They disappeared from view as they headed toward the locker room, and my stomach twisted.Team stuff takes priority.
It sure did over his wife. Over his daughter… at least, one of them.
I went to our usual seats and got comfortable, waiting for Michael to join me sometime later. The interaction with my dad proved one thingveryclear—this situation with Michael was dangerous. Hockey would come first. The constant worry that I wasn’t enough, that I was an afterthought would only get worse. God, it’d be like dealing with dad’s shut out all over again. Keeping him at a distance as best I could meant everything. I chewed the hell out of my nail by the time Michael finally returned.
This wasn’t a date, but my heart still went haywire when he walked my way twenty minutes later. He wore dark jeans, a Central hoodie, and a backwards hat.
He was stupid hot. The white teeth, the messy hair, the playful glint in his eyes.And he’s into me.Well, into my body. It was my job to protect my heart.
“You’re blushing, Fletcher. You better tell me what’s going on in that pretty, genius mind of yours.” He sat down, and his cologne washed over me. Clean laundry, coffee, and musk. He kept distance between our faces, but his thigh pressed against mine, and I loved it there.
“Nothing,” I said, way too quickly, and he laughed.
“You’re a shit liar. Honestly, might be the worst I’ve met. Want to play strip poker sometime?”
It was my turn to laugh, and I slid him a glance. “We’re thinking along the same lines then, hm?”
“Naomi, you slay me.” He put a hand over his chest and pretended to faint. “Don’t tease me like that when I have to sit here for three hours in the cold and we both know I’d rather be naked with you,” he whispered, leaning back into the seat looking relaxed as hell. His arm dangled right next to mine, so close our fingers touched.
He didn’t immediately pull away, and it sent a thrill through me. That maybe he was okay if people knew about us. Wait, did I want people to know we were hooking up? Maybe? Even if he’d crush me at some point?
I frowned, unsure what I wanted anymore. We weren’t in a relationship, and I wasn’t ashamed of him, but whoa. Sweat pooled in my underboob, and my skin felt too tight for my body. We were literally fuck buddies who got along. We weren’t exclusive...well, shit. Mona and Kellie were chill about exclusivity. It wasn’t a big deal to them. Monogamy wasn’t in their top three priorities where it was for me. Maybe it was my parents’ divorce or seeing Cami go through guy after guy, but being with multiple people at one time sounded like a nightmare.
Is he sleeping with other girls? We aren’t together.
“Hey,” Michael said, nudging my knee with his. He bent closer to me, so close his breath hit my face. “What’s wrong? I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about your dad or not…”
“No, it’s not that,” I said, the mention of my dad making everything worse. “I mean, he upset me but that’s… it’s nothing.” I chickened out. Plain and simple.
“If we’re going to be friends, don’t pull that shit with me,” he said, his voice more aggressive than I’d heard before. He pressed his lips tight together as his stare intensified.
“It’s… just… well,” I stammered, pushing my hair out of my face to buy some time. This was horrible. Why did these thoughts have to intrude now? Why not later, when we were in bed together?
A loud buzzer went off, and the players got on the ice, hip-hop music blasting from the speakers and drowning out my voice. Thank god. It bought me a few more minutes to figure shit out.
I could be honest, but he’d think I was makingthisinto something more. What if he did want to hook up with other women? I couldn’t stop him. He had all the rights to. I chewed on my hangnail and felt Michael’s stare on me through the entire warm up. Ten minutes later, the game started, and sound returned to a normal level.
“Should be a good game, huh? I hope Hank talks to him about using the profiles.”
“Please don’t change the subject. If something’s bothering you, especially if it’s me, I’d like to know so I can rectify the situation. You matter way too much to me to try and guess what’s in your head.”
Fuck. I closed my eyes and pushed out the words. “We never talked about exclusively hooking up. It’s been on my mind.”
“Oh.”
I opened one eye and found him frowning. He pulled at a loose string on his jeans and worried his bottom lip. He ran a hand over his face before clearing his throat. “Are you thinking about getting involved with someone else?”
“What? Me? No.”
His gaze snapped to mine, and his lips curved into a smile. “I’m not either, sowhyis it on your mind then?”
My face heated like a thousand suns, and I groaned. “So, we’re both not interested in other people.”
“Correct, and I don’t have any plans to go after anyone else either. I like spending all my time with you, but if you think differently, don’t be afraid to tell me.”
His words washed over me, warming me all the way to my soul. Even the freezing temps in the rink couldn’t stifle the fire in my heat.I like spending all my time with you.God, did he not realize I felt the same? He was being so mature about all of this… it threw me off. “You’re not like the guys I’ve been with.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much,” he said, those damn dimples teasing me. He placed a hand on my knee and squeezed for a second before he winked.
