Page 28 of The Ex Puck Bunny
Heidi wipes her mouth. “You mean the social media manager ad interim.”
Derek asks his sister, “Didn’t you do that before we were blessed with this little girl unicorn popcorn?” He bounces a squirmy Bunny on his knee and she giggles gleefully.
“Yeah. I did.”
“Then maybe you can help Grady.”
“No,” we both say at the same time.
Derek wears a perplexed look.
Then Bunny claps her hands together and shouts, “Yes!”
Heidi and I exchange a look like we both got caught eating the last piece of pizza. Though, she looks like she chased hers down with sour milk.
CHAPTER SIX
SeeingGrady again was not on my bingo card for today. If he came into the Fish Bowl, I planned to have someone else wait on him. On the off chance we ran into each other in town, I’d offer a polite wave and move on.
I’ll admit that I’m a little embarrassed by my recent behavior, embodying the “Brat,” and acting like I’m thirteen all over again. Also, he’s my brother’s best friend and a hockey player. These are all points against him. Then again, this isn’t golf where the lowest score wins.
Fool me once. Shame on me. Fool me twice . . .
I’m not sure how to end that sentence other than telling myself that in no way do I think Grady Federer is good looking. . . good smelling and good sounding.
Nor do I want to kiss him again.
Gross!
He’s a hideous beast and probably has horns hidden under his backward Knights hat.
He adjusts it, putting it on correctly as if he sensed that some girls find guys with backward baseball hats attractive.
Not this one.
It makes him look like an arrogant jerk. And dumb. Why would a hockey player wear a baseball hat?
There’s no reason to interact with this guy.
However, Bunny has other ideas. She scrambles onto another chair and seizes his hat. Pint-sized, she puts it on, and the brim instantly drops over her eyes. She looks too adorable for her own good.
Grady turns around and proceeds to play peek-a-boo with her and the hat. My little girl giggles like he’s the funniest human alive.
Funny looking is more like. Not handsome and hot with the way the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles. Or his full lips . . . and the way they felt pressed against mine.
I don’t know what came over me the other night. One moment I was going inside and the next my thoughts raced before a question sprang to mind. What if I’d kissed the wrong guy in the first place?
This leads me to wonder if I’d been attracted to Grady, rather than Trey and just picked the wrong best friend.
It’s a feverish thought, one I needed to know right then.
I have my answer. The kiss was perfect. The butterflies in my belly wanted to float up to the clouds. I can still feel the phantom press of his lips to mine. But that doesn’t make me like or trust him. It’s a constant effort to keep up my guard and remind myself he’s a hockey player like Trey.
I roll my eyes to drive this point home and my brother shoots a glance at me to mind my manners and to be nice. Fine, Grady can entertain my kid while I dig into the pizza that I brought over.
No sooner does the slice reach my mouth than the pipsqueak wants it. I brought her “healthy” food and know fullwell that the second my back is turned, Derek will give her pizza and whatever other junk he has in his pantry.
I cannot wait for Deborah to come home. They plan to have kids and then he’ll understand that you can’t get a two-year-old sugared up and expect her not to melt down.
