Page 149 of Pucking Around

I thinkI must fall asleep on top of Caleb, because when the front door alarm chirps, I suck in a breath, jolting awake. Poseidon bolts off the couch with a bark, racing to the door. I’m instantly on edge. There’s only three other people with the code to my front door. One is on the couch with me and one is in Japan. My heart leaps in my chest knowing this must be—

“Puppy!” Rachel cries and the dog goes nuts, bouncing and whining like an idiot. That girl is gaga for Poseidon. All dogs really. We walk him on the beach in the evenings, and when we pass another dog, she’s just as embarrassing.

And it’s not just dogs. Sometimes we see crabs in the sand or dolphins out in the surf, the occasional gopher tortoise. Whenever that happens, our calm, collected doctor totally loses her cool. It’s goddamn adorable. The other day, Caleb had to forcibly remove her from a pair of ladies and their horses doing a sunset ride.

My memories of her jogging down the beach wearing cheeky swimsuit bottoms fizzle from my brain as reality comes crashing back to me. If Rachel is home, that means…

“Oh shit, here we go,” I murmur, slipping my legs off Caleb’s lap.

Sitting at this angle on the couch, we’re hidden from view, but I can hear her talking by the door. A deep voice responds. Unless Poseidon has learned the power of speech in the last two minutes, Mars Kinnunen is in my house.

Cay must have fallen asleep too, because he’s rolling his shoulder and cracking his neck, his mouth set in a deep frown. Right, game faces on. This isourturf. Show no fear. Mars Kinnunen is gonna come in here and show his damn face. He’s gonna say more than three words to me, or so fucking help me—

“Easy,” Caleb mutters, sensing the way I’m spiraling out.

Fuck, I’m terrible at this. I just want to bounce off the couch like Poseidon and wrap Rachel in my arms. I want to drag her upstairs and bury myself in her sweet pussy and tell her how much I missed her. She was only gone 32 hours. I have got to chill.

“Hey!” she calls out. “I’m home!”

“In here,” I reply.

Shit, do I sound casual enough? Meeting your lover’s lover for the first time is not a casual moment…but then I already know Mars. I mean, no one reallyknowsMars Kinnunen. But we’re teammates. I see him every day. We play together. Travel together.

He came to the beach the other day. We had our longest non-hockey related conversation over by the grill. I asked him what kind of beach food they eat in Finland, and he actually answered me. It was at least five sentences.

“Be cool,” Caleb mutters darkly as Rachel comes around the corner.

Fuck, just seeing her face has me relaxing. “Hey, baby,” I call, holding out my hand over the back of the couch.

She comes right to me, and I take in Mars for the first time standing behind her. He’s never been in my house before. He’s standing there, framed in the entryway, his gaze moving slowly around the open living space. Rachel blocks my view of him as she takes my hand and curls herself over the top of the couch.

“Hey, angel,” she says, smiling at me.

My senses fill with her as she leans down, kissing me. I weave my fingers into her hair, staking my claim. Mars better be watching. This girl is mine, and I’ll kiss her whenever I want. She smells like her—all floral and soft. But she smells like him too. It makes my cock twitch and my hindbrain growl. I want to drag her over the top of the couch and wrap her in my arms, holding her against me until his scent fades. Or at least until mine mingles back in.

She pulls away with a soft laugh and gazes down at me, brushing my hair off my forehead.

I chase her hand like the pussy-whipped fool I am.

“Hard work out this morning? You seem sleepy.”

“It fucking sucked,” I mutter. “I got home and passed out.”

She hums, glancing down the couch to look at Cay. “Did you boys behave while I was gone?”

“Better than you,” he replies, his gaze darting over her shoulder to where Mars is still just standing there like a giant statue.

She straightens, her hand taking Caleb’s on the back of the couch and giving it a squeeze. Fuck, she already knows us so well. She knows I need the instant reconnection, the affirmation. While Caleb is still lost in emotional no-man’s land. When he’s ready to warm up, she’ll be there, but she’s not gonna push him.

“Mars, you want something to drink?” she calls over her shoulder, moving past him towards the kitchen.

“No, thank you,” he replies in that deep voice.

Rachel pulls open the door to the fridge. “Jake, Cay, you want anything?”

“Grapes,” I call, as Caleb says, “Water.”

I feel like a volcano ready to blow. I don’t do awkward silences, but Mars and Caleb could be gold and silver medalists in the sport. This is so fucking unfair. I’m gonna come off as the panicked, needy one when I can’t stand the heavy silence any longer.