Page 10 of Of Pucking Course

Sophie pats my hand and smiles. “You know Xander loves to treat.”

The guys start chatting about their next game. Sam is frowning as he listens to whatever Theo is talking about. Itry not to think about the way he held me in the storage room, how his voice sounded different when he told me I was the most beautiful woman in any room…

He was just being a good friend.

Sophie grabs my hand in hers, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do about your living situation?” she asks gently as she swipes her long, strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder.

Concern radiates in her crystal blue eyes. I shake my head, dread pooling in my gut. I moved into Jake’s place when we got engaged, so I’ll need to move out as soon as possible.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.” I groan.

He’s called and texted me a handful of times over the last couple of hours, but I ignored him. I don’t want to deal with him at all right now.

“Oh god, hopefully he hasn’t thrown all my stuff out onto the street,” I say.

“He hasn’t,” Del says.

“How would you know?”

“I called him on our way here and told him that if he messes with any of your stuff, I’d bury him in my front yard.”

Ingrid rolls her eyes and bumps his shoulder. He just shrugs. I smile at my brother, thankful for his brutishness this time. That solves one problem. But I don’t even know where I’m staying tonight. I take a long sip of tequila.

Sophie grabs my hand in hers. “You can stay with me and Xander tonight.”

I hug her, relieved.

“You can even move in with us, if you want,” she says. “Our place is huge and we have an extra bedroom. We’d behappy to have you. And don’t even worry about paying rent.”

I squeeze Sophie’s hand, grateful for my best friend’s generosity. But the thought of staying with her and her fiancé, having to see them acting all cute and loved up all the time, is the last thing I want.

“You’re welcome to move in with us too,” Ingrid says. “The school you work for is right next to our neighborhood. You’d be so close.”

“Our place is open for you too, Dakota,” Bella says.

“Us too,” Maya says. “I know Theo and I are out of the way since our house is in the mountains, but you’re always welcome. We have tons of extra space.”

I smile, overwhelmed at how generous my friends are. But the truth is that I don’t want to feel like a third wheel in their loved-up households.

“Thanks, you guys. You’re amazing for offering that, really. But honestly, I don’t know if I can handle being around happy couples right now.” My cheeks heat, feeling embarrassed at what I’ve admitted. “I know that probably sounds so silly.”

Sophie squeezes my hand while Maya, Ingrid, and Bella all shake their heads.

“It doesn’t at all,” Maya says.

“We get it,” Bella says.

“You could live with Sam,” Del says after a second.

Sam turns to look at Del. “Sorry, what?”

I look at my brother, half annoyed that he was eavesdropping on my conversation…and half intrigued at the idea of living with Sam.

“You have two spare bedrooms in your townhouse, right?” Del asks Sam.

Sam clears his throat. “Yeah, I do.”

Del looks at me. “See? There you go. Living situation is resolved.”

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