Page 20 of Puck You Not

He grinned.“Great.I live off campus in the other direction, and there’s a diner I like, halfway between here and there.”

“Great,” I echoed, an entirely different sensation overtaking any hunger pangs as butterflies took off in my middle.After all these months of anonymous conversations, I was having a date with Parrish.Sort of.I’d take what I could get, though.One evening with Parrish?Maybe, it would extinguish my crush on him.Somehow, though, I doubted it.

Five

Parrish

There was something about Avalon.Talking to her was just so easy, as if we’d been friends for months and hadn’t just met today.

“I mean…come on,” she said, waving a fry at me as we talked about movies and books, “Legolas wasn’t even in The Hobbit.Peter Jackson’s dramatic license with those movies is breathtaking.”

I nodded, spellbound by the gorgeous girl sitting across from me, her violet eyes flashing with intelligence while she dissected the movie.Suddenly what she said sank in, hitting me as hard as a speeding freight train.Memories from other conversations pricked my awareness.What were the chances?Talk about a twisted seven degrees of separation.She’d been two people away from me this whole time.

“What?”she asked as I stared at her, taking in her beautiful eyes, the pale skin with freckles across her nose, and her dark brown hair in a long, thick braid over her shoulder.She was gorgeous.Cute.Adorable.And mine.She was mine.

She made a face.“Don’t tell me you thought all of that was in that little tiny book.”

“You know I don’t,” I said, a slow smile curling my lips.I slouched back against the booth’s red-vinyl seat and studied her in triumph.Avalon was my AV.This was the woman I’d been talking to for a year.And I’d just won our bet.

“What?”she asked again with a small laugh.She reached for her napkin.“Do I have something on me?”

“You owe me beers and wings atTarragon—and a naked dance in the Rustin Fountain.”

“Oh…shit,” she whispered, her eyes widening.She’d been caught, but there wasn’t a trace of surprise in her stare.

“Yeah,” I said, the word rumbling with amusement.“Gotcha, AV.”

She rolled her eyes.“Yeah, well, I’ve known who you were since your third email.It wasn’t difficult to figure out which team captain is PL.And I don’t care if you think you won, I’m not getting naked in the Rustin Fountain.”

“A fully clothed dance then?”I pushed.My lip sucked between my teeth as I studied her.“Maybe, wearing something white and cotton.”

“Well, you’re a perv.Good to know.”

“Fine.Just the wings and beer then,” I laughed softly, and she joined me.“So…were you actually planning to meet me in the same place tomorrow?”

“Of course.I want my phone back.”Her eyes told me something else.She wanted more than that.So did I.

“I meant what I said in the email today,” I told her, letting myself admire her again.My God how had I gotten so lucky?

“That you have my phone?”

I swallowed hard, my palms growing damp.Yeah…I was going to put myself out there, go there with Avalon.Regardless that I was captain of the hockey team and had plenty of groupies—or puck bunnies as they were called—I didn’t date a lot.Didn’t have time for that bullshit.Even this impromptu dinner was an anomaly.

But Avalon aka AV was different.This afternoon, she’d gotten me hard with a single look from her violet eyes, a problem that had sprung up again the moment I’d seen her in Porter’s apartment tonight.And then when she’d been chatting with Nash, obviously chummy with him, I’d been ready to attack him with one of my hockey sticks.Or Porter’s since his collection was closer.

“That you’re beautiful.You really are.And now, knowing you’re the girl who’s kept me captivated for the past year—”

“Eleven months,” she offered then winced.“Sorry.I… Big mouth.Works without me thinking sometimes.Obviously.”She cupped a hand over her lips then circled the other, telling me to go on.

“—Who’s kept me captivated foreleven months.Fuck, Avalon.You better not have a guy—”

She dropped her hand.“I don’t.”

I nodded, feeling out of control at the very thought of another guy touching her or kissing her tantalizing mouth.“Good.‘Cause I’m keeping you.”

“Keeping me?Uh, don’t I have a choice?”she squeaked with a small breathy laugh.

I shook my head.“Nope.I won the bet.”

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