Page 123 of Dirty Pucker

Everyone looks at Blomdahl, waiting for him to explain what he means, but he doesn’t.

“Do what?” I ask.

Xander starts to laugh. Blomdahl downs more tequila.

“Blomdahl used to need to get laid the night before every game,” Xander finally says.

All the guys chuckle, along with Ingrid and Maya. Dakota is smiling, mouth open in surprise. Sophie’s cheeks turn bright red. Xander leans over and kisses her.

Blomdahl tugs a hand through his wavy blond hair. “What? It helps me focus.”

I shake my head. “I just wanna say, as the guy you now share a hotel room with, thank you for not doing that when we’re on the road.”

Everyone cackles. Blomdahl flashes a thumbs up.

I wonder if Blomdahl is in a relationship. He hasn’t mentioned a girlfriend, so I assumed he was single. Maybe that means he only does hookups.

Whatever, it’s not my business. He can do whatever he wants.

We all finish our drinks and I offer to grab the next round. I stand up and walk over to the bar to order. A second later, I see Ingrid walk over to the other side of the bar and grab some napkins out of the dispenser. She smiles at me. I smile back.

I tell the bartender my order. As I wait for him to make the drinks, I spot an empty tray at a table off to the side of the bar. I walk over to grab it so I can carry all the drinks back at once.

Behind me, I hear a guy say, “Ingrid? Is that you?”

I glance over just a few feet away to where Ingrid is standing. There’s a guy in a dress shirt, tie, and trousers standing in front of her.

She blinks at him, clearly surprised to see him. “Kyle. Hi.”

Kyle. Her ex. The asshole who didn’t defend her when his friends made fun of her.

Anger flares up inside of me. The urge to walk over to him and tell him what a piece of shit he is hits me.

But I hold back. I don’t want to barge in on their conversation, like some jealous psycho boyfriend.

“Weird seeing you after all this time,” Kyle says. “What’s it been, like, six months?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Kyle looks down at her jersey. “I didn’t know you were a hockey fan.”

“I just recently got into it.”

He’s still looking at her jersey. “Is Del Richards your favorite player?”

She flashes a knowing smile. “Yeah.”

Her ex frowns. “Really? He’s a pretty dirty player. I’m surprised you like him.”

I hold back a laugh.

“He’s a pretty great guy once you get to know him.”

Her ex looks confused. “You know him?”

“Yeah. I work for the Bashers now. I do their social media.”

The guy’s eyes go wide. “You do? Seriously? Wow. That’s actually pretty cool.”

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