Page 49 of One Pucking Chance

CHAPTER

TWENTY

JADEN

My room smells like sex, sweat, and the sweetness that is Annalise—and it’s intoxicating. The clock on my bedside table says it’s almost six o’clock in the morning, and we’ve yet to find sleep. We’ve explored one another’s bodies all night long. No matter what the rest of my days bring me, I don’t think I’ll ever top this one. I’ve experienced unmatched pleasure and had more orgasms than I knew was possible with the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. Our tongues have tasted every inch of one another’s bodies. I’ve brought Anna to release when she was shattered with exhaustion and didn’t think she could come again. Our sexual chemistry is off the charts.

I’m ignoring the fact that I had Anna within my reach for a whole month. It makes me sick to know we missed out on feeling like this all that time. Though I’m not sure there was anything else I could’ve done. It had to be on Anna’s terms.

I hate that she’s leaving today, and more than that, it pains me that she insists on this being a one-night thing. Withdrawals from this connection will be tough, but I’d go through them a hundred times to experience what we did.

“When did you get this one?” She runs her finger over the skin on my rib where the tattoo of an orange koi fish resides.

“Two years ago, a group of the guys and I went to Japan. A couple of us got tattoos while we were there. In Japan, an orange koi fish represents wealth, prosperity, and fortune.”

“Did it work?” she asks.

“I think so. The year after I got it, we won the Cup. And talk about fortune. I just fucked Annalise Sterling until my muscles gave out. Can’t get more fortunate than that.” I kiss the top of her head.

She chuckles. “Oh, stop it.”

“What? It’s true.”

She points at a Chinese symbol on my bicep. It’s simple—small with black ink and not the same caliber as the rest of the ink that surrounds it, but it’s special because it was my first. “What about this one? What does it mean?”

“That is actually the first tattoo I got. It’s the Chinese symbol for the name of the girl who took my virginity.”

“Really?” Her voice raises an octave.

“No.” I laugh. “It is my first one, but it means champion or winner. My high school hockey team all got it the summer after graduation.”

“Do any of them play in the NHL?”

“No,” I scoff. “I heard somewhere like less than two percent of high school hockey players go on to play in the NHL. A couple of the guys played briefly in college. But none of them play now. Most are married or heading that way, working normal jobs.”

“Playing professional hockey isn’t anormaljob?”

“Hardly.” I chuckle. “It’s up there with yours, I’d say. Most people don’t get paid millions to simulate sex on a motorcycle.”

“Hey.” She slaps my chest. “We’ve talked about this. That is the scene that shall not be named.”

“And I told you I don’t agree with that because it’s one of your best.”

She rolls her eyes. “What about this one?” She points at a blue-and-gray sandhill crane tattoo on my forearm that extends from my wrist to my elbow. She’s inquired about almost every tattoo on my body, interested in their meanings.

“I got that when I signed with the Cranes. It’s one of my favorites.” She wrinkles her brow, so I continue. “That’s a sandhill crane, a common bird around this area of Michigan. It’s what the team’s mascot is named after.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

I shrug. “Yeah, a lot of people, even those from around here, don’t make the connection.”

“It’s pretty.” She trails her finger down my skin. “I like the colors. Do you think you’ll get more tattoos, or are you all done?”

“I’m content with the ones I have now, but never say never. As you’ve heard, each one carries a memory or a meaning. So who knows what event in the future I’ll want to memorialize with some ink.”

“Are you going to move down to your legs?” she asks.

“God no.” I scrunch my nose in a grimace, causing her to laugh. “I hate leg tattoos.”

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