“I don’t even know him,” I argue, but I’m hugging her back.
“Well, biblically you know him,” she counters, and I know she’s smiling over my shoulder. “And you liked him. He made you come, Shayne, and no man has ever—”
“I know, but that’s not reason to risk repeating my mistakes,” I reply. “You of all people should know the risk is high.”
She pulls back, putting her hands on my shoulders and staring at me like a mom would to a daughter whom she’s lecturing. “I know. I still regret dating Tyler and setting you up with his teammate. God, they were both such dirtbags, but they hid it so well at first. Fuckers.”
I think back to how charming Tyler, the captain of the Syracuse hockey team, was when he and Audrey started dating. He brought her flowers and took her on romantic dates. He was funny and sweet and went out of his way to be nice to her friends. He was so captivating, and Audrey was so happy, he had me willing to go on a date with his teammate Dustin, who was interested in me, apparently.
Dustin was equally charming—and so I decided to waive my “no hockey players” rule, which I implemented thanks to dear old Dad. And for about a year I thought it was the best decision I’d ever made. Even after Audrey found out Tyler had “accidentally” slept with someone else and they broke up, I stayed with Dustin. He was different—even Audrey, with her broken heart, thought so. And then one day there was a knock on my dorm room door, and a girl I’d never met before told me she’d gotten chlamydia from my boyfriend last week, and I should get tested.
He swore she was some kind of crazy puck bunny stalker and was lying. But when the test results came back positive—and he accused me of giving it to him even though I’d been a virgin when we hooked up—I never spoke to him, or any hockey player, ever again.
“But Sebastian isn’t Dustin or Tyler,” Audrey declares.
“He’s not? Let’s see…They were hockey players, they were charming, they were handsome…” I give her a hard stare. “Sounds pretty similar to me. Oh, and he’s a Winterhawk, just like the biggest cheating hockey player out there, my dad.”
“But you like him,” she argues firmly.
“I liked him when I thought he was an accountant or a stockbroker or…a trust fund baby.” I sigh, pulling my hair out of its ponytail and giving it a shake. “I can’t like him now. Liking him now would mean…”
“Being like your mother?” she finishes for me, and I nod slightly. She frowns but pulls me into a hug. “He’s not your father. And despite what Tyler and Dustin did, I still say not all hockey players are cheating bags of dick.”
I huff out an awkward laugh at that. “Haven’t met one that isn’t.”
“Maybe that’s about to change,” she replies firmly, but I shake my head.
“Look, it’s not just that. It’s the lifestyle. It’s hard—on them and the people they date,” I explain, and I mean it. “They’re gone for weeks at a time. And their careers can end at any minute with a precarious body check. There’s torn ligaments, broken bones and concussion syndrome. He could end up addicted to painkillers, like Trey did before he could even have a career.”
Audrey thinks about that seriously. I can tell by the way her smile slips off her face and her perfectly sculpted eyebrows meld together. “Yeah. It’s a risk. But shouldn’t you at least spend a little more time with him before you write him off? Maybe go for coffee and get to know him?”
“No. He’ll just tell me what I want to hear to get what he wants, which is more nakedness,” I reply. “He proved that by not telling me about hockey in the first place.”
She sighs, disappointed, and drops back down on the couch. “Well, at least you got some great sex out of it—finally. You’ve been in a drought for years. How you can give up sex now that you’ve had it again is beyond me. I mean, seriously, you should be like a man on a hunger strike who just tasted bacon.”
“Bacon?” I question, and I smile despite the seriousness of my feelings. “Did you just call Sebastian bacon?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Bacon is delicious and so is he. It’s also bad for you, like you think he is bad for you. Of course he’s also delectable…and rich…and orgasmic—like chocolate.” She giggles. “He’s chocolate bacon.”
I don’t want to giggle with her but as usual when Audrey amuses herself she amuses me too. Even if it’s at my own expense. This is why she’s my best friend and why I’ll let her little betrayal slide—this once. “You’re ridiculous.”
“So are you, but in a way that’s a lot less satisfying,” she explains and winks at me. “Look, you don’t have to commit the rest of your life to this guy, but why not let the chemistry run its course? Work it out of your system a few more times.”
“Keep sleeping with him?!”
“Yep.”
“Nope.” She frowns. I frown. I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not the bed buddy type even if I’m fairly certain he is, because, you know, hockey player.”
My best friend suddenly looks serious. “Says who? You guys have hooked up. No flowers. No romance. Just carnal bliss. If that’s not a bed buddy, what is?”
“I was experimenting because you told me to. It was just a one-night stand,” I rationalize to both her and myself.
“A one-time thing you did twice?” Audrey still sounds skeptical. She shakes her head, blond hair skimming her shoulders. “I’ll be very surprised if you two don’t end up naked together again.”
I don’t say anything. Because I know Audrey, and when she gets something in her head it’s hard to change her mind, and I don’t even have the energy to try. Besides, time will show her how wrong she is. I glance at the wall clock and stand up.
“You here for my class?” I ask, and she nods. “Let’s go. And I expect a thank you from Josh for making you extra bendy.”
