Easy Puck

by Belle, Melissa

  “Who’s some guy?” he asks me.

  His bright green eyes flash.

  My face heats, and I tap my bare foot against the bathroom tile. “Nobody.”

  Hunter shrugs, and we look at each other in silence. Just as it’s starting to feel like a stand-off, he reaches out and touches my hip.

  I swallow.

  He drops his hand, and I step back. But I can smell the familiar scent of his aftershave, and my chest aches for what we had. For what we could have had if we hadn’t both been racing toward our dreams like the world would explode if we didn’t get there.

  And we both got exactly what we wanted. I hope to hell his dream made him happier than mine made me.

  Hunter’s eyes are on me like he’s wondering what I’m thinking about. When I keep the eye contact, he gives me one of his rare grins.

  The kind that always made me melt.

  The kind I used to think about when I was alone in my bedroom with the shades drawn and could barely stand the stress and the loneliness of the self-imposed pressure I felt to be a star.

  Hunter was the only person in my life who never bought into the persona of Winter Princess Allen. My friends didn’t mean to, but they thought my dream to be a big Broadway star made me happy. Hunter used to say that he was just as proud of me for living as he was for anything I actually did.

  I wonder if he still feels that way, or if whatever tied us together has become too frayed at this point. When I left for New York, we swore we’d stay friends. But like lots of things, that didn’t go as we planned. He got drafted, we both got busy, and life marched on. In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed. But here we are, and I’ve got six months to get to know him all over again.

  “What are you thinking about, Win?”

  His deep voice drags me out of my thoughts.

  I’m feeling flirty, which is a dangerous thing when I’m around Hunter. But I don’t care right now.

  I cock my head at him and smile.

  “What are you thinking about, Mr. Storm? Something in particular?”

  He’s still grinning. “Sure.”

  I put one hand on my hip. “Well? What is it?”

  “Will you take off some guy’s sweatshirt if I ask you to?”

  I kick him in the shin and he laughs.

  “Like you’ve never seen me in a bikini before.”

  “Not in a long time.”

  His eyes darken with heat, and I sway closer to him.

  His hand goes back to my hip. “It’s good to see you, Winter. You look all grown up.”

  “So do you.” My hand’s now on his chest.

  “Hunter!!”

  My mother’s shriek echoes up from the first floor.

  I pull away, and he drops his hand at the same time.

  “You’re such a flirt.” He’s teasing me, but his voice has changed back to guarded.

  I purse my lips and resist the burning urge I have to knee him in the balls. “You’re such a guy. Why can’t you just admit you were the one who started it?”

  “I admit I was flirting.” His gaze narrows. “But you won’t admit to anything you’re feeling. You never did. Not unless…”

  He cuts off, but I know what he was about to say. Not unless I was naked and turned on…that’s the only time I said what was in my heart.

  “Oh, so you’re saying I’m a coward?” I lift my chin and dare him to keep going.

  “Hunter!!” Mama’s voice is getting closer.

  But we don’t stop. Like it’s always been between Hunter and me, we go from casual banter to full-on fighting in an instant.

  “Not exactly.” Hunter’s jaw ticks. “But just because you can star on Broadway doesn’t make you brave.”

  “Well, just because you can handle a hockey stick better than anyone in New Orleans doesn’t make you happy,” I counter just as my mother enters the bathroom.

  “Honestly, Winter,” Mama says. “Watch your tongue, young lady.”

  “Mama, don’t say anything,” I say as I turn toward her.

  But that’s like asking for the impossible.

  “Don’t speak that way to the help. You have better manners than that.”

  Mama’s well-pressed navy suit is conservative and impeccable, and her dyed, black, bobbed hair is groomed to perfection. But her eyes are hard as they focus on me.

  My cheeks flush with humiliation, and I can’t even look at Hunter. “Mama, Hunter is not ‘the help.’ He’s the freaking star of the New Orleans Fire, and he’s being kind enough to help you out with your plumbing problems. Please apologize to him. Now.”

