Page 64 of Desperate Pucker (Denver Bashers #6)

Maddy

When I wake up, I see Ryker sitting at the foot of the bed, holding a massive bouquet of roses in every color.

I smile. “Oh my gosh.” I lean up and inhale the intoxicating scent of the flowers. “What’s this for?”

“Just a little something to congratulate you on your podcast episode.”

Last week, I sat down with Libby, the gymnast I met at the sports expo at Hollis University, and recorded a podcast about my experience at the Winter Olympics.

She let me tell my story about what really happened.

I told the truth about everything—my disordered eating, my injury, my breakup with Sergei.

As scary as it was, it was also exhilarating to finally be able to tell the truth. To finally dispel all those rumors and half-truths that people have been speculating about me and what I was going through in that moment. I finally cleared it all up.

Today’s the day the episode goes live, but I’m too nervous to listen to it. Maybe I will later.

One thing I’m for sure never doing is reading the comments. I’m sure there will be lots of shitty ones, and that’s fine. People can say what they want. I spoke my truth, and that’s what matters.

Ryker kisses me. “I’m so proud of you.”

I smile against his mouth, my heart doing a pitter-patter rhythm in my chest.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I murmur against his mouth.

His lips pull into a sexy smile. “You are.”

He sets the flowers on the nightstand, then goes back to kissing me. He slides his hands up my sleeping shirt—one of his old Bashers t-shirts—and cups my breast. I moan.

Just then, Bruce hops on the bed, then climbs up Ryker’s back.

I burst out laughing. Ryker chuckles before reaching around and grabbing him. He sets Bruce on my lap, and I kiss his fuzzy head.

“You’re such a little cockblocker,” Ryker mutters, but there’s an affectionate gleam in his eyes as he pets Bruce’s forehead. Bruce instantly starts purring.

My phone buzzes with a text. I swipe it from the nightstand and see that it’s a message from Ingrid in the group text we have with all the ladies.

Hey! Just listened to your podcast episode. It was incredible

I smile, heartened by her message. Before I can reply, I get a bunch more texts.

Sophie: Just finished listening to it! So proud of you, Madeline!

Bella: Same. You’re a badass for telling your truth.

Maya: Listening to it now and I’m cheering for you, Madeline!

Abby: Going to listen to it this afternoon! Can’t wait! You’re amazing, Madeline!

My eyes prick with happy tears. My friends are amazing.

“You okay?” Ryker asks.

I sniffle and nod, then show him my phone.

His gaze turns warm as he skims the texts. He kisses my forehead.

I get another text, this time from Libby.

Just wanted to tell you that your podcast is a hit!! It reached 100K downloads in the first two hours it was live! And the response has been SO positive! People love you for sharing your story, Madeline

More happy tears prick my eyes. I show Ryker her text, and he hugs me.

“You’re incredible. So incredible,” he rasps.

While I reply to my friends’ texts, his phone starts buzzing. When he looks at the screen, a soft smile quirks up the corner of his mouth.

“The guys say congrats on your podcast episode. They said you did an amazing job.”

That warm feeling hooks behind my heart, burrowing deeper.

“They want to celebrate with drinks at Spanky’s tonight, if you feel like it,” Ryker says.

I smile. “I’d love that.”

We walk out of my apartment to head to Spanky’s. Ryker holds my hand as he heads for the stairwell, but I stop him.

“Let’s take the elevator,” I say.

Concern flashes in his eyes. “Wait, really?”

I nod, despite the nerves crackling inside of me. “Yeah. I think I can do it.”

A soft smile pulls at his lips. “Okay.”

My heart pounds as he presses the button. The doors glide open, and I step inside.

Ryker punches the button for the lobby. The doors glide shut, and I hold my breath.

He gives my hand a gentle squeeze and presses a soft kiss to my temple. “Just breathe,” he says softly.

