Page 148 of Slap Shot
I love horses!
Lexi
He literally thought he was a horse.
Emmy
You should write a book. Or host a podcast. The internet would love it, because there’s no way this happens to anyone but you.
Lexi
I’m a lucky, lucky girl.
Lucy takesher usual spot before the Stars’ game, her nose pressing against the glass and excitedly watching the players skate by. I love that she gets lost in the sport, and I love it even more that each guy from the team approaches her, pretending to bump their knuckles against hers through the glass.
I hang back with Lexi, laughing when she touches the sleeve of my new jacket.
“Get out.” She grins. “This is amazing. Where did you find it?”
“There’s a woman on Instagram who repurposes shirts and jerseys from different sports teams and turns them into outerwear.” I spin so I can show off the back and the name across my shoulders. “Is it cute?”
“It’s so cute. Nice number choice, by the way.” Lexi smirks. “I’m guessing you went back for round three with Hayes?”
And four and five and six.
Seven, too, last night.
“You could say that,” I admit, which earns me a high five from Lexi.
“Hell yeah. Go get that dick.” She bends to give Lucy a quick hug then grabs her clipboard currently leaning against the wall. “You two have fun tonight. I need to go work on Ethan’s ass before puck drop.”
“In any other profession, that would leave me with a lot of questions. With yours, I’ll say good luck and have fun.”
With a wave and a swish of her brown ponytail, she jogs down the tunnel to the trainers’ office. I smile, thinking about her comment andthe dickI’m getting.
It’s been a week since Hudson and I slept together for the first time, and not a single moment that’s passed has been awkward.
It’s natural, almost, like the universe has been waiting for us to find each other.
We stayed up late talking last night about anything and everything. He asked me about Lucy as a baby, and I listened to him tell me about his early hockey days.
We fell asleep at some point, and I woke up in his arms, warm and happy, with his mouth on the back of my shoulder. He fucked me rough and fast when the stars were out, and again as the sun started to rise, nice and slow and with less urgency than our first time. I liked how he held himself above me. How he twisted our hands together on the sheets and said my name when he came.
He always sneaks back to his room before Lucy wakes up. He agreed with me when I said I wanted to wait before I told her the two of us were spending time together alone, and I appreciate that he’s not forcing me into sharing our relationship with the world.
Wework, and even though there’s not a word attached to what we’re doing, I know with the utmost certainty I want to keep doing it with him.
I’m yanked from my thoughts of feet in tangled sheets and coffee in bed when Hudson skates up to the glass near the tunnel. He lifts his chin to my jacket. Mischief dances behind blue eyes, and he leans against his stick.
“Who are you wearing tonight?” he asks over the song blaring from the speakers overhead.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, Hayes?”
“My guess is Grant.”
I spin and pull my hair away from my back so he can see the number stitched on the fabric. “Want to guess again?”
He doesn’t say anything else, and when I look at him over my shoulder, Hudson is gaping at me. His cheeks are pink and his eyes are wide, and I don’t know how to read this expression of his.
