Page 102 of Slap Shot
I’m thinking about her mouth, about how well we’d fit together, and when I move my lips back to hers, it’s the most alive I’ve felt in fucking years.
A loud boom outside the living room window causes us to spring apart. The dogs bark at the noise. Madeline falls onto her ass between my legs. I see a red mark on her neck. Her shirt pulled to the side and swollen lips. A glassy, dreamy look in her eyes, and a hundred different ways I want her.
“What was that?” she asks, and her voice is thick with lust.
It’s how I feel, too, and I rest a hand over my lap to try to calm myself down. I’m not sure how well it’s going to work, because her nipples are pointed and hard against the thin material of her shirt. I can practically see the outline of them, and there’s so much more of her I want to explore.
“Fireworks,” I manage to say, and her eyes move to my gym shorts. I’m a horrible person for moving my hand away and letting her see the effect she has on me. I don’t want there to be a shred of doubt in her mind this is because of her. “They’ll probably go off for the next ten minutes.”
“Right. New Year’s.” Madeline touches her mouth and squeezes her thighs together. “I should—that was—thanks. Thank you. I-I think that will help with some good luck. It was very nice.”
Nice.
I don’t want her to feelnice.
I want her to feel like she’s on top of the damn world. Like she’s never experienced something so good, and I want to be the one to get her there.
“No problem,” I say. “Did you, uh?—”
“I should check on Lucy.” Madeline stands and fixes her shirt. She brushes her hair out of her face and keeps her attention on the floor. “To make sure the flashes of light didn’t wake her up.”
“Right. Yeah. Okay. I have morning skate, so I should—” I hook my thumb over my shoulder. “Head to bed.”
“Bed. Right.” She rolls her lips together. “I hope you sleep well.”
“You, too,” I say, because I don’t know what the fuck else I’m supposed to do.
“Good night, Hudson,” she says, and she practically runs down the hall toward Lucy’s room.
I climb off the couch and stare longingly after her for a beat before walking to my room and locking the door. I pace across the floor and dial Maverick’s number, waiting for it to ring.
“Hello?” he answers, sounding like he’s been asleep for hours. “Hud? You okay?”
“Did I wake you up?”
“Yeah.” Maverick yawns. “Emmy and I passed out around nine. What’s going on?”
“I did something, and I’m not sure if what I did was wrong.”
“Hang on.” There’s the rustle of sheets on the other side of the line and murmured words. “Sorry. Didn’t want to disturb Em. Talk to me, Huddy.”
“I, ah, kissed Madeline at midnight and?—”
“Whoa.What? You did?”
“Yeah. Except… she ran away from me?” I pinch the bridge of my nose and sit on my bed. I make sure to keep my voice low. The walls are thin, and I don’t want Madeline to overhear me. “I kissed her, and she ran away from me.”
“What do you mean she ran away?” Maverick sounds more awake now, and I can hear his frown through the phone. “Are you a bad kisser, Hayes?”
“I never thought I was. She liked it, I think. That’s the impression I got based off—” I snap my mouth closed. I don’t want to share too many details. “Now I think she might regret it.”
“How long did the kiss last?”
“Um.” I scratch my ear and stare at the wall. “A few minutes?”
“And she was an eager participant?”
Those little noises of hers made it seem like she was an eager participant. So did the way she said my name and how she pulled me closer to her.