I take a slow, deep breath in, then out. I do it again and again as the elevator glides to the lobby.

When it shudders to a halt, I let out shaky breath. The doors glide open and I let out a surprised laugh as we walk out.

“I did it.”

Ryker beams at me, then pulls me into a hug. “So damn proud of you.” He kisses me, then cups my face in his hands as he gazes at me. “What made you want to take the elevator all of a sudden?”

“Doing the podcast. I proved to myself that I can do hard things.”

That sexy smile I love so much appears on his handsome face. “Hell yeah you can.”

When we walk into Spanky’s and head to our usual table, everyone is already there. Even Coach Porter showed up.

“Madeline!” They all cheer in unison and hold up their drinks.

They all stand up to hug and congratulate me.

When we sit down, Ingrid hands me a glass of champagne, then raises her glass.

“To Madeline for recording the most epic podcast episode ever!” she says.

Everyone cheers and clinks their glasses. I’m smiling so hard, my face hurts. And my heart feels like it’s going to burst. For most of my life, I’ve been alone, but now I have the most amazing friend group. I have a job I’m passionate about and a man I’m head over heels in love with.

I grab Ryker’s hand in mine. He turns to me and flashes that sexy smile that always makes me weak in the knees.

The server drops off another bottle of champagne. Xander pops it open and holds it up. “It’s wedding season! Who’s ready to get hitched?”

We all chuckle and raise our glasses for Xander to fill. We’re officially in the off-season, and every engaged couple at the table is getting married in the next three months, before the next season starts.

“Who’s ready to head to Napa and watch me marry my dream girl?” Xander wraps his arm around Sophie, pulling her close. She smiles up at him.

“We’re going to be quite the globetrotting group over the next couple of months,” Ingrid says. “We’ve got weddings in California, France, Canada, and Mexico.”

“Aren’t you guys glad we decided to get married in Denver? It’s going to feel so nice not getting on a plane,” Dakota says. Sam kisses her cheek.

Camden downs all the champagne in his glass. “I’m so ready. I wanna throw a big bachelor party for you guys.”

Xander looks at him. “Really? For all of us?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a blast,” Camden says.

Coach Porter shakes his head. “Count me out.” Abby chuckles and pats his hand.

Camden just shrugs. “Suit yourself, Coach.”

“No strippers,” Del mutters.

Camden’s expression falls. “Why not? That’s the best part of a bachelor party.”

Del glowers at him. “No strippers.”

Camden sighs. Then he looks over at us and smiles again. “You two want to get engaged real quick so you can join the rest of the summer weddings?”

I chuckle and shake my head. “No, thanks.”

Camden’s phone rings, and when he glances at the screen, his smile fades. His brow knits in concern. It’s strange seeing him look so serious. He’s always smiling and joking around.

“What’s wrong, Connors? Did your harem of ladies cancel on you tonight?” Xander teases.

Camden chuckles, but it sounds strained. “Yeah, right.”

He stands up and answers his phone as he walks off to the back of the bar to talk to whoever just called him. I hope everything’s okay.

“Do you mean ‘no, thanks’ to getting married right now? Or ‘no, thanks’ to getting married ever?” Ryker asks me.

I turn to him and take in the expectant look on his face.

“No thanks right now. I think I’d like to get married someday,” I say softly, nervous about what he’ll say.

A smug smile pulls at his thick lips. “I thought you said you never wanted to get married.”

“I didn’t. But then I met you.”

His expression softens, and then he kisses me. Around us, our friends whistle.

When we break apart, Ryker flashes a soft smile at me.

“Good. Because I’d really like to marry you someday, Maddy.”

A giddy feeling swoops through me at the thought of being Ryker’s wife and sharing a life with him.

I kiss him again. “Just don’t propose at one of your teammates’ receptions. That’s tacky,” I tease.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

I don’t miss the flicker in his eyes.

“Do you have something planned?”

He gives me that sexy grin. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

***