Page 32 of Confessions of a Former Puck Bunny

Chapter Seventeen

Lindsay

There were times when Radiohead’s “Creep” went through my head, the lyrics “I don’t belong here,” playing on repeat.

Standing in a room big enough for a hockey rink—if all those pesky tables were removed and no one minded that the chandeliers and wall sconces would end up destroyed by pucks—opulence dripping off every surface, the song was blaring. I was also questioning my fuchsia minidress. Far too poor for a shopping spree, or whatever it was called when you couldn’t even afford one dress—shopping spre?—anyway, I’d dug this number out of my closet. It was from my puck bunny days, back when showing off my assets and gaining attention was the main goal.

Confession #11:Tiny dresses, the even tinier underwear needed to pull them off, and super-high heels aren’t exactly comfortable, especially if you’re out of practice wearing them.

*side note:The heels and thong combo do nice things for your legs and your ass, even if they also left me dying to kick off my shoes and pick a wedgie that would never go away in front of all these fancy-pants people.

Most every other woman in the room wore a full-length gown that screamed money, their jewels accenting the money aspect.

My courage and can-do attitude faded and my steps faltered.

Ryder put his hand on my elbow, steadying me. “You okay?”

“It’s…wow.”

“It’s always a bit overwhelming at first. Then you get used to it.” He slid his arm around my waist and drew me close. “I know I told you that you looked nice when I picked you up, but I was holding back. You look stunning. Like I forgot my name for a few seconds when I first saw you, and I’m starting to lose my grasp on it again now.”

The compliment sent an exquisite swirl of electricity through me, and I decided that having sore feet and a perma-wedgie was a small price to pay to get that kind of reaction from Ryder. “In a place like this, I’m guessing you want to go by Ox.”

He chuckled, and the sound danced across my tense muscles and loosened them.

“While we’re on the subject, this whole look you’ve got going on…” I gestured to the suit, crisp white shirt, and black tie. As polished as the tailored suit was, it couldn’t hide how massive he was, and there was something very hot about the barely contained badass vibe. “Damn.”

“Damn, you say?”

I nodded, curled closer to him, and ran my hands down his lapels. “You sure clean up nice. Not that I mind when you’re dirty.” Oops, that last bit sort of popped out.

Heat filled the eyes homed in on me, spreading that fiery blaze through every inch of my body. “I’ll keep both of those things in mind.”

Honestly, ever since our easy night on the couch, I was constantly anticipating the next time I’d see him. My stomach had completed a full somersault when he’d come into the newspaper office and asked me to attend this event with him. He’d claimed he was doing a shitty job of selling it, but with how hot he’d looked, his hand rubbing his neck in a way that only accentuated the muscles in his arms, I’d wanted to throw myself at him and say I didn’t care about lines anymore. So obviously going somewhere with him was a no-brainer. Even if I should use my brain and listen to it when it said spending time together would only make my attraction to him worse.

“Ryder.” A brunette in a glittering gold gown approached. Her smile turned stiff when she noticed me.

I should’ve at least put a jacket over the dress.

Suddenly I felt naked, and with the added judgment coming from the woman I assumed was Ryder’s mom, I was rethinking my choice of outfit all over again.Too late to do anything about it now.

“Mom.” He gave her a polite hug and kissed her cheek. Then he turned back to me. “This is Lindsay. Lindsay, this is my mom, Sharon Maddox.”

She studied me, her lips pursing. “You look so familiar,” she said, and I couldn’t get a good read on her. I’d experienced plenty of disdain and passive aggressive behavior from women of all ages before, but this wasn’t quite that. Clearly she wasn’t thrilled with my being here, but she did appear to be trying to place me.

“This is definitely my first time at an event like this,” I said.

“Maybe I know your parents?”

I shook my head. “Neither of them live here, either.” I didn’t think now was the time to go into the fact that I didn’t actually know if my dad did, because that’d require knowing him in the first place.

“Oh. Well.” She casually tossed her hand up. “Maybe you just have one of those faces.”

How did one properly respond to that?

“Honey,” Sharon said, placing her hand on Ryder’s arm—the one not wrapped around my waist. “Can I borrow you for a moment? I need to introduce you to some people. I’m sure Lindsay understands?”

Sure. Lindsay understood. She also loved when people made statements she couldn’t contradict without looking like a bitch. “Totally. I’ll just go—”

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