Page 162 of Full Mountie

And for the first time in nearly a decade, I’m flooded with fear. I recognize that epic feeling of righteousness in her, and I want some of it back.

“You can’t come up,” she says confidently. “I don’t entertain assholes.”

“Entertain.” I snort. “Is that what you call it when you have guys over to fuck?”

“I…” Only Sasha could turn a stumble over lewdness into an elegant pause. “Yes.”

“Well I wasn’t offering to bang you, but if you manage not to call me an asshole again, I’d be open to—”

“Tate.” She stops in the middle of the sidewalk and does a quick glance around before continuing. “What the hell is going on?”

Two more things I like about Sasha Brewster.

No matter how much she doesn’t like me, she does a quick check for curious onlookers, paparazzi, and recording devices before laying into me.

And secondly, her eyes lit up, just for a second, at the idea of fucking me.

I shrug. Then I take a deep breath and spill what’s not going to be a secret for much longer. “I was traded an hour ago to the Vancouver Lumberjacks.”

Her eyes go wide, then she does another quick surroundings check. Then she grabs my hand and starts walking.

She doesn’t say anything, and neither do I.

It doesn’t take long to get to a nice walk-up apartment, and we head upstairs.

I’m just enough of a pervert to hope this means I might get my dick wet. And enough of a realist to know she’s taking serious pity on me.

A pity fuck…Jesus, I haven’t had one of those since…ever.

That would be new and interesting.

No. Not where my head should be.

And it’s not where she’s going with this spontaneous coffee talk in her apartment, either. She opens the door and plunks herself into an armchair not really big enough for two.

Shame. I don’t see a point in having furniture that’s not big enough to get freaky on.

I take the couch.

“The Lumberjacks?” Her brain is clearly spinning. “That’s Jack Benton’s team. Did you know this was coming at the wedding?”

I shake my head. “No clue. And he’s in the processing of selling the team. This decision was made quite recently, too. It’s a long, complicated, stupid story.”

About how I chose money over stability, and waived my no-trade clause because I thought I was safe.

There’s a big lesson there, but I’m not feeling it yet.

“When do you go?”

“Soon. I need to find a place to stay, because I won’t like whatever hotel the team has arranged. I have aless than a month before training starts, but I want to find a house.”

“Do you need help with that? Maybe you could stay at Gavin’s place.” She snaps her fingers together. “No, you’ll want to be closer to the arena, right?”

“Sasha.”

“Of course, you won’t want to buy right away, so maybe we can find you a sublet.”

“Sasha.”

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