Page 25 of Lucky Sucker

Now the slight brown smudges around Jack’s mouth made some more sense. I’d half thought he’d fallen into dirt, but I didn’t want to say anything.

I didn’t realize how finicky the paper and string were on the present, but he finally got through them both to see my creation. A small, crocheted orca plushie, perfect for a keyring if I’d looped in an actual keyring. “It’s amigurumi,” I said. “Crochet animals, cute ones.”

“I love it,” he said. “We should get these in the merch store. Everyone on the team should have one.”

The team was around twenty people, and I could’ve made them all little orcas, but the minute someone asked me to make them something, I kinda lost the joy of it. “It’s one of a kind,” I said.

“Except for the big one you have.”

“The big one?” Jack laughed. “Is that really appropriate, cap?”

Luke punched Jack playfully in the arm. “I’m gonna make coach have you do laps of the rink tomorrow,” he said. “You know what I mean, a big teddy.”

Bloo was in my tote, and since he was being talked about, I pulled him out and showed him off. “This one. They’re fun to make, but orcas don’t really produce offspring as often as you might think, so you’ll just be the only one with the small one.”

Pulled in by my waist, Luke’s hands were so welcome on my body. I didn’t want to fall for him, but he was really touching up on me, and I was at the mercy of the hottest man on campus. “What about me?” he asked. “Are you gonna make me one?”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

He kissed me on the cheek. I was blushing so much, my entire face must’ve radiated heat to the entire room of people. “What about now?”

Hugging Bloo under my arm, I pressed my lips together and hummed before I was about to hyperventilate. All eyes on me, I felt like I had to say something to him, to those who were listening. “I still need to think about it,” I let out. “I need a drink. Can I—can we—” I’d been shown around this place before, but it was huge, and I was easily flustered.

Luke walked with me, a hand on my lower back, guiding me almost into a more private area of the house. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to stay,” he whispered in the quiet of a hallway. “I’m just glad people have seen us. And nobody knows that we’re doing this to save my possibly very short career.”

“I’m fine, I just didn’t have anything prepared to say, and I—”

He took my hand and wiped it down the front of his shirt. “Let me know if it gets too much. I’ll happily walk you home, and I’m hoping you’ll let me.”

“A drink first, and then I’ll see how I’m feeling,” I told him. “But no alcohol though.”

“You’re not even legally allowed to drink,” he said, a big smile as his finger traced around on my palm, he wasn’t even looking at it, just soothing me somehow. “And we’re not allowed alcohol in the house, team policy, so don’t worry. We do have plenty of energy drinks though, so some of these guys might get a little wild from the caffeine.”

I hated that he knew how to calm me, and that he could almost sense my anxiety. I didn’t expect that from him when we first met. It was wild to see how the idea of a person could be flipped on its head, and not everyone was going to see Luke in this light. The light of the hallway, where we were keeping up the pretense of our fake dating and nobody to show off to.

The kitchen was where most of the action seemed to be. The other teammates had brought friends into the fold. I knew they weren’t on the team because it was quite literally my job to know all the members.

Navigating around all the people with Luke’s grip on my hand. “If Julia saw how many people were in the kitchen, she’d scream,” he said.

I’d still yet to meet her. “Really? Does she know you’re having a party?”

“She made the cake,” he said.

We made it to an ice bucket on a counter with a bunch of vitamin waters, caffeinated drinks, and sodas. I wasn’t intending on staying awake all night, so I grabbed a can of soda while Luke took a vitamin water.

Snaking through the people who tried stopping Luke at every opportunity, we went outside into the yard for the fresh air and to be away from the larger groups of people.

“You better not be making too much of a mess in there?” A voice snapped.In the encroaching darkness, sat on the sofa around the firepit, a woman.

Luke pulled me along with him as we walked right toward her. “I thought you’d gone home,” he said.

“Oh no, not with you lot having a party. I’m on strict orders to make sure you’re not destroying the place, and that the only junk food you eat is that cake,” she said.

I stared at her from behind Luke, the glow of the fire highlighting her face from beneath was scary.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep them on track,” he said. “You should go home.”

“I should, my wife is probably going to be waiting up,” she said. “And speaking of the rainbow community, I heard you’ve joined us.” She gestured toward us and then to the sofa on the other side of the fire pit. “The guys were talking about it earlier. Something about you using some choice words online.”

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