Page 74 of Dirty Puck

“Babe,” he said.

“Babeisn’t an answer, Baker.”

“I’ve never raised a hand to a woman in anger. Ever. You know that. I know how you like your ass slapped when we’re fucking and I went with it. Won’t happen again.”

“Except in bed, right?”

This time, he snickered. “In bed. On the floor. In the shower. Against the counter. Anywhere and everywhere. Work for you?”

“Uh… yeah. I think that works.”

“Good God, man,” someone yelled across the tarmac, “let her get on the plane already. We’ve got places to be.” Antonov. His accent set him apart from all the other players.

“Jaycee’s waiting,” Reece said, forcing me to tear my eyes from him to search her out. Jaycee stood on the third step up, waiting. Or watching. A bit of both, I think. Seeing Reece in a steady “relationship” still entertained his teammates and all those attached to the team.

“Until my holes get filled,” I said, moving away from him because what else could I say? He waited, watching me, smiling the whole time as I walked up the stairs. I knew because I kept turning around to smile back at him.

“Damn,” Jaycee whispered. “Seeing Baker in action is a thing of beauty. It’s a good thing we have a long flight ahead of us.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because I’m so turned on by that little display of yours, I might let my husband knock me up again.”

I shook my head at her while she led me to the seating. “Is that something he wants?”

“He keeps saying LJ needs a sibling. I remind him that LJ isn’t even three yet, and if he wants another baby so badly, he better find himself a sister-wife to marry.”

“I doubt you’d stay if he came home with a sister-wife.”

“No. I wouldn’t. He knows that, too.”

“Good play.”

And I looked from Jaycee to the seats filled with women, a bit nervous, to be honest. “Don’t puke,” Jaycee said, and what? Was I that transparent? “They don’t bite. You already know Chesney.” She gestured to the woman. “This is Lexi Jones.”

“Nice to meet you, Bree,” Lexi said. “I’ve heard so much about you from Tony.” Her golden-blonde hair rested in an artfully messy pile on top of her head, and she smiled at me through glossy, pink lips. A stunner.Wow.Good for Jones.

“I hope only good things,” I replied.

“Girl, you snagged the grumpy goalie. Now the men don’t have a nickname for him because ‘the gleeful goalie’ just sounds stupid.”

I liked knowing the men thought of Reece as gleeful because of me, especially given his mother’s condition, but Lexi was right, it was lame.

“He’s never been grumpy with me.” It might not have been totally true. He was pretty awful when we first started this thing. But I couldn’t let that slip. What kind of woman continued to have sex with a man who treated her so poorly? In this case, the little white lie seemed like the best course of action.

“Yeah, but you give him blowjobs,” Jaycee replied and we all laughed again. This was a good group of women, and my nerves fled in that moment.

“Not when we first got together,” I defended myself.Nota lie. He took control from the very first encounter and a blow job from me wasn’t on his to-do list.

Jaycee continued to introduce me to the other women until we reached our seats in the back, and she offered me the window.

My phone rang, reminding me that I needed to put it on airplane mode. When I pulled it from my purse, Dane’s name showed on the screen. I let that go to voicemail. He didn’t getto dampen this trip for me. After all this time, all the calls I’d placed to try to talk to him about Benny’s child support for his therapies,nowhe decided to call me back?Asshole.

“What’s that look about?” Jaycee asked.

Sighing, I turned the phone on airplane mode as I answered, “Nothing really. Just Benny’s sperm donor. He’s a tool, which always makes for a fun conversation whenever we have to talk.”

“Would it make me a bitch to say I’m glad I don’t know what that’s like?”

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