Page 13 of Body Checked By the Defenseman

Luc watches me like I am wild prey, and he doesn’t know what to expect from me.

I exhale any form of anger or aggression and feel it seep out of my pores like a poison I don’t want or need. “Dude, I’ve liked her since the first day I met her.” My confession is a first. I’ve never admitted my feelings for Ruby since the day we met. It’s the first time I am hearing and validating what I’ve always felt.

“You’re fucked,” Luc says, looking sympathetic.

“You can’t tell anyone, Luc. Hayden is family. He’d never accept my feelings, and I am pretty sure Ruby doesn’t feel the same way.”

“I got you, bro. Your secret is safe. But you really need to get some self-control. Last night was next-level shit. You can’t be bullying a guy she’s seeing because you’re jealous.”

“Fuck, if you saw it, then maybe Ruby saw it too. Maybe her friends saw it,” I worry.

“Everyone drank last night and emotions were running high. I don’t know how obvious you were. I’ve just never seen you like that before. You were protective but also. . .”

“A jealous asshole,” I fill in.

“Yeah,” he deadpans.

Just fucking great.

“We better get to class,” Luc says.

“Bro, please keep this between us. They’re all I have,” I say, feeling choked up.

Luc nods and I hate the sympathy I see in his eyes. I’m the guy who lost his family. Hayden, Ruby, and Abuela are all I have. It’s my fault I caught feelings for Ruby. I’ll just need to control myself better.

CHAPTER FIVE

He’s Sporting Wood

Ruby

After a long day of classes, I go by the library to say hello to Charlie and end up staying there with her and getting some work done. Charlie is my best friend, and we share everything with each other, but Macklin almost feels too forbidden to even mention. He grew up with Hayden and me. Abuela treated him like her own grandchild. Me having feelings for him is out of my control. Macklin has always been handsome, and he has the most amazing eyes, but there is something deeper that draws me to him. Maybe it’s a shared sense of loneliness, although he’d never admit it. Or maybe it’s the fact he cares, and I didn’t have many people in my life who were sincere, outside of Hayden and Abuela. But there has also been a spark I feel when we touch. Not that we’ve touched in an inappropriate way, but we’ve held hands, we’ve hugged, and every time our bodies touch, I am feeling too many things I don’t feel around other guys. Sometimes I think I am broken.

I walk down the dark street toward the hockey house. As I walk up the drive, I notice the garage door open, and Macklin iscutting wood. He’s wearing a white wifebeater and a pair of gray jogging pants, and my mouth waters watching his muscles work. Cutting wood shouldn’t be so sexy. The right thing to do would be to walk into the house and ignore him after his crazy behavior last night. Something tells me Macklin is in that garage because he’s making me a bookcase and, although, it doesn’t have any deep meaning behind his efforts, it still makes my heart stutter.

I walk to the entrance of the garage and pause. “Hi.” I lick my lips and remind myself to not start panting from his hotness.Geez, get a grip, Ruby. You’re a bloody mess.

He looks up with cloudy gray eyes. “Hey.”

He goes back to cutting wood and it feels like a relief not having his intense gaze on me.

“What are you making?” I ask. I shouldn’t assume he’s making something for me because he was always good with his hands. I also know Macklin, and me calling him out about last night will just put him on the defense, and he’ll shut down.

He doesn’t lift his head when he answers, “A bookshelf for your room. I told you I’d make one.”

“Mack, you really don’t have to,” I assure.

He lifts his head now and watches me, his body radiating tension, his sleek jawline pulsing. “I want to, Periwinkle. Besides, it helps me clear my head when I am building things.” He returns his attention to the saw in his hand.

I don’t know what to say to that. When he calls me Periwinkle it makes my stomach flip. No one has ever heard him call me that. It’s like our dirty little secret.

“You need some help?” I offer and his gaze cuts abruptly to mine. He doesn’t answer. “I’m a very good assistant and you’re making that for me.” I hope to convince him because I don’t want to walk away from him now. We haven’t really communicated in two years. I know I should be pissed, but there must have been something deeper going on because it nevermade sense to me. Hayden, Macklin, and I applied here so we would have each other.

“Okay, maybe you can line that wood up for me and measure it out to about fifty-two

inches in length,” he suggests. His words are matter-of-fact as he avoids looking at me.

“Okay,” I reply. Even though he didn’t say anything remotely dirty, my mind travels to the word inches. I automatically wonder about the size of his cock. Then my mind wanders to the word wood. What kind of wood does he sport in the morning? For a girl who’s a virgin, I probably shouldn’t be having these dirty thoughts, but being close to him turns me into a hot mess.

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