Page 74 of Puck You Very Much

Shit, maybe he had never felt like this. He and Jack had negotiated something akin to a silent truce. They weren’t exactly friends, but they were definitely no longer enemies, either, so on the ice they shamelessly exploited the time they had already played together.

Dax hadn’t forgotten anything—none of the maneuvers he had practiced with Jack or the drills they had performed together over the years. They were no longer teenagers—they were better. Much better. So damn good that one afternoon after practice, the coach asked him if they were practicing on the ice together without his knowledge. There was no need for that. Their muscle memory was good enough.

The L.A. Hawks were on course for the playoffs; they’d successfully overcome their dry spell. As had Dax.

Two weeks after that evening when they had decided to channel their anger at each other into numerous orgasms, Dax had a huge epiphany. He suddenly knew why he was in such a damn good mood; He had been approaching relaxation completely wrong for the last few years. He realized that relaxation had been a foreign concept to him before Lucy. His premise had been that a lot of meaningless sex equaled peace of mind.

But he was learning the hard way—sometimes gently and tenderly—that not all sex was the same. Yes, picking up women might be fun and end in an orgasm, but it was also a lot of work. There was the small talk, the aggressive flirting. There was the awkward morning after, the stupid ritual of washing coffee cups for her. Then there was his standard speech about how he wouldn’t call his conquests back and that the night had been a one-time thing. It was nice, but in the end, it wasn’t truly relaxing. It was just a means to an end.

Sex with Lucy, on the other hand, was pure pleasure.

He didn’t have to give any speeches. She washed her own coffee cup because she usually stayed until after breakfast. The morning after was never awkward. He flirted naturally with her and their nights weren’t a one-time thing. Thank God.

He hadn’t realized it before, but sex could be fun on more levels than just physical. He had never laughed so much between the sheets in his entire life. Many men were convinced that laughing in bed turned them off, but Dax had to disagree, because, fuck, there was nothing better than making Lucy laugh. Except maybe making her come.

No, maybe the two things were on the same level.

Another plus point was that he no longer had the PR team breathing down his neck. He was always on time—because Lucy reminded him. He no longer attracted negative press attention—because he spent his evenings in bed with Lucy instead of in bars. It was the best damn deal he’d ever made—and nobody had a clue.

“Dude, I can’t believe it. Why? You can have any woman, but you can’t haveLucy.”

Matt punched him in the shoulder so hard that Dax’s upper body was thrown sideways into the airplane aisle.

“Ouch,” he hissed, rubbing the spot and turning angrily to his friend. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, sure.” Matt looked at him darkly, his fist raised again. “I’ll give you a tip, Dax, if you don’t want people to know you’re fucking, don’t stare and smile at each other like that.” His gaze slid to Lucy, who had glanced over but now turned her head away in shock. Matt gritted his teeth. “Because everyone here knows that Lucy doesn’t just give her smile away. Especially not to you! So stop looking at her like she’s a particularly tasty treat or…whatever!”

Dax’s neck stiffened. Shit. He’d believed they were being discreet.

“God, that’s why I couldn’t get hold of you in your hotel room last night, right?” Matt continued undeterred. “You weren’t inyourroom at all.” Matt frowned. “Yep. Your expression confirms it. Oh God, I wanted to be wrong. I almost hoped you were simply mad at me for eating your scrambled eggs at the buffet, since I know how serious you are about scrambled eggs…but you and Lucy…”

“Hell, Matt, keep your voice down!” Dax growled. “It’s nobody’s business.”

“But everyone wants to know! Fuck, Dax, things like that always come out, because you can always tell when two people have seen each other naked.”

Dax snorted. “I saw you and the rest of the team naked and no one suspected I was sleeping with you.”

“Because everyone knows I’m out of your league. Besides, you know what I mean,” Matt replied, annoyed, throwing his head back and groaning. “I was afraid this would happen. You know, I always thought you couldn’t stand each other, but then Jack thought you were a couple, and it suddenly dawned on me. What you two can’t stand is the power the other has over you. You’ve wanted to fuck each other for a damn year. But I thought, no, Dax is smarter than that. He learned from the incident with the intern three years ago. He knows to keep sex as far away from the organization as possible. We talked about it for hours back then. It seems you have forgotten that, because now you’ve gone and done it: crossed the line. You’re going to drag Lucy into the abyss.”

“Shut up, Matt,” he said quietly, his shoulders suddenly tense. “I’m not going to hurt Lucy.”

“Dax, you’re a good guy. I’d trust you with my laundry and my life anytime—but unfortunately, not with any of my sisters,” his friend replied soberly. “You don’t want to hurt women, but you do anyway. Not on purpose, but…it happens.” Matt feverishly rubbed his forehead. “I’m friends not only with you but with Lucy, too. Lucy, who cares so much about her job. She’s planned a brilliant career, and if it comes out you’re fucking each other, half of management will label her a slut who can’t be trusted! There are so many damn women in the world, you could have any of them to release your pent-up anger. Why are you using…”

"Matt,” he growled, starting to get seriously angry. “Shut up.” He didn’t like anything his friend said. He wasn’t using Lucy. If anything, they were using each other. But that wasn’t true either!

“I’m not going to shut up until you explain to me why it has to be Lucy!”

“It’s not what you think, okay?” he said aggressively.

“Why not?”

“Because…I like her.”

For a few endless seconds, Matt stared at him with his mouth gaping. Then his friend sucked in a shocked breath, as if Dax had announced that sex sucked.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, annoyed. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Dude, Dax, do you hear yourself? When did you ever tell me you liked a woman you slept with? That’s a big deal.”

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