“Sweetpea! Sit!” John’s voice was lined with frustration.
The door finally opened revealing John, one of the largest men in the NHL, holding back a Rottweiler with a bejeweled pink collar. I looked at the jumping beast and then back to John. I raised an eyebrow in question.
“Jane got a guard dog.” I raised my eyebrow higher. “Sweetpea, this is Nix. He’s not food.” He laughed, actually laughed at his own joke. The gigantic beast stopped jumping long enough to take a few quick strides toward me and went straight for my crotch as she pulled John behind her.
“Whoa! Buy a guy dinner first.” I said as she nosed my crotch readjusting me to her liking. My so-called friend (I’m using that term lightly) can’t help himself and burst out laughing and then let go of her collar. Sweetpea nosed deeper into my crotch. Grunting and growling while she breathed in and out with gusto. My hands went up as I felt a nip. “John?” I yelped with concern for my possible future family.
That bastard laughed more. “I’ve never seen her go for someone like that.” He laughed, “man when was the last time you showered?”
That made me think. I didn’t get a chance to shower after I had sex with Chloe. I backed up from Sweetpea to keep her teeth from continuing to make my balls retreat. “Do something about this.” My demand fell on deaf ears until I saw Jane coming down the stairs. “Jane, sweetheart, call her off. Please.”
Jane's eyes went wide. “Oh my God! Sweetpea! Halt!” She came rushing to my side like a good friend, unlike that bastard standing in front of me laughing his ass off. Sweetpea stopped what she was doing; however, her nose remained firmly tucked into my crotch. "Outside!" She demanded and pointed toward the back of the house where I knew there was a wall of glass windows that folded into themselves to open the room up to their pool and backyard.
I wrapped my arms around Jane as if she just saved my life. “Anything.” I squeezed her tighter. “Anything you want—it's yours.”
She giggled into my chest, “I’ll save that for another time.” She pulled away and patted me on the chest with her palm. “How’s everything…” she cleared her throat nodding toward my manhood.
I cupped myself just checking to make sure the boys were still hanging around. “I’ll let you know in a couple of days when they come out of hiding.”
She laughed sweetly, “so… you fucked up with a girl?”
My lips parted, and I looked at John. He put his hands up in defense, “I didn’t tell her.”
“He doesn’t have to tell me. Sweetpea loves the smell of sex. And well, you’re here and not with her. So, again, you fucked up with a girl, didn’t you?” She turned back to John as he’s giving me the international sign not to say anymore. “I saw that.”
“Saw what?” John said, trying to look so innocent. I want that kind of relationship. I know they have had some ups and downs, but they love each other the way my parents love each other. That’s exactly what I want. The kind of love that will last through the good and bad. Someone that I can joke around with, and she’ll still love me.
“Yeah, okay. You’re getting away with it right now. But don’t expect your little friend to be getting any extra attention tonight.” She continued to walk past us and into their living room. “I’ll get some beers. Have a seat. But I wouldn’t go out to the patio.” She giggled as she walked away. Damn her.
“Who the fuck named that ball eater Sweetpea?”
“Jane.” He cleared his throat, “but I know to scrub everything after sex so Sweetpea won’t go digging for the family jewels.”
That made me laugh and adjust myself once more before I sat down in one of their oversized comfy royal blue chairs. They’ve got an entire collection of these chairs set up all around their house—four in the living room, two in both guest rooms, and I’m sure they’ve got at least that many in the master. John is one of those guys that when he finds something he likes, he buys a lot of it. Like he’s got at least fifteen pairs of the same athletic pants in different colors.
“Here you go Nix.” Jane handed me a cold bottle of Guinness. “Start at the beginning. Don’t leave anything out. If I’m going to help you figure out your fuck up, then I need to know everything.”
I can’t technically tell her everything. I already knew that would be a bad idea. I would have to leave out some of the details. At least for now. I sighed thinking about walking in on Chloe last summer. Her little pink nipples hardened and the small patch of strawberry blonde hair showing me to her magical nirvana.
“God,” Jane gasped, “you’re in love with her.”
Was I in love? Everything about Chloe made me want to go to her even though she sent me away. I explained everything that happened today. Including that she got a ride home from Mr. Tool, Beth’s unwanted presence, and the hospital. I groaned and rubbed my hands down my face.
“Nix? What is it your not telling us?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying. I’ll figure it out though.” She tapped her finger on her lips. “She’s involved with the guy you called Mr. Tool?”
“No.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing else.”
“Not involved or no there’s nothing else?” She snapped and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Not involved. He asked her out before Christmas, and they’ve gone on two dates. It’s nothing.”
“So besides the fact that she’s best friends with your sister and you’ve known her most of your life…” Her eyes got big—too big. “Fuck.” She hissed at me. “You didn’t?”
“He didn’t what?” John’s head went back and forth between us like he was watching a tennis match. John hadn’t caught up with the rest of us. I knew she had figured it out. It honestly wouldn’t take much.
“When is her birthday?”
“A couple months out.”
Jane shot straight up. “Is she going to tell anyone? Your sister?”
“I don’t know.”
