Page 107 of Double Pucked

Now, she’s secure and my brothers are set. Maybe it’s time to take care of me finally.

I’m ready at last. Hell, that’s probably why I’m obsessed.

In the kitchen, I find Ryker’s mom pouring a glass of chablis. “Hi, Chase. You better have brought a good salad this time. I still have nightmares about the egg salad from last month,” she says, then shudders.

I smile, grateful for the levity, then give her a hug. “This one is good. I promise.”

I don’t sit though. I’m antsier than I ever have been for a simple lunch. More out of sorts than when I’ve stepped onto the ice during playoffs.

For all my time spent taking care of people, I’m clueless about romance.

But maybe it’s like hockey. When the puck drops, you go after it. Seconds after Ryker rings the bell then comes inside, I don’t waste time. “Excuse me, ladies,” I say to the moms, then I tip my forehead to the patio. “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do,” he says.

But before he heads outside with me, he looks to his mom, then mine. “Nice to see you. I guess I’ve been summoned.”

His mom shoos him off. “Wish I could get my popcorn and watch, but you boys probably need to figure out your girl situation on your own.”

Our moms are both smiling, and maybe, just maybe, they’re onourside. That’s a wild thought. But I’d better not put the cart before the horse.

Once we’re on the back patio, I dive in. “I’m mad at you, but I’m mad at me too.”

“Welcome to the club,” he says.

“Everything is a mess, and we need to straighten it out,” I say, determined, like I was the night of the wedding but in a whole new way and for a whole new goal.

“That’s what I was telling you a week ago. But then you didn’t even ask me what I wanted with Trina and, for fuck’s sake, with the three of us, man,” he says, but he doesn’t sound angry now. He sounds pissed but vulnerable, and that’s a different beast. I can work with this beast. Hell, I am this beast too. “You just decided how it was going to be. You didn’t even ask what I wanted or what she wanted.”

“That’s fair,” I say honestly, taking it on the chin, letting go of my anger like he’s let go of his. “I’m sorry I was a unilateral dick.”

He nods, accepting it. “And sorry I was a turtle dick.”

“What?”

“I retreated. Like a turtle.”

“You do know turtles and dicks aren’t the best comparisons?”

“They kind of are though.”

I laugh, and it feels good to laugh again with him. But the laughter dies quickly.

There’s business to deal with. The business of love.

Ryker stares me down. “Let’s try it again. What do you want?”

I appreciate that he’s taking the lead on fixing things, but I should be the one asking him. That’s what I didn’t do last time. “What do you want?” But while Ishouldwait for him to answer, I also need to be more honest with myself, so I start now and I say the hard thing. “Since we’re both in love with the same woman.”

His eyes widen with a surprise I’ve never seen before, then he grins a crooked grin. “Took you long enough to figure it out.”

I laugh. “No, dude. You were easy to figure out. I knew you were in love with her by the second day. Easily.”

He shakes his head, laughing. “That’s not what I mean, dickhead. Took you long enough to figure out you’re in love with her too.”

I shrug, but it’s a hopeful one. For the first time since I behaved like a control freak, I feel hope. “That’s probably true too.”

And this obsession? It’s not only obsession. It’s love, and it’s terrifying, but it’s also thrilling. “So what arewegoing to do about it?”

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