Page 63 of Hotshot
I didn’t have any answers, but that was okay. We had all summer. Real life could wait.
13
DENNY
Mary-Kate chased after me, her stick poking mine from an awkward angle in a manic attempt to wrestle the puck away.Not gonna happen. I leaned hard to my left and upped my speed, skating toward the goal, my elbow cocked and ready to fly.
“Boom!” I raised my arms in the air triumphantly as the puck breezed into the goal. “Did you see that?”
She hip-checked me with a growl. “You suck.”
I grinned like a fool. Yep, I sucked—often and I loved it.
Summer was just getting underway. Campers and pros would be descending on Elmwood in droves, and life at the rink would be nonstop busy. No problem. I was living in the world’s sweetest bubble. At home on my ice, surrounded by all the things and people I loved, having secret sex with a hot cowboy.
If you asked me, Hank and I were both fucking crushing our goals. He was slowly integrating into life in Elmwood while I explored my sexuality and…him. I’d spent my first month at home in his bed or on his horse, which was amazing, but my friends noticed my absence. Especially MK.
She’d shown up at my house unannounced an hour ago with her skates and dragged me to the rink. Like she used to when we were in high school. I was freshly showered and a little tired, but as she was quick to remind me, we hadn’t seen much of each other since I’d been home. And this was fun.
“Okay, I’ll let you win the next game,” I teased.
MK punched my biceps. “No, I will kick your ass fair and square. But winner buys a burger…and I’m hungry, Hotshot. Feed me.”
That was how we ended up at the diner on a Thursday night, huddled in our usual booth under a funky starburst chandelier, scarfing fries and catching up on hockey news and town gossip.
“Let me get this straight—Steph is dating…Jack, the guy with the tiny nose and the mullet?” I asked, slurping my milkshake.
“Mmhmm. It’s new, and she says he’s hot in bed.” MK waggled her eyebrows.
I barked a laugh. “Ew. Please stop.”
She snickered, kicking my calf under the table. “You’re funny. Can I make a totally annoying, eye-rolling comment?”
I preemptively rolled my eyes. “Go for it.”
“You look happy. Are you sure you aren’t dating anyone?”
“I’m not.” I cocked my head. “You don’t believe me.”
That was okay by me. Our honesty policy didn’t extend to summer-based propositions with visiting cowboys. I supposed I could have told her about Hank. I trusted MK with my life. The thing was…I didn’t want to pop my happy bubble by talking about my sexuality with my ex. That felt heavy. Nothing about Hank and me was heavy.
We discussed lighthearted topics on horseback and contemplated the stars on his deck with glasses of wine after fucking our brains out. I’d learned more aboutStar Warsand the damnMandalorianin the past few weeks than I’d ever admit, and it was…fun.
MK held her hands up in surrender. “I do, I do. Just an observation. One more observation…your cowboy friend is hot.”
I almost choked on my shake. I averted my gaze and cleared my throat.
“He’s not a cowboy. He just owns horses.”
“Whatever. He’s still hot,” she chirped. “You see a lot of him, huh?”
“We’re friends and he’s my, um…equine therapist.” I replayed those last two words in my head and decided that was close enough to the truth. “Did you know horses help with anxiety?”
“No. Huh, that’s cool. I thought he ran the mill, though. How can he do both?”
“I think I’m his only client here,” I said. And now…on to something else. “Who do you think needs a new goalie next season?”
MK didn’t take the bait. “Hmm. I’d have to think about it. You know…Micah and Niall are still down on the new guy for the usual reasons. If you’re buddies with him, you should bring him around, like to the barbecue.”