Page 150 of Pucking Sweet

What if I want it all? Do I have to choose? Is one person allowed to be that happy?

I get my first skate off as Lukas drops down on the bench next to me. Phone to his ear, voice gruff, he argues with someone on the other line. “Listen, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Why are you even at my house?” After a minute, he groans. “Oh, really?” He stiffens, his tone changing. “Will you hold for a second, please?” He covers the phone with his hand, dropping it to his lap. One brow is raised as he turns and glares at me. “I’m putting in a home theater system?”

Shit, was that today? “Yeah, in the back room. Why? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” His brows shoot even higher. “What’s wrong, asshat, is that someone is trying to deliver twenty-thousand dollars’ worth of furniture to my house, but no one is there to sign for it.” He holds up his phone. “Now this nice gentleman is saying they’ll be charging a second delivery fee for the furniture I didn’t know I fucking ordered.”

I just shrug, tossing my other skate aside. “I’ll cover the fee.”

“Oh, you’ll cover all of it, you cheap fuck,” he snaps at me, raising the phone back to his ear. “That’s officiallyyourhome theater room now.”

He exchanges a few more clipped words with the guy, arranging a new delivery time, and I can’t help but smile. My master plan is coming together nicely.

We’re saved from any more argument when Poppy comes marching into the dressing room in her heels and red dress, toting a big colorful box in her arms. Some of the guys hoot and call out.

“Hey, we’re indecent!”

“Boys only, Poppy!”

She doesn’t care. Her expression is wild, and her curls look extra voluminous as she slams the box down on one of the gear boxes. “Stop sending popsicles up to my office!”

The guys all laugh as, next to me, Lukas gets a smug look on his face. “Gotta call you back,” he mutters, hanging up.

Jake walks forward, still in his skates. “What happened, Poppy?”

She huffs, hands on her hips, impatiently tapping her foot. Fuck, why is this turning me on? “This is thethirdbox of popsicles delivered to my office this week, and Iknowit’s one of you,” she shrieks, waving her hand at the box.

I shake my head, glaring at Lukas.

The smug asshole just crosses his arms, leaning back against his stall. “Why would someone send you popsicles?” he asks, innocent as a fucking schoolboy.

She slow turns to glare at him too. “I don’t know,” she replies, her tone level. “But if the culprit doesn’t stop, I may have to take drastic measures of my own.”

Half the guys “ooh” and laugh as the others look around, pretending they don’t know it’s him. Ryan Langley walks up to the box, flipping back the lid. “Are these for anyone?”

She huffs, waving her hand again. “Take them, Ryan. Free of charge.”

“Score.” Ryan snatches out a blue one.

The other guys crowd around, passing out the popsicles as Poppy marches back out of the room.

“Seriously?” I say at Lukas the moment she’s gone.

He shrugs, accepting a banana-flavored popsicle from Jake. “What?”

I hold my stare.

He just chuckles. “Look, I may have turned over a few new leaves recently, but I’m still the same guy. If I can’t prank, I can’t live. And this one is harmless,” he adds, unbuckling his pads.

I turn away to hear him add, “Just wait until she realizes I’ve glued her shoes to the floor…God, I hope she spanks me.”

53

How do you know if you’re falling in love? I’ve never been in love before. Frankly, I’ve never even been in like. I’m twenty-six years old, and all the human interactions I’ve had for the last fourteen years have been transactional. Coaches? They give me instruction. Teammates? I play with them. Opponents? I play against them. You hit me, I hit you, and the Zamboni smooths over the ice. Sexual partners? Well that one’s obvious. We’re both just there to get off. It’s a good time. But in an hour, maybe if you’re lucky by the morning, the transaction ends, and we both move on.

Nothing about Cole has ever felt transactional. Poppy’s right, he’s just a nice guy. He’s the guy who invites the awkward rookies out to the movies. He picks up tabs left and right. He’ll order in food for the whole team just because he wanted to.

Now that I’m living with him, he does things for me all the time with no expectation of return. He’ll collect my dishes and wash them as we talk about our day. He folds my laundry and sets it in a clean pile on the end of my bed. He gets green apples at the store because he knows I prefer them to red.