Page 70 of Pucking Around

Girl, hold it together.

This man is so damn earnest. He loves me. He doesn’t know me yet, but he loves me all the same. I glance between them. “I don’t understand the rush to move in. We can do all those things, Jake. We can hang out and get groceries and explore the city. We can cook at your place or mine and—what?”

Caleb snorts as Jake just shakes his head.

“What am I missing?”

“Jake’s a pro hockey player, Hurricane,” Caleb replies.

“Yeah…”

“And I’m an equipment manager. And you’re the team doc. And the season has already started…”

I raise a brow. “Yeah? So?”

He tugs out his phone. “Dude, show her your schedule,” he mutters at Jake.

Jake pulls out his phone too and they both flash me their calendars for the coming week. It’s madness as I take in all the dots and colored bars denoting activities. On Jake’s calendar alone there’s a complicated matrix of practice, workouts, PT, travel, games, PR, video meetings. Caleb’s calendar is just as jam-packed.

“I bet yours doesn’t look any prettier,” says Caleb, tucking his phone back in his pocket. “You want a pro hockey player in your life while he’s in season? You gotta live with him. You’ll never see him otherwise.”

I look to Caleb. “So…what? You’re gonna move in with Jake too?”

He shrugs. “We’ve lived together before. It’s not a big deal.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Yeah, domestic life partners, right?”

“God, that nickname haunts us,” Jake mutters, still messing with his phone.

But Caleb holds my gaze. “Something like that,” he says softly.

“And what’s your endgame here, Snuffy? You’re just gonna move into Jake’s house with your cute dog and your surfboard and…what? Rub our feet and buy us trail mix?”

“Hey, don’t knock it, Seattle,” says Jake. “Cay gives excellent foot rubs. Better than me, actually. But I’m the better cook. We can only trust him not to mess up breakfast. He’s strictly an eggs, bacon, and toast guy.” He leans forward, elbows on the table. “You come to me if you want pasta carbonara with seared pancetta, grilled jumbo shrimp with coconut rice…or, you know, help in the shower.”

I shake my head. “You two are crazy. This is so beyond crazy.”

“Yeah, crazy smart. Come on, Seattle. Make me the happiest man on earth and move in with me…and Caleb…and Poseidon. We can’t forget the world’s greatest doggo,” he adds with a grin.

Shit, I forgot about the dog. Oh my god, this is so not happening. Has the lure of unlimited dog snuggles really just tipped the scales in the boys’ favor? “Fine,” I hear myself say.

They blink at me like a pair of sexy owls. Then Jake all but chokes. “Wait—did you just sayfine?”

“She just said fine,” Caleb mutters.

“Oh, god. Okay. Breathe, everyone,” Jake says, hands flat on the table, wide smile on his face. “We’re so fucking doing this. You’re moving in. You’rebothmoving in. Tomorrow.”

Caleb slips out of the booth, holding out a hand to me. “Three platonic fuck buddies and a hyperactive dog. What could possibly go wrong?”

36

Istand in line at the bottom of the stairs, shifting the strap of the bag on my shoulder. It’s barely seven in the morning, and the whole team is shuffling around the tarmac waiting to board the plane. My phone buzzes in my hand.

JAKE (7:04AM): Hey roomie *wave emoji* What time should I come by to help get you packed up?

JAKE (7:04AM): The coffee on this plane sucks btw

JAKE (7:04AM): Just FYI, I’m tryna do my part to conserve water, so we’ll need to assign shower buddies