  Mama shakes her head at me, but she turns to Hunter, who’s staring at me. His expression has softened, and suddenly it’s back to him and me against the world.

  “Hunter, I apologize for my rudeness,” Mama says stiffly. “My daughter has always brought out the worst in me.”

  Hunter doesn’t take his eyes off me when he says, “On the contrary, I think your daughter has always shown off the best of both you and your husband.”

  Mama actually giggles. “Yes, and did you know? Winter still has her sights set on the lead in Summerset Nights. That’s her dream role, isn’t it, sugar?”

  I dig my heels in the ground and nod. “Yes. Hunter knows this already. That role has been my dream since I was a little girl.”

  Hunter nods at me. “I remember,” he says softly in a way I know was meant only for me.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t been offered the role yet, Winter,” Mama says, somehow managing to make me feel at fault.

  “New York City has a lot of talent,” I say like I’ve said so many times before. “One day, maybe I’ll get lucky.”

  “You should have seen her in Seasonal Bliss,” Mama says to Hunter. “My Winter stole the show! The audience gave her two standing ovations.”

  “Mama.” I tilt my head at Hunter in apology. “Hunter didn’t have time to go to New York to see a show. He’s got games nearly every night. Being a professional athlete isn’t easy, and he’s doing amazing.”

  “Just like you are, Win.” With one last look at me, Hunter turns away to clean up and put his tools away.

  “I’ll start bringing my stuff out to your truck,” I say as I rush downstairs to grab a suitcase.

  Chapter 6

  I follow Hunter through New Orleans, barely noticing where I am but making sure I stick close behind him so I don’t get lost. With everything that’s changed over the last forty-eight hours, my thoughts are all jumbled.

  Hunter Storm was my first real crush. But it was unresolved. We never slept together, although we almost did. And then I left New Orleans, and we stopped being friends and became…nothing at all. Moving away to pursue my dreams didn’t make us lose each other. But life, and time, did.

  We didn’t ever date, anyway. We weren’t like normal couples. Since grade school, we hung out, and as teenagers, we sometimes crossed the line.

  We flirted relentlessly with one another through high school, but then we always found a way to ignore the fire between us.

  That fire is still there, though. And God help me, I don’t want to pretend anymore.

  * * *

  An hour later, Hunter brings the last of my bags into his guest suite.

  And just like that, I’ve moved in.

  “Looks like you’ve officially got yourself a human housemate,” I say with a smile. “I promise to take good care of Theo.”

  “I know you will.” He gives me a nod. “I’m off to practice.”

  “Okay. Have fun.”

  He pauses in the doorway. “I signed a six-month contract with the pet sitting agency,” he says, leaning against my doorjamb.

  “Right. Six months.”

  “So.” He settles in more against the door frame. “Does that mean you’re returning to Broadway in six months?”

  I clench my hands into balls at my sides. “That’s the plan.”

  His gaze on me feels as hot as the sun. It’s like he can
see right through me.

  Desperate to change the subject, I say in a rush of words, “I’m meeting Charly and Simon at The Odyssey tonight. I think Declan and Savannah will be there. Why don’t you join us after practice if you’re up for it?”

  “Sure. I can do that.”

  “Great.” I remember my car. “Shit! I left my mother’s car in the street while we unpacked the truck. I need to move it.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  * * *

  Hunter

  All these years, and I never once saw Winter Allen. Now I can’t get away from her. And I don’t want to.

  We walk together down my short driveway and over to her mother’s BMW that’s parked by the curb. I wait for Winter to unlock the doors before getting into the shotgun seat.

  I’m still wound up from our argument at her parents’ house earlier and by the way her body felt when I put my hands on her. I haven’t touched Winter in ages, and the last two times we’ve touched, my whole body fucking lit up. I could have taken her against the bathroom wall right then and there. And if her mother hadn’t come upstairs like a screaming witch, I might have gone for it.

