It dawned on me exactly what I’d interrupted, and I groaned. “Shit, Dakota. I’m sorry. I assumed you’d still be out with the team after the game.”
My best friend sighed into the phone. “Braxton was a little amped up at beating his brother for the first time, so we skipped the team celebration.”
I bit back a smile. “Surprised he could wait till you got home.” There was a scene in her first hockey book—the one that was about her and Braxton—where the couple had steamy car sex post-game.
“Oh, he couldn’t. You caught us on the tail end of round three. He wasreallyexcited about the win.”
At least one of us was getting thoroughly laid.
Her playful tone morphed into a concerned one. “Braxton’s gone. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on that has you calling me late at night?”
Groaning, I closed my eyes. “Maddox came over tonight.”
“Oh yeah?” Hope lit up her voice.
“Don’t get too excited,” I grumbled.
Dakota huffed. “The man threw down for you last night. He’s made his feelings clear. Why do you keep fighting it?”
“Oh, trust me. I wasn’t the one fighting it.”
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
I blew out a heavy breath. “Let’s see. He came over, said he wanted to check on me and to apologize.”
“Awww.” I could hear her heart melting.
“Yeah, I know. And that’s got nothing on him begging me to give him a chance. That he wanted to cherish and worship me.”
Dakota sucked in a sharp breath. “Does thatmean—”
I cut her off. “It means nothing. Because we went into the bedroom, and everything wasamazing. Like seriously, the guy acts like he might die if he doesn’t get to go down on me.”
Dakota giggled, and my cheeks heated, remembering why I was purposely avoiding one side of my mattress.
“Um, random question, and then we’ll get back to the story, but have you ever squirted before?”
A gasp came through the line. “No! Have you—Did you?”
I threw my hands over my flaming face even though she couldn’t see me, thus muffling my reply, “Yes.”
She squealed, “Holy shit! Damn, Maddox. Might need to have him give Braxton a few pointers. Not that he needs any help, but sheesh. Talk about leveling up, Bristol.”
“Well, that part at least was great, albeit a little shocking,” I admitted.
“I’m still waiting to hear the bad part. There is a bad part, yes?”
“He walked away.” The sharp pang of rejection settled in my chest at the memory.
“What do you mean he walked away?” she asked, confused.
“I mean that he wasright there, literally a thrust away from being inside me, when he stopped, put on his motherfucking pants, and ended it.”
“That man has been a jealous fool for weeks, even over Braxton. And you’re telling me he finally gets what he wants—you—and doesn’t take it? That doesn’t make any sense. Did he say why?”
This was where I was going to lose her; I knew that. That girl was all about the romance. And she didn’t just live it; she wrote it.
“He said that he didn’t want to be a regret in the morning—a knee-jerk reaction to Nix’s reappearance. He wants more with me. And that he was walking away so we can have a real chance when I am finally ready.”
