Take off to touch down is only ninety minutes, and we arrive at the gate fifteen minutes early, despite the rain. Ihatelanding in the rain. As soon as our wheels are on the tarmac, I’m texting Cal.
When I make it to the exit, he still hasn’t texted me back. I’m thirty seconds away from ordering a rideshare when a honk causes me to look up and see the cheeky bastard grinning about twenty yards down.
Opening the door of his SUV, I climb inside, practically throwing myself over the console to hug my friend. Although we lead very different lives, Cal is always a welcome sight.
“Hey, babe,” he says, wrapping his arms around me and planting a kiss on my cheek.
After swinging by the hotel to check in and get ready, Cal and I are strutting up to the doors of Luscious, our favorite Atlanta hot-spot.
If I find a good hookup, maybe I can cut my contractor some slack when Monday rolls around.
Here’s to hoping.
Knox makes itreallyhard to mind my own business when he’s out back with his slutty toolbelt, backwards hat, and threadbare T-shirt showcasing his massive arms and chest. And I keep coming back to the fact that he lifted his shirt a second time. For me.
Upon gaining admission to the club, I squeal in delight. The Hydras, the new NHL team in Atlanta, are at the club tonight for some PR thing. I’m sure someone forced them all to be here, but do you think that’s going to stop me from flirting my ass off?
Absolutely not.
I look amazingtonight. My favorite rainbow booty shorts make my tight ass utterly fucking edible, and the white fishnet crop top I paired them with? HOT. AS. FUCK.
As if that weren’t enough, I applied the rhinestone freckles that highlight my sculpted cheekbones, and my naturally blond hair make those freckles pop even more.
Armed with my confidence, I sashay across the club with Callum in tow, grab a drink, and survey the land. My eyes immediately fall on the group of hockey players in the VIP section. They’re clearly trying to figure out their game plan, but to their credit, they don’t look uncomfortable at all. In fact,several of them tip their heads back in laughter and look right at home in the gay club.
A second later, I spot my mark. The man is a fucking giant. As I approach, my heart ticks faster at his flawless light brown skin. His hips move in sync with the beat, telling me of his rhythm, and if I don’t claim him right now, someone else will.
I say nothing as I approach, wrapping my arms around his lean waist and grinding my groin against his to the music.
This man could crush me with his thumb…just how I like them.
He’s even taller than I’d originally thought, and he has the mass to match.
I sing along to the current song as he cups my face, his thumbs trailing across my press-on freckles. The look of wonder in his expression melts my heart. This man is clearly going through something, and, not for the first time, I’m grateful that I’ve never felt the need to hide who I am or what I want.
But before I can figure out what he’s dealing with, a face I instantly recognize interrupts us. As a hockey fan, it’s impossible not to know Ryder Kingston, the goalie for the Hydras. As a division rival of my home team, I can name most of the Hydras players, but Kingston’s also hotter than the sun, so that helps to make him memorable.
While I’m fangirling, he barks at my partner to stop dancing with me.
Two things catch my attention.
One, Ryder calls the man Knox.Of-fucking-course I would end up in the arms of a man with the same name as the one I came here to forget.
And two, maybe not everyone on the Hydras team is here because of a PR stunt. I think Ryder Kingston means to lay his own claim to this giant hottie…and who could blame him?
My suspicions are confirmed when this fuckergrowlsat me with his teeth bared, causing me to hold my hands up in surrender. Turning my attention back to my dance partner, I let him off the hook because the look of longing on his face tells me he wants Ryder as much as the goalie wants him.
I bid them goodnight and move about the club to find my next dance partner, which doesn’t take long in this crowd.
By midnight, I’m rocking a decent buzz and wearing a smile indicative of my fun evening, but no one’s coming back to my hotel room because ever since hearing Knox’s name, I’ve been unable to get him out of my mind. I already know any attempt at hooking up with someone new would be futile. My sister’s words from earlier come back to haunt me, and I wonder what’s wrong with me that I can’t just find someone my own age to fuck like she suggested.
For someone who doesn’t have daddy issues, my preferredtyperemains a mystery to me.
I pull my phone from the waistband of my shorts and open the messaging app. Like the only way to get a song out of your head is to listen to it, I know there’s only one way to get Knox off my mind.
It’s late, but these are the perfect hours for making bad decisions. My parents texted me Knox’s number before they left, in case I needed to contact him…and I’m thinking that need just arose.
Taylor