“What in the H-E Double Hockey Sticks were you thinking?” She screeched in a motherly way.
“I wanted her. I want her.” I said hanging my head.
“Do you also want fifteen to twenty in prison?” I didn’t reply. “Do you?”
“No.”
“What am I missing here?” John, bless his heart was still trying to catch up.
“The girl is young,” Jane said.
“Yeah?” John said still not connecting the dots. Remind me that I need to do a better job blocking for John. He doesn’t need any kind of brain injuries.
“Too young.” Jane was rolling her hands in front of her trying to get John to fill in the blanks.
The moment it clicked his eyes turned wide. “Oh! Fuck man! She’s underage?”
“Technically?” I asked.
“Yes, technically. The only way that matters.”
“She’ll be legal in…” I looked at the calendar app on my phone, “fifty-four days.”
“Well, you were fifty-five days too early sticking your dick into her,” John said crassly.
“And then you sent her to the hospital?” Jane sounded concerned about Chloe. I nodded. Jane started to pace back and forth in front of their mantel with a wide screen TV mounted over it.
“She does this a lot?” I said out of the side of my out to John.
“Yeah. Mainly when I’m watching something that she doesn’t want to watch.”
“So what is she doing right now?”
“Shh! I’m trying to think.” Jane scolded. John and I exchanged glances. “I’ve got it!” I’m glad she did because I’ve got no idea.
“What did you say her name was?” Jane went into the kitchen and took another beer out of their refrigerator then continued to pace.
“Chloe Summers.”
She stopped pacing and looked up at me. “No.” She gasped, and I swear she almost dropped her beer.
“No?” I had to question her. Why was she telling me no now after she had said she would help me figure out what to do next. Sev
eral things needed to happen in exact order to make sure I didn’t go to jail and that I would get the girl in the end.
“You’re shitting me?”
“I’ve never quite understood that reference. But no, I’m not shitting you.”
“Chloe Summers, as in daughter of George and Marie Summers?”
“Yeah, how did you know her parents' names?” I took the last swig of my beer and got up to toss the bottle in the recycling.
“Are you dumb?” She set her beer down and started to talk to herself with her hands waving around.
I heard John’s hand smack down on his coffee table. “That’s it! George Summers—the senator from Virginia.” He looked between his wife and me. “Oh, you’re fucked.”
“I agree it’s not the best circumstances. But my family has known hers for over fifteen years. They approve completely of my sister.”
“Oh, and your playboy persona would hurt their family stance. You can’t just one day decide that Chloe is the only girl you’ll sleep with ever again.” Jane narrowed her eyes at me. “Is she… that kind of girl?”
“She would be.” Without hesitation, I said confidently.
“Fine. But first things first. No more puck bunnies. And I mean it.”
“Done. Despite what the media says I don’t just fuck anything that moves.”
Jane looked at John in question. He would be one of the only guys on the team to know if I’ve dabbled in the bunnies or not. I spend half my nights sharing a room with John and the other half with a guy named Guy. The irony isn’t lost there.
“Hasn’t touched one,” John confirmed.
“Good boy.” She said it like I was on the same level as Sweetpea. “Next, spend time with her. No sex. At least until she is legal. Then you can ask her out on a proper date.”
“I figured as much. How can I make sure she will spend time with me and not with Mr. Tool or the guy she just met in the hospital?” I thought Jane was going to help me, not tell me things I already knew.
“You’re going to have to talk to her. Bare some of those feelings for her to decide if she wants to take the chance with you or not. I know it doesn’t sound like the best idea but if you don’t put your heart on the line why should she?”
“Well, damn. You had to go there.” I said rubbing my hands through my hair again.
“If you keep doing that you’re going to lose all that hair.” John teased me.
“You mean like you?” I teased back, knowing I would get a rise out of him. John at one point had lots of hair, however, since he and Jane started trying to have kids. It’s like the more sperm he shoots, the less hair he has. He finally shaved it off last year, and now he’s got this mountain man beard, and that’s it.
“Hey, just because my hair decided to run away from my face doesn’t mean you get to go there.”
Ran away from his face? I got his reference quick. He is one of the fuzziest men in the sport. He looks like a Wookiee without clothes. Not that I check out my teammates in the locker room.
“All right boys. Walk away.” Jane said stepping between us as we became chest to chest in defense.
“Fine. Honey, you wanna let Sweetpea back in?” John said narrowing his eyes on me.
I covered my crotch with both hands in protection. “Thanks, Jane for having me over and listening. I’m going to leave while I still have my balls and my teeth.” I gave John a huge grin. John is missing six teeth. Four on the top left and two on the bottom right. You’d never know it to look at him with his dental pieces. He was still part of the era with Bobby Hull where spittin’ Chiclets was popular. Dental damage has always been part of the sport. Amateur hockey now dictates that you must wear a mouth guard or face mask or both while on the ice. And since John is thirty-seven with a little more than a thousand games under his belt, he will probably be looking at retiring in the next year or so. The fact that dental pieces can’t be worn on the ice means that the players missing the bulk of their grill have to get their dental pieces in before talking to the media. Most people don’t even know which players are missing teeth anymore. It’s still masculine to be conscious of our appearance. I’m glad I still have all of my teeth. I’ve only chipped the one, and that was before I even got signed.
