Page 165 of Well Played

He reads my message and shakes his head. “Not cute. Dangerous and fierce.” Sam lifts his shirt up as he is speaking, revealing a tattoo of the Ice Cats logo on his chest.

My jaw drops. He’s also showing me his well-defined chest and six-pack at the same time. My lips part and my lady parts sing in worship. Damn, I think I’ve got a lady-boner.

Wait, he’s a die hard Cats fan? What are the odds?

Me: You could have pulled your shirt down from the collar to show me. You didn’t need to lift your entire shirt up.

He shrugs. I roll my eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing. Dammit. I’m in trouble. Girl code trumps all the sexy smiles, abs, man nipples, and sharing favorite hockey teams.Chicks before dicks all damn day. Especially with Laura. I owe her that.

We continue watching the game and sharing my popcorn. Sam matches my silent curses at the refs with his out-loud ones. My plan for the evening to sit on this couch, watch the game, eat popcorn, and do nothing else isn’t turning out how I expected. Having company is not unpleasant, though I feel like I’m skating on thin ice. I snort soundlessly at my hockey reference.

“Let’s play twenty questions during intermission.” I look at him questioningly. It’s going to be difficult with no voice.

“We’ll ask yes or no questions and switch off asking questions. You text your questions. We give a yes or a no and can’t elaborate. That will make it all the more interesting.” He winks. I give him a thumbs up. This could get interesting.

“Great. First question. Do you like baseball?” Thumbs up. Not that Lucas and Parker would have given me much choice there.

Me: Same question.

“Yes.”

“Question #3. Do you like chick flicks?” I raise my eyebrows.

I point my thumb down. Christmas romance movies don’t count as chick flicks.

Me: Ditto

“No.” He gives me a surprised look. “Maybe it’ll be easier if when we ask a question, we both answer and it will count as just one question?” I type my response.

Me: Yes. And that counts as question number 5.

He reads my message and chuckles.

“Fair enough.”

Sam proceeds to ask me five questions, with some grumbling, to figure out my favorite color is pink. I giggle after I try to give him a hint by pointing to my leggings, and he asks if my favorite color is leg. I text him I’m counting that as a question, and he snarls at me making my chest vibrate in silent laughing.

His favorite color is blue. “Like your eyes.” He says, causing me to blush. It takes six questions for me to find out his favorite animal is a polar bear, which requires him texting an emoji of one after the 5th wrong animal. He gets mine on the first question – a cat.

There’s three questions left and the second half is almost over. For the first time in my memory, I’m barely paying attention to the game. I don’t mind one bit.

“Okay, #18. Do you like Italian food?” Thumbs up. “Yes.” He answers

Me: #19. Do you like action movies?

“Yes” Sam answers, and I give him a thumbs up. He’s got the last question.

I glance back at the game to see the third period starting. When did that happen? The Cats are on a power play and manage to score. Sam and I jump up and cheer. Well, he cheers while I open my mouth like a guppy.

Suddenly, Sam grabs me in a hug, lifts me up, and twirls me around. He slowly lowers me until my feet touch the floor but keeps his arms wrapped around my back. Our bodies are pressed against each other as he looks down at me. His eyes bounce between my lips and my eyes. The world around us fades.

My breath catches in my throat. I feel every inch of his hard body against mine. And when I say hard, I’m pretty sure what Ifeel against my stomach means he’s not the only one affected by our embrace. And when I say inch, it’s a lot of inches. Damn. I suck in a breath too quickly, which sends me into a coughing fit. He releases me with a jerk.

“Are you okay?” He pats me on the back while I continue coughing. “Do you need a glass of water?” I look down at the spilled popcorn while I get my coughing under control. Dammit. I never waste my precious popcorn.

“Shit. Sit back down. I’ll get you water.” I nod. He disappears into the kitchen while I try to catch my breath.

I cannot be crushing this hard on my best friend’s guy. I’ve been the victim of that kind of betrayal. My ex-friend is carrying my ex-boyfriend’s baby. I can never betray Laura after what she and her family have done for me.

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