Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“No.” I covered his hand and linked my fingers through his unthinking. “We’re doing just fine. Kendra is cool. She’s just…odd. But in a harmless way. And she likes me. She’s not gonna start any rumors. Besides, I liked knowing you were there tonight. Even though it was a little distracting. I didn’t play well at all. I think I was too aware of you. Kind of like I am right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“My skin feels tingly. And I’m holding your hand, which means any second now, my palms are gonna get sweaty. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now.” I shot a nervous glance his way before fixating on the halo aura around the streetlight in the parking lot. “It was sort of ironic that the girl who wants me to pretend I’m her boyfriend was sitting with the guy I wished I could have greeted properly.”
“And what’s proper?”
I loved the ready humor in his tone. I gave him a lascivious wink. “I would have stuck my tongue down your throat for sure.”
Sky barked a quick laugh. “I’d dare you to do it now, but Kendra might be watching.”
“Let’s go to my place.”
“I thought Elliot was home tonight.”
“Oh, yeah. Fuck.” I started the engine and shrugged. “I still have to shower. Follow me home. We can grab something to eat or go to a movie or something.”
“Sounds good. Oh, by the way, Harry asked me to house-sit next weekend,” he said as he opened the passenger side door. “I’m supposed to water plants, pick up the mail, and run a couple of errands for him.”
“What? Why? Where are they going? No one fuckin’ tells me anything.”
“Your mom might not know. It was spur of the moment. Between the commute and roommate issues, I think Harry feels sorry for me.”
“What’s up with your roommate?”
“Micah’s a pig. And he’s got this hero-worship thing for me that bugs me. He was new to the team last year. He was supposed to take my place, but he’s not all that great, so he got bumped when I came back.”
“Hmm. That’s like Schultz and me. Except we still don’t like each other.”
“Micah just likes to choose sides. Everyone knew there was tension between Max and me. And when most of the guys rallied around Max, I got stuck with Micah,” he said with a self-deprecating half laugh. “He’s an okay guy, but he’s a crappy roommate. Harry overheard me telling Sue that he left a piece of pizza on the bathroom counter.”
“Gross.”
“I know. And you know Harry. I think he wants to save the day. This is his version of buying me a new bike. Or giving me a temporary reprieve from sadness.”
I cocked my head. “That’s a funny way to put it.”
“Maybe, but I’m not too proud to take him up on it. So, what do you think? Do you want to help me water the plants?”
“Fuck, no. But I’ll watch you water the plants.” I waited a beat, then added, “Naked.”
Sky chuckled and leaned toward me like he was going to kiss me. He caught himself at the last second “Oops. Sorry. You’re kind of irresistible.”
He hopped out of the car and said something about meeting me in the parking lot at my place. I nodded in acknowledgment, but my head was churning with some weird-ass thoughts. I didn’t like that Harry wanted to take Sky on as a project. That was my job. Well, not my job…but I was Sky’s person, and I didn’t like that my mom’s husband was once again jumping in to pick up the broken pieces. House-sitting wasn’t a big deal, but it was strange that my mom hadn’t mentioned it to me. And it was strange that Schultz was the voice of reason in tonight’s game. I had been holding back. I’d been playing cautiously. I was known for taking chances on the ice, so what the hell was wrong with me? In my effort to do everything right, I was doing everything wrong. And don’t get me started on Kendra. Her astute observations rattled me.
There was a fine line between control and instinct. If I tried to control too many variables and curb my instincts, something important might get lost. I just hoped it wouldn’t be me.
If I needed any further clues that my world was upside down, my friends chimed in with a few hints Monday morning. Troy and Logan gave me shit for not showing up to a party after the game on Saturday. They told me Schultz was making a move on my girl, and I’d better watch out. I knew Kendra was the one chasing Schultz, but my blank stare must have looked slightly menacing ’cause they backed off right away. The truth was…I didn’t know about the party until it was too late, because I’d ignored my cell all night.