Page 46 of One Pucking Chance

“A martini is fine. Whatever Betty wants to mix up.” She looks toward the bar. “Is Betty the one with her hands all over Finn?”

I follow Anna’s line of vision and chuckle. Sure enough, Betty is leaning over the bar top and running a finger down Finn’s cheek. He appears frozen in place with a satisfied look on his face. “Oh, good for Johnny Bravo. He’s had a rough day.”

Anna turns to me and quirks a brow. “You think they’re going to hook up?”

“It’s a possibility. Betty has a thing for hockey players.” I pull Anna through the crowd of people. While there are fewer strangers than normal, the place is still quite full.

“As in multiple guys from your team have slept with her?” Anna asks.

Taking the tip of my finger, I gently bop her nose. “Don’t be jealous, babe. I’m here with you.” I plant a kiss on her lips. The familiar tingles vibrate through my body at the contact the way they always do.

Anna pulls back from the kiss. “You’ve slept with her?” Her voice raises an octave, and I could be wrong, but I sense a little jealousy.

I cup her face in my hands. “My sweet girl.” I press my lips against hers again before I slowly kiss down her neck and then back up again. Anna sighs and tilts her head to the side, allowing me access. I nibble on her earlobe before whispering against her ear, “Babe. You know beautiful, blonde, talented movie stars are my thing… especially the ones who will never love me back.” I pepper kisses back down her neck and pull away.

Her eyelids are heavy as her lips part in an exhale. She clears her throat and forces her eyes open wide, pretending that my lips against the soft skin of her neck didn’t affect her. “So you didn’t sleep with her, right?”

“No, of course not,” I lie because sometimes the truth hurts.

Anna and I are very similar in the fact that neither of us has had any serious relationships, but we’re opposites in our views on casual sex. Where I have had a ton of it, it’s not her style.

“Oh, okay.” Her gaze darts toward the ground and back up to meet mine. “Was the neck kissing necessary?”

I hold up a finger. “Number one… you know you liked it. And number two… I had to make sure I wasn’t caught by any lip readers,” I tease. Anna fears we’ll be discovered and called out on social media if someone reads our lips and posts it. I don’t pay too much attention to social media, but apparently, some influencers have built their entire platforms by reading celebrities’ lips and outing conversations. I find it all very amusing.

Anna laughs and hits my chest. “Stop. It’s real, and it happens.”

“I believe you.” I grin before leaning back into her neck. I pepper kisses against her skin. “That’s why all secret conversations will be handled in this manner.”

She giggles and pushes me away. Holding a hand in front of her face like she’s trying to block her mouth as she chews a big heap of food, she instructs, “You can do this instead.”

“I will never do that. It looks ridiculous,” I say, amused.

“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “Are you getting me a martini or what?”

“Of course.” I reach for her hand. “Come on.”

We make our way to the bar. I introduce her to Betty and order us some drinks.

“So it’s your last night here?” I take a swig of beer. Anna has finished shooting and is heading back to California.

She presses her lips in a line. “Yeah. I’m going to miss Michigan. The autumn really is gorgeous. I’m going to miss your games, too. But at least our last game here was a good one. I don’t know if I can convince Miranda to come back with me. I might’ve lost her to your world.” She chuckles.

“Where is she anyway?”

“You can’t miss her. It looks like your Crane shop threw up on her.”

I scan the room and find Miranda holding a drink in her hand and dancing in a group with some of the guys. She’s wearing Hollywood’s jersey. Her auburn hair is braided in two piggy tails, the ends tied with long navy and white ribbons.

“Looks like she discarded her foam fingers for the bar.”

“I’m surprised. She’s very attached to those things.” Anna chuckles. Her smile fades. “We are going to miss the games. We’ve had a blast.”

“Well, we play out in LA, too. You can catch some of our road games.”

Her eyes light up. “Oh, that will be great.”

I lean in, my mouth a breath away from her ear. “I know this is all for show, but I’m really going to miss you. The past few weeks have been great.”

---