Page 48 of One-Time Shot

I shuffle-skated, guiding the puck with my stick toward the net, and then I shoveled it in. It was cheating, but I didn’t care. Neither did Jett. His laughter reverberated on the ice, reawakening the butterflies in my stomach.

I want to come inside you, too.

Oh, my…wow.

And just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better.

CHAPTER16

JETT

“So you’re teachingthe scientist how to play hockey?” Ty asked, skating backward, his stick poised and ready for my pass. “I thought he was collecting data from you. Not the other way around.”

Brady flew by on my left. “I saw you two at the Depot yesterday.”

“You spend a lot of time with him…teaching hockey.” Langley motioned for me to hurry up and pass. “Gimme the fuckin’ puck, Erickson.”

“How do you teach someone hockey at a diner?” Brady puzzled.

“You quiz them on terminology and shit like that. Look lively, gentlemen,” I taunted, passing to Brady…because he wasn’t ready and I derived sick pleasure in watching him scramble after the puck while Langley growled in frustration.

Petty? Me?

“You’re an asshole, Erickson.” Langley snorted, tapping his stick to mine good-naturedly as Coach blew his whistle, signaling the end of practice. “Hey, party at my place after the game tomorrow. Bring your new friend.”

He was teasing but also…not.

Langley wouldn’t care who showed up to one of his keggers. The more the merrier. He was genuinely friendly to everyone. But showing up to a party with Malcolm was different than hanging out at the rink. People would wonder who he was to me. I could hear them already,What’s with you and the physics dude?

I didn’t think Malcolm would be into that, but what did I know? I didn’t think he’d agree to an impromptu hockey lesson, and that had happened. I’d been as surprised as my buddies, maybe more so. Malcolm hadn’t been anxious, and he hadn’t tripped over his skates, either. He’d been perfectly fine taking pointers from my teammates. It had been a weird case of my worlds mixing and nobody giving a flying fuck, and it had thrown me off guard. But damn, it was kind of cool.

Maybe he’d been distracted by his good news, or maybe he’d liked being outside of his comfort zone.

Or maybe he felt as safe with me as I did with him.

I hoped so.

* * *

Knock knock

I slicked my damp hair from my forehead and opened the door for Malcolm. He held a bag up like an offering, skirting around me.

“I brought aphrodisiacs,” he announced.

“Excuse me?”

“Strawberries, Fig Newtons, and a bar of chocolate. I wasn’t sure how you felt about oysters, pomegranates, or watermelon, but those foods are rather messy to eat. Not that I think we’ll need them, but they couldn’t hurt,” he commented, tripping over his feet and barreling into the lamp on the end table.

“Hey, are you okay?” I steadied the lamp and set the grocery bag on the table.

“Fine, fine, yes…fine.” Malcolm pulled his glasses off, rubbed them on his V-neck sweater, put them on his nose, then wiped his palms on his khakis.

Nope. Not fine at all.

“So…what’s an aphrodisiac?”

Okay, I knew the definition, but I also knew that sharing knowledge was Malcolm’s jam and that he’d relax faster with a “teaching moment” than if he were told to chill.