Page 20 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“She’s shy with Mav here,” Laurel whispered.
Crap.I knew it.
I didn’t want to make a little girl feel shy, or like she couldn’t be herself because I was in her safe space.
“I can come back later,” I called out.“Just have Damon shoot me a text.”
Just as I turned to go, my hand on the doorknob, it swung inside and shoved me against the coat rack.One of the hooks stabbed me between the shoulder blades.
“Oh crap!Oh no.Sorry, Mav.I didn’t see you there.”It was Damon, and the genuine remorse on his face was touching.
I grunted and did my best to ignore the pain where the hook had jabbed me.I didn’t think it broke the skin, but there’d definitely be a bruise.“All good, man,” I said.“My bad for standing behind the door like that.”
“Did you just get here?”He hung up his hoodie and backpack, and ditched his shoes, taking far less care to place them properly on the shelf than his sister or cousin did.
“No.I, uh, I chatted with your mom for a bit.I was actually going to head out, but I can come back later.”
Damon looked very confused.“What?Mom?Why?No, stay.I can do my homework when you leave.”
“Your mom didn’t seem too keen on that idea, bud.She said you were pushing your boundaries, and that homework comes before hobbies.”
Damon rolled his eyes and hung his head so his chin nearly hit his chest.“She’s such a tight-ass,” he murmured.
“Hey now.”I gripped him gently by the shoulder, and he lifted his gaze to mine.“That’s not fair.Your mom is a great mom.But she has rules, like all parents do.And it’s not like she said Icouldn’tcome over and play video games.It’s that she said I could come overafteryou finished your homework.”
“What difference does it make as long as the homework gets done?”he argued, going to the fridge and yanking it open.
“It matters because they’reherrules.She could tell you to stand on your head and recite the Pledge of Allegiance before you get to play video games, and you should do it.”
He snorted.“That’s child abuse.”
“Damon,” I closed the fridge so he couldn’t hide behind it, “what’s really going on?”
“Nothing.”He wouldn’t look me in the eye, but his jaw was tight enough that a muscle ticked in one corner.
“Okay, so then maybe Idon’tcome back at all tonight.If you’re going to have attitude and disrespect your mom.I don’t really want to hang out with a kid who treats his mom like that.Who talks about her like she’s some petty dictator out to make his life miserable for her own personal joy.”
Damon’s cheeks pinked up in color.
I lifted my brows.Waiting.
“It’s nothing,” he said again.
I shrugged.“Okay then.I’ll see you around.I’m going to go see a man about some cheese.”Then I opened the door.“Bye, Gabrielle.Bye, Laurel, Danica, and Sam.I’ll see you guys later.I hope you’re not too burned, Gabrielle.”I fixed Damon with another look to give him one more chance to open up, but the only thing moving on his face were his flaring nostrils.“Okay then,” I said again.“Text me when you want to talk and you’ve finished your homework.”Then I was gone.
I didn’t like leaving Damon like that, when he was clearly upset about something, and if I knew him better, maybe I’d have stuck around longer and pushed, but I wasn’t someone who liked being pushed to open up before I was ready.So I wasn’t about to be a hypocrite and do it to Damon.
I climbed into my truck and shot him a text.
Here if you ever want to talk.Confidential.
Then, I punched “Fred’s Ched Shed” into Google and hit “directions”.I was going to find a hobby and something to pass my days here on this island if it killed me.Otherwise, it was inevitable that I’d go stir-crazy fantasizing about Gabrielle, while also waiting for Damon to get out of school so we could hang out.I needed friends my own age, and I needed an activity to keep my hands and brain busy.
Maybe making cheese was it.
Or maybe I’d have to try all the artisanal classes on the island: woodworking, watercolor, and whatever else Gabrielle mentioned, but I was too busy staring at her mouth to remember.
Luckily, Fred’s Ched Shed wasn’t too far from the vineyard, not that anything was too far from anything on such a small island, but I had to stay in my truck for a few minutes until my erection—a result of thoughts of Gabrielle’s mouth again—deflated.
