Page 76 of Pucking Wild

“Tess—” Ryan’s eyes go wide as he takes me in. “Flash, cut the music,” he calls over to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome stretched out in the reading chair.

The music cuts, leaving the video game as the only sound. I glance to the TV and see a split screen with all the Mario characters in little race cars. I was never hip enough to own or play video games growing up, but I’m pretty sure this one is called Mario Kart.

“Hey, you’re home early,” he calls, reaching for his knee brace that rests forgotten on the coffee table.

“Am I?” I say, suddenly noticing the mess on the kitchen table too. Someone ate cereal out of a mixing bowl and left out the milk…and the cereal…andspilled some of it.

“Don’t worry, we’ll clean up the mess later,” calls the freckled redhead sitting next to Ryan.

“The guys just came over to make sure I was sticking to my PT routine,” Ryan offers.

“It’s fine,” I say, giving them all a little wave. “Hi, everyone.”

A round of deep hellos chorus back at me.

Ryan is distracted, strapping on his knee brace before he gets up. “Uh, guys, this is Tess,” he says gesturing at me. “Tess, these are just some of the rookies. That’s Flash in the chair there,” he says, pointing out the black-haired guy.

“Flash?” I repeat with a raised brow.

“Yeah, my last name is Gordon,” he replies with a grin.

I smile. “Cute.”

“And this is Jonesy and Westie,” Ryan adds point to the two guys on the couch. They’re both cute, with soft baby faces that contrast with their cut man bodies. Goodness, they look like they might still be teenagers, which makes me feel a little pervy for calling this a porno set.

“And I’m Patrick,” says the giant sitting in the chair closest to me. He gets up, unfolding what has to be his 6’4” frame, and turns.

Holy fuckballs.

My eyes go wide. He can’t be more than twenty years old, but he’s got the body of Apollo. And I swear to all the gods, he’s actually glistening right now. Like, baby oil glisten. It’s catching in the fucking sunlight. This must be his post-workout glow.

“Nice to meet you, Tess,” he says in that deep voice, dripping with the confidence of youth.

He gives me a once over, and it feels like he’s undressing me with his eyes. I clear my throat, dropping my gaze away from him. The cocky asshole smirks. Oh yeah, hewantsme to look. He practically screams ‘fuckboy.’ I bet he has exactly two things in his pocket: his car keys and a condom.

“Go bench-press something, Patty,” Ryan says, stepping past him in a deliberate way that puts himself between us. “Hey, you have a good day?” he says at me.

His question is all it takes to catapult my mind back through time, reliving the utter chaos of this day. I feel suddenly breathless. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna cry in front of Patrick Abs-for-Days McHockey Boy.

“Yep, all fine,” I lie, quickly turning away from him. I fake looking for something in the fridge, though I’m not hungry or thirsty. It gives me a chance to just swing open the door and shove my head inside, taking a hit off the cold air.

“Hey, Tess, can you bring us some sodas?” calls one of the boys from the couch.

I jerk upright, slow turning to look that way.

“Fuck you, Westie,” Ryan says before I can respond. “She’s not your fucking maid. Get your own damn soda.”

“She’s standing right there,” he replies with a shrug, turning back to his video game.

“I’m sorry about all this,” Ryan says, facing me. He looks worried, nervous even. “I didn’t invite them over. This isn’t my scene, I swear.”

“It’s fine, Ryan,” I say, reaching out to touch his bare shoulder. My fingers barely brush his skin before I drop my hand away. “You can have your friends over. It’s none of my business,” I add with shrug.

“They’re not my friends,” he says, his voice lowering. “And they invited themselves over. But I gotta be there for them, you know? Guide them along a bit.”

I glance around at the mess on every surface of our previously clean house. “And this is you guiding along the next generation? Teaching them how to make boxed mac and cheese?”

“Don’t forget the cut-up hotdogs,” he replies with a smirk.

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