Page 35 of One Good Puck
Dakota’s big brown eyes go wide. “Tell me everything.”
“Yesterday morning, we bumped into each other in the kitchen right after he came home from a run. He was shirtless.”
A giddy smile pulls at her lips. “Details!”
I groan. “He’s really sexy.”
She giggles.
“I mean, I knew that he was in shape. He’s a formerprofessional athlete. But to see all those muscles up close was…”
“Hot?”
I tug a hand through my hair, my face on fire. “Yup. Very hot.” I let out a breath as my mind replays running into Gavin. All the hard lines in his chest and abs. Those deep V-lines that trailed along his hips and disappeared underneath his shorts…
“He’s ripped,” I murmur.
“You should look up photos of him when he was young and played pro hockey,” Dakota says. “He was a hottie.”
“Oh, I’m sure he was,” I say. “But I honestly, I like older guys more.”
Dakota nudges me again.
“By the way, does Sophie know you think her dad is hot?”
Dakota winces. “Yeah. She thinks it’s gross, of course, but it’s true. Her dad is insanely handsome. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Every woman I know swoons over that guy.”
Her smile turns knowing as she looks at me. “But you’re the one who lives with him. And I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Abby. He likes you.”
I shake my head. No way does Gavin like me in that way, especially after how abruptly he ended our conversation the other night.
“Nothing will ever happen between Gavin and me,” I say. “He’s technically my landlord. My very generous landlord, who’s letting me and my daughter live with him for free. I’m not going to do anything to ruin that.”
Dakota’s expression softens. “You’re right. Sorry for teasing you so much about it.”
“It’s okay. I know you’re just playing around,” I say. “And I don’t think he likes me in that way. He was a little standoffish last night with me.”
Dakota frowns. “What happened?”
I tell her about whipping up girl dinner for Gavin after he came home from the game, how we were chatting and joking around, having a great time together, until I brought up the reporter who asked him about McCoy.
“God, I hate that guy,” Dakota says. “He’s trash for releasing his ex’s nudes.”
“That’s what I said to Gavin. I told him how sorry I was that the reporter gave him pushback for getting rid of McCoy. And he sort of shut down. He ended the conversation and went to bed.”
Dakota looks confused, but a second later, her expression turns serious.
“I think I know why he reacted like that. It wasn’t your fault, though,” she says.
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“It has to do with Sophie’s mom.”
A loud noise pulls our attention to the playground, where a small group of kids is playing tag while screaming and laughing. When we see they’re okay, Dakota turns back to me.
“Sophie told me this years ago. I almost forgot about it,” Dakota says. “Her mom, Nicole, used to be a model when she was young. The guy she dated before she met Gavin was a photographer. He took tons of photos of her, and a lot of them were printed in ad campaigns and magazines. He also took nude photos of her. They were private and never meant to be shared with anyone.”
My stomach sinks.
