Page 58 of Puck Yes

“I’m sort of learning that.”

“Also, his wedding sounds like a train wreck.”

“They invited me to it,” I say, and once those words come out, it hits me that I’ve still got to plan for this event. “It’s in a few months.”

He growls. “You laughed in their fucking faces, right?”

“Actually,” I begin, then I tell him the story of how I landed a plum gig covering their wedding.

When I’m done, Stefan nods, clearly impressed. “You’re brilliant, Ivy. I thought that at the event in the park. I was impressed by your quick wit.”

“Thank you,” I say, a little awkwardly. I’m not used to compliments from men that sound so genuine.

“Seriously. I mean it. You’re going to do huge things. And even though your ex is a dick, I love that you turned this around into a chance for you. Your writing is fun and fresh.”

“I like that you found my writing,” I admit.

“Took you long enough to figure out it was me,” he teases.

“Oh, excuse me for not memorizing your jersey number.”

“Bet you won’t forget it now.” He tips his forehead to our bedmate. “Or Number Twenty-one.”

“My luckynumbers,” I add, feeling sassy with him, feeling confident.

His eyes twinkle. He likes this side of me. “They’d better be.”

But before we get sidetracked with this flirting, I return to the wedding story, compelled to tell the rest of it. If I didn’t, I’d be keeping something from Stefan and that seems wrong after last night, but mostly after what he just shared with me. “That’s how I met Hayes—after the invite to my ex’s wedding. I’d just found out about their engagement when I ran into Hayes in the elevator for the first time. I poured out my whole sob story to him. He volunteered to go to the wedding as my plus-one.”

Stefan smiles with genuine affection for his friend. “That’s very him.”

“Is he a white knight?”

“He doesn’t like it when people are hurting. He wants to fix things,” he says.

“You like that about him.”

“Yeah. I do. He’s a good guy. I can always count on him.” Stefan says all this with no jealousy, no weirdness—just a rock-solid understanding of who Hayes is.

Maybe good guysaregood in bed. I can’t wait to tell Jackson just how great some are. “He seems to be,” I say.

“I’m glad he’ll be there at the wedding. To protect you,” Stefan adds, then glances at the clock. A reminder that it’s ticking, and we both have places to be.

“What sort of threats do you think I’ll encounter at a faux fairy-tale woodland wedding?”

With a shrug, Stefan says, “Bears, I suppose.”

“He could protect me from a bear?”

“Yes. But here’s a tip—if there’s a bear, just run faster than Hayes.”

I crack up, then I stop laughing when Stefan kisses me quiet. “Shh. Don’t wake that bear.”

“But I have morning breath,” I whisper in protest.

“I don’t fucking care,” he says, giving me another kiss. “I’ve been wanting to wake up next to you for a long time. Don’t you get it?”

He’s thoroughly over his former fiancée and into me? I don’t know that I do get it. I don’t know that I understand what Stefan wants from me either.

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