Page 17 of Puck Shy

I open my mouth to ask him about the game, but before I can get a word out, I see his eyes dart toward the entrance before his face lights up. The hair on my arms stands on end, and I don’t even have to turn around to know who’s here.

My body goes into panic mode, and I feel like my stomach is going to drop out of my butt. I didn’t think Lucas would be here. But he won’t recognize me, right? Right? I was wearing a mask, and he’s never met me before. But it’s not like the mask covered that much.

“Are you okay, Stevie?” Riley asks, her eyes shining with sheer glee.

She probably thinks I’m nervous because I’m a fan. Which fuck, that’s true. Because last night, I was someone else. I wasn’t regular day-to-day Stevie. I was his “Cherry.” This Stevie says funny things and makes dumb jokes. The girl in the red mask is who he met. Not Stevie.

“I think I’m going to go to the bathroom—” Before I can make my escape, Riley spins me toward where Leo has gone to greet his brother. He doesn’t see me yet, and I’m praying that he doesn’t recognize me. Not here, not now. Not in front of Riley, Jace, and Leo. I mean, how the hell are we supposed to explain the way we know each other?

Look, I know my sister and her partners do kinky stuff; that’s not what I’m embarrassed about. But I genuinely have no idea how they’d react to us together. Not that we’re a thing; we just met. And unlike my beautiful sister, I don’t fall in love with men right away. Dicks and pussies, yes. Men, no.

Fuck me. I’m spiraling.

I can’t believe this is happening right now. Why did I come here? Oh, yeah…for free drinks and food. I’m an idiot. The biggest idiot of idiots.

Lucas hasn’t looked over at me yet; he’s listening to whatever Leo is saying with what appears to be rapt attention. It gives me a moment to take a breath. And to take him in without his golden mask.

Seeing him stand next to Leo also affords me the ability to notice the slight differences between them. While Leo is dressed like a hot businessman, Lucas is dressed down in jeans and a dark teal-colored Henley that allows me to see the muscle definition in his arms. Lucas’s hair is also slightly longer, and his body is more relaxed than his brother’s. I also know he has the tattoo on his side, and Riley has never said anything about Leo having any.

Lucas McKnight is nice looking. More than nice looking. He’s hot AF. My eyes trail down his body, past the thick coat he has draped over his arm to his feet then back up again.

“Are you picturing him without his clothes on?” Riley nearly giggles into my ear.

Busted.

I turn to the bar and down the rest of my drink, nearly coughing from the burn. Oh my God, I need like ten more of those.

“Stevie, I knew you were a fan, but I didn’t think you’d be this nervous,” Jace says, flagging down the bartender for me to order more drinks. I give him a half-assed smile, praying for the ground to swallow me up right now. Maybe I can fake faint and then pretend I have amnesia.

I’m not that lucky, though, because Riley is elbowing me to turn around as Leo says, “Stevie, I’d like you to meet my brother, Lucas.”

When I don’t immediately move, Riley spins me like I’m a little kid being made to hug that one creepy uncle everyone has. My eyes are already wide as I’m met with the piercing wintery gaze of Lucas McKnight. At first, he doesn’t seem to recognize me, but I notice the moment it happens.

His eyes bounce from Riley to me a few times before they go to my lips. Fuck. My lipstick. Right before I came into the bar, I pulled out the tube of Cherry Crush lipstick I had on last night and applied it. I’m such an idiot.

When Lucas finally settles his gaze on me, his mouth is slightly open in shock, but I see excitement in his eyes.

“Cherry?” he asks.

Fuck me sideways.

Chapter eight

Lucas

“Cherry?” I hear my brother ask beside me, but I ignore his confused question. My focus is on the woman in front of me who looks like a shiny beacon in her sparkly sweater. Now I know why her eyes looked so familiar. She’s Riley’s sister. My brother’s partner’s sister.

I should probably care about that, but I don’t. I found her, my Cherry, without even trying. No one can tell me her being here right now isn’t some sign from the universe. Despite wanting to go home to take a long soak in my hot tub and ice my knees, I came to the bar anyway, and now here she is.

Cherry, who I now know is Stevie, is still gaping at me, her eyes wide and cherry lips parted. She’s sexier without the mask, and I love that I can see her face. Her honey-brown hair is down, falling just past her shoulders. I want to run my fingers through it while I explore her mouth again.

My smile widens as I take a step forward, pretending that Leo, Jace, and Riley aren’t staring at us dumbfoundingly, wondering what’s going on.

“Do you know each other?” Riley asks.

“We do,” I say, now only a foot or so between us. “I found you” is all I say to her.

Stevie’s forest gaze flicks to my lips then back to my eyes. She’s panicking, and I’d rather talk to her in private than in front of an audience. I’m sure the people in the bar are looking at us, too.

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