Puck Drills & Quick Thrills (CU Hockey 5)

But when I open the door, it’s only West standing there. He holds up a rose.

“What’s this?” My lips twitch as I take the flower.

“Just a reminder that I was thinking of you. And by thinking, I mean pining for. I can’t believe you left me for an entire day.”

I chuckle as I set the flower down on my hall table and then tug West toward me. “Ah, there’s that patient quality all hockey players are known for.”

“Fuck patience.” He guides my mouth toward his. “I missed you.”

My lips brush his, and it’s the first time I relax all day. We’ve gone far longer without seeing each other before, but with the uncertainty Ezra has injected into me, this might have been the hardest time I’ve spent away from him. I pull back and murmur, “I missed you too.”

“You’re going to stay tonight, aren’t you?”

I cringe. “Maybe. Ezra—”

“It’s not like he sleeps in my bed.”

I stiffen. “I fucking hope not.”

“Wow.” West steps back. Blinks at me. “Did you just growl?”

“What? No.”

“You did. You growled. Oooh, look at you being all territorial. Are you going to piss on my leg next?”

A long sigh leaves me, and I hold back from rubbing my head. “Why do I put up with you?”

“Because you think I’m sexy?”

My heart picks up a beat. “You know it’s so much more than that, right?” So, so much more. Feelings too big to give words to with Ezra sitting in my driveway waiting for us.

The playfulness on West’s face dims. He strokes my cheek and leans down to rest his forehead on mine. “Yeah, Jas. Me too.”

I know we should probably get going, but I can’t help myself. My mouth finds West’s, and then I’m kissing him like it’s been weeks instead of one day. He presses into me, tongue finding mine, a long gravelly moan building between us—

An obnoxiously loud wolf whistle cuts through the air.

I pull back, and West chuckles. “Is he going to do that every time?”

“Probably. Ezra’s struggled to grow up since high school.”

I hum. “A high school jock. My favorite. What could possibly go wrong?”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I can make an excu—”

“No, it’s fine. If you guys are still friends after what happened, I have to get used to the idea that he’s not going anywhere.”

West nods seriously. “Ezra is basically herpes.”

Now there’s a visual. I hesitate but stop West before he can walk off again. “Why are you two still friends? After that? It’s not … you don’t still have feelings for him, do you?” I almost feel sick as I wait for his reply. Thankfully, West doesn’t keep me in suspense for long.

“No. What I felt for Ezra was based on what I assumed was coming. We had a connection, and I figured one day we’d naturally settle down together. That’s not Ezra. The person I thought I was falling for doesn’t exist. And since meeting you, it’s become very obvious that what I was feeling for him wasn’t love.”

The butterflies and warmth I’m used to feeling around West come back in force, and I’m about to ask why it’s obvious, hoping like hell it’s the answer I want, when Ezra leans on the horn.

“Is he fucking serious?” It’s barely been five minutes and Ezra is already getting on my nerves.

West laughs and takes my hand, pulling me after him. “Like you said, we’re not known for our patience. Especially Ezra.”

Or their timing, apparently.

How the hell am I going to get through a whole night wondering if West was implying what I think he was?

I climb into the back of the Range Rover—thank you, Ezra, for calling shotgun—and it makes me almost miss the minivan. This car is too clean and flashy for the West I know.

“You’re an asshole,” West says, punching Ezra’s shoulder.

Ezra swings around in his chair, blatantly checking me out. “You were keeping the sexy professor all to yourself. What was I meant to do?”

“I’ve asked you to stop calling me that,” I say.

“Professor Pretty? Professor Spank-Me-Harder? Stop me when I find one you like.”

West punches him again. “And I’ve told you to stop flirting with my boyfriend.”

Ezra slumps in his seat and mutters, “Just saying, a threesome might loosen you both up a bit.”

As West backs out of the driveway, he smiles at Ezra’s antics, but all they do is remind me of the fact Ezra’s slept with my boyfriend. He got to be what West needed long before I was around.

It shouldn’t bother me, and I remind myself I’m a grown-up, but West is right. I’m feeling territorial. I know West has told Ezra we’re exclusive, but I want him to leave dinner without a doubt in his mind.

West might think the world of his best friend, but I’m sure if he had the opportunity, Ezra would fuck either of us without regret. He might be a good person, but from the little I know about him, I can already tell he’s a chaotic mess. I can’t picture West being like that, even though all evidence tells me he was, and it hurts to think of someone as sweet as him thinking he needed to play that game.