Page 26 of Puck Love

“Hey, give me a ride?”Eli Boucher, my right wing and closest friend, says as I make my way from the locker room aftertraining.

“I can’t. I have to go across town before headinghome.”

He shrugs. “So? I’ll come withyou.”

“Where’s yourcar?”

“In the shop. Don’t be a dick,” he says, in a Quebec French accent that makes his consonants sound all fucked up. “It’s not like I’m asking you to drive an hour out of your way. Some of us don’t live in themountains.”

“Fine, but you’re staying in the Hummer while I runerrands.”

“Pfft. What-the-fuck-ever, man. I’m not a damndog.”

We exit the rink and walk over to my truck. “How the hell did you gethere?”

“A bunny dropped meoff.”

“Oh, Jesus, youdidn’t?”

“What? It’s not like she couldn’t come watch anyway. You can phone ahead and Dolores will tell you what time practicebegins.”

“Yeah, but no one is stupid enough to bring a bunny along after fucking her the night before. She’s gonna be pretending she’s your girlfriend now just to get through security atgames.”

“Relax. She’s not that kind ofbunny.”

“Huh. That’sfunny.”

“Why is thatfunny?”

I shake my head. “Because they’re all that kind of bunny, Eli, otherwise they wouldn’t fucking bebunnies.”

“Whatever. Security won’t let her in on game dayanyway.”

“Just make sure she doesn’t turn into a bunny boiler. Remember the one that wentpsycho?”

“Sweetest ass I ever had.Tellement dommage qu'elle soitfolle.”

“Oui, crazy,” I say, making out only two words in that sentence. I hate it when he speaks French. For the most part, he’s pretty good about sticking to words I understand, unless you put him in a room with a fellow Québécois. Then it’s hard to get him to switch his brain back toEnglish.

I climb into the beast. I have half a mind to lock the doors so he can’t get in, but that would just make him suspicious, since he knows I’d never leave him stranded. We might have only been friends since he got traded to Calgary from Ottawa three years ago, but he’s my brother from another mother. He spends holidays with me and my family, since he can’t stand his own, and when he looks at Emmett, he doesn’t see his disability either. He can be a real shithead when it comes to women, and he’s had my back more times than I can count, but I can’t have Eli knowing about Stella. The dude never could keep a secret, and this is one I want to hold onto for a whilelonger.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you offfirst?”

“What are you hiding,Ross?”

“What? Nothing.” I take a sip from my Gatorade bottle and start the engine, peeling out of the lot. “I’m not hidinganything.”

“Bullshit.” He grins, resting his feet on the dash. “You’re up to something . . . orsomeone.”

Half hour later, we pull into the drive of a music store in Calgary. “Dude, you thinking about buying a tinyviolin?”

“Guitar,actually.”

“Since when do youplay?”

“Never too old to learn. Besides, I’ve been told I’m awesome with myhands.”

Eli grins and makes a motion as if he’s jerking off a dick on hisforehead.

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