Page 33 of Dirty Puck

Given the women started talking women shit, I tuned them out and turned to Bishop. “A heads-up would’ve been nice. I didn’t know this was a team event.”

Bishop draped his arm over the back of his little guy’s chair. “I didn’t know. Linc called while we were getting ready to head to the library. I told him we were meeting you and Bree. This is all on him.”

“What?” Bonner asked defensively. “All of a sudden, you’re hooking up with the hottest custodian any of us will ever meet and going to story hour with her kid like you’re some big, happy family and we’re not supposed to see this for ourselves?”

“How long has this been going on?” Antonov asked. And why was she ignoring your ass last night?”

Question answered. Bishop definitelydidn’tgive them the lowdown.

“We fell into it pretty quickly. But there’s no halfway with Bree. She’s the kind of woman you jump in with both feet or leave her the fuck alone. I said something dumb the other day, but we’re solid now.”

“So you’re saying I took too much time?” he asked.

“Please, you took as much time as you were ever going to take. Everyone here knows your longest committed relationship was that one chick from Texas who actually got to fallasleep in your bed before you kicked her out the next morning and ghosted her.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“I tell you what, though—she has this calming effect on me. Who needs Xanax when you’ve got Bree?”

“It’s hard to stay an uptight bitch when you’ve got pussy that sweet in your bed,” Winstead said, grinning right before Bonner and Antonov smacked him upside the head at the same time.

Chesney shot him a look, one laced with pure hurt, and for a second, the smug fell right off his face.

“Say that again and your rookie year will be your retirement year,” I warned. You didnotdisrespect the women at this table in front of me.

Just when the punk opened his mouth to shoot it off again, our server came to the table. Everyone else gave their dinner orders. I’d forgotten to look at the damn menu. The four of us—well, okay the three of us because Bree ordered for Benny—gave our drink orders along with our food orders. I chose a Modelo and the surf and turf. The sirloin cooked to medium. And you damn well better believe I listened closely to what Bree and Claudia ordered. A ribeye for each woman. When I heard that, I tuned them out again. All was right in the world. She’d listened.

“What was that look about?” Bishop asked once the other men were deep into shop talk.

“Look?” I asked.

“You were pretty invested in her order.”

Fuck, this guy paid attention to everything. As our center, it was his job, but still, I didn’t invite him to hang to be harassed about why I did or didn’t do something. But rather than get upset and ruin our meal, I gave it to him this once. “Bree and I are new. She doesn’t earn the kind of money we do. I told her at the library that I was paying so she better not order a side salad and water because this place is a little richfor her, usually. I wanted her to have a good time out with new friends enjoying a good meal.”

Bishop balked. “Shit—I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”

I shrugged. “Benny needs help. She’s been paying for his therapies alone.”

“His dad?” Bishop asked.

“Piece-of-shit loser, from what I gather. Doesn’t have anything to do with his son. I can’t even fucking imagine it. How do younotwant to care for your own kid?”

“I don’t know. I had to fight Jayce to be able to take care of them both.”

“Yeah, I remember. My dad was a piece of shit like Benny’s dad, but my mom’s a teacher, and back when, you could live a comfortable life on a teacher’s salary. We weren’t rich, but had everything we needed. How do you even call yourself a man when you don’t make sure your kid has everything he needs? Benny needs his therapies. That dumb fuck better hope we never meet.” I meant that too. Bree and I might not’ve been a real couple, but I cared what happened to her. To Benny.

“This is real, then, between you two?”

I froze for a second. Bishop could read minds now? “What kind of question is that?”

“Listen, we all can see Bree’s gorgeous. She’s always sweet to us when she’s cleaning the locker room and doesn’t put our business out for the masses, which is a huge selling point and I see why you’d want her in your bed. But the fact remains, you’re the guy who only, like, last month when Jones was harassing you about settling down said you planned to stay single until you died.”

Who the fuck did he think he was, coming at me like this?

“This really how it’s going down?”

He put his hands up in a ‘calm down’ motion. “I’m not trying to step on your toes here. I just want you to rememberthat little kids get attached fast and then if you get bored and leave, he’ll internalize it. The kid has enough issues. He doesn’t need abandonment on his plate. That’s all I’m saying.”

---