Page 27 of Good Pucking Luck (The Jilted Exes’ Club #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Hayes

“I was never into hockey before Rylan. It’s a little annoying that now I’m watching every game, and even when I’m busy with work, I’m sneaking away to check the score and curse out any player who touches him,” I tell Julia and Mace. We finished eating a while ago and are now in the living room. Puck is on my lap, Rylan beside me, his parents seated in the living room chairs.

Things have gone a lot smoother since I decided to try and hide in the kitchen. I’m still me and awkward, but I’m doing my best not to let that bother me. Rylan likes me, and most of the time I like me, and the times I don’t, I’m working to change. What else can I do?

“Oh, same,” Julia says. “I can’t say I was happy about it when he first wanted to play. Working in the rink, I’d seen a lot of kids get hurt, but he loved it so much, no way I wouldn’t support him.”

“And now she’s the biggest hockey fan you’ll ever meet,” Mace adds. “She knows every random hockey statistic you can think of, and do not get between her and the screen when her baby is playing.”

“Best. Mom. Ever,” Rylan says. He shifts on the couch, and I see him wince.

“It’s been a while since you had any pain medicine. I’ll go get you some and more ice.”

I try to stand, but Rylan says, “I’m fine. I can—”

“Nope. Not listening. Don’t move.” He needs to take care of himself. He has another game tomorrow, and I worry about him taking another hit.

“Yes, sir.” Rylan chuckles, making me realize I got bossy with him in front of his parents, but I don’t let that worry me. If he’s not going to take care of himself, I will.

I go into the kitchen and grab his ibuprofen, an oven mitt, and an ice pack from the freezer. They’re still talking hockey when I get back, so I quietly put the pills in his hand and give him a glass of water. Rylan takes them, and then I sit beside him, pressing the pack to the spot on his torso I know is hurting him, using the oven mitt on my hand so it’s not too cold for me.

My face begins to flame with heat. I can tell his parents are watching me. “I like to do this for him. I know he has a wrap that can hold it in place, but…” Rylan gives me so much, and I like to try and find things to do for him too. That’s way too embarrassing to say, so I keep it to myself.

“I think it’s sweet. I’m glad my son found someone who loves him so much,” Julia says, making my heart stop beating. Am I dead? I’m pretty sure I might be dead because oh my God , she just said I love Rylan right in front of him. Do I love him? I think maybe I do, but I’m scared to love him and scared he won’t feel the same.

“He takes good care of me.” Rylan wraps his arm around me, and the weight of it, along with his words, shocks my heart back to life.

We talk for a while longer, and I try to pretend I’m not wearing an oven mitt and holding ice to their son’s ribs. I should’ve just gotten the wrap.

Still, I don’t, and I enjoy the rest of our time together. When I pull the ice off and go to put it in the kitchen, Julia says, “We should probably get going.”

“Let me show you that ad I was telling you about, Dad,” Rylan tells Mace, who uses his cane to stand, following Rylan into the room downstairs, where he has a computer.

I’m not surprised when Julia joins me in the kitchen. “He cares about you a lot,” she says. “I can tell. I’ve never seen him like this. Even before he admitted you’re in a relationship, I could tell something was different.”

“I care about him a lot too,” I admit. “It’s…scary.”

“I get it. Rylan’s biological father…he wasn’t good to me. I went through a lot with him before Rylan was born, yet I kept going back. I wasn’t in a good place and couldn’t see that I deserved more than him. Anyway, I had Rylan, and he left—which was the best thing that could have happened to us. I was scared to ever risk my heart again, afraid it would continue to happen because I thought there was something wrong with me, that I was defective in some way or deserved it. And then I met Mace, and he was worth the risk…worth the work for me to get in a healthier mindset about myself. I’m thankful every day that he came into our lives, and I’m thankful I found it in myself to be strong, to see my worth and to give him space in our world.”

I stand here, shocked, heart beating too fast, unsure what to say. I don’t feel like I deserve Rylan either. I’m afraid he’ll do the same things to me that Malcolm did, even though I know he’s a better man than Malcolm could ever be. But I’m still struggling to see that what Malcolm did to me is because of who he is, not who I am.

Leaning against the counter, I tell her, “I’ve only been in one relationship before Rylan, and it wasn’t good. He was using me. He was dating numerous people at the same time. It’s like…no matter how much I know Rylan isn’t like him, I can’t stop waiting for this to end or to get hurt.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. You didn’t deserve what happened to you, but remember, you have to be willing to open the door if you want to let something better in. You can’t lock it out.”

I nod, knowing she’s right, and feeling this unexpected connection to her. I like Rylan’s parents a lot. “Thank you. I’m trying.”

