Page 57 of Absolutely Pucked
I had no idea if I was technically allowed to do that, but I didn’t think any of my bosses would have a problem with it. “Yeah. Let’s find you something really good.”
“Something that’ll really piss my coach off,” he said.
I grinned. I really liked him too. Ford had the best friends, and as nice as it was in that moment, giving up these new things too was going to be the second hardest thing I had ever done.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
FORD
As I was pullingthe sheet between the beds, hooking it around the lamp, my phone buzzed three times in quick succession. I snagged it from the nightstand and glanced at the screen, my heart doing a little double beat when I saw the name on the screen.
Well, it wasn’t Killian’s name. It said Ian, and that small lie was making me feel like shit. But it wasn’t like Micah was going to see it. Or ask.
I swiped open the text and saw two selfies of Killian with Nugget curled up on his chest. The third was a text.
Ian: I met a friend of yours. Jonah. He rode the bus with me to work and then I walked him around the store to shop. He thought I was Tucker at first. Just thought I’d make you aware.
“Oh my God, are you dying? Dude, I don’t know the Heimlich!”
I realized I was choking on my own spit, and I swiped my hand over my mouth. “No. I’m fine. Swallowed wrong.”
“Your voice sounds weird.” Micah came around the bed, trailing his fingers over the mattress, and paused in front of the blanket fort entrance. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking ab?—”
“Yes you do,” he interrupted quickly. “You can’t lie to me.”
“Uhg. Fuck off.” I turned, grabbing the rest of the pillows, and threw them in the nest before taking a few steps toward him. “Let me guide you so you don’t fuck it all up.”
His brow furrowed, and his mouth set in a deep frown, but he took my hand and let me show him the little walkway between the hanging sheets. It was by no means perfect, but it was fun. Just like jumping on the bed had been fun, though my hip was killing me now.
But Micah was feeling better, and that’s all that mattered. He’d come up halfway between two panic attacks from the crowd, so I let Boden go off on his own, which was what I’d wanted in the first place. I was probably the most personable of all my friends, but I didn’t want to be there.
I wanted to be home with my cat and my…whatever Killian was to me.
Forbidden lover?
Fuck no. That sounded like one of those romance novels with Fabio on the cover that my mom used to read when I was growing up. I wasn’t a fan of the storylines. But Iwasa fan of those abs.
“Ford,” Micah said slowly. “I really don’t like when you lie to me.”
I took a breath and debated about telling him the truth, but it seemed unfair for him to know before Tucker. My friendship was starting to feel strained. Tucker was still distracted by Amedeo, but that wasn’t going to last long.
He was going to start paying attention, especially if one of our other friends asked him why I was being weird.
“I’m fucking serious,” Micah said, punching me in the thigh.
I winced. “Fuck off. Just…hang on. Let me take my leg off and get comfortable.”
He hummed his assent and shifted aside so I could stand up and unstrap myself from the confines of the socket and belt. I felt immediately better as my pant leg hung loose beneath my stump, and I settled back down beside him.
“Who texted you?”
“A new friend.”
He lifted his brows. “A new friend?”
