Pucked (Pucked 1)

“Sidney told me when Buck was born the nurses wanted to take pictures. They said he looked like he was sporting a kickstand. You know how it is: like father, like son.”

Daisy’s eyes widen until I fear she’s going to look like an anime character permanently.

“Oh! I see. I—uh, I suppose that’s the case then. Like father, like son.”

I’m not the only one who’ll die of embarrassment tonight.VIOLET“Well, it’s time for us to be heading home,” Robbie says, his voice cracking.

“And you know”—Daisy leans in close to her new bestie, my mother, and yells over the noise—“I’m definitely satisfied.” Like my mom, she’s a hand-talker and accidentally whacks Robbie in the junk.

He’s up against the bar, so he can’t escape. This is appallingly entertaining. Robbie protects himself by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his chest. He puts his mouth to her hair and says something. The sound waves traveling around in there must be absorbed by hairspray because I hear nothing.

Whatever he says does the trick. Daisy abandons the conversation with my mom—to everyone’s relief—and grabs Alex. Kissing him on the cheek, she leaves behind pastel pink lip marks. Then she molests my mother—kidding, they just hug. Daisy invites her and Sidney to come over for dinner. Thankfully they’re leaving early tomorrow morning. I can’t imagine the gongshow Alex’s parents’ house would become if such an event transpired.

Daisy pat-hugs me. It’s limp like her handshake.

“What about your sister?” I ask Alex as she and Robbie traipse to the exit.

Alex plows through the crowd to stop them. They’re too far away for me to hear their brief conversation. Alex doesn’t look happy. I can’t believe his parents would willingly leave their daughter with the likes of Buck.

Sidney uses this as an opportunity to take my mother back to their room, saving Alex and I from further humiliation.

Alex returns a minute later, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did they say?” I ask.

He surveys the bar with a frown. “She’s staying with friends in the city. I thought she’d be at the condo with my parents tonight.”

“Why don’t we see if we can find her? Maybe she’s with the team.”

“I fucking hope so.”

The VIP section is packed, but Sunny and Buck are nowhere to be found. Buck better not be using this as a way to get back at Alex, otherwise a WWE match is likely to occur.

As gargantuan as Buck is, Alex is aggressive when he’s pissed. Now that I’ve borne witness to his temper, I’m not interested in watching it flare up in response to my thoughtless, yet sometimes lovable, stepbrother.

Glancing around, I spot Charlene sitting beside Darren. She’s not in his lap, but she’s close. Darren is the picture of a gentleman: arm wrapped loosely around the back of her chair, his attention totally focused on her while she talks animatedly. I point them out to Alex.

“Will wonders never cease.” He squints. “Isn’t that Charlene? What’s she doing here?”

“She came, too. Mostly to meet Darren.”

“She’s a good friend. She was extremely helpful when you weren’t talking to me.” He smoothes his tie.

That’s totally a jab. There’s a sharpness to his statement. He did a good job hiding his hurt before, although phone sex was likely helpful.

“I’m sorry.” It’s a long overdue apology. “I should’ve called and let you explain. I was worried you’d tell me you were hooking up with someone else and I was going to be your side bunny, so I avoided you altogether.” I stare at his chin as I ramble on. “Am I forgiven?”

If this relationship is going somewhere, I’ll have to learn how to deal with all the media crap, which means talking to Alex. My main concern is becoming one of those paranoid freak girlfriends who will require endless reassurance. It’s scary to be someone’s girlfriend, especially when that someone is a well-known hockey player with unlimited puck bunnies looking to take a ride on his monster cock.

He tilts my chin up and brushes his lips over mine. “You’re here aren’t you? I invited you. I want to be with you.”

“So I am forgiven?”

He grins. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” My heart squeezes. I want to be totally forgiven.

He brushes my hair over my shoulder. It seems like a tender gesture until I realize he’s looking down my top. “I think I’ll get over it better if I could clock some time with your boobs in our room.”

“That’s a reasonable demand. As long as you’re equitable about things. I’d hate for the rest of my body to get jealous.” I can feel his semi against my stomach as he presses into me. “Speaking of our room, we should head back there.”

“Don’t you think you should talk to Charlene first?”

“Oh. Right.”

It takes a while to get Charlene’s attention. “Hey!” She jumps up. “I need to use the little girls’ room, and you need to come with me.”