Page 95 of Puck Happens

“I should go,” she said on her belly, face pressed against the mattress.

“What are you talking about? You’re staying.”

“I have to get up early,” she moaned.

“So get up early. But you do it from here. I’ll put the TV on. We can fall asleep to Netflix.” I planted my palm over her ass just to drive the point home. She wasn’t going anywhere. Certainly not in the middle of the night.

That was some big-time bad idea caveman shit that she would never agree to, but I could win her over.

Winning was kind of my thing.

18

Liv

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

I turned the key in the ignition again only to listen to it attempt to turn over and fail.Not today. Any day but today.

“Tonya,” I said, as sweet as I could muster. “Honey. I know you’re cold. I know you don’t like it, but I have to get to work.”

I gave her to the count of ten and turned the key again.

Tonya was not starting.

Shit.Did I say that already?

I was supposed to meet Novek at the rink at six which was fifteen minutes from now, only I was twenty minutes away with a car that I hadn’t been able to start for the last ten minutes.

I was stuck in the parking lot of Dillon’s fancy condo building with limited options. There was no way I could go back upstairs and ask him for a ride. Forget the fact that he was fast asleep and snoring like a bear in hibernation. Rough night for the guy who’d dedicated himself to balling me stupid.

I could feel myself smiling and told myself not to look in the rear view mirror to check out the expression of smug satisfaction on my face.

But I was not showing up to the training center in Dillon’s car. We did not need to add any fuel to the rumors.

An Uber was going to be expensive as fuck at this hour and would leave me without a car at work. But desperate times…

I pulled out my phone, ordered the Uber and let Novek know I was going to be late. After which there was nothing left to do but check my Gram, watch some TikTok videos…or replay over and over what Dillon and I did in his bed last night and try not to beat myself up about it.

Was it smart? No.

Was it the best sex I ever had? Absolutely yes.

Could I do it again? Absolutely not.

It was too easy to hang with him, too easy to sleep with him. Just sleep. He was a warm solid weight in bed and he kept everything super cozy even though he slept with the air conditioning on full blast.

So no repeats. We both knew the deal. This was temporary. We were temporary.

There was no other option.

* * *

“There you are!”Novek shouted from the ice. With his accent it was hard to tell if he was accusing me of something or worried about me. Previous to the conversation in the parking lot, I would have said he was accusing me of something. Now I wasn’t sure. He skated over to the boards, sweat already streaming down his face.

“I had car trouble,” I shouted. It was close to seven, but it had been out of my control.

“That’s why I have two cars,” he said without irony. “You okay?”

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