Page 16 of Three Pucks and a Baby

“Go get us another drink,” I said.

“So we can get shitfaced about our loss?” Grayson suggested.

“No, so we can have something to drink while we wait for her to come back.” At his disbelieving look, I replied, “Trust me. She’s coming back.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

Just as he swung out of the booth, Vivian emerged from the crowd. Jabbing a finger at us, she said, “I certainly hope you two don’t expect me to have a threesome with you on the first date.”

CHAPTER FOUR: VIVIAN

As I pushed and shoved myself through the teeming crowd, Theo’s words blared in my head louder than the house music.I want to hear you scream my name when you come.

White-hot anger seared over my body as mortification shuddered through me. How dare Theo suggest I partake in a threesome with him and Grayson? He had some gall. And Grayson too for that matter. What kind of woman did they take me for?

I mean, I hated to judge, but obviously, only wanton women partook in threesomes, right? And while I wasn’t a prude, I was most certainly not a wanton woman.

Not only did they think of me as a potential ho, I was a frustrated and fearful one.

Once again, I heard Theo’s voice over the bounding bass.“Admit it: you’re bored out of your fucking mind. More than anything in the world, you want to do something spontaneous. Something crazy.”

With a frustrated huff, I slid past two half-dressed coeds. How could someone like Theo possibly know my fears anddesires? He was only a couple of years over the legal drinking age. Besides that, he was just a college hockey player.

A college hockey player who had seen straight through my facade.

Iwasbored. Ididwant something spontaneous and something crazy.

As my gaze fell on the exit, an image of my vision board flashed before my eyes with the wordLiveblazing in neon. My heels skidded to a stop on the floor as the revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was a sign.

Like the Tudor-era people I wrote about, I believed in signs. Over the years, I’d searched them out to make big decisions. I’d even taken the job at Southeastern because of a sign.

I’d had offers from two other universities when the one from Southeastern popped up on my phone. I was watchingThe Jungle Bookwith my niece and nephew, and Bajeera was speaking on the screen. I gasped because the Southeastern mascot was a panther.

While some people would’ve considered it a coincidence or I was crazy, I totally saw it as my sign. The fact my parents and brother were close to the school as well was the icing on the cake.

And my vision of my vision board was once again a sign.

If I went out that door, I would be exiting my chance to live.

Slowly, I turned back around. When I took a tentative step forward, a voice in my head shouted, “Vivian Elizabeth Whitlock, you are not seriously considering partaking in a threesome with two college hockey players?”

Nibbling my lip, I contemplated the moral and ethical issue before me. I had never been what you would call sexually adventurous. I mean, I could still count my partners over the years on both hands. But one might argue there was a first timefor everything. I mean, I’d never been a prude about sex. So what was there to turn my nose up about?

It was just three consenting adults partaking in a sexual encounter. We weren’t hurting anyone.

“I’m doing this,” I muttered under my breath as my heels started making a determined path back to the guys.

Just as I reached Grayson and Theo’s booth, Grayson popped up in front of me. His downcast expression lit up as complete and total shock flashed in his eyes. When I cut my gaze over to Theo, he shot me a triumphant look.

Jabbing a finger at them, I said, “I certainly hope you two don’t expect me to have a threesome with you on the first date.”

Grayson’s brows shot up into his hairline. “Fuck me, you’re serious?”

I jerked my chin up. “I am.”

Leaning forward in the booth, Theo’s eyes glittered with lust. “Now that’s a good girl,” he practically purred.

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