Page 116 of Puck Prince

“You take that back.” My voice is low, but my lips are tipped in a smile.

Callie tilts the candle in my direction. “Lavender? Really? I rest my case.”

I leap onto the bed and roll on top of her. She shrieks, falling back. I straddle her, my hands on either side of her head. “Take it back or I’ll do heinous things to you.”

“Never. Do your worst.”

I grab her hands, pinning them down to the mattress and lean into her, my lips brushing hers. “Take… it… back.”

Callie lifts her chin and kisses me.

I melt into her. After a moment, before I can get painfully hard again, I roll off her. “Fine. You win that round.”

I head back to my closet and tug on a pair of gym shorts before I join her on the bed. She’s looking at a photo I have of Summer and Nicky.

“That was the day he was born,” I explain.

She touches Nicky’s face. “I didn’t notice it last time.”

“We were slightly distracted. And drunk. And it was dark. And?—”

“And we hooked up and didn’t talk much.”

“Yeah. Also that.”

Callie sets the frame back down and looks around the rest of the room. She seems relaxed now, but I can’t forget the fear in her eyes earlier tonight.

I scratch my head. I don’t want to ruin the moment, but questions are burning holes in my brain.

“So are you going to tell me what happened back there?”

Her eyes slice over to mine. “In the hall? Those guys scared me, that’s all.”

“Enough to want to stay the night at my house?”

“Kennedy has a tendency to bring guys over after parties like that,” she says vaguely. “I guess I didn’t want to witness it.”

She offers a thin smile.

I don’t buy it for a fucking second.

“What happened at Pour Boys? Who did you see?”

“Nobody.”

“Callie.” She won’t look at me, but her chin wobbles at the sound of her name. “You said you saw someone. And obviously, it upset you.”

She shifts on the bed a little, her lip pinched between her teeth. There’s something going on and I want to know what it is. I can’t stand to see her like this. Like she’s afraid.

It makes me want to do terrible things to whoever scared her.

“At my last job, I told myself I wasn’t going to get involved with any hockey players,” she finally starts, her eyes still cast down at her knotted fingers in her lap. “I wanted to be professional and respected. I also didn’t trust them. No offense, but hockey players have a reputation.”

“None taken.”

“But then I met this guy, and… he seemed different. He was sweet. Attractive. While other guys on the team were going through girls like KT tape, he made me feel special.”

I don’t know who he is, but I hate him already.

---