Page 34 of One Pucking Wish

The throw blanket hanging on the back of the sofa catches my eye, and I pull it over my legs before answering Iris. I’m not sure if I’m actually cold or just need an additional barrier between us. Not many people truly know me, but Iris is on the short list of those who know me the most. She’s pretty good at reading people, but as much as I adore her, I can’t tell her about Gunner and me. I’m not telling anyone. It was a one-off experience, a result of nothing more than boredom. It didn’t mean anything and probably should have never happened in the first place. I don’t want her making more out of it.

“I don’t know what more you want to know. As I told you, we called every hotel in the city, and they were all booked. Frank, the bartender, and his wife own a motel outside the city. It was also full, but they had one room they used as storage, and he offered it to us. So we hung out amid boxes of paper goods and mini-shampoo bottles. On the first day, we basically starved, and the second day, Alice, the co-owner of the motel, fed us. It was long and boring, and I was counting down until we got out of there.”

She leans forward, her eyes squinting. “So what was the sleeping situation like? What’d you do all day? What’d you talk about? Did you fight? I mean, you guys hate each other. I just can’t picture it. You and him, stuck together for three days.”

I shrug. “We called a truce and agreed to get along while we were there. We slept in the bed. There wasn’t much talking, just existing, I guess, and waiting out the storm. As I said, it was a boring couple of days.”

“You mean ‘beds,’ right?” She quirks a brow.

Shit.

Schooling my face, I attempt to emit the most unbothered expression I can muster. “There was only one.”

“Penny!” she screams, a laugh erupting as she throws her head back. “You shared a bed with the Beast for three nights, and you’re telling me nothing happened? At the very least, there had to be some spooning or something.”

My features remain stoic. “I don’t know what you want me to say. We slept. That’s all. This wasn’t a chapter from one of those romance novels you love to read. It was real life, and real life is boring. I was stuck in a room with a guy I can’t stand. I got through it, and that’s all there is to it.”

She squints her eyes, puckering her lips, and I swear the woman can see right through me. “You know love and hate are separated by the thinnest of veils. I know how the one-bed thing works. Remember Cade and me in Barbados? That was real life.” She holds up her left hand, flashing her diamond ring. “We all see how that turned out.”

I roll my eyes. “Completely different. You two have loved each other since you were children. There is no love between me and Gunner. We were stuck in a shitty situation—one that he put us in—remember? We called a truce for the sake of our sanity and pretended to tolerate one another for a couple of days, and then we flew home. That’s all there is to it.” I shrug.

“Really?” Her face falls in disappointment. “You have no juicy details for me?”

“None.”

“Why do you both look like death today?” She raises her hands in mock surrender. “No offense.”

The corners of my lips tilt up as I fight a smile. “Because we’ve barely eaten in days and were bored out of our minds stuck in another country, sharing a way-too-small, lumpy bed in a glorified storage closet. It wasn’t fun, Iris.”

She pouts her lips out in a frown. “Bummer. Did you do anything for your birthdays, at least?”

“We ate stale donuts with sprinkles.”

“You really did have a horrible time, didn’t you?”

I nod. “We did.”

She falls back against the back of the sofa. “I guess I was wrong.”

“About?”

“Don’t get mad, but I always thought that you and Gunner hated each other so much because you secretly had feelings for or, at the very least, were attracted to one another. I really thought that being stuck in a hotel room with him for three nights would’ve pulled your feelings out. You know? But it didn’t. So I completely misread the situation. I’m usually better at reading people. Then again, I didn’t see the whole Beckett and Elena thing either. Nor did I realize that Cade had been waiting for me for all those years.” Her face falls, and she sits up. She looks at me, her big blue eyes wide. “I apparently don’t know myself at all.”

I chuckle. “Don’t go having some identity crisis. You are good at reading people. No one saw the situation with your brother and Elena. Who would’ve guessed that he’d secretly get married to the new team doctor in Vegas so that she wouldn’t lose her inheritance only to fall in love with a woman twelve years his senior? Those two are as different as night and day. No one saw that coming.”

“Yeah.” She grins. “But they are so amazing together. Don’t you think? It makes me wonder why I didn’t see it before.”

“They do seem very happy. And the thing with Cade—you can’t count that either. No one can see the full picture when they’re in it.”

“Yeah, I guess. Still, I really thought I saw something between you and Gunner.”

I scoff. “Me and the grumpy goalie? Come on, Iris.”

“I know it seems weird, but I saw something there…or, at least, I thought I did.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's time to move on to someone else.”

A renewed smile finds her face. “Did you pick up some chemistry between Bash and Ariana at the resort during bye week?”

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