Page 113 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“Sure … is that what they’re going to think?”
“Probably not.Send me his contact info either way.We need to jazz up your intro.”
Dragging my hand down my face, I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes.Having a conversation with Alice Wu was like riding a roller coaster backward.You never knew when the twists and turns were going to make your gut launch into your throat.What started out as a great conversation with me on cloud nine had pivoted to her asking me to make sure I wasn’t exploiting Damon and violating any Washington State child labor laws.I had whiplash just from the conversation.
“Fuck, we’re at nearly three thousand now.Dude … dude, this is fire.”
While there was probably only a three or four year age difference between me and Alice, it felt like a hell of a lot more whenever we spoke.Not just the slang I could barely comprehend, but also her level of unhinged excitement or the way she bounced from one topic to another.Some of the younger players who came up from the farm teams were a lot like Alice.In fact, they were just … a lot.
I felt old.
The door to the community center opened, and the McEvoys and Vino Vixens—as I heard Gabrielle and her cousins were called—started to file out, this time without the impressive diorama.The only two not in the mix were Raina and Jagger, and I’m guessing that was because Jagger was being stubborn and refusing to use his cane and moving slower than the rest.
Everyone was smiling, so I took that as a good sign.
“Maverick?”
Shit, I was still on the phone with Alice.“Sorry.Yeah?”
“We’re at nearly three and a quarter thousand now.You need to get home and look at the numbers.”
“Uh … sure.Yeah.I’ll send you Damon’s info.Listen, Alice, thanks for all of your help.I’ve got to go.”
“Later.”She disconnected the call before I did, and just as Gabrielle, with wariness in her eyes, approached the passenger side of my truck.She opened the door.
“So?”I asked, feigning nonchalance, even though I was all kinds of chalant.Was that even a word?“How’d it go?Everyone seems to be smiling.”
She glanced out into the parking lot where Naomi and Danica climbed into Danica’s SUV and the McEvoys piled into two of their trucks.Jagger and Raina were making their way across the parking lot now, just as fresh raindrops started to land on my windshield.
“You coming for lunch, Gabrielle?”Clint asked, rolling down his window as he drove past my truck and the awkwardness of our conversation.“Hey, Mav.You should come too.”
I gave them all a wave, then they drove off.
“Get in,” I ordered her, tired of this indecipherable bullshit.She was all over me one minute, holding my hand, letting me eat her ass, and tickle her tonsils with my cock.Now she seemed almost embarrassed to be standing there talking to me.What the fuck?
Luckily, she complied and climbed up into the passenger seat, closing the door and buckling her belt.
I hit the start button and peeled out of the parking lot.Jagger and Raina weren’t far behind us.“What the fuck’s going on with you?”I asked, bouncing my gaze between her and the road.“Are you embarrassed of me or something?Because not trying to brag or anything, but I’m a hell of a catch.Successful, kind, tall, athletic, pretty good in bed if your six orgasms a day are any indication.If you ignore the degenerative vertebrae and early onset osteoarthritis, I’m the cream of the fucking crop.So what the hell is your problem?”
Maybe it was the conversation with Alice, and my frazzled nerves, but I was in fight-mode, and my patience was as thin as a wet paper bag.I was tired of her wanting to sneak around.We’d been together for over two weeks and hadn’t so much as stepped foot anywhere together on the island besides her house or my cabin.Enough was enough.
What was the big deal if people from the island saw us together?We were adults.The kids were fine with it.Yes, small towns gossiped, but maybe if we got ahead of the gossip and “came out” on our own terms, it wouldn’t be front page news.
She remained quiet as I navigated the wet roads, my wipers doing their job as the raindrops grew bigger.Her fingers twisted around each other in her lap and she stared straight ahead, nibbling thoughtfully on her bottom lip.I reached over and untucked that lip from her teeth and she sucked in a small, sharp breath before glancing over at me.“I’m not used to people knowing my business.I’m not used to people knowing anything about me.”Worry caused creases to form on either side of her amber eyes.“People know everything about you.And you seem fine with it.I … I don’t know how you do it.”
“People don’t know everything about me.”
“You have a Wikipedia page.Kids wear your jersey, and you’re the face of Sequoia Mist deodorant.Peopleknowyou.”
I shrugged.“Okay.So peopleknowme.Or they think theyknowme.They know what I allow them to know.But they don’t know the real me.They don’t know that I had a lisp until I was eight, or throw up at the sight or sound of someone else throwing up.They don’t know that I scored a fourteen-ninety on my SATs.Or that I bawl like a fucking baby every time I watch Disney’sUp!.They know my stats.They know my generic history.That I’m Kirby’s son, Rebel and Riot’s little brother.But they don’tknowme.Not like youknowme.”
A fresh wave of color rushed up her neck and into her cheeks.
“I want this, Gabrielle.I wantus.And I’m tired of hiding.I know you said you’d come make cheese with me tomorrow, but were you actually planning to come?Or were you going to bail?”
She stayed quiet and turned her head to stare out the side window, a muscle working overtime in her clenched jaw.
“That’s what I thought.”The sign for the pub and cabins came into view.
