Page 36 of Your Pucking Mom

Austin’s gaze remained fixed on the group. “Nah. The captain is just with Alex. It’s no problem.”

My eyes flicked back to the man Austin was waving down. Time seemed to stand still. A knot formed in my stomach as memories flooded me from the night before, memories I thought I had left far behind yesterday. No way fate liked me this much.

I swallowed hard, my pulse racing, but I didn’t want to alarm Austin. Instead, I squeezed his hand tightly, forcing a smile. “You know what,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, “my legs are getting tired. I think I may go take a break. If you want to skate with me off the ice.”

“No, Mom. I promise I’ll only be ten minutes tops,” Austin insisted. “I want to be here with you.” Excitement evident in his voice, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread gnawing at me.

“Okay, just be quick,” I said, my voice strained.

The man beside Ledger pushed him forward, urging him in my direction, and my heart lurched in my chest. For a moment, I was frozen in place, torn between the impulse to flee and the desperate desire to confront the truth.

Turning away, I focused on the spot where Austin had disappeared from, willing myself to push aside the memories of last night. Beneath the surface, beneath the facade of composure I struggled to maintain, the turmoil raged on, a tempest of emotions threatening to consume me whole.

20

ledger

Alex was rolling on the fucking ice, clutching his stomach, and roaring with laughter as my curly-headed vixen got whisked away by the camera crew for an interview.

“Cut it out,” I muttered, shooting Alex a withering glare.

“What’s so funny?” Stassi’s voice cut through the laughter as she approached, her gaze flickering between Alex’s hysterics and my stony expression.

“Our dear friend here—” Alex choked out between fits of laughter. “Was too busy for family dinner last night because—” He struggled to regain his composure. “He was hooking up with our newest player’smom.”

Stassi’s jaw dropped. “Ledger Cole!” she exclaimed, her tone a mix of disbelief and amusement.

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, running a hand through my beard. “I’ve seen her around our building a couple of times, but I never imagined…”

“You saw her in front of the building and then somehow ended up hooking up with her?” Stassi’s incredulous tone made me wince, realizing the absurdity of the situation.

“I went to that cafe across the street after practice yesterday to get a coffee and saw her there, then she was crying outside the building when it was raining…”

“So grumpy-ass Ledger decided to save the day?” Alex chided, a little too loud for my taste.

“Shut it,” I snapped, shooting him a warning glare. “I don’t need this spreading around.”

“Coach is going to have a field day with this,” Stassi remarked, her amusement evident in her voice. She was right; Coach wouldn’t be pleased with my affair with a player’s mom.

“And the child is going to be livid if he ever finds out,” Alex added, the weight of the situation settling heavily on my shoulders.

Regardless of your age, hooking up with your teammate’s mom was way out of line.

“We didn’t have sex,” I said, as if this would make the blow to the situation much better.

“Charming,” Stassi said, skating over to Damien, and I closed my eyes, huffing out a breath. Thank God he wasn’t close enough to hear me.

“How fucked am I?” I asked Alex, who was staring at me.

Alex gave me a sly smile before looking back at Auburn.

“Cap!” My name was being bellowed from across the rink.

“No,” I muttered, already sensing Alex’s impending eruption of laughter. “If you make a scene, I swear to God, I’ll kick your ass.”

Alex threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Not me.”

Dammit. Why was the kid calling me? Slowly, reluctantly, I turned my head toward the commotion, knowing full well what—or rather, who—I’d find there: the woman who’d gone home yesterday wearing my cum-stained shirt.

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