Page 9 of My Virgin Puck

“Well, of course it’s good…” Noah grins, shoving me with his shoulder. “But it’s not everything.”

I hum a distracted response. Jamie is setting up a new game and the look on his face when he worked out my secret flashes across my mind. He and Jacob were astounded. I mean, I’m a professional hockey player the size of Everest. That’s like a ticket to Pussytown, right?

Wrong.

But to their credit, they haven’t made a big deal out of it.

“Hey! Virgin boy!”

Until now.

Jamie smiles across the eight-ball table at me and Jacob cackles with laughter.

“Come on. You’re up.” Jamie prods my ribs with a pool cue and as I jolt from the ribbing, my beer spills from the horn directly soaking Noah’s trousers. “Oh! Shit! Well at least you’re getting someone wet, Virgin Boy!”

Noah jumps up and wipes at his crotch. “Shit, I’m sorry man.”

Noah races to the bathrooms and Jacob and Jamie are laying across the table in stitches of laughter.

“Fuck off, dicks,” I growl. “Fuck it. Come on then. Who’s ass am I kicking first?”

I grab the cue and position myself to break the balls. Parker Phillips is at the other end of the table and he’s chatting to some blonde girl I’ve never seen before. My other teammates are all drinking and dancing by the jukebox. Jamie is whispering into Jacob’s ear, and when he finally looks over at me, he’s wearing a giant fucking grin that makes my insides squirm.

“How about we make this interesting…” Jamie steps with a purpose in his stride. “Let’s have a little bet…”

My fingers grip the cue hard, “What kind of bet?”

Jamie smirks and jumps up so he’s sitting on the ledge of the table next to me. “Jacob’s just seen your girlfriend walk in the bar…”

Madi? Madi’s here?

“And we think you should ask her out.”

My eyes pop. “I’m not asking-”

“We thought you would say that. So here’s the deal: We win – you go and ask her out. Or we’ll do it for you.” I pin Jamie with a hard glare, but he just continues his little speech. “You win – we’ll drop the whole ‘virgin’ thing and you don’t have to ask her if you’re too chicken shit.”

Jamie holds his hand out and offers to shake on it. From the corner of my eye, I see Noah return and just over his shoulder is the stunning ruby red hair of Madison Connor. She’s wearing a gorgeous emerald green dress and a denim jacket. I gaze longingly as she pops up on a stool at a table in the main bar area. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail and her lips are popping a deep, passionate red colour.

The cue in my hand slips from the sweat escaping the palm. My heart races and I can feel my chest hammering against my shirt, pounding so hard it might just force the buttons to pop right off.

I draw a long breath and see Jamie’s hand. I reach out and grasp his hand tight.

“Deal.”

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