Page 95 of Pucking Grey

“Can I take you out to lunch?”

She smiles so big. “Like a date?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

She nods. “I would love that.”

I jump up out of bed and throw on clothes.

She laughs. “Are you getting ready already?”

I nod. “Screw lunch, I want to get brunch. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, we can do that.”

I hold her hand as we sit at the restaurant table. I can’t help but stare at her. The brown hair and bright eyes. She’s really knocking me dead here.

“What?” She smiles innocently. I grip her hand tighter, and all I can think about is the future. Where do we go from here? Will she follow me in the NHL? Does she feel the same way I do? Is it insane that I know I want to marry her?

“I just like looking at you.” I’m not lying here. Not even twenty-four hours out from sleeping with her, and I am fucking hooked.

“I was thinking…” she trails off. She takes a sip of water to prolong my waiting time. I need to know what she’s thinking, so I wait.

Water drips from her lips as she wipes it. “I was thinking about how you lost the bet.”

“What bet?” I say before I think. “Aw.” I catch myself before she starts rambling on about the bet we made. “Okay.”

“I win,” she says proudly.

I nod, taking a sip of my water. “Sure.”

“What do you mean sure?”

I tilt my head. “I mean is it considered winning if I slept with you?”

She’s already nodding her head.

“Okay. What if it was what we both wanted?”

“Still a loser.”

I chuckle, leaning back. “Okay, Maddie.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t okay, Maddie me.”

I shrug. “I slept with my new girlfriend that I’m really…” I raise my eyebrows. “Really into, so how does that make me a loser?”

She is blushing. “So, it’s official?”

I look around. “Did we not agree at your brothers house?”

She shrugs. “Well, I mean, you never said the word girlfriend.”

“Bunny,” I scold.

She says, “How about a new nickname?”

I shake my head. “No way. When we’re old and our kids are in college, they’ll have recited the annoying story about how their father landed their mother because she was begging to be his puck bunny and he’s called her bunny ever since.”