Page 45 of Heartless Pucker in Love

I grunted. “You mean bitching and moaning about a woman?” It was something totally new for me.

His rumble of laughter resonated in the open space. “Precisely.”

My teeth ground together even harder. What possessed me to even confide in Jeff? Well, it wasn’t like I had anyone else to talk to about it. It was all too crazy to share with Nic, whom I had a few conversations and had exchanged texts with since I left Oakland. He was an alright guy and without the distance, I bet we could be great friends. However, confiding in him was a no-go. He was about to be April’s brother-in-law, and he came off like the overly protective type. He had jokingly told me he’d castrate me if April didn’t return home just as she’d left. The thing was, he sounded damn serious. He’d likely shoot my balls off if I hinted that anything was going on between his “sweet April” and me.

Everyone saw April as this timid, innocent, delicate flower. She was for the most part, but the woman had a fire in her. It seemed like I was the only one who got the pleasure of experiencing her more spirited side. That side of her got me riled up and turned on like nothing else. She had me twisted in knots?emotional ones?and I was going out of my mind, which was why I was confiding in my teammate.

“I didn’t tell you any of this to entertain you, Jeff. Just give me some advice here, man.”

Jeff shrugged. His shoulders looked even broader in shoulder pads. “I don’t know what to tell you, Julian. Your whole story sounds complicated as fuck.”

I groaned. Complicated was definitely the word for it. I hired April as my nurse. Then, I begged her to stay with me when she should have left already because I wanted more time with her. We continued to have incredible, sizzling sex but have yet to come out and say we’re a couple. Were we a couple? I didn’t even know I wanted something serious until now. Were we...dating? I did take her out a couple of times between my hectic schedule. We enjoyed each other's company and our bickering had shifted to more of a flirty banter. What were we exactly? Just how much longer were we going to continue with our unlabeled relationship? I’d never been in a complicated relationship before, never saw myself getting into one. Yet, here I was. Things with April spelled complicated and confusing.

I turned to Jeff with a frown, and he lifted one brow at me as if to ask what the hell kind of advice he could give. “You have a wife and you can’t give me a little advice on what to do about my situation?”

“My wife and I met in a goddamn cafe. Our relationship, down to our very meeting is the cliche of all cliches. Man meets woman, they date, they get married. I have no advice to offer on your...interesting situation, Grayson.” His lips lifted into a teasing grin, and he clapped me on my shoulder. “All I know is, you’re finally one of us.”

“Excuse me?”

Jeff bellowed. “You’ve graduated to the adult table.”

Jaw clenched, I glared at him and then out onto the ice where the rest of our team was warming up. Jeff was on to something. There were two categories of players on our team. The “married and settled with kids” group and then there were the “playboy athletes without responsibility or attachment.” A flicker of amusement lifted one corner of my lips.

“Hilarious, Jeff. Since you’re practically a senior citizen and will have to retire soon, maybe you should try stand-up comedy.” I was always categorized as the playboy athlete who had a new woman on his arm every week, but I didn’t want to be that guy anymore. Maybe I liked it at the adult table...complicated situation and all.

“Asshole,” he growled. “I’ve got at least one more year left in me.”

I grinned. “Then I guess we’d better make this season count for something.”

“Big talk coming from someone who’s barely recovered.”

“I’m fine, Jeff. I’m fully healed or I wouldn’t be here looking at your ugly mug.”

He snorted and muttered, “Cocky bastard,” which made me smile. “Hey, I have an idea,” he said as we glided onto the ice.

Snapping my helmet into place, I asked, “What’s that, old man?” I couldn’t help teasing him. He took it good-naturedly. Jeff was thirty-eight and often complained about not being able to take many more hits on the ice.

“Come to dinner with Sophie and me this Saturday. We can do a whole double date thing. She’s been pestering me about getting to know some of my teammates.”

“And after all these years, you’re just now deciding to introduce her to one of your teammates?”

“To be honest, Grayson, a majority of my teammates are rakes. I thought you were one of them,” he said bluntly, “So I didn’t want you around my wife.”

I lifted a shoulder. There was no denying that my image was just that…a playboy. “But now that you’re expressing so much feeling over one woman,” Jeff said with a grin, “perhaps I was wrong.”

“Perhaps,” I grumbled, annoyed with myself for feeling offended that he had me placed in the asshole bracket for so long. I wasn’t really a philandering jerk. That was just the category I was placed in, and it happened to boost my popularity. Maybe it was time to stop listening to my manager and everyone else in the background and just be myself. I no longer cared about boosting my career by seeking popularity in the media. “Alright, Jeff. I’ll take you up on the offer. A double date with you and your wife this Saturday. I still don’t see what that has to do with my confusion about my relationship status.”

Chuckling, he glided to the center of the ring. “I’ll get to observe you too together, and I’ll let you know if she’s really into you.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“I’m serious.”

I felt like a teenager, wondering if my crush was into me or not. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” I muttered under my breath.

23

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