Page 28 of Knot Your Pucking Mate
I nod, and he grins.
“Good. Let’s put your things upstairs—I got you the books you put back—and then we’ll go.”
“What? Now?”
“Yes, now. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Chapter Sixteen
Chase
“Where are we going?” Mandy asks as I lead her down the street. She let me grab her hand when we left her apartment building, and that small display of trust helped ease the need to possess and protect her.
Not that they’re gone completely. I can’t help giving anyone who looks at her the death stare. They’re lucky really. I could do so much.
Training today was brutal. My focus was shot. All I could think about was Mandy. I couldn’t wait for Coach to call time and send us on our way. His freaking aggressive pep talk about how we can do so much better than this went on for way too long.
When he finally let us go, I raced through the showers and left as soon as I could. Axel was hitting the gym with some of the other players, so I hightailed it out of there and set off to find my omega.
And now we’re going on our first date.
“Do you remember what you said to me after our high school hockey team had its first ice bath?”
She nods her head, her short pink curls bobbing along with her.
“Yeah, I said that you had to be a masochist to put yourself through that.”
“You’re about to see whether your words held any truth.”
“What?” she says, her mouth falling open and her blue eyes darting up to me, searching my face, maybe to see how serious I am. “No way. I’m not taking an ice bath.”
“Relax, Dee,” I say, listening to the way she sucks in a breath at my seemingly casual use of my old nickname for her. I wouldn’t admit it to her, but I’ve been holding back calling her that for fear we aren’t there yet and she might kick me in the knot or something. “I’m not taking you to have an ice bath in the Scented Scorpions locker room. There’s a wellness center just up here that offers a contrast therapy package. Ice plunges followed by sauna time and then a hot chocolate by the fire. You’re researching my sport, right? Might as well experience some ofwhat we do during our recovery periods to stay on top of our health and fitness.”
She tuts, and I can tell she isn’t entirely convinced.
“What if I have them add a massage to the package?” I’ll have to make sure they have a beta masseuse available, but even then I’m not sure how I’ll deal with someone else touching my mate.
“Deal.”
We walk the rest of the way in a somewhat easy silence. There’s still a little bit of awkwardness between us, and my gut tells me only time will allow trust to completely rebuild between us.
We enter the wellness center, and Mandy takes a seat while I speak to reception and book us in. I take the liberty of purchasing a bathing suit for Mandy as we didn’t grab her anything to put on at the apartment, and I’m not sure she’s quite ready for nude couples bathing yet.
Fuck. Just the thought of Mandy in the nude has my dick twitching in my pants, and I subtly readjust myself before handing her the bathing suit and leading her toward the contrast therapy room. I’ve been here a few times before. Mostly when I need to clear my head away from the overbearing alpha pheromones of the team and the pressures the other guys often placed on me to cozy up with a puck bunny or two.
I’m an alpha, and at times the temptation was hard to resist. But it always came back to one thing: they weren’t Mandy. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want her. Sometimes I hoped those feelings would go away. That in time I wouldn’t want her the way I do and I’d be able to sink my knot into one of the many puck bunnies throwing themselves at me.
But that never happened, and now that Mandy is here, I’m glad it didn’t.
I belong to her. She has all of me. Even my goddamn V-card, if she chooses to take it.
Turning around, I step toward where Mandy has taken a seat on the bench. I offer her my hand and she takes it with a shy smile, allowing me to help her stand.
“I got you this,” I say, handing her the simple white swimsuit with the wellness center logo on it. “There’s a changing area attached to the contrast therapy room. You ready?”
“No,” she laughs, her bright blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “I’ll never be ready for this. You may actually have to push me.”
“Consider it done.”
