Page 15 of Pucker Up
Ethan cleared his throat. “What’s so cool about this girl?” he asked.
Harrison’s cheeks seemed to turn a shade pinker. “She actually knows about hockey.”
I smiled, remembering my conversation with Goldie. She could talk about the game like someone who had played it at a serious level. “That’s pretty hot,” I agreed.
“And she does this thing with her tongue.” His eyes glinted.
“Here we go.” Ethan laughed. “She would have to be pretty freaky deaky to stay on Harry’s call list for more than one or two nights.”
Harry made a ball-cupping motion. “She gets them both in her…”
“Enough,” Gideon boomed. “I came in here to relax after my workout, not hang out with a bunch of high school kids.” He got up.
“Gideon.” Ethan started to stand. “You don’t have to leave. We can talk about hockey…” His voice faded. It was obvious he had no idea what else Gideon was into, other than the game. If the guys knew that he loved reading cozy mysteries and was obsessive about Ping-Pong as a kid, it might have helped his likability with the team.
I shivered as Gideon held open the door and a gust of room-temperature air flooded the sauna. “No. You guys can go back to talking about how many balls your girl can fit in her mouth. But, Harry, keep an eye on Ace. He might try to fill her mouth up with his mini sack when you’re not looking.”
It was impossible to slam the sauna door, but Gideon managed to do it anyway. “Who pissed in his cornflakes?” Harry muttered, but gave me a wary glance.
“I think that the pressure is getting to him.” I wasn’t exactly giving an excuse for my brother’s behavior—he was being a dick—but I knew how hard he worked. I also knew that no matter how many times I tried to tell him that I hadn’t slept with his girlfriend, even almost a year later, it would always be her lying words against mine.
The question hung in the steam between us. They wanted to ask, but didn’t.
I didn’t sleep with my brother’s girlfriend. But he doesn’t believe me and it has made him hate my guts. We only got physical about it once. I ended up with two black eyes, and he broke his hand. Neither of us could play for months; it’s hard to skate and score goals when you can’t see or your hands don’t work.
“So…Banksy, tell us about this trick.” It was obvious that Ethan was trying to change the subject, and I appreciated the gesture.
Banksy’s lips pulled into a grin and the air instantly cleared.
“I’ll keep that a secret. I don’t want Ace to steal her away from me.”
Ouch. It hurt, but I pretended it didn’t. I smacked Banksy on the arm. “I’d be more worried about Ethan, or Mikey Holmes.” I gestured to Ethan with my thumb.
“Nah.” Ethan wiped the sweat off his face with the corner of his towel. “My balls are too big.”
Gideon was right. We were immature little bastards. Even I was getting tired of the ball talk. I also wanted to get as far away from the lingering question in the air: Did Ace Bailey really fuck his brother’s girlfriend?
Instead, I asked the question that had been plaguing me all morning. “Have any of you ever had a girl you know…reject you?”
The two of them looked at each other and then burst into laugher. “Dude.” Ethan grinned. “I play in the NHL.”
Harrison tapped his bottom lip with his fingertip. “Not for a few years. Once when I was a junior, I wanted to date this figure skater named Josie. She flat-out said that she would only date me if I wasn’t a hockey player.”
“Did you think about quitting?” I asked.
“Not for a second. Hockey has always come first. Right, Ethan?”
Ethan nodded. “You?” he asked.
“Hockey first,” I agreed with them.
Harry poured more water on the sauna rocks. “Tell us exactly how an NHL hockey player who makes millions of dollars a year, drives that badass pickup truck, and got offered an underwear sponsorship gets shot down.”
I sighed. “I wish I knew. We went out to lunch and had a great time. At the end, I asked her on another date and she said that she doesn’t date hockey players.”
Harry’s eyes widened. “Was her name Josie Green?”
We all laughed. “No. But, she did have a weird name. Goldie.”
