Page 66 of Pucking Your Best Friend

She laughed. “Okay. No handcuff stories at your parents’ table. Noted.”

“Very good.” He closed his eyes and she settled into the crook of his arm.

She was exhausted, in the best way. Her eyelids were heavy, her body happy but tired. If she wanted to, she could just doze off now, but then she remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, we have a date with Dax, Lucy, and Jack tomorrow,” she murmured and snuggled closer to his shoulder…which immediately tensed up.

“What?”

Why was he being difficult? “Yes, we’re meeting at Dax’s after the game.”

“But I don’t want to…”

“Shh, I’m tired,” she said, putting her hand over his mouth. “That was exhausting. I need some rest.”

“Maddie…”

“Please, Matt,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “For me.”

He sighed quietly, but it was a silent agreement. And that was all she needed right then.

She was so incredibly satisfied. It was warm and the bed so soft…but just before she drifted off, she felt Matt carefully place her head on a pillow and the mattress give way as he stood.

Right. It was a one-time thing. They probably shouldn’t fall asleep together. It was only sex. Nothing more. And everything would be fine as long as they were open about it.

Still, the bed became strangely cold and hard without him.

Chapter 17

It was a one-time thing. Only sex. Nothing more.

Matt repeated the words in his head as he climbed into Maddie’s cold bed, since she was in his. He honestly hoped he would start believing those words soon. If he didn’t, he might have just made the biggest mistake of his life, even if it had also been the best damn night of his life.

They couldn’t wake up next to each other, though. That would be too…intimate. Then it would be more than sex. It would needlessly blur the boundaries of their friendship. That thought scared him. So he left. He put some distance between them that he desperately needed.

Matt had spent the evening sitting in the car with Maddie asking her about her dream man while secretly knowing exactly where it was heading — because, damn it, he had manipulated it that way! — telling himself that all he needed to do was to get rid of his pent-up desire for Maddie and then everything would go back to normal.

He didn’t fall asleep until dawn, though, because he kept trying to decide if he wanted to sleep with Maddie a second or third time…and that thought kept making him hard. That was an answer in itself.

It was just the aftereffects of their night together, he told himself. Everything would be fine. Things would cool down and they would return to a sensible, platonic relationship. If anything, their friendship had improved through sex! After all, they knew each other even better now.

Or did they?

When he woke the next morning, he almost believed it. Maddie had left for work early, but there was a post-it on the fridge.

I made omelets. Yours is cold now, but you looked so exhausted that I thought it was better to let you sleep. Did you have a stressful night yesterday? Good luck with the game later!

I just realized I could have written all this to you in a text and saved paper. Whatever, I’m going to make the best of it now!

Underneath was a hideous drawing of a chicken laying an egg. Apparently that was her idea ofthe best.

Matt chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. That was normal. Everything was fine between them. The only thing left was the matter with Dax. Well, if he was lucky, they wouldn’t have a chance to talk before the game today. Last week, they had only communicated in grunts and nods. Jack said they were behaving childishly. Matt said at least it wasn’t grunts and middle fingers. And, as for the get-together afterward, which Maddie was practically forcing him to attend… Well, there would be plenty of other people around to talk to! It didn’t have to be stiff or awkward at all. If all else failed, he could just keep his mouth shut.

“That can’t seriously be your plan,” Jack said a few hours later, rolling his eyes as they ascended the stairs to Dax’s apartment. “I thought you two had made up and tonight’s dinner was where you celebrate your unique male friendship.”

“No, this is a forced meeting that Maddie and Lucy arranged because they can’t stand to see Dax and me mad at each other. They’re trying to force us to talk again.”

The center looked at him, perplexed. “But Lucy said it would be a relaxing evening!”

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