  “So your mama’s BMW fetish is still going strong, I take it.”

  “Of course.” Winter puts the key in the ignition, and I try to ignore how every little movement she makes turns me on. “My mother can be counted on to never change. Always wanting me to be the best, and never happy with what I achieve.”

  She jerks her head over to me after she says it, and I know she didn’t mean for all that to come out of her mouth. She nearly drives right past my house in her distraction, but I gesture to the left, and she veers into the driveway at the last moment.

  “Shit.”

  I bite back a grin. “You seem a little out of it. Are you tired from being woken up early?” I ask her as we get out of the car. “You could take a nap with Theo. Like human-cat bonding time.”

  “Maybe I will.” She flicks her gaze over to me. “If you didn’t have practice, I’d invite you to join us.”

  My dick hardens immediately. “Is that right?” As we step inside my house, I pause in the doorway, causing Winter to bump into my side. Which was exactly my plan.

  I reach out and wrap my arm around her waist. “Can I take you up on your offer another time?”

  She leans into my side. “Yes. But you shouldn’t be late for practice. So go. Score lots of goals.”

  I chuckle. “It’s just practice, babe. I save my scoring for the real thing.”

  She elbows me playfully. “Ha, ha. Just go do your thing. I’ll see you tonight.”

  I’m still smiling as I get into my truck.

  And as I drive through the city to the stadium.

  And it’s all because of Winter.

  Who I can’t hook up with. One, because she’s my housemate, and two, because she’s Winter. We were always fire and gasoline. And judging by our fight earlier, nothing’s changed.

  I need to stay focused on getting out of my slump, not fantasizing over a woman who’s leaving in six months and who I can’t be with anyway.

  I’m fucked.

  Chapter 7

  Winter

  Wearing an ankle-length black skirt, aqua wraparound sweater, and strappy, open-toed shoes, I hustle into The Odyssey.

  “Winter!!!” Charly calls out as she throws her arms around me. “I’m so glad you made it!”

  Before I can answer her, Ashley Hill makes it a three-way hug. “Yay, the three of us together again!”

  I pull back and smile at them. Charly and Ashley, my two best girlfriends since we were in diapers.

  No matter how far away I feel from my old life, Charly and Ashley never fade into the past. They’ve been on my side from the beginning, and I know they always will be.

  Charly’s cream shirt contrasts with her dark hair perfectly, and Ashley’s purple tie-dye shirt and short skirt look great against her hazel eyes and auburn shoulder-length bob. I’m taller than both of them, and my naturally slim stature contrasts with their curvier figures.

  “We’ve got company tonight,” Charly says. “Simon, Declan, and Van are all here. Already drinking.”

  I laugh. “Well, I could use a drink or two myself, to be honest. Maybe we should join them and get good and drunk.”

  “Oh my God, let’s do it.” Ashley grabs my hand and pulls me toward the back table. “I want to know everything that’s going on with you. I feel like we haven’t really talked since you became a star!”

  Charly walks on my other side. “Ash and I sat in the front row at your show on Broadway and just kept poking each other, saying, ‘Can you believe that’s our best friend up there?’ I remember when your mother had you auditioning for that baby commercial. Seems like just yesterday.”

  Ashley and I look at her and burst out laughing. “You do not remember that!” Ashley says. “You were a baby, too!”

  Charly shrugs. “It’s a legendary story around here. I feel like I remember it personally.”

  Declan Boudreaux and his sister, Savannah, rush me when I reach the table. Declan picks me up, and Charly’s husband, Simon, hands me a beer while I beg for Declan to put me down.

  “Haven’t seen you in forever, Ms. Allen.” He kisses my cheek, and as he returns me to the ground, Simon greets me before Savannah wraps her arms around me in a hug.

  “Hey, Van,” I say as I hug Savannah back. “So good to see you.”

  “Welcome home,” she says to me quietly. “I know you didn’t want to leave Manhattan, but maybe the time away will be good for you.”

