Page 11 of Your Pucking Mom

The stranger shook his head.

“Three times in two days? You didn’t say anything at the cafe?”

He pushed his hood off. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you from earlier. I’m so embarrassed,” I murmured.

The rain mixed with the tears on my face, and I hoped it masked the fact I was red from the neck up in embarrassment.

“That’s why you were staring at me.” I shook my head, chuckling in utter disbelief.

He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling water droplets with it. “Yeah, among other things.”

Other things? What other things?

“How freaking crazy is this, and of course you live in this building if you work for the Hockey League.” I gestured to the building. Well, shit. I shouldn’t know that. That made me sound like a total stalker.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m related to someone on the team,” I admitted. It wasn’t a lie; I just didn’t know how to tell this hot guy I was someone’s mom without making me feel and sound old.

I was thirty-five, and by the way his wrinkles formed under his eyes, the way his smile seemed weathered, and the way his body looked strong, he couldn’t have been that much younger than me.

Telling a stranger I was a mom of an eighteen year old automatically made them assume I was much older than I actually was, so I preferred not to say anything.

“Ah,” he said through the pelting rain, “that explains the season tickets.”

I smiled easily, the blush finally going away. “Exactly.”

Though, part of me wondered what he did on the team to live here. I swore I’d done my due diligence scanning the team roster, but his face didn’t seem to ring any bells for me. Maybe if I got his name…?

“So are you going inside?” he asked, crossing in front of me as he held the door open to the building, telling the doorman he had it under control.

He wanted to hold the door open for me. For me. My heart raced, and though I knew it was innocent, I was incredibly uncomfortable.

“Oh, uh, I’m actually going back to my car.” I tilted my head in the direction of my car.

“Not coming in, then?” This sounded confusing as hell, but fuck it. The world had thrown the same man in my path three times; it had to be a sign, right? Enough skirting around what I was trying to say. I just needed to speak it from my chest.

“I got stood up.” I swallowed hard. His eyes went wide, then I remembered I’d told him I wasn’t married. “I was supposed to meet a family member here, but unfortunately, they had other plans, and now I’m here with sushi that’s probably completely ruined, exhausted from an entire day of work, and halfway across the city from my apartment in the soaking cold rain.”

I disliked being honest with people because it made me feel like I was burdening them with my problems, as if I were imposing on them and becoming an unwelcome weight on their shoulders. With a narcissistic mother like mine, it always seemed like people cared for me out of obligation, not genuine love. I was only ever a responsibility, and that kind of thinking was a hard cycle to break from.

My jacket and Keds were soaked, along with my jeans, causing me to shiver.

“And I’m soaking wet.”

As he let go of the door, the corners of his lips lifted, and he closed the distance between us. I hadn’t been this close to a man in so long, and I couldn’t help but inhale his deep woodsy scent. He smelled so good, and his energy was so intimidating and possessive.

“Are you wet…everywhere?” he asked in a husky tone. Admittedly, I had already imagined how thick he was based on the size of his hands, but I was soaked at his blunt question.

“Y-yes.” I was committed to being on this tell-the-truth train no matter how embarrassing it was. A low laugh escaped his lips before he closed his eyes and took a breath.

“If I invite you upstairs, will you not make it weird?”

I paused, letting his words sink in, then erupted into laughter. “Me?!”

It was fucking weird inviting a stranger up to your apartment, meeting three times in two days, and even the rain added to the melancholic atmosphere.

I dropped the wet bag of sushi on the ground, clutching my stomach. “Why is that the funniest thing I’ve heard in forever?”

A smile spread across his face, deepening the dimple in his left cheek, and I appreciated being the one it was directed at. There was an effortless warmth in it.

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