Page 3 of No Pucks Given
Chapter 3
Siobhan
Carter has been a perfect gentleman thus far, although I was a little surprised that he invited me over to his place right away.
As we walked into his house, he said, “We’ll have some privacy for a bit. Although Spencer will eventually come back too. Can I get you some more wine?”
He was all over the place with his thoughts and movements. I wanted to calm him down, so I followed him to the bar, where he was already pulling out two bottles of wine from the mini fridge and examining them before I could say yes or no to more wine. When he realized I was there, he extended both bottles. “Not sure which one you would prefer. Wine isn’t really my thing.”
I looked at the two bottles. Both were rather expensive Chardonnays. Not wanting to be too extravagant, I chose the California bottle with a pretty label. “This one looks great.”
He plucked the bottle out of my hands and opened it. I didn’t want him to do all the work, so I grabbed two glasses from where they were hanging upside down above the sink. He tossed the cork into a bowl filled with other wine corks, which made me wonder who drank all that wine if it wasn’t his thing. It had to be either Natalie or Spencer.
With the glasses poured and in our hands, he lifted his. “Here’s to meeting you.”
It was so cheesy, but I also liked it. I tilted my head in appreciation and said, “No, to you.”
We headed to the sofas. Out of habit, I tucked my legs under my body and angled toward him. Carter completely spread himself out with his legs extended out onto the lounge and his arms stretched along the back of the couch. It felt right sitting next to him.
It was low-key and so normal. I adored it since I wasn’t one of those actresses who needed anything flashy. I spotted the remote sitting on the coffee table in front of us. Seeing the iconic black and red button, I knew the perfect question to ask, which would help me get to know him better. “So what do you like to watch on Netflix?”
His hand went up to his mouth as he stifled a chuckle. “You know Netflix and chill isn’t about watching television, right?”
I snorted since I wasn’t even thinking about that. “I’m not that naive. I’m just trying to get to know you. You have to admit, what you recently watched and your recommendations speak loads about who you are as a person.”
He nodded and grabbed the remote. He turned on the TV and opened up the Netflix app. No surprise, there were two profilesset up on the TV. His and Spencer’s. He opened up his own profile and handed over the remote. “Investigate away.”
Taking the remote, I clicked around. I loved what I saw. He loved a couple of my favorite shows like The Office and Bob’s Burgers. There were also lots of sports documentaries. Nothing too surprising, but I loved it all. I could see us just watching TV together.
After seeing what I wanted, I handed him back the remote, which he accepted, only to turn off the TV. “So what’s on your Netflix?”
“We like a lot of the same shows. I’ve rewatchedThe Office,Trailer Park Boys,andBob’s Burgerslike a hundred times. But give me a True Crime doc over a sports one. Although you never know what random kids’ things my daughter picks out and forces us to watch.”
He tilted his head. “Daughter?”
Sometimes I forgot that people didn’t know I had a child. Once the custody stuff had settled down, the tabloids stopped reporting about her, and I shielded her from the paps, so it drifted from society’s mind. Besides, he was a hockey player. He probably never read the tabloids that Natalie and I liked to gossip over.
I hoped this wasn’t a kiss of death since so many guys didn’t want to raise another man’s child. It had happened a couple of times before.
I took a sip of wine and braced myself for whatever came my way in the form of fallout. But I wanted him to be different and accept my explanation.
“Yes. I have a ten-year-old girl. I split up with her dad right after she was born. I try to protect her privacy whenever I can, so I don’t go out with her. I technically split custody with her father, but nine times out of ten, she’s spending that time with her grandparents since he never bothers to pick her up. I neverintroduce her to the guys that I date. For the most part, I go out on nights like this when she’s with her grandparents or her dad. Does this change anything? Should I go?”
He vehemently shook his head. “No. I don’t want to sound like an ass, but I have to ask. Do you still want anything to do with her dad?”
I couldn’t blame him for asking, but I knew which man I wanted in my bed. I was sitting next to him.
“God no!” The whole experience with her father had been a nightmare. “It’s over. I can’t wait until I never have to deal with him again.”
I wasn’t going to tell Carter about the fact that I dealt with Russell, her father, through a special app by the court where they could monitor our communication to make sure it didn’t get too nasty.
In all honesty, I didn’t want to talk about Russell at all. “Can we switch topics to something more fun?”
“Of course.” He pushed his blond hair back and looked over at me. “What do you want? Is this just tonight or something more long-term?”
I was going to give him the answer he wanted, and I hoped our desires truly aligned. I wanted something real and more permanent. A husband who could pleasure me and then afterward was just as likely to be the awesome dad who would root for my daughter.
“Whatever you’re into. I’m good with just tonight or anything longer. I’m not some sort of hockey groupie.”