  I look into her whiskey-colored eyes, the same eyes as her siblings but with a dash more pain. Savannah would understand what I’m going through. My situation was different than hers, but we both had our physical boundaries violated. And I trust her. I just don’t want to talk to anyone about what happened to me.

  We all sit down, and I take a big sip of my beer.

  “And guess who we just texted?” Declan says with a sideways glance at me. “Our hockey friend.”

  Savannah turns on Declan. “You should have known better than that! No inviting Hunter here tonight. I went over this with you!”

  I calmly lean back against my chair. “Van, it’s fine.”

  Declan points at me. “See, Win’s okay with it. The group of us have known each other our whole lives. And Winter’s here for six months—I think she and Hunt should hang out. We all know you two ended on a sour note, but that was years ago now.”

  Charly smothers a laugh. Obviously, Callie didn’t tell her husband what she and Charly and I chatted about yesterday.

  And I don’t tell the table that I’ve not only already seen Hunter Storm but I’m now living with him. I figure I’ll wait until he arrives, and we can surprise them together.

  “He said he’s coming here?” I ask Declan.

  He nods. “He’s on his way.”

  He and Simon start chatting about the Fire, and how Declan thinks they have a great chance to win it all this year.

  “Of course, not if his brothers have something to say about it out in Montana.” Declan chuckles. “Plus, that Wild guy for the Kings is a fucking stud.”

  “Declan Wild, isn’t it?” Simon says.

  Declan smirks. “Great name. He’s been a star for years, of course, but this season he’s really on a roll. Along with Hunter’s brothers, the Kings could present a real challenge for the title.”

  “We can handle them.” Hunter’s deep voice comes from directly behind me.

  His hand lightly touches my shoulder and sends shivers down my spine.

  Five heads turn to look at me.

  I will my pounding heart to relax, and I put on what I hope looks like a casual smile as Hunter grabs a chair and pushes it in between me and Declan.

  His arm is around me before I can speak. “Hey, Princess.”

  I turn to face him. His green eyes are focused on me like nobody else is at the table. I forgot how good it felt to be noticed lik
e this. Because nobody’s ever noticed me—the real me—the way Hunter Storm has.

  “Hi, Hunt.”

  I lean in and kiss his cheek. He’s not expecting that, and honestly, neither was I. I just can’t help myself around him—it’s like his body’s begging for me to touch him.

  The scent of his aftershave and the feel of his skin against my lips overwhelm me. I try to pull back quickly, but his hand goes around my neck, and before I know it, he’s kissing me back. Just on the cheek, but butterflies dance in my stomach.

  We let go of each other then and turn back to the table like nothing just happened.

  Everyone’s staring at us, and Ashley’s eyes are saucer-wide. “What—I mean, you two haven’t seen each other in years, and you haven’t exactly wanted to stay in touch. So how did this—kissing and touching—happen?”

  Hunter quirks an eyebrow. “I see your nosiness hasn’t ebbed over the years, Ash.”

  I elbow him in the ribs. “Don’t be rude. Hunter and I ran into each other yesterday.”

  Savannah gasps. “Was it a planned meeting or spontaneous?”

  Charly giggles next to me. “How are you going to field this question?” she murmurs so only I can hear.

  Declan furrows his brow at Hunter. “You didn’t say a word in your text. Not even a whisper.”

  “I didn’t realize Winter and I were supposed to report everything back to y’all,” Hunter says. “Yes, I had a Winter Allen sighting yesterday when she agreed to pet sit Theo.”

  “Ohhh,” Savannah says. “Coincidence or planned?”

  “Coincidence,” I say. “I applied for the job, and it turned out to be Hunter. Small world.” I put my hand on his arm. “We’re going to be housemates.”

  The laughter that breaks out at our table is so loud people look over.

  “You two—” Declan points from Hunter to me. “Are going to live together?”

  “Yes.” I keep my hand on Hunter’s arm. “I moved in today.”