12. Bella
Chapter 12
Bella
“ Y ou’re glowing.”
I frown at my best friend’s out-of-the-blue comment. “Um, what?”
“Your skin is seriously glowing.” Lauren narrows her gaze at me like she’s studying me.
“Oh. Thanks.” I grab her empty glass of club soda and refill it, then grab a washcloth and wipe down the bartop.
“You look…happier since the last time I saw you,” she says.
“Really?”
My best friend nods as she sips her drink.
“It hasn’t been that long since we’ve seen each other, just a few days,” I say.
She squints at me, then leans in closer to me over the bar top. “Have you had sex?” she whispers.
I almost drop my washcloth and gawk at her. “How the hell did you know that?”
She flashes a smug smile and swipes her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Pregnancy has given me a sixth sense about this sort of thing. Plus, you have that just-fucked glow in your skin.”
Heat flashes up my cheeks. I sigh. “Okay, well, technically, you’re wrong. I didn’t have full-on sex. But I did fool around.”
Her eyebrow quirks up. “Details. Now.”
I let out a breath and do a quick scan of the customers at the bar to make sure no one needs a refill or is waiting for their check.
“Okay, so you know my neighbor?” I say to Lauren, my tone soft so no one else hears me.
“Yeah. The hot hockey player.” Her eyes go wide. “You fooled around with him?”
I bite my lip. “Yeah.”
Her blue eyes look like they’re about to pop out of her head. “But I thought you hated him. And your rule. After Matt, you said you weren’t ever going to be with another hockey player again, ever.”
I work my bottom lip in my teeth. “Um, well. It turns out we have incredible physical chemistry.”
Lauren blinks. The look on her face shifts from shocked to intrigued. “How incredible?”
“Really, really incredible.” My entire body starts to heat thinking about my hookup with Braden. We didn’t even have sex, and it was one of the hottest moments of my life.
I think back to the way he pulled me onto his lap to straddle him, how hard he got when I was grinding on his dick.
How bossy he was. All the filthy things he said to me. The way he taunted me the more turned on I got. How turned on he was when I acted all stubborn and bratty.
You’re a little fucking brat, aren’t you?
My clit jumps. I think about how I was on the verge of having an orgasm and he stopped everything to make me beg for his dick.
I was pissed. But god, it was hot.
Every day since our hookup, I’ve masturbated to the memory of it. I can’t help it. My body is still so turned on.
I think about how I was aching for another round with Braden, despite my self-imposed rule. I even gave a half-assed excuse, saying it was late, thinking he’d see right through it and keep fooling around with me. But he didn’t. He ended things and left.
I was shocked. But then I saw it. That teasing look in his eyes. I realize now why he did that. To screw with me. To call my bluff, to get me to be the one to admit that I was willing to break my “one time only” rule for him.
But I didn’t. I let him leave. It was like we were playing some sexy game of chicken.
I haven’t been able to get him out of my mind since then. I even looked him up online. I read his Wikipedia page and his stats on the Denver Bashers team website. Braden is one of the top goalies in the league.
I clear my throat and look at Lauren, who’s staring at me expectantly. I tell her about how it all started with an argument the other night here at Spanky’s and how some random drunk guy fell into me, causing me to fall against Braden’s mouth…which led to a surprisingly hot kiss.
“I took Braden to my place, and we made out on my couch. And then, um, I dry-humped him until I came. And then he watched me play with my vibrator and dildo while jerking off. And then I finished him with my hand while he finished me with his.”
Her jaw falls open. “Holy hell.”
I steal a sip of her club soda, needing to cool off. “But it was a one- time thing.”
Lauren’s brow wrinkles. “Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why?’ You know my rules. Whenever I have a random hookup with a guy, I only do it once. That’s it. And I’m already breaking one of my rules. I swore to myself I’d never be with another hockey player. I can’t break two.”
Lauren rolls her eyes and laughs. “Oh my god. Bella, come on. Don’t deprive yourself of another insanely hot hookup because of some silly rule you made up for yourself.”
I frown. “It’s not silly. I could never be with another hockey player, not after what Matt did to me. I mean, I wasn’t even going to watch another hockey game ever, and now I’m messing around with a hockey player.”
Lauren’s angelic face twists in sympathy. She grabs my hand. “I know. And I get it. But hey, you’re not dating this Braden guy. It’s okay if you just wanna have a good time with him every once in a while. Why restrict yourself?”
