Page 42 of Hutch (Minnesota Raptors #2)

Daisy

Morning came way faster than I was ready for.

All because of the very naked man sleeping beside me.

I’ve been staring at him for about an hour wondering if I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life.

He’s gentle, kind, and so far, I’ve not detected a fakeness to him that I always made excuses for when I noticed it about Joe. Hutch is just a genuine guy.

I’m still terrified, but Lucy is right. I need to give this a chance.

He’s special and I know it in my bones. Nana would call him my Mr. Right.

She would love Hutch. I wish he could have met her.

The way he talks about his mother speaks a lot about the type of man she raised him to be.

Joe always took his parents for granted and had no qualms about disrespecting them despite everything they did for him.

Hutch is not the kind of person to do that.

“Good morning,” he mumbles, his voice deep and rough with sleep. His gray eyes are like storm clouds this morning. I always loved the look of the sky before a big storm hits and that’s what they remind me of. Beautiful.

“Morning.” I go to sit up and he pulls me back down, rolling until I’m under him.

“Nope, you’re not getting out of this bed until I get a kiss.”

“Eww, morning breath, Jonathan Hutchinson!”

He laughs and nuzzles his nose by my ear, his teeth tugging at the overly sensitive lobe. “Then I guess you have to share your toothbrush with me because I don’t have one.”

“Fine, but I’m brushing my teeth first.”

“You’re going to go out and buy a new one today, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

He chuckles again before kissing the side of my neck.

“Fine, Red, but we are going to breakfast right after a shower. I want to show you this little hole in the wall I found last week. They have this amazing omelet menu I want to eat my way through. And I’m cheating on my diet today since I have to start that all plant based shit Monday. ”

“It doesn’t have to taste bad.”

He makes a face before rolling off me. “I’m not so sure about that, but if it makes my game better, then I’m willing to try it.”

“I’ll research some recipes.”

He smiles and gets up, his naked self on full display. I feel the burn creep up my neck and bloom onto my cheeks. I may be mouthy and not afraid to make my opinions known, but deep down, on a basic level, I’m shy.

“Want to shower with me?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“No. I really am starving and if I get in that shower, you and I both know it’ll be hours before we actually leave this room.”

He pouts.

“You are going to give me a complex, Red.”

“How’s that?”

“You’re the only woman to ever turn all this down.” He waves at his body.

“You’re not all that.” Oh, but he is. Right now, all I want to do is go get in that shower for a repeat of last night, but I need some distance from him.

“I fucking am all that.”

And he has an ego bigger than Texas.

“Uh huh, you keep thinking that. Now, go shower so I can. I’m hangry.”

“All she gives me is sass,” he mutters as he goes into my bathroom, leaving the door open in invitation.

Getting up once I hear him singing in the shower, I find my pajamas and throw them back on before scrounging up clothes to put on.

I’d rather be dressed when dealing with Hutch.

He can make me forget everything but the feel of him and I need a clear head.

While he distracted me last night, I haven’t forgotten the flowers or the gift. Or the implications of them.

He knows where I am. I was so careful to leave no clue behind, not even doing a forwarding address form at the post office. I simply changed my address for those places that needed the new one. I told no one but Lucy and she sure as hell didn’t tell him.

What if he shows up? I mean he has practice and if he misses that, it’ll look bad for the draft, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Not after our last encounter. I’d put nothing past him. Maybe I should get that restraining order. I don’t know. It might make him mad and escalate the whole situation.

“All done!”

Wow, that was fast.

“Can I check the sports news on your TV?”

“Sure.” I pick up my clothes and go in the bathroom.

He left his dirty towel in the corner and the seat up on the toilet.

Wrinkling my nose, I put the seat down. I’ll deal with the towel when I’m done showering.

Unlike Hutch, I close the bathroom door before taking a quick shower.

He at least left me plenty of hot water.

Once I’m done and I’ve brushed my teeth and used the toilet, I dry my hair and go back out to find him glued to the TV watching the highlights from a hockey game.

“Is that the Raptors?”

“Nah, just another team who have been giving them a rough go of it this season. I try to make sure I stay up on my biggest opponents.”

“Hmm,” is all I say. I have no idea about any of it really.

Even when I was with Joe and he started talking football, I tuned it out.

It wasn’t interesting to me. That’s not to say I didn’t pick things up.

