Page 58 of Three Pucks and a Baby

“That’s what I said.”

“You’reneverlate, Viv. If anything, you’re annoyingly prompt.”

Gritting my teeth, I replied, “I’m aware of that. Are you going to cover for me or not?”

“Duh. Of course, I will.”

As a relieved breath whooshed from my lips, it was short-lived when Carlee said, “On one condition.”

“Seriously? You’re my best friend, and you’re giving me conditions?” I protested.

“Absolutely.”

“Fine. What is it?”

“I want all the details of what happened last night.”

Just the words “last night” sent a reel of explicit images racing through my mind. A shudder ran through me, causing me to bite down on my lip. How could I possibly tell Carlee about my hockey trio? Despite her free-spirited nature, there was no way in hell she wasn’t going to think I was a total freak.

“It wasn’t that eventful,” I lied.

“Bullshit. You’re late for the first time since I’ve known you the very night after you had a date with a hot younger man.”

Oh, it was so much more than a date.

And it was with more than one hot guy.

“Fine. I’ll give you the details,” I lamented.

“See you soon,” she replied pleasantly.

With a groan, I slipped inside the car while seriously debating calling in sick.

After going home and getting ready in record time, I rushed into the library only fifteen minutes late. Immediately, I grabbed a cart and started furiously reshelving. I then fielded student questions in the computer lab.

Anything to keep me from running into Carlee and her interrogation.

Normally, I wouldn’t have cared about filling her in on the sordid details. We both enjoyed doing date postmortem. Not to mention, I always like to get a second opinion on how I feel about a guy.

But last night was different.

The guys had been different.

And it wasn’t about the threesome or foursome or DVP.

It was about what I had felt with them.

Since I still wasn’t sure how to process my feelings, I was not ready to pick them apart with Carlee. It felt like I needed to insulate myself with my memories for just a bit longer.

But my reprieve was not to last. After taking over at the reference desk, I glanced up to see Carlee making a beeline over to me. Her catlike grin told me she wasn’t letting up in her pursuit of information about my date.

To my surprise, she didn’t launch into grilling me. Instead, she dropped a dusty tome on my desk. Jerking her chin at it, Carlee said, “Mrs. Heeley said this needs to make its way back to the Special Collections.”

And then my relief faded. The Special Collections was an obscure room in the basement away from watchful eyes. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if I took the book back, Carlee was going to follow me. Once she got me alone in The Special Collections room, she wasn’t going to be satisfied until I gave her all the horny details.

Since I was physically exhausted, I decided to wave the white flag of surrender. Glancing left and right, I thankfully found no one was in earshot. “There’s no need to go to the Special Collections room.”

“But I–”

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