Page 75 of Daddy Issues

That voice never came.

I nosed around in the clothes he had in the chest of drawers, pulling out a faded hockey t-shirt. It smelled like him and was soft in that way of cotton that had been washed to the point of thinning. I slipped it on, hugged it around myself, and danced in a little circle.

My whole life had been a desperate search for this feeling. Knowing I was going to lay my head down tonight and wake up in the same place, safe, and…happy.

Really, truly, happy.

I grabbed my phone, curled up on the bed against the window, and opened the book I’d started reading months ago—before the rave in the desert and the frat party after.

“I could fit six of you in that shirt.” Puck’s deep voice interrupted my reading.

I glanced up and excited little butterflies tickling my belly. He gently closed the door and locked it. In faded jeans that stretched across his thighs, he looked good enough to start at his toes and lick all the way up.

“Is that what you want, six of me?” I put down the phone and tucked my legs inside the shirt, resting my chin on them as he strode toward me.

Watching him move was something I’d never get used to. The grace of a man with so much size and muscle reminded me of a lion.

“There isn’t a man on this planet that could handle six of you.” He lowered himself to the bed beside me. The mattress sank just enough for me to slide against him.

“I dunno. I think you could.” I kicked at his thigh with my bare foot. “But I don’t like to share.”

“Me either.”

But he had. He’d shared me with Jester that first time. “Uh-huh.”

“That was then. This is something else.” His voice was quieter than I was used to, more serious than I expected.

He pulled me close then, sliding a hand beneath the shirt and running it up and down my side. The rhythmic warmth of his touch sent desire coiling in my belly. Not hard and fast like before, but a slowly burning ember of it.

“I’ve got some strings.”

“Do you?” I’d never actually considered a relationship with Puck. And this was happening so fast, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Even when he was away from me, it was difficult to focus on anything other than wondering when I would see him again.

My relationship with Ghost had been a roller coaster from high school onward. Strings pulling me in all sorts of directions that I didn’t want to go, because I’d thought I was supposed to be there.

I needed this to be different.

“If you’re fucking me, it’s just me.”

Relief flooded through me. Easy enough. I actually didn’t want to fuck anyone else anytime soon.

Or ever again.

But he was so serious I couldn’t help tease him. “Jest—”

“If you say his name, one more fucking time…”

I laughed, all the nervous energy expelled all at once, and rested my head against his bicep. “I never really wanted him. He was just a means to get to you, big guy.”

He snorted in disbelief.

“I had to get you jealous to get you away from whatever misplaced sense of honor you had going on.” I sat up, turning and pulling the shirt off my knees so I could straddle his lap andtake his face in my hands. “And I’m okay with that. It was fun, I liked it. But I like you more.”

I scratched at the beard on his cheeks, rubbing my thumbs over each side of his jaw. “If I’m not messing around with anyone else, then fair is fair. You can’t either.”

“Not an issue. I’m not the one with hordes of horny fuckers after my ass every night.” He gave my butt a teasing smack, but left his hand there, cupping the cheek.

“Bullshit.” Patch bunnies threw themselves all over the guys any time they could…so long as he didn’t have an ole lady. And some did, despite that. “You could pluck up any patch bunny you wanted, on any given night.”

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