There was a low growl that rattled through his chest. Jane put her hands on his chest and held firm. “You should go now and give him time to cool down.” I turned and walked toward the door. “Good luck with Chloe.” I heard her call out just before I shut the door behind me.
Chapter 7
Pucking Cardboard Would Be Better
Chloe
Mama Drayden and Brooklyn left when Vivica shooed them out and told them I needed rest and that I would get discharged by eleven. Vivica asked me if I needed anything when they came by and delivered what the hospital called dinner. I ate the green Jello and attempted the mashed potatoes, but when they ran through my fork, I decided that whatever kind of potato this was that it was not going inside of my body.
Ryan laughed while I attempted to poke at my food until I gave up. “How can you eat this stuff?” I watched as he cut into a by-product of some sort of beef they were calling Salisbury steak.
“Mmm. So good.” He shoveled another heaping into his mouth. I cringed. “You’ve got to get over it Buttercup. This is what there is. At least you’re leaving tomorrow. I’ve still got two more days.”
“No wonder you’ve given up.” I said and dropped my plastic fork on the tray.
“It’s food, and my gallbladder decided to explode before lunch.” I giggled at his comment. “No laughing. It’s not funny. I was supposed to be part of a pizza party.”
“I’m sure you’ll survive.”
“It was really touch-and-go there when they put me in the ambulance.”
“Seriously?”
“Would I lie?”
“Would you?”
His reply was a harrumph and thinned out his lips while eyeing me. “If you’re going to be my best friend then you’re going to have to trust me. Then you can tell me all about the hottie that was all caveman over you.”
“Best friends? Let’s get past today before we start making rushed decisions.” I ignored the comment about Nix. But it made me think that Ryan may be batting for both sides.
“Fine. But don’t blame me when your man walks away because he doesn’t want to upset you.”
“Walk away? He’s not going to walk away. I’ve known him almost my entire life.”
“And this is the first time you’ve been together?”
“Well if we would have done anything before he turned eighteen I would have been eleven.”
“Oh. Damn. I didn’t think he was that much older.”
“Yeah, he is. You should see him with a full beard. He looks like he’s thirty.”
“He’s still going to walk away. Because you’ve pushed him away. That look on his face—he’ll never purposefully hurt you. I can tell these things.”
“I know.”
After the orderly came and took our dinner plates, things started to settle down. We both laid down and talked until sleep came. I don’t know who fell asleep first, but when I had, I was cold. I just wanted to get into my own warm bed at home.
“Phoenix! You’re going too fast! Don't leave me!” I looked everywhere for him. He was just too fast. He could jump over fallen trees and dodge anything in his path. I sat down by one of the hundred-year-old trees on our property that my mother refused to let die. She made my father call out a tree doctor to make sure they were healthy.
That was when My father took up a stance for the environment. Make most people want him in office. He loved his family and learned new information about taking care of the environment and talking about our future. His position was in the bag. No worries—victory was in sight.
It would have taken Nix a little more than ten minutes to get back to his house. I wondered if he would notice I was missing before he got there.
“Don’t go.” I pulled
my legs closer to me and curled into a ball on the ground.
“Chloe.” I heard someone call out. I tried to tell them where I was, but I was too tired and cold. “Chloe.” The voice became clearer. Phoenix’s dad was calling my name. I wanted so badly to answer him. I wanted him to find me. “Chloe.”
I’m here. Over here. I had no idea how long I had been huddled on the ground, but it felt like hours. I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes. I had my favorite purple, and green striped socks on that came almost all the way up to my knees and my Princess Belle yellow-gold rain boots. Not winter boots because I had been trying to hurry after I showed off the My Little Pony outfit. The rain boots went on quicker. My socks were wet and cold.
“God! Chloe!” I felt someone’s hands on me. “She’s here! Over here!” I barely opened my eyes to see Knox Drayden, my best friend’s father, scoop me up. He had taken off his coat and wrapped me inside before rushing me through the woods.
“Dad?”
“Not now Nix.” Knox snapped at his son.
“Oh my God! Chloe, baby?” Mama Drayden’s voice whispered against my cheek.
“Get the truck started,” Knox demanded. “Full heat.”
“Nixy, come get in.” Mama Drayden said.
Knox set me down in the back seat. He had driven his truck as far as he could through the woods before he had to stop. The trip back out would be hard.
“Sweetheart, will you sit with her?” Knox asked.
“Yeah, of course.” Mama Drayden went around the other side of the truck and got in. “Nixy, get in the front.”
“I wanna sit with her,” Nix said, his voice weak and cracking.
“We don’t have time for this. Just get in.” Knox snapped.
I felt his warm body slide into the truck next to my legs. Mama Drayden was holding me close to her, her arms were wrapping me tight. I still wasn’t getting warm enough. I could barely feel the warmth that Knox’s truck was putting out. It just felt like my skin was burning. The truck was shaking and making us all bounce around as Knox guided us from the acres of woods he had between our two houses.
Rising Summers (Pucking Unbelievable Book 1) Page 5
