Page 15 of Inside the Penalty Box

“Will you be able to attend the party on Saturday?”

I nodded and glanced over to see Aurora tear her eyes away from me.

“Aurora, you’ll be here for the party, won’t you?” I questioned, hoping she’d bring those pretty green eyes to mine.

“Of course she will be, along with Walker,” Penelope answered.

“Oh, Mom, I’m not sure about that. I had to get special clearance to come here tonight. Not sure if my commander will allow it,” Walker answered.

“So you have to get special clearance every time you want to attend something?” I questioned.

“Pretty much every time I leave the base. Especially while I’m in training.”

“Wow, that is crazy. Well, hopefully we will see you,” Joe added.

“Aurora, want to help me with the dishes?” Penelope questioned.

Aurora only nodded and began collecting dishes.

“Boys, let’s retire to the family room, shall we? Dylan, you can show Walker some of your hockey videos while the girls clean up,” Joe announced.

“Come on. I may even have a jersey here that I can sign for you,” I said, getting up and slapping Walker on the shoulder.

“Oh man, I’d love that.”

* * *

The conversation turned away from hockey once Penelope and Aurora joined us in the den.

“You know, I think we should show the kids around. What do you think?” Joe asked Penelope. “Show them where they will stay if they come here.”

“I think we should,” she agreed, getting up and joining Joe.

“Come on, Dylan, why don’t you do the honours?”

I glanced over at Aurora, who was now leaning up against the bookcases, playing with her phone. She’d barely looked at me since she’d come back in here. She finally looked up and over at her mother.

“Mom, I’m going to skip the tour. I need to take care of something for school. Lorelai is messaging me. She needs help with something,” she said, meeting my eyes briefly.

“Oh okay. No problem. I can show you around after.” Penelope laughed.

“Come on, Dylan,” Joe said.

“You know, I think I’m going to check in with the team. See how the interviews went,” I muttered, pulling my phone from my pocket. Immediately, I noticed Aurora squinting in my direction. That had caught her attention.

“Alright, well, that leaves the three of us.” Penelope giggled, taking hold of Walker’s arm and pulling him out of the room.

I sat down on the couch, pretending to text, glancing over at Aurora occasionally. The second she lifted her eyes and looked my way, I smiled, but she quickly averted her eyes and stood up, turning her back to me.

I was finished playing this game. I got up from where I was sitting. She stood in the back of the room, facing the bookshelves, and I knew everyone else was far enough away that they were clearly out of earshot. With her face in her phone, she hadn’t noticed I had moved to her side of the room. I placed both hands against the shelves and boxed her in.

“You’re still thinking about that night, aren’t you?” I whispered, my lips practically grazing her ear, the sweet smell of coconut filling my nose.

She stood still, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession.

“I bet you still get wet thinking about that night. I know I get hard as a fucking rock thinking about you,” I whispered, this time my lips touching the shell of her ear.

Her body stiffened, and she spun around and lifted her head enough that she could meet my eyes and shook her head while swallowing hard. I could see her pulse beating on the side of her neck and her cheeks and chest were now flushed.

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