Page 112 of Pucking Sweet

“Shoulda figured. Is that Doc in there with him again?”

“Probably.”

He grins at me. “Wait, you know too?”

“Yeah, I caught them kissing a couple weeks ago. It looked like it was getting carnal, so I made myself scarce.”

He chuckles. “Clever having his sneaky link travel with the team—”

“Wait, shut up.” I raise a hand at him.

“What?”

I point at the door. “There’s a third person in there.”

He glances over his shoulder. “Two girls at once? Nice. Doc didn’t seem like the sharing type but—”

“No, I just heard another guy.”

He raises a brow in surprise. Then, like the nosy assholes we are, we cross over to Jake’s door. I flip my door latch out first to stop it from closing. Then I lean in next to Novy, my hand on his shoulder as we listen in like teenagers.

After a few seconds, he gasps. “It’sSanny.”

The sound is muffled, but I think I can hear it. Yeah, that definitely sounds like Sanford. I grunt as Novy snags me by the arm, dragging me back across the hall. “Hey, getoff—”

“We need to talk,” he says, shoving me inside my room.

I shut my door, watching him stumble over to the mini bar. “Are you drunk?”

“Iwasdrunk. Now I’m just lightly toasted.” He grabs a six-dollar bottle of FIJI water. Twisting off the cap, he downs half of it. “You got any food?”

“There’s some jerky and peanuts in my backpack. Front pocket.” I make my way over to the bed and sit, gingerly placing the ice pack onmy aching knee. Novy rustles around in my bag, tugging out the big bag of granola from the main compartment. I sit up. “I said you could have the peanuts, asshole.”

He digs out a handful of granola and shoves it in his mouth. After a few chews, he groans. “God, this is so fucking good.” He turns to me, holding up the bag. “It’s so sweet and nutty. Did you make this, bud?”

I glare at him. “Poppy made it.”

He blinks twice, swallowing his mouthful. Grabbing the bottle of water, he downs the rest. It’s shockingly curative. His gaze sharpens and he stops swaying like a reed. Glancing down, he plucks at his hoodie. “Is this on inside out?”

“And you have no shoes on.”

He wiggles his toes on the hotel carpet. “I think I left them in my shower.”

I can’t help but smile. “That’s a good place for them.”

He plops himself on the end of my bed. “We need to talk about Poppy.”

I tense, moving the ice pack from my knee up to my elbow. The icy coolness feels good against my aching joints. “I don’t want to talk about her with you.”

“Well, we have to talk about her because I’m not gonna do this.”

“Do what?”

“Lose you.”

I gaze across the bed at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You were here first, Cole. You’re one of the only guys in this whole league who genuinely cares about me. I mean, do you know how many people texted me on my birthday last year?” He holds up two fingers. “That’s right, you and my lawn care service. But they were only offering me a coupon for five dollars off my next mow. Happy fucking birthday to me, right?”