Page 93 of Puck You Very Much
“Come on.” He assumed the position again.
“Zane, stand up straight, and let’s just walk the rest of the way like normal human beings, okay?”
“Fuck that shit. You’re only saying that because I know I totally would’ve beaten you if it weren’t for that stupid obstacle in my way.”
I rolled my eyes. Sorry, but I couldn’t help it. Zane was being stupid even for Zane, which was saying a lot.
“Zane, dude, come on.”
“I’m serious. Get on your marks.”
He pointed to the asphalt like he could command me.
“I’m not going to race you again,” I said.
“Oh no? Scared or something?”
I started laughing. I freely admit that. You would too if you were confronted by someone behaving as stupidly as my boyfriend was at that very moment.
“Zane, I hope you’re not going to?—”
“Answer the question, would you?” he said.
“No, I’m not scared, but I’m also not going to give in to your silly little competition.”
“Sillylittle competition?”
“I’m sorry, your bullshit, pig-headed obsession for desperate, pitiful fools. Happy now?”
He stood frozen like I’d slapped him across the face. Trust me, it was all I could do not to smack him a good one for real. We’d reached an impasse. That was what it came down to. He’d challenged me and I’d shot him down flat, but I wouldn’t roll over for him unless we were in the bedroom.
“What’s the problem?” he asked. “I just want to have a fair race. That woman was totally in the way and screwed up everything. I would’vebeatenyou, Jakob. I swear to God I would’ve.”
“You’re getting hung up on some seriously small stuff. You need to let go. And besides, you couldn’t have beaten me on your best day.”
And I walked away. Not that I wanted to act cocky, but I didn’t have a mic to drop. As before, Zane was clearly napping before he hurried to catch up with me. Asleep at the switch again.
“If you’re so sure I couldn’t beat you on my best day, why don’t you run another race and do it right this time.”
“Because I’m sane and rational, Zane. Too bad I can’t say the same for you.”
That shut him up. Thank God. Even better, he kept his big, fat trap closed the rest of the way back to my place. Once we got there, we showered together and then hit the sack (which required yet another shower). You would think that I would barely be able to stomach riding his cock, but I must say it was somehow among the best fuck sessions we’d ever had.
A nice distraction really since I knew this wasn’t over. If you don’t understand why I think that, you haven’t learned much about Zane Hirst.
37
ZANE
The race was bullshit. Jakob’s explanations were bullshit. You know what? I think Jakob might’ve hired that woman with the kid to show up in Delaware Park, in that exact spot, at that precise time, just to fuck me up.
Yeah, I know how crazy that sounds, but I don’t give a shit. I know damn well I’m faster than my boyfriend running. Hell, I was twice as fast as him on the ice, no matter what he said.
So far, we’d said almost nothing about hockey, but we didn’t have to in order to keep our tension nice and fresh. Turned out that my boyfriend hadn’t forgotten how to be a serious pain in the ass. I knew damn well that he really wanted to rub in his “victory” in that race, since it was the closest thing to a triumph he’d ever scored over me. And no, knocking me out at the Colter Bay Grill doesn’t count. Let’s use our common sense here.
At the gym, I stood in the mirror and flexed. No, I didn’t pose like Hulk Hogan or any of those bodybuilders you see on TV. I just wanted to see what the rest of the world got to enjoy. When you’ve got a body like mine, why be subtle about it?
But could Jakob handle that? Fuck no. He stood behind me and watched, a dumbass grin growing on his face, as if Icouldn’tsee him in the mirror. That’s how my boyfriend chose to operate.
