Page 55 of Puck You
Nothing could stop the flood of naughty images—ones featuring Grace on the ice dressed in a sexy teacher outfit, with knee-high socks and a long pointer stick.It was impossible not to think of all the ways I wanted to fuck her.Maybe if we slept together, I wouldn’t feel so strung out over the girl.Who was I kidding?Grace wasn’t the type of girl you fucked out of your system.She was the girl who became even harder to forget once you finally got a taste.This past week had been proof enough of that.
“What’s that look for?”she asked.“Your eyes glazed over for a second.Am I boring you?”
“You’re not boring me.”Trust me, I wanted to say, but I was confident that she’d laugh at the suggestion.
Grace switched to a new stretch, lying down on the mat with her back to the ground.She lifted her knee at a ninety-degree angle and folded it over the opposite side of her body.As she settled into the stretch, she focused on keeping her shoulders flush to the mat.
“You’re avoiding the question, Sebastian.Tell me what you were thinking.”
Unbelievable.After a week of avoiding my entire existence, Grace was calling me out for dodging a simple question.If anyone was being evasive, it was her, and I was more than happy to prove it.
Without breaking eye contact, I lowered myself down to her mat, setting my knee in the space between her legs.Grace sucked in a gasp asI pressed my hand to the side of her leg and pushed, deepening the stretch.Then, with the most wicked smile I could muster, I leaned down until our faces were inches apart.
“Do you remember last time you asked for a peek inside my head?”The memory of her raspy cry was one I revisited quite frequently.I need to understand.Please, tell me.I'd never forget the sound of her pleading or the shape of her mouth as she’d uttered that five letter word.“Do you recall what came next?”
Grace didn’t speak.I didn’t think she was even breathing as I waited for a response I knew would never come.Only after the tension had thickened to a point of discomfort did I whisper, “If that’s what you really want, you’ll have to askverynicely.”
Her pupils expanded, black swallowing the surrounding brown.I knew that if I kissed her right now, she’d let me.I couldfeel the tautness in her body; she was poised to snap at any moment.Now that she knew exactly what it felt like to have my fingers wrapped in her hair and our bodies pressed together, it was only a matter of time before she gave in.But first, I wanted her to suffer.I let my eyes focus on her lips for one incredibly long second, and then I was pushing away, flopping back onto my own mat feeling entirely too satisfied with myself.
“I want to know why you were so upset Thanksgiving night.And don’t say it was nothing.You were on the verge of having a panic attack.”
I shot her a look of utter disbelief atthe lack of reaction.That was what she was thinking about right now?After all that?
“Share something real with me, something honest, even if it’s just this once.”Grace spoke in a gentle tone that drove away any doubt of her sincerity.And those eyes.How could I deny her when she was looking at me with such genuine curiosity?
“I got a bit of bad news,” I winced at my own words, recalling the panic that had overtaken me at the mention of my mid-year report.“Well, it was actually no news, but that’s what made it bad.”
It had been over a week with no word from Duncan.Coach Dawson told me to be patient, but every day that went by without newschipped away at my confidence.It was part of the reason I was so desperate to see Grace.When I was around her, I wasn’t thinking about anything other than how much I wanted her.
“Hockey-related news?”
“I haven’t heard from my scout in a while.I usually get a progress report around Thanksgiving, but there’s been nothing.”
“Why do you assume that’s bad?”she asked, letting her eyes roam over me in a curious perusal.“What if they haven’t sentthe report because they know you’ll be ready by the end of the season?”
“Or what if they haven’t sent the report because they’ve already decided to release me at the end of the season?”I shot back.
“They’re not going to let a player like you get away, trust me.”
“A player like me, huh?Would you mind telling me what that means?”I couldn’t help myself, not when Grace so rarely sang my praises.
She rolled her eyes as if she could read my mind.“I’m not going to sit here and inflate your ego; it’s already taking up half the room.You talk a big game, Seb, and you play one too.Why are you doubting that now?”
I felt a little jolt of excitement at the sound of my nickname.
“I know I’m great,” I said without a single doubt in my mind.“But it’s not always about that.I took a bad hit and was out for a year.Scouts get concerned about injuries like that.”The average hockey career lasted five years for a reason: the sport was rough, and after a few big injuries, it was hard to compete at such a high level.
“You’re too good a player for them to overlook, even with a past injury.”She shook her head in disbelief.“I can’t believe I have to tell you that.”
Grace’s confidence was comforting, but I was beginning to realize that it didn’t matter how well I performed on the ice or who assured me everything would be fine.Until I knew with certainty what my future held, nothing would ease my anxiety.
“Why do you train like you’re preparing for the big leagues when you’re not planning on playing after college?”
“It soothes me,” she said.“I’m a bit of an overthinker.When I have something to channel my energy into, I feel less stressed about the things I can’t control.”
We both liked control, it seemed.No wonder we were constantly at each other’s throats.
Grace walked us through the remaining movements in a comfortable silence.At times, she’d reach over to correct my form with a gentle touch or remind me to breathe by catching my eye and exhaling through her nose.At the end of the final stretch, we collapsed onto the mats.My muscles were quivering from the effort of our mobility workout.Grace had sufficiently kicked my ass.