I think about what she’s said. Technically she’s right. I can do whatever I want.
Just thinking about hooking up with Braden again makes my pussy ache.
She downs the rest of her club soda and checks the time on her phone. “I should go. Dinner with the in-laws tonight. Don’t wanna be late. ”
“Thanks for stopping by to hang out for a while during my shift,” I say. I lean over the bartop and hug her.
She walks out of Spankys. For the next twenty minutes, I check on the tables and the customers at the bar.
I’m in the middle of pouring a whiskey and Coke when I look up and see two familiar-looking women walk to the big table in the back. It takes me a second before I remember them from last week. They’re the ones who were hanging out with Braden and his teammates. The puck bunnies.
I instantly shut down any lingering thoughts about Blomdahl. No way do I want to hook up with him again when he’s got these women waiting in the wings.
The tall blonde walks over to me and smiles. Wow. She’s stunning.
“Could I get a pitcher of IPA, please?” she asks.
I offer a polite smile. “Yeah, of course.”
I fill a pitcher and hand it to her. When she gives me her credit card, she pauses and smiles. “How are things going between you and Blomdahl?”
“Sorry?”
She chuckles. “He told us that you’re his neighbor. And that your first time meeting went a little rough.”
“He did?”
Before she can say anything, a tall woman with long black hair and the most perfect tan comes up to her. “I changed my mind. I want tequila, too,” she says to the blonde. She looks at me. “Could I have a double shot of tequila?”
“Yeah, sure.” I pour her a double shot.
“You’re not going to mess with our drinks, are you?” the pretty brunette says, wincing.
I let out a shocked laugh. “Um, what?”
She hesitates. “Well, I mean, you’ve probably seen us here with Blomdahl a lot. And he told us how pissed you were when he woke you up with his music blaring.”
“Which you have every right to be,” the blonde quickly adds. “I’d be pissed if my neighbor woke me up with loud music.”
“Totally,” the brunette says. “We just mean that if he hasn’t apologized to you properly, we’ll get on his ass about it. Whatever it takes to stay on your good side because we love this bar.”
“Yeah, if we have to make him get on his knees and beg you for forgiveness, we totally will. Or I’ll make my fiance do it.”
The brunette nods along with what her blonde friend just said. “Oh, absolutely. I’ll make my husband do it too.”
I look between them, my head spinning as I process everything they’re saying.
“Wait, you’re married?” I say to the brunette. “And you’re engaged?” I say to the blonde.
They smile and nod.
“Our partners are Blomdahl’s teammates,” the blonde says.
“Oh…” I suddenly feel like a jerk for assuming they were with Braden.
I clear my throat and let out an embarrassed laugh. “I thought you two were, um, with Braden.”
They both burst out laughing.
“Oh my gosh, no,” the blonde says. “We’re just friends.”
The brunette smiles at me. “He’s actually single right now.”
A weird relief courses through me. I shouldn’t feel this way. Braden and I hooked up once. We’re not even a thing. He can be with whoever he wants.
But still. I can’t help the relief I feel… and how it slowly shifts to intrigue.
I push that feeling aside and refocus. “It’s okay, he apologized.”
They both beam and stick out their hands.
“I’m Maya, by the way,” the brunette says.
“And I’m Ingrid.”
I shake their hands. “I’m Bella. It’s nice to officially meet you both,” I say. “Oh hey, is your other friend coming too? The woman with really pretty strawberry blonde hair. She doesn’t drink alcohol, right? I can make her drink now, if you want.”
“That would be great,” Ingrid says.
I make the spritzer on the menu for their friend.
“So you and Blomdahl are all good now?” Maya asks.
A smile tugs at my mouth. “Um, yeah. We’re fine.”
“Come on now. We’re better than fine.”
I glance up at the sound of Blomdahls’ voice. He’s standing off to the side. A knowing smile tugs at his lips as he looks at me.
That flicker in my belly is back. So is that surge of excitement I felt the night we hooked up.
I shouldn’t feel like this, so giddy and happy to see him after just one hookup.
I tell myself to play it cool.
But then he steps up to me. Heat flashes in his whisper-blue eyes as he pins me with his gaze.
And then he says, “Right, pretty girl?”
My knees actually go weak.
I am in so much trouble.