Page 24 of Pucking Your Best Friend

When she thought the word exciting, a pair of pink handcuffs popped into her mind.

She wondered how exactly Matt used them. His bed did have those iron bars that you could attach them to. God, the mattress was so incredibly wide and Matt had really nice, big hands…

Maddie’s throat constricted and heat settled heavily in her abdomen. She pressed her legs together, blinked, and brought herself back to the present. Talking about sex was not helping!

“You’re one to talk, Hailey,” she said, distracting herself from her own thoughts. “I don’t see you enjoying a wild sex life.”

“Hey! There’s someone in my bed every night.”

“Usually the four-legged kind.” Hailey rescued a different animal every week, which she then took in before rehoming. She didn’t have enough room for a permanent pet, but she preferred it this way. It meant she could help many homeless creatures.

“Sometimes the two-legged kind.”

“Eggsy doesn’t count!”

Hailey stuck out her lower lip. “You’re mean.”

“And you’re as single as I am. But maybe you’re right. Maybe I should dip my toe into the dating pool.” Otherwise, she’d never get any closer to her goal.

“Absolutely. So, the invitation…”

“I don’t care!”

“Really?” Hailey asked doubtfully.

“Yes. Really!”

Chapter 6

Three hours later, Maddie slammed the cleaver down through the onion and then struggled to pull it out of the wooden cutting board. Matt’s kitchen was ridiculously well equipped for not being used at all. He had three different huge knives and she hadn’t been able to choose between them. The cleaver, however, had seemed the most effective.

God, that idiot had sent her a wedding invitation after years of silence. Sure, they still wished each other happy birthdays and every year they had gone for coffee together when Clemens had asked her to, but otherwise…otherwise, they had no contact whatsoever! She definitely wouldn’t have invited him to her wedding!

What wedding would that be,Maddie?her subconscious wanted to know.

“Oh, just shut up!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

She startled and looked up. Matt had come through the door and was standing in the foyer with damp hair, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a large gym bag slung over his shoulder.

“Damn it, don’t scare a woman with a knife in her hand,” she said, shaking her head and waving the cleaver before enthusiastically returning to the onions. It was actually too late to cook, but it had taken ages to figure out where they could cut costs and she had wanted to do something nice for Matt, for giving her shelter. Besides, he was always hungry after a game, so…

“I thought you were talking to me,” Matt said apologetically, dropping the bag and taking off his shoes.

“No. I was talking to myself.”

“Ah. Like normal, non-crazy people do?”

She glared at him. “You shouldn’t provoke a normal, non-crazy person with a knife in their hand either, Matt.”

He chuckled softly and sauntered over to her. “How was your day?”

“Challenging. Monotonous. Grueling.” She glanced up. “How many horrible adjectives do you want to hear?”

“Three will suffice.”

“Good. How was your day?”

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