Page 28 of Of Pucking Course

A little girl from Dakota’s class walks up to her. “Miss Taylor! Hi!”

“Hey there, Kira,” Abby says.

Kira glances over at me, and her big brown eyes widen. “Wow. You’re really big. As big as my house.”

I burst out laughing. Abby and Dakota chuckle.

I shrug at Kira. “I guess I am pretty tall, huh?”

She nods. She holds up a bracelet made of chunky pink beads. “Miss Richards, can I take the friendship bracelet we made and give it to my gramma?”

“Of course you can.” She smiles at Kira before looking back at me. “We made friendship bracelets yesterday.”

“Very cool.” I see the word “love” spelled out on the bracelet and smile.

“Are you two friends?” Kira looks between us.

I nod, and Dakota says, “We are.”

“You should give your friend a friendship bracelet too, Miss Richards.”

“Oh, I don’t know if he’d like that,” Dakota says.

“I’ll take a friendship bracelet,” I say.

Dakota aims a warm smile at me before pulling a pink beaded bracelet from the pocket of her dress. She hands it to me, and I put it on my wrist.

I show Kira. “What do you think? Does it look okay?”

Her eyebrows furrow like she’s carefully studying the look of the bracelet on my wrist. “It looks good.”

I chuckle. Abby pats Kira’s shoulder and leads her toward the play area. “Nice to see you again, Sam,” Abby says.

“You too. Thanks again for helping me get in.”

Dakota and I step off to the side of the door.

“I can’t believe I forgot my lunch,” Dakota says when I hand her the container. She glances down at it, then looks back up at me. Her big brown eyes are shy. “Thanks for bringing it to me. You didn’t have to.”

“I definitely did. I’m the reason you forgot it.”

She lets out a flustered laugh. I can’t help but smile.

“I was a little thrown off, seeing you…without your clothes.” She bites her bottom lip.

Damn, that’s cute.

Quit thinking about how cute she is. She’s your friend. And your roommate. And totally, completely off limits. You’re a gentleman. A Boy Scout. From this moment on, you will only have friendly thoughts about Dakota.

“I, uh, figured it was only fair for you to see me in just a towel. I saw you in just a towel,” I joke.

Dakota lets out a surprised laugh.

“Seriously though, I’ll be sure to keep my clothes on around the house,” I say.

Dakota’s flushed cheeks flank her shy smile. “That’s probably for the best. You’re pretty distracting without your clothes.”

Intrigue flickers inside of me. I’m pretty sure there’s a teasing, flirty lilt to Dakota’s voice…

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