Page 41 of Double Pucked

I’m glad I closed the text thread with my sister, Katie. She was firing off her usual litany of little sister questions I won’t answer like—you should ask out the girl from the VIP night! I could tell you liked her in the picture. I swear, Katie thinks she knows everything about me.

“Wait, let me guess,” Trina continues. “Is itSeven Tips To Be As Scary As Possible When You’re Really A Softie Underneath?”

I’m not sure I want to tell her. Sharing things leads to people knowing you, which leads to them using you. Case in point—Selena. “No, it just comes naturally to me,” I say, evading the question. Just like I’ve been avoiding Josh’s email from earlier today. I don’t feel like dealing with my agent’s latest request of his grumpy client.

Pound cake and dinner were much easier problems to solve.

Trina nods to my phone. “Fine. Don’t tell me you likeA Word Play A Day.”

Dammit. The screen locked on the podcast. “It’s not bad,” I say, noncommittally, but better the podcast than my agent’s email.

“Whiskey comes fromaqua vitae, meaning ‘life water.’ C’mon. That’s way more thannot bad. That’s cool,” she says.

I fight off a grin. “Suppose it is,” I say as Trina studies my face.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. I won’t let on you’re a…” She stops to lean in closer, her face dangerously near to mine, so near I want to smother it in kisses. “A secret nerd.”

I scoff. “Please.”

“Takes one to know one,” she says.

“You’re a nerd?”

“I work at a bookstore. I read a book a night. There’s nothing else I can be but a book nerd.”

I’m seriously impressed with her page-flipping skills. “A book a night. I’m jealous.”

“See? I knew you were on my team.”

I narrow my eyes, huffing. It’s easier this way. But she’s relentless, so I bend, teasing her too. “Maybe I am, but you weren’t reading a book last night,sweetness.”

She dips her face, that shy vibe returning. “I was otherwise occupied.”

I’d like to occupy her tonight too. If she wants that. If Chase wants that. Speaking of, where the fuck is my buddy? I’d really like to eat dinner and then introduce him to the joys of eating Trina. He is seriously missing out.

That is—if she wants us again. Because I do.Badly. Knew the second I wrapped my arms around her in bed last night that I wanted another night like that. That I wanted to take her to new heights. To make her scream in bliss, to edge her, to break her brain with pleasure.

And I’m getting horny, in addition to being hungry, but we really need to lay down some new ground rules. Stat.

Trouble is, that’s a conversation three people need to have, not two. So, I nod to the kitchen counter and the bag of food. “Did you know baba ganoush means…pampered daddy?”

Her lips part in obvious delight. “I did not know that at all. But I am going to work that into daily conversation starting tomorrow,” she says, then tilts her head, studying me. “You know, Ryker. Your other secret is safe with me too.”

What does she mean? Like last night? “Not sure what you’re getting at.”

“I’ve seen you come around the bookstore,” she says quietly.

Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. I drag a hand down my face. “You have?”

“Yes. Your eyes lit up last night when I mentioned where I worked.”

“Well, it’s a cool store,” I say.

“I’m glad you think that. And I got the impression you don’t like to talk about it. In public.”

She’s not wrong. “Why would I?”

She nods, then knits her brow. The furrow tells me she’s trying to figure me out. “You buy a lot of books, and it just made me thinkI bet he donates them.”

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