Page 90 of Desperate Pucker
When we break apart, I grip her chin in my hand and hold her gaze. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, princess.”
Fire flashes in her stormy eyes. “Does friends with benefits sound better?” she asks.
“A little.”
She smiles and runs her tongue along her bottom lip, then pulls ahead onto the road.
A few minutes later, she drives into the parking garage of her building and turns off the car. She unbuckles her seatbelt, then turns to me.
“You’re really okay with this thing between us being casual? Just hooking up, nothing more?” she asks.
“I’m okay with it.”
She hesitates for a second. “Is it okay if we keep this between just us? I’m not ashamed to be with you, it’s just that…I want to do well in this job. I want people to take me seriously.” She blinks, and the look in her eyes turns embarrassed. “I think people would say some pretty harsh things about me if they knew I was hooking up with one of the players I’m training.”
I reach over and cup her face. “Who you hook up with is no one’s business. I’m good with keeping this between just us. And just for the record, anyone who would insult you for that is an asshole.”
She smiles. She leans forward and kisses me, slowly, softly.
When we break apart, she grabs my hand. “Let’s go inside.”
Maddy is in the middle of unlocking the door to her apartment when my phone buzzes with a text from Nick.
I showed my friends that pic of me with Madeline. They’re all losing their minds. They can’t believe I met her
I show her my phone. She smiles when she skims his text.
“You and your brother are cute,” she says. She scoops Bruce up and kisses the top of his head.
I slip off my jacket and hang it over the armchair in her living room while she grabs a treat for Bruce.
“He drives me nuts, but I love him.”
“What’s your little sister like?” Maddy asks.
“The opposite of him. Kind of insane that they’re twins when you think about how different they are. She’s really smart. She studies all the time. She has a perfect GPA and is involved in a ton of activities. She volunteers too.”
Maddy’s smile is warm. “I wonder what it’s like when the three of you hang out.”
“Lots of joking around and bickering. Usually over who gets the last slice of bacon.”
She chuckles. “You guys are competitive with each other?”
“Oh, yeah. Especially when it comes to any kind of sport or game. We’re not allowed to play board games anymore when we get together with our parents. It gets too heated.”
Her head falls back as she laughs.
“We get on each other’s nerves like all siblings do, but we’re solid,” I say. “We show up for each other when it counts.”
“That’s so sweet,” Maddy says. “Especially how you swoop in and save the day like a good big brother.”
“It’s the least I could do. They and my parents sacrificed a lot so I could play hockey. They moved a bunch of times for me. They used to come to my practices a lot with my parents when they were little and I was a teenager. They’ve come to tons of my games over the years. I wanna be there for them too.”
Maddy’s warm smile turns sad after a moment. “You guys have a really wonderful relationship.”
I think about how Maddy mentioned the other day that she has older siblings from her dad.
“Are you close with your siblings?” I ask.
