“Ew, you should ask him if that was worth the terrible case of athlete’s foot he probably got.” Alexa fake gags. “You really gotta wonder who you’re hitching yourself to, huh Little Red Riding Hood?”
“Not you too,” I groan.
Alexa chuckles. “Alright, alright, I’ll just stick to calling you Scar.”
“Thank you,” I mutter before taking a sip of my seltzer.
“So, is this your first game wearing Bennett’s jersey?” Dakota asks me just as the lights in the arena dim and a video plays on the jumbotron to hype up the crowd.
Looking over them, I realize that both Kenna and Dakota are wearing Griffin and Carson’s jerseys, but Alexa is wearing black, pleather skinny pants with a white long-sleeve bodysuit and a cropped black puffer vest.
“It is,” I admit, shyly.
“You know what that means, right?” Kenna asks, waggling her eye brows.
I give her a look that I hope portrays how clueless I am as to whatever she’s asking.
Dakota winks at Kenna and then asks me, “Do you two have plans after the game?”
“Yeah, my grandparents are taking the kids tonight so Bennett and I were planning to stay the night at his condo before he puts it on the market.” My cheeks heat thinking of what said sleepover could lead to.
“Well, I hope you got plenty of sleep last night because once he sees you, he won’t be letting you do much sleeping tonight. The guysgo feral seeing their women in their jerseys,” Kenna explains before sending a wink my way.
“When he dropped by my office to give it to me earlier, he did mention I didn’t need to pack a bag.” If it’s even possible, my cheeks heat further thinking back on what we did in my office before the game.
“He gifted the jersey to you? And he brought it to your office before the game? Did you guys eat together? You know that’s going to become part of his game-day routine if he plays well tonight,” Kenna points out.
We ate together, alright.And I hope he has a stellar game for so many reasons.
“Yeah, he brought a jersey for me, Gemma, and Gunner,” I tell them.
Dakota chuckles. “Well, he’s probably going to visit you at your office before every home game from here on out.”
Alexa gasps, startling us all. “Oh my gosh, speaking of eating . . . Dakota, when are you finishing the next book in your football series?”
Kenna gapes at her friend before closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Your mind works in the strangest ways, my friend.”
Dakota blushes and becomes suddenly bashful. “It’s almost finished. I had to pump the brakes with how sick I got in the first trimester, but now that I’m feeling better and have more energy, the words have been flowing out of me.”
“I’ve been telling her for years that we should start a book club, but it made us feel lame when it was just the two of us. Do you read, Scar?” Kenna asks me.
“I do—pretty much just romance novels, YA, and kids books, but I read well over one hundred books a year,” I answer as the players take the ice.
“That’s amazing! What do you say to the four of us starting a monthly book club? Oh, we could even try to all get together when the guys are out of town for away games.”
“I’m in!” Dakota says, followed by an excited squeal from Alexa, which I think means yes.
“Me too!” I mimic their agreements.
“Let me grab your number and I’ll start a group thread between the four of us. What should we call this book club group chat?”
“How about the Smutty Stickhandlers,” Alexa suggests before continuing, “You know, because we handle their sticks.”
This earns her a round of laughter.
“You’re brilliant,” Kenna agrees. “All in favor?”
The four of us all raise our hands and then Kenna’s typing away on her phone just as they announce the starting lineups.
