealing the mouse, and zooming in on Shorty’s crotch. “Is that his dick, or his thumb?”
Sophie snorts her wine all over the screen but leans in for a closer look, her brows furrowed with intense concentration. “I’d say it’s his dick,” she laughs. “No wonder they call him Shorty.”
“Alright, you idiots, back up,” I demand, wiping the spattered wine off the screen. “I’m not going to be able to look at the kid again after seeing that,” I say, hitting delete on the image.
I had promised Coach Harris that all photos will be respectable, and any slip-ups would be permanently deleted so his skaters won’t land in hot water. However, I didn’t promise that I wouldn’t have a viewing party in my room while I worked on it.
We spend a good portion of our afternoon flicking through the images, fixing up the lighting and contrast in Photoshop as we go. We make sure to delete anything that shows a little too much skin, no matter how attractive that skin may be, ensuring the calendar remains PG.
I continue working on the images with Sophie and Jared oohing and ahhing beside me. I’ve already got a good selection of images that would work perfectly when I get to the shots of Tank and Miller shirtless on the ice. I must say, these are easily going to be my favorites. The boys look amazing under the spotlight. Amazingly drool-worthy.
After touching up a few of the photos and emailing a shot of Tank to Sophie, who insisted the image is required for her spank bank, I add my favorites to the growing pile of images in the maybe pile. My heart breaks knowing I’m going to have to narrow it down.