Page 27 of Three Pucks and a Baby

But it wasn’t all nerves. Excitement burned through the anxiety. And to top that off, need hummed within me.

I was a neurotic hornball.

Somehow the hours managed to fly by, and just as I was gathering up my things, my bestie, both inside and out of work, Carlee sidled up to me. “Where are you running off to?” she asked.

Since I was a terrible liar, I didn’t bother trying to deceive her. “I have a date.”

Carlee’s blue eyes bulged. “Are you shitting me?”

A nervous laugh bubbled from my lips. “No. I’m not.”

“Oh my God, Viv. I’m so happy for you.”

Sweeping my hands to my hips, I challenged, “Have I been in that bad of a dating desert?”

She bobbed her head. “We’re talking tumbleweeds of coochie cobwebs.”

I rolled my eyes. “I would hardly call it that bad.”

Carlee waved her hand dismissively. “I need the tea. Who is the guy?”

Her question caused me to fumble with the books in my hands, sending them tumbling to the floor. There was no way in hell I could admit to Carlee I was about to partake in a threesome. It wasn’t that she would judge me–she was far more sexually liberated than I was. It was more that I wasn’t ready for the Spanish Inquisition that would result from telling her.

“Just a guy I met.”

“Where?”

Since I was the worst at lying, I thought it best to keep some parts of the truth. “Here.”

Carlee snorted. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“Is he a professor?”

“Um, no.”

She furrowed her dark brows. “A janitor?”

Wrinkling my nose, I replied, “I don’t think you’re supposed to call them that anymore.”

“Fine. Is he acustodian?”

“Now that I think of it, they’re supposed to call them Environmental Service Technicians.”

Carlee groaned. “Focus, Vivian.”

“No, he’s not.”

“If he’s a UPS driver, you know I’m going to have to make a joke about his package.”

“He’s a student, okay? Are you happy now?”

Her eyes bulged. “Vivian, you naughty cougar.”

With an exasperated huff, I replied, “He’s twenty-three, not eighteen.”

“Seven years still makes him your cougar cub.”

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