Before we can continue the conversation, Rylan and Mace join us.

“She’s not harassing you too much, is she?” Rylan teases.

“No. She’s great.”

We walk Julia and Mace out to their car. They hug Rylan, and then I freeze up slightly, not expecting it when his mom does the same to me. I don’t know how to do this. Being someone’s boyfriend is hard enough, but being a guy’s boyfriend with his folks is even more confusing.

I hug her back, then do the same with Mace, and they get into the car—Julia driving. My heart is bouncing around in my chest, this high whooshing through me as the day sinks in. It was better than I could have ever hoped for. Everything about Rylan is better than I could have ever thought to wish for. It all feels like too much, like my head is spinning and I’m filled with more energy than I know what to do with.

I grab his hand and tug him toward the house.

“In a hurry?” he asks, a playful dance to his tone.

“I feel good,” is all I can manage to say. The second we’re in the house, I push the door closed behind us and say, “Don’t move.”

His pupils flare when I grab his shirt and begin to pull it over his head. Rylan lifts his arms, making it easier for me.

I kiss the corner of his mouth, let my lips journey down his throat. “Thank you.”

“Baby, you don’t have anything to thank me for.”

But I do. Rylan treats me so differently than anyone ever has, makes me feel things no one ever has. I can’t stop thinking about what Julia said to me, about taking chances and seeing my worth. I don’t know that I’m there yet, but I want to be.

I lower myself to my knees in front of him, pushing Rylan so his back hits the door. He reaches for his shorts, but I shake my head. “Let me,” I tell him, then lean in, rubbing my cheeks against his growing bulge, breathing in his scent that’s musky and strong and goes straight to my head like the best aphrodisiac. “I want you. Want to suck you. Want to make you come. Want you to just stand there and let me do all the work.”

“Yes. Fuck yes. I love it when Bossy Hayes comes out to play.”

It’s not something I’ve ever done with anyone else, not even something I’ve done with Rylan except that first night. I had something to prove then, and maybe I do now too, or maybe it was easier because I thought I would never see Rylan again when we met in Seattle, and now it’s because I know I can trust him.

I pull his shorts down. He’s always wearing athletic clothes, so there’s no need to unbutton anything. The thick ridge of his cock presses against the dark-blue fabric of his boxer briefs. It makes my mouth water, making the deep-seated hunger inside me grow. I bury my face in his balls, mouth him through the fabric, then move upward to do the same with his dick.

“Jesus, you’re dying for it, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I admit, pulling his underwear down so his dick springs free. Rylan really has the prettiest cock I’ve ever seen, like all he has to do is pull it out to cast a spell on me. The thing is, he can cast a spell on me without it. Everything about him is so damn electrifying.

I look up at him, our gazes meeting as I spread long licks up and down his shaft. I take the head of his erection into my mouth, suckle it, taste a burst of precum on my tongue as it leaks from his slit. There is nothing in the world like having a dick in my mouth, his dick in my mouth.

I let my lips stretch around him, take as much of him inside me as I can, adding my hand to the mix, stroking and sucking, savoring his hot, pulsing cock while mine throbs behind the fly of my shorts.

His fingers thread through my hair, his grip on me strong. He tastes so damn good, feels so damn good. Each sound he makes, each gasp and word of encouragement, goes straight to my head, fuels me on, makes me hungrier and more eager for him.

I move faster, choke a couple of times but keep going. I want him to come fast and hard. Want to bring Rylan the kind of pleasure no one else can. Want to swallow down his salty load like a dehydrated man needs water.

I bob on his cock while trying to work open my pants. I have to let go of his dick to do it, but I don’t lose him from my mouth, can’t imagine not having Rylan’s dick between my lips.

Once my pants are open, I tug them out of the way, one hand jerking my dick, the other jerking him while I suck him.

“God, you’re so damn sexy. Best mouth I ever had. You look so fucking pretty down on your knees for me. You turn me on so much. I can’t fucking believe you’re mine.”

His words are like a detonator to my lust for him, pushing a button that has me losing myself to my orgasm, just from a few strokes and sucking him off, along with what he said.

“Oh fuck,” Rylan says when he sees me spurt all over my hand and the ground. His cock twitches between my lips, pulses as he loses control too, balls drawing up and emptying his cum down my throat. I keep swallowing every drop, dying for more.

When I’ve sucked him dry, I nuzzle into his balls, kissing and licking him while catching my breath.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve that,” he says, “but I’m thankful.”

He deserves this and more. “I want you to meet the Jilted Exes.”

Rylan hooks his finger beneath my chin and tilts my head up, the excitement clear in his ocean-blue eyes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I reply, and while it might not be perfect, it’s a start.