Page 18 of Hockey Player Seeking Fan (Billionaires Seeking Wives Club #2)

Chapter Eleven

E rica

My eyes flutter open, and I've got a pounding headache. I yawn slightly and turn over on the bed.

"Oh my gosh. Why do I feel like such shit?" I mumble to myself. And then I remember.

"Oh my gosh," I cry out, thinking about the previous evening. I kissed Tyler—like kissed him, kissed him—and, oh my gosh! I scream even louder now.

I'd put my hand on his cock and squeezed, and he'd been big. Really big. Bigger than I'd imagined he would be. Not that I've squeezed a lot of cocks in my life, but he sent me packing. He took me home. I can now remember being in the back of the taxi with him and him escorting me inside.

I’m at Sabrina and Wes's.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." I’m embarrassed.

I roll over and get out of bed. I cannot believe I did that. I stumble toward the door, peek out, and make my way toward the kitchen.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Sabrina says, sitting at the counter, drinking coffee. “You okay?”

“No. Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you went on a date last night, and you came home really late, with Tyler escorting you. You were drunk, and we put you to bed and... well, he just wanted to make sure that you were okay. He's already called Wes a couple of times."

"Oh, don't talk to me about that man. He's so annoying."

"Why? What happened? I am so confused."

"So I went on the date with this Scottish guy."

"Yeah, John, right?"

"Yeah. And he was really nice and sweet.

Anyway, long story short, turned out he had a thing for some friend of his.

He was broke, and she had a kid, and I ended up texting—or calling, I can't even remember now—Tyler.

And he brought some cash so that this guy could surprise this girl.

Anyway, I thought it was sweet. So we had a couple of drinks, and now I'm home. "

"Is that all that happened?" Sabrina says, raising an eyebrow. Her green eyes peer at me.

"I know you well, Erica, and..."

"I feel like I'm going to be sick." I rub my stomach. "I think I drank way too much yesterday."

"Oh, no. You want to go to the bathroom? Do you want me to make you anything?"

"I would love some eggs and maybe just some OJ or water or something. I'm going to lie down on the couch."

I head over to the living room and sink into the big, wide reclining couch.

"This feels amazing," I say as I close my eyes. "Oh, Sabrina, I'm such a fool."

"Why are you a fool?" she says, her voice sounding distant as it carries across the room.

"Because I kissed Tyler." I close my mouth quickly. "Oh my gosh. My brother's not here, is he?"

"No, but what? Give me all the details!" Sabrina comes rushing over to me and hands me a glass of water.

I sit up regretfully and take a couple of sips.

"Yeah, I was drunk. I mean, I didn't kiss him because I was drunk.

I kissed him because he's handsome, and he's not such a bad guy all the time.

And he kissed me back, and it was kind of hot.

We were in this bar, and I was thinking, Wow, maybe I'll have some fun here .

" I groan. "Anyway, he kind of cut me off. "

"He cut you off? What? Did you offer to have sex with him or something?"

"No, Sabrina, you just said you know me well. You know I'm not going to offer to have sex with some rando. But he's not a rando."

"And you just said he's hot."

"I mean, just because I think he's hot doesn't mean I'm offering myself to him like that. We haven't even been on a date."

"Okay, okay. So how was the kiss?"

"Honestly? Kind of amazing. Kind of had butterflies in my stomach. Kind of felt hot and cold and everything in between. And I kind of touched his... you-know-what."

She just stares at me, her lips twitching. "His what?"

"His cock."

"Girl, you did not." She giggles. "Why?"

"I don't know. I was sitting next to him, and I wanted to explore, have some fun, and my hand just happened to find its way there. And let's just say, he's an anaconda in the... you-know-what."

"Oh my gosh. So you saw it? Did you give him a blowjob?"

"No, I didn't see it! And of course, I didn't give him a blowjob.

I just kind of reached down and squeezed it.

" I bite down on my lip. "I mean, if he would've taken me back to his place, maybe I would've given him a blowjob.

He was a good kisser. A really good kisser.

