Page 133 of Slap Shot
Me too.
I curlmy feet under my legs and spread pimento cheese over a cracker. “I love that you all get together so often. When I was in Vegas, I worked so much, I didn’t have time for a social life.”
“It helps we all have similar schedules.” Piper takes a bite of her cracker and grabs a napkin. “It’s nine months of absolute insanity, then things calm down.”
“And when it’s not insane, I’m wishing it was.” Lexi swirls her wine around her glass then takes a sip. “Sometimes I can’t believe this is our life.”
“I can’t believe you’re meeting a guy namedBeaumont. What a stupid fucking name.” Emmy snorts. “Sounds like it belongs to a golfer.”
“I think it’s nice,” Maven Lansfield says, and I’m glad I finally met her. She’s the perfect addition to the group I’ve found myself a part of, and her hug told me she’s someone who is kind and special. “I bet his dad owns a country club.”
“You’re biased because you’re married to a man namedDallas,” Lexi challenges. “The only reason I’m meeting up with him is because his dick is going to rearrange my insides, andwith how many guys on the team are having aches and pains these days, I could use a little relief from my workload. The last thing we need during this stretch of the season are multiple players on the IR.”
“IR?” I wrinkle my nose. “What does that stand for?”
“Injury report,” Piper supplies. “It’s the list of players who might be out for the night with an injury. It lists their status as day-to-day or out for an extended period of time.”
“I really need to get better about learning these hockey terms.” I look down at my glass and grin. “Especially if I keep kissing Hudson.”
Piper screeches. Lexi pumps her fist in the air. Emmy grins, and Maven claps enthusiastically. You would think I just brought on world pace, not that I told them I had my first physical interaction with a man in goddamnyears.
“I beg your fucking pardon?” Piper takes my wine from me and sets it on the table next to a bowl of olives. “You better start talking right this second, Madeline Galloway.”
I laugh. I like how warm I feel right now. How it’s almost like I’m back in high school and having a sleepover with my closest friends where we talk until the sun comes up. It’s easy and fun and it makes me want to spill all of my secrets.
“We’re going to need the whole story,” Lexi says.
“So we can give you the best course of action,” Maven adds.
“Bullshit,” Emmy interjects. “We just want to know how he is in bed.”
I dive into the story about New Year’s Eve. I mention the other night in the kitchen where I was the one to initiate contact and the swift way he lifted me onto the counter. I turn bright red when I talk about the way he touched me, when I talk about the way I came on his hand.
I leave out the part where he finished in his pants while he watched me fall apart, the secret something I’m keeping close to my chest.
God.
It was electric. Every touch singed my skin. Every kiss was the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. Seeing him on his knees, looking up at me with nothing but admiration and lust in his eyes, was almost too much.
I felt beautiful. Wanted for the first time in forever.
As if I was the most important person in the world.
“In thekitchen?” Emmy asks. “My god. Iknewthat boy had game. It’s always the quiet ones.”
“What do I do now?” I ask. “Hooking up with someone is so out of my wheelhouse. And so is living under the same roof as him. I’m clueless.”
“You fuck him, obviously,” Lexi supplies, and I choke on a laugh. “What? You can either fuck him, or you pretend like it never happened. But if it’s happened twice, it’s going to happen again.”
“Do you want it to happen again?” Piper asks, and it’s an easy question to answer.
I stopped caring about the possibility of our working relationship suffering the minute Hudson treated Lucy like she is part of his family. If I’m going to spend time with anyone, I want it to be with him.
“Yes,” I say. “I do.”
“Is this a boyfriend/girlfriend thing?” Lexi looks at me. “Or a physical friends-with-benefits kind of thing?”
“He told me he doesn’t do one-night stands, so I’m not sure how a strictly physical relationship could work. But I’m not sure about a serious relationship, either. I have baggage, but I like kissing him. Is there some middle ground that lets us keep doingthatwithout the big, messy emotions that come with dating?” I ask.
