Page 49 of The Puckable Playbook

“Maybe.”

“It would be cool if you came.”

Yeah, cool to have me sitting there, watching them make eyes at each other, knowing there’s no chemistry. God forbid they kiss in front of me.

I tell her I’m going to lie down for a little while before I do something stupid like ask her to drop Clark so she and I can go to Bubbles tonight alone. I’d give her the best damn first date she’s ever hadandthe kiss she deserves.

Blinking,I yawn and stare at the ceiling for a second before I reach for my phone, turning the screen toward me.Shit. It’s already eight p.m. All I wanted was to lie down to think about things, and I ended up conking out for a few hours.

I grab my phone and text Adam.

Want to go to Bubbles?

Sure, man.

Be ready in thirty.

I don’t wait for him to respond. I jump in the shower to rinse and am brushing my teeth when he texts back that he’ll be ready.I put on some cologne, find my outfit, and style my hair with the clay stuff my sister bought me.

When I open my door, a white flutter moves in front of me, and then a piece of paper slides onto the floor. I pick it up reading:

Don’t forget about Bubbles. Hope to see you there.

She has such pretty handwriting. I find myself tracing the swoopy lines with my fingers. There’s no way I wouldn’t go now.

Within the next fifteen minutes, Adam’s in my car playing DJ as we drive out to Longville, the same town the hockey arena is in, and he’s peppering me with questions about Len. “So let me get this straight,” he says, “this asshole clearly doesn’t want you to go, but you’re going anyway?”

“That’s about it.”

“Well played.”

“You should’ve seen the look he gave her.”

“Ha. Bro is worried.” He taps the dash. “He should be. You got the whole hockey team thinking she’s yours already. They won’t even breathe in her direction now.”

“Don’t think I don’t know you set that whole thing up. Jackass.”

He gives me a grin. “You needed a push.”

“You told me she was going to be a stalker.” I park the car on a side street and feed the meter.

Adam meets me at the front of the car. “That was before I saw how awesome she was.” He looks like he’s going to say more but gets caught up in staring at a cluster of girls ahead of us as we walk toward Bubbles. The hem of their dresses barely covers their asses. I doubt Len owns an outfit like that, but I’d loveto see her in one…privately. Maybe I can convince her to start wearing sweats again so her body can be a treasure just for me.

I elbow Adam, who hasn’t taken his gaze off the girls in front of us. “Make sure you keep your phone on.”

“Oh, I’m sticking by you,” he says. “I need to see how this plays out.”

We pay at the door, and the bass of the blaring house music reverberates through my chest as I step inside. Adam follows. “We’ll have a hell of a time finding her.”

The place is set up with a bar on one side and the dance floor in the middle with seating on the opposite side. Big columns slice up the floor, holding up the second level where more people dance, some leaning over the railing with drinks in their hands, staring at the crowd below.

I peer to the right and spot Len against a wall, a drink in her hand, head bobbing to the music while Clark leans against the wall, hands shoved in his pockets. They’d barely made it inside.

“Found her.”

“Huh?”

I point toward Len, and Adam pushes me that way. My gaze travels down the length of her, and I nearly stumble over my feet. A form-fitting sequin dress hugs her in all the right ways, the strobe lights reflecting off its iridescent shine. That definitely wasn’t in her closet before.

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