The best kiss I've ever had. Not that that's saying much. "

"Oh my gosh. Do you like him, Erica?"

"No, I don't like him. I mean, he is a nice guy. It was sweet of him to come out and give the money to John so that John could find love. But that doesn't... doesn't negate the fact that?—"

"What? And if you bring up the wine incident again..."

"No, I'm just saying it doesn't negate the fact that he is a professional athlete who seemingly dates around and is not interested in having a relationship.

And we both know that my end goal is to meet the love of my life, get married, and have kids.

I only want to be with one man in my life, and I want that to be my husband. "

"I mean, I get it. I do. And I really hope that happens for you. But is there anything wrong with flirting with Tyler and maybe enjoying some of his kisses?"

"I don't know," I say. "Oh, Sabrina, I'm a mess."

"What do you mean? Why are you a mess? We all kiss guys that we shouldn't at some point in our lives."

"It's not just that. It's just..." I stare at her. "I've just been thinking recently, and I want you to be honest with me about something."

"Sure. What is it?"

"So I know growing up, your mom wasn't necessarily super well off."

"That's an understatement," she says, laughing.

"Well, I know you kind of struggled, and obviously, I was there for you as much as I could be, but now, I'm starting to realize that maybe I've just had an easy life, and maybe I haven't appreciated it.

" I stare at her. "Do you think I'm a spoiled brat?

Do you think I'm just a rich girl who is living in daydreams and needs to have a reality check? "

"No. Why would you say that?"

"Because I feel like I'm being faced with different scenarios in life, and I'm just realizing that a lot of people have it really hard. I guess I'm starting to self-reflect that my problems aren't really problems."

"I feel you. And I think what's great is that you recognize the privilege that you have from being born to a rich family. And you do with that what you will."

"Yeah, I guess." I take a deep breath. "I just feel like everything is at a standstill in my life. I don't know if this podcast is going to take off, and it's not like I'm meeting anyone, and I just feel like... should I have more goals?

“Should I have more ideas? Should I have more needs and urges to do something? Like, where am I going?”

“I feel you, Erica, but not everyone knows right away. Is there anything you really, really want from life?”

“I mean, I'd love to be a successful podcaster, but do I really think it's going to become the number one podcast and be on NPR? I don't know.”

I hear my phone ringing.

“Oh, would you get that for me?”

“Sure. Hold on.”

I watch Sabrina head toward the bedroom and then come back out. She holds my phone in her hand and waves it around.

“It's your boy.”

“What boy? I don't have any boy.”

“It's Tyler.”

“Tyler. Oh my gosh. What does he want?”

“Well, you won't know unless you answer.”

“Fine,” I say, taking the phone from her.

“I'm going to make you some breakfast.”

“Okay. Thanks, girl.”

“You're welcome.”

“Hello, this is Erica,” I say into the phone, waiting for Tyler to speak.

“Good morning, princess.”

“I'm not a princess.”

“Okay, queen.”

“I'm not a queen.”

“Duchess.”

“I'm not a—what do you want?” I say, cutting myself off.

“Is that any way to treat the man you were making out with last night?”

I groan. “So you remember.”

“I wasn't as drunk as you were, Erica.”

“Yeah, well, I don't know.”

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asks.

“I feel like someone hit my head with a hammer, but thanks for asking.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. And wanted to make sure you remembered how much fun we had last night.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean, how much fun we had?”

“When you were kissing me and telling me all the things you wanted to do to me.”

My jaw drops. “I did not. I mean, what did I say?”

“What do you think you said?” His voice is low.

“Nothing, right?” My heart pounds. I try to think about the previous evening. “I know I had a couple of drinks, and I know we kissed, and—it was okay?”

He starts laughing.

“What's so funny?”

“I mean, you seemed to think it was a lot more than ‘okay' last night.”

“Well, remember, I was drunk.”

“Okay, so that’s why you were squeezing my cock?”

My face goes red at his words.

“I mean, I don’t—” I pause. “I really don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay,” he says, chuckling. “I kind of liked it.”

