Page 61 of Puck You Very Much

Pining after Lucy… Shit, that was exactly what he was doing! He couldn’t think of a better way to put it. It was pathetic, but his life was currently all hockey and Lucy fantasies.

And Lucy had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in anything more than the desk episode…

He frowned.

Had she? He hadn’t asked, had he?

Then again, what exactly was he supposed to ask?!Would she like to do it again in a bed with whipped cream?

Maybe even a restaurant visit first. No, eating with her would be like a date, and he wasn’t dating…was he?

Wait, was he dating? Did he do that?

Fuck, he had no idea! Lucy had messed with his brain.

Your loft looks like you’re all grown up—but you act like an angry teenager.

He gritted his teeth.

She thought he was immature, thought he wasnotnice. That was why she’d been given the silly job of fixing his image in the first place. He was probably both those things. Normally he wouldn’t give a damn if a reporter wrote that about him or his sister told him that with an amused twinkle in her eye. But Lucy would only stop being his personal PR consultant if he started getting good headlines again. She’d only stop playing the leading role in every one of his dreams if she stopped following him everywhere.

The solution was simple: He had to start playing well again so that the torment would end, so there could finally be some distance between them and he’d stop crashing into barriers like a complete idiot whenever she was nearby. And he could only do that if he played nice with Jack; if he forgot he was angry with him.

So, either he gave up his pride or continued losing his mind. And he might just need his mind for the rest of his life.

He shifted his jaw from side to side and sped up to catch Jack.

“Okay, Jack,” he muttered dryly, grabbing his arm. “Remember my game against Northcliff High?”

His brother frowned, looked at the hand on his arm, and then at Dax’s face. “A game from over ten years ago? When you were still in school and scored your first hat trick by telling the center the plays I whispered in your ear at intermission?”

“Yep.”

Jack raised one corner of his mouth. “Yeah, I vaguely remember.”

“Good. Then you know what to do,” he said tersely, skating to the edge of the ice.

He could be a grown-up. He could be nice. He could forget. He could benormal.

And he could win.

“Man, those two are good together!” Maddie shouted, impressed, cheering with the other fans as Dax scored his second goal of the night. “As if they had been playing together for ages.”

Lucy nodded slowly, unable to take her eyes off the ice, or listen to her sister any longer.

It was as if Jack and Dax had flipped a switch, as if they had been born on the ice together. Which, for all she knew, could be the truth! They had grown up together, so they had probably been on the ice together since they were little. But…

Why were they suddenly so in sync? Things hadn’t gone well over the last few weeks. So what had changed?

That seemed to be the question occupying her mind these past few days. And she had no answers.

She didn’t know how she had ended up naked on that desk. She didn’t know why Jack and Dax were playing as if their lives depended on it. And she didn’t know what the hell she was supposed to do. She had tried to ignore Dax. But she felt every one of his intense glances. She found herself listening for his voice whenever he was nearby…and her body began to tingle whenever he was anywhere within a hundred feet away.

God, it had been the stupidest idea of her life to get into bed with Dax—or rather, to get onto the desk. Then why were stupid ideas always so fantastic?

“How are things going between you two?” Maddie asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“What?” Her head shot up. “Nothing is going on between us.” Her sister smiled knowingly and tilted her head curiously. “I askedhowthings are going between you two. With improving his image. Now I’m wonderingwhat’sgoing on between you.”

---