Page 93 of Puck Me Back to Life

Good.

Dante continues talking. “I knew it.”

“You know nothing.”

“You're definitely fucking him.”

I stop walking. The little bastard smirks.

“Careful,” I growl.

“Oh my God.”

I immediately hate this conversation. “Go away.”

His grin returns. “That's not a denial.”

I release his shirt.

He straightens his collar dramatically. “You are unbelievable.”

Then he walks away laughing. I seriously consider tripping him. Instead, I sit back down and pull out my phone.

Across the room, Kai is pretending to listen to one of the assistant coaches. Pretending being the important word. He's clearly trying very hard not to look in my direction. Which immediately makes me want his attention.

A perfectly healthy reaction. Completely normal.

I open our text conversation.

Ash: My place tonight.

No greeting. No question mark. No room for negotiation. Exactly the way the message should be. I hit send.

Thirty seconds later, Kai's phone buzzes. I watch him pull it out and read the message. His ears immediately turn pink. The reaction sends an absurd amount of satisfaction through me.

Then his eyes start searching. A moment later they find mine.

I lift an eyebrow.

His expression says several things. None of them are polite. His thumbs start moving.

My phone vibrates. I glance down. And immediately regret being in public.

Kai: Yes sir.

Jesus Christ.

I stare at the screen, brain completely restarting.

Then I look back up. Kai has already shoved his phone into his pocket like he doesn't understand what that message just did to me. Like he didn't intentionally launch a missile directly at my self-control.

The little shit. Heat crawls slowly up my neck.

Practice starts ten minutes later. Coach decides almost immediately that nobody deserves happiness. The announcement arrives in the form of a whistle and a stack of brightly colored pinnies.

A collective groan moves through the team.

Coach ignores it. “Split into groups.”