“Just kind of?” I say, and then before he can respond, “Actually, don't answer that. I was drunk, and I didn't know what I was doing.”

“So when you told me to fuck you hard and fast in the bathroom, you didn’t know what you were saying then?”

“I did not say that! Did I?” I feel like my face is fire engine red.

“If I said—I'm so sorry?—”

“You didn't say that,” he says, laughing. “But I felt like you kind of wanted me to do that.”

“Really, Tyler? I'm going to go. That's ridiculous.”

He laughs. “But I just wanted to say that I think last night was fun, and I enjoyed hanging out with you. And actually, I enjoyed kissing you.”

“Okay?”

“And if you wanted to make an amendment to the bet…”

“Why would I make an amendment? I'm still going to win. Just because I had one kiss with you doesn’t mean my soulmate is not out there. In fact…” I open the app on my phone and go through my messages.

“I have some guys who want to go out tonight.” I click on one randomly.

“This guy says he wants to go dancing. And you know what?

I feel like going dancing tonight. So I think I'm going to go.”

“You're really into this dating thing, aren't you?”

“Well, I want to win the bet, and I want to prove to you that life is about more than just making out with random men in bars. It's about having a meaningful relationship. It’s about kissing someone when you know your soul and your?—”

I hear Tyler laughing.

“Why are you laughing, Tyler?”

“Because you know what? Sometimes life is just about fucking and kissing and doing whatever you want to do and not having it mean anything.

Sometimes life is for the living, Erica.

It's for the living. And it doesn't mean that it means anything.

It might just mean something for that moment, for that day.

And that doesn't make it good or bad. It just means that you are enjoying every single thing you do.”

“Okay, Einstein. Do you enjoy everything you do every single day?”

“Good question. Maybe, maybe not. But I will tell you that I don't stop myself from doing things I want to do.”

“So you're doing everything that you really want to do?” I ask. “This is your dream? You're living your dream?”

“Well, I'm living part of my dream,” he says thoughtfully.

“So what part of the dream are you not living?” I ask.

There’s silence on the line for a few moments.

I think he's going to open up to me. I think he's going to tell me that he secretly wishes to meet the love of his life and get married. Or maybe he’ll tell me about some high school or college girl who broke his heart and made him put up a shield.

I wait for him to tell me that he, too, wants to be in love.

But of course, that's not what he says.

“I want to paint you.”

“What?” I don’t say it because I'm in disbelief that he wants to paint; I say it because I'm slightly disappointed. Because part of me thought maybe we were on the same page and he was just in denial. But of course, once again, I’ve proven to myself that I’m living in a land far, far away.

“I've always loved to paint. But I went into hockey, and that's taken up a lot of my time.

My love for the arts has kind of drifted away, and I haven't been able to do that as much.

And maybe I do need to take my own advice.

Maybe I need to just allow myself to go there, even if it's not my day job.”

“Yeah, you should. You really should, Tyler.

“Anyway, I think Sabrina has made me some breakfast, and I'm going to go and eat and… well, I'm going to have fun tonight and go dancing. And maybe I will just see where the night takes me.”

“Okay,” he says. “Well, I hope you enjoy your evening.”

“Thanks. You, too. I hope you have a lot of fun doing whatever you're going to do.”

“I mean, I don't think it will be as fun as last night,” he says. “You’ve got some luscious lips there, Erica.”

I press my lips together, my heart pounding.

“Well, thank you.”

“You're not going to say ‘same to you’?”

“No.”

“So you don't believe in giving compliments?”

“No,” I say, slightly annoyed and embarrassed that we're still talking about this—and actually quite turned on.

“So you have nothing to say about last night?”

“I mean, I'm polite, Tyler,” I say in my sweetest voice, “and I don't like to lie. So I wouldn’t want to tell you something that wasn’t true.”

“Oh, so you're saying you didn't enjoy our kiss?”

“I'm saying that it was forgettable. It was just a kiss. Like you said, Tyler, it doesn't have to mean anything.”