Page 81 of Puck You Very Much

Chapter 23

Dax didn’t receive a single birthday message, call, package, or handshake. Nothing.

But it didn’t surprise him, since he’d told all his teammates not to bother—and he had no friends other than the team. He didn’t need any.

It wasn’t important to him, anyway. He knew he could rely on every single one of them, if it came down to it.

Still, he realized a few presents or maybe a cake wouldn’t have bothered him as much as they had in recent years. Overall, he’d woken up surprisingly relaxed on his birthday.

Maybe it was because Lucy was lying next to him, one knee propped against his back, one arm wrapped uncomfortably around his neck. But she was naked, so it was okay. Overall, Lucy was a restless sleeper who tended to fall asleep at one end of the bed and wake up at the other. Luckily that didn’t bother him, as his sleep was as deep as the Mariana Trench. He found it fun to make bets with her about how and where she would end up waking the next morning.

So when she sleepily whispered “Happy Birthday” in his ear, he had no desire to start a fistfight with a cake and no desire to tell her to shut up.

Instead, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Yes, he was surprisingly relaxed. The same could not be said for Lucy.

“Everything okay?” He turned to her, frowning.

“Yes, why?”

“You’re fidgeting.”

She sighed and wiped her shoes on the doormat at their feet. “I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m meeting your family!”

“You already know Jack. And my sister is harmless.”

She snorted. “You said you were harmless, too.”

“I am,” he said confidently.

“You pounced on me in the shower this morning!”

“It’s called foresight. I knew we wouldn’t have a chance for the next twelve hours,” he informed her, tapping his temple.

She rolled her eyes, but before she could say something deprecating yet equally funny, the door opened.

“You’re on time!” his sister announced, impressed. “I didn’t think you would…” She stopped abruptly as her gaze landed on Lucy. Her lips formed a perfect O as she glanced uncertainly between Dax and her. “You didn’t say you were bringing a guest,” she said, perplexed.

Lucy’s incredulous look belonged in a cartoon. “You didn’t tell her?”

No, of course not. He didn’t want to answer questions.

He shrugged. “I must have forgotten.”

Lucy punched him in the side. “You’re evil,” she informed him matter-of-factly, then smiled nervously at Anna. “Hi, I’m Lucy. His…PR consultant.”

A clear snort sounded from inside.

“I assume Jack is already here,” Dax said sourly and moved past Anna, who pushed her glasses higher up her nose as if she didn’t trust her eyes.

“Hey, Lucy, nice to meet you,” he heard his sister say as he took off his shoes and jacket and went into the living room.

Jack was sitting at Anna’s square dining table. He nodded at him. “I would wish you a happy birthday, but Matt said you wouldn’t react well to that.”

---