Page 7 of Stick Games
I quickly shut down that sarcastic, yet far too intuitive inner voice, and plop down on my lounge chair, refusing to give answer to that question.
Honestly, I’m just happy that I don’t have to look at Gabriel Perry, the man I loathe to my core, on my birthday. Yesterday he stood before us WAGs—not that I’m a WAG—as we lounged on our chairs. Did he really have to flex his hard, striated muscles on the beach volleyball court right in my line of sight?
I guess I could have always moved.
And why didn’t you, Emilia?
Because I was with my friends, that’s why. Otherwise, I would have been long gone because that man irritates the hell out of me. He always has. Okay, fine there were a couple times he didn’t annoy me. Those times were before high school—before he figured out I liked him. And the night of my prom—before he allowed Jenny to taste his dinner from the depths of his stomach…with her tongue.
I was such a fool to think he might have liked me, that the thickness I felt between his legs was because of me. It was no doubt for Jenny Garrity. I guess at the end of the day, catching him with Jenny was for the best. I could have made a fool of myself if I tried to get him naked.
But seriously, did Jenny have to jump on his hips and stick her serpent tongue down so deep. Christ, it looked like she was trying to suck his soul from his body. I knew she was evil. I just didn’t know she was a damn succubus. Heck, if hockey doesn’t work out for Gabe, he can always switch careers. I’ve yet to see a Boston street performer swallow a sword—or better yet, a hockey stick.
After catching him with Jenny, I feigned sick and had one of my friends drive me home, and I never set eyes on Gabe again until I took the assistant coaching job a few months ago. He did, however, text me after I won a silver at the Olympics. I didn’t answer.
But this coaching job…I was so damn reluctant to take it, but I needed steady work once my Olympic career was over, compliments of a knee injury. When my cousin Tanner Bang called me to let me know the skating coach would soon be going on maternity leave and the Bucks needed a replacement, my first response was a hard no. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Gabe—Gabe the Babe, as the bunnies call him.
Gigi, the swallower of swords, and slayer of hearts—as I call him.
But both Tanner and my brother Ryder convinced me that it was a great career choice. They weren’t wrong, but facing Gabe every day…ugh. Thankfully, he’s gone on the catamaran adventure, and I don’t have to look at his stupid face until later tonight, when I blow out the candles on my cake. But it’s bright and early in the morning and that’s a long way off, so I’m going to put him out of my mind, and get myself all worked up reading the juicy parts of the book in my hand.
Besides, I’m a grown woman. If I can buy my own flowers, and write my name in the sand, then I can surely take care of myself in the bedroom. I don’t need a man for that.
Yeah, but Emilia, what you really want is a man between the sheets, and not just any man…
Shut the hell up.
Putting that insufferable man out of my brain, I bend my knees and open my book.
“Hey, Millie.”
What the ever-loving hell?
I shade the sun from my eyes, and the second I see Gabe the Babe standing over me, a drink in his hand, I nearly swallow my tongue.
Okay, get it together, girl.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, unable to hide the annoyance in my voice.
Annoyance, or…lust?
Ugh
He holds out a fancy glass with an umbrella in it “Bringing you a strawberry daiquiri.”
“If I wanted a strawberry daiquiri, I would have gotten a strawberry daiquiri.”
“Yesterday you seemed rather annoyed that I took a sip of yours. Here…” He holds it closer to me. “This one is all yours. I didn’t drink from it. No cooties.” He smiles and produces that one dimple that all the girls talk about and I hate.
Did he flash that dimple at Jenny Garrity before she did a deep dive down his throat?
Maybe so, and I don’t really care. His adorableness is lost on me.
He runs his hand along his chest. “You don’t want this?”
Oh, hell yes!
Girl, he’s talking about the drink.