You can’t live in a football town and not.

I can run you through a game, explain the plays, and typically predict what play is going to be made.

My brother played the sport and so I paid attention to the actual game and its mechanics.

I just didn’t listen when it’s all anyone talked about. I tuned it out.

“You mind if we bring C? He texted me a hangry emoji. And he wants to tell you happy birthday.”

“Sure. Who am I to stand between food and his stomach?” Honestly, I’d appreciate the buffer Collin provides. I’m still processing what happened last night and if I can trust my own judgment.

“And it gives you a chance to keep more distance between us.”

I snap my head up and he’s smiling. There’s a hint of sadness in his eyes as well, but it’s there and gone so quick, I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been looking directly at him.

“I’m really trying not to get in my head about not trusting my own judgment.”

“It’s me not you?”

“Basically, yeah. I don’t trust me .”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” The word slips out automatically.

He smiles. “Then we’re good, because I am not going to do shit to ever hurt you if its within my power to prevent it.”

“You’re a good man, Jonathan Wayne Hutchinson. I’m doing everything in my power to not let myself get in the way of this. I want us to work.”

“So do I baby girl, so do I.”

He comes over and pulls me close, his nose ghosting along my jawbone before his lips settle on mine to give me one of those mind blowing, knee melting kind of kisses that consumes every thought in my head.

He pulls back and smiles. “Ready to eat?”

It takes me a minute to understand what he said. My brain fritzed out.

He laughs and pulls me along behind him. “Grab your keys, Red. We need to go pick up C and then find food.”

I lock the door and let him lead me down the stairs, only stopping to lock the door there as well. It’s a short drive to the hockey house and we get out. I’m hesitant to go in, but Hutch takes my hand and drags me along behind him.

“Are you still able to stay here now that you’re not on the team anymore?”

He stills, key in the door lock. “Huh?”

“Well, technically you aren’t on the team and the house is only for the players, yeah? That’s what I think you told me at least.”

“Damn, I didn’t even think about that. I need to talk to Coach about it.”

“If they kick y’all out, you can stay with your mom until you find something, can’t you?”

“Yeah.” He unlocks the door and pushes it open, moving so I can enter.

The place is a mess. They must have had a party last night or carried it back from wherever they partied to begin with. Empty beer cans and solo cups are scattered everywhere with sleeping people on the furniture and in the floor of the living room. The whole place is a pigsty.

“Well, fuck,” Hutch mutters. “It’s not normally like this.”

“Uh, huh.”

He sighs. “Let me get C and we’ll go. Don’t touch anything. I don’t want you to catch something nasty. Better yet, don’t even step on the carpet. God knows what they did last night.”

No worries there. Hutch runs up the stairs and I take the time to look around, trying to ignore the half-naked people sleeping everywhere.

It reminds me more of what I think a frat house looks like after a party then the hockey house.

Not that I’ve been in a frat house, but I’ve seen photos online. Joseph’s friends posted enough of them.

“Well, hello, beautiful.” The deep, sleepy voice comes from behind me and I turn to see a guy shuffling down the stairs. He’s tall, blond, and very wide. Like wide receiver wide, but this is the hockey house, so he has to be a hockey player.

“Hey.”

“You just waking up from last night?”

“Uh no, I’m just waiting on Hutch and Collin.”

His gaze sharpens. “Daisy?”

I nod.

“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Denver.”

“Denver…”

He smiles good naturedly. “My parents had this thing about naming their kids after cities they visited. You had coffee yet?”

“We were just going to breakfast.”

His gaze sweeps the house as he comes to stand at the bottom of the stairs. “Fuck me. I knew I shouldn’t have went to bed last night. This place is a mess.”

“Well, make them all pitch in and clean up when they finally get their asses up.” Hutch slaps Denver on the back as he comes downstairs, followed by Collin.

“You ever corralled hung over college kids?” Denver asks, shaking his head.

“Yes, on more than a few occasions. You need to learn to use the captain voice now that I’m not on the team anymore.”

“Contract signed?”

“Both of us,” Collin affirms. “We’re going out to breakfast to celebrate with Hutch’s girl who is my bestie.”

I have not agreed to be anyone’s girl, but before I can correct it, Collin plows ahead.

“Come on, I’m starving.”

Hutch says his goodbyes and we go back out the door, Hutch locking it behind him.