“Oh, right, forgive me for assuming that you’re capable of doing something as fucked-up as lying,” I say as I stalk forward until we’re toe to toe, until I’m in front of her, peering down at her sensual lips, the flush tinting her cheeks, whether fromanger or something else. “When you ran out and left me with cum and yourvirginblood still glistening on my cock.”
Her mouth opens, the stuttering response bubbling out of her. “I… I?—”
In a heartbeat, I’m cutting her off, covering that fucking mouth with my palm, silencing her. “I don’t want to hear bullshit excuses. You let me fuck you like a goddamn animal against that wall, and I had no fucking clue that you were a virgin!” My gaze moves to her throat when she swallows, her nostrils flaring.
She’s not afraid.
And even if she was, I’m too pissed off, too shocked to worry if I’m going too far right now.
“Jesus fucking Christ. What, are you, a puck bunny? Is that what it was? Wanted to give your virginity to a famous hockey player, so you let me fuck you in a bathroom so you could brag about it?”
This time, her eyes flare with anger, the air crackling between us as she reaches up and flings my hand away from her mouth. “You’re an asshole!”
I laugh, but it’s devoid of all humor. “Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be the first to try.”
She shakes her head, and for a second, it looks like there’s hurt beneath that mask of fury she’s wearing.
It makes me pause.
“What else am I supposed to think when two weeks after I fuck you, you’re here atmy job? And you’re a goddamnstudent, huh?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Her blue eyes widen. “Maybe that it’s a crazy freaking coincidence since not every girl in the world is out to fuck asuperstar.” The emphasis is clearly an insult, and I narrow my eyes, pinning her to the office door behind her. “Maybe I’m just a girl who wanted to lose her virginity without it being such a big deal. Maybe I wanted to get it over with soI no longer had to worry about it. That’s why I didn’t tell you. Not because I was trying to… I don’t know, trap you in anything. God. Who freaking hurt you to make you such a giant dick?”
She has no fucking clue.
Most people wouldn’t from the outside looking in.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a goddamn college student, Maisie?”
Her chin lifts. “Why didn’tyoutell me you’re a hockey coach, Wilder?” Defiance shines deep in her light eyes.
Jesus Christ, this is a cluster fuck. A fuckup of epic proportions.
Sure, I don’t give much of a fuck about this job in the long run, and I don’t even want to be here in the first place, but I have one chance.
One shot to “fix my image” so I’m no longer seen as a liability. So I can go back to the NHL. But one chance.
That’s the only reason I’m here pretending I give a shit about this job, wearing a mask that doesn’t fit, placating people who I want nothing to do with.
I fucked astudentin what just might be the best sex of my entire goddamn life. The girl I’ve had running through my head like she belongs there every minute since she ran out on me.
A girl I now have to spend the rest of the year working with on whatever the hell it is Coach thinks is going to help with my public image.
It was one of the conditions he laid down when he offered me this job. That I had to actively engage in improving my public image, which means participating in all team-sanctioned events and being the team’s new liaison for this service program that apparently she’s a part of.
Clearly, I didn’t know what I was agreeing to at the time.
The plan is supposed to be lie low, look like I’m OU’s golden boy alumni, while Coach parades me around like a show pony,maybe get a championship to help my case. None of which I want, but are necessary.
This?Her? Yeah, not part of the fucking plan.
“Why didn’t I tell you? Well, it’s not like there was muchtalkinginvolved, if you recall,” she adds, like I wasn’t an active participant in fucking deflowering her that night.
I lower my voice, articulating each word slowly so I’m crystal clear. “It was a mistake that never should’ve happened.”
“Of course it was.”
“I’mserious, Maisie. Whatever the intention was, however it came to be, doesn’t even fucking matter at this point.” I step back and keep distance between us because the last thing I need is for someone to find us like this, caught up in something that they’ll never understand but make assumptions about. “That night never should’ve happened. You’re a student, and I’m the hockey team’s new coach, and now we have to work together. It looks really fucking bad that I’m in a position of power with the team working with you. And you’re probably… what? A decade younger than me?”
