Page 69 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“You kiss someone?”Danica asked, going to the kettle on the counter and filling it up from the sink.
“Where are your children?Shouldn’t you be spending time with them?”I asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Marco got off the bus with the McEvoy kids and is hanging out with Jagger.I’ll head over there in a bit,” Raina said with a shrug as she opened up the container that held the cookies Laurel and Sam had made last week.She took a bite and held her hand under her chin to catch the crumbs.
“Honor and Sam are beading at my house,” Naomi said.“And Austin went over to a friend’s after school.I’ll pick him up later.”She also grabbed a cookie.“Don’t change the subject.Why are your cheeks pink and lips puffy?Who’d you kiss?”
Raina gasped.“Oh my god!Was it Maverick?”She faced our cousins.“It had to be Maverick.Who else would she kiss?Who else makes her get all flustered and spill things?”
“Keep your voice down,” I said with a whispered hiss before snatching the last piece of her cookie from her hand and eating it myself.
She snorted.“That’s a yes if ever there was one.”
“How?When?Where?And do you plan on an encore?”Naomi probed.
“I’m not discussing this,” I said, grabbing the fresh loaf of bread I bought from Let it Rise earlier that day.I planned to make chicken pesto paninis for dinner.Taking the loaf out of the paper bag, I set it on the cutting board, grabbed my sharp bread knife, and began cutting nice, even slices.
“I’ll fill in the blanks,” Raina said, grabbing another cookie and leaning against the counter, all smug.“He came over, professed his love for you.You, unable to control your harbored emotions any longer, grabbed him by the shirt, crushed your mouth to his.He lifted you up with his young, virile, hockey player muscles, plopped your Pilates butt on the counter and you frantically made out like two hormonal latchkey teenagers, trying to get in a bit of groping before the parents get home.”She bobbed her ruddy brows.“Am I close?”
I lifted my hand and flipped her the bird.
How the hell was she spot on?
Her smile spread even wider across her freckled face, because she knew she was right.
“The bigger question here is: what are you going to do now?”Naomi asked.
The kettle beeped and Danica went about filling four mugs and tossing in tea bags.She added a splash of vanilla soy milk to each and passed them around.
“Nothing,” I said in a clipped tone.“Because nothing happened.”
“Well, that’s a lie.”Raina cradled her mug in both hands against her chest, just beneath her chin, and blew on the rising steam.“So, let’s just skip past all the denial, because frankly, it’s boring.And get straight to the real stuff.Thejuicystuff.You and Maverick made out.What did he say?”
I glanced at her, pausing my slicing because I didn’t want to lose a finger.
She rolled her eyes.“It’s us.You guys helped me realize I was in denial about Jagger.And now, I’m happy and in orgasm heaven.You could be there too.”
I stayed silent, finishing with the bread and the knife, then cleaning up my workstation.My cousins waited patiently for me to finish.Sure, I could have gone onto something else, like preparing more of the meal, but in all honesty, I needed someone to talk to about this.
“He told me to come to his cabin tonight,” I finally said, which caused all their jaws to drop.
“You’re absolutely going,” Naomi said.“No argument there.”
“I absolutely am not,” I countered.
Even Danica made a noise of protest, like I was being an idiot.
“And why the hell not?”Raina asked.“Just think of the orgasms.So … so many orgasms.”She smiled placidly and looked longingly to the ceiling, like the light fixture was an orgasm fairy or some such nonsense.
“It’s not just about that,” I shot back.
“Is it the age gap?”Naomi asked.“Because it’s really not that much.”
“Is it that he’s a professional hockey player and only here temporarily?”Danica added.
“Is it that you’re worried your brain will short-circuit from all the orgasms and you’ll no longer be the smartest cousin?”Raina finished, carefully taking a sip of her tea.
The other two snorted.
