Chapter 14 #2
He taps the lock with his keycard and turns the handle. His room looks exactly like mine. Same small couch, same mahogany coffee table, same muted green bed covering. I take a seat on the couch, and Grady pulls over the chair from the small desk and sits across from me. I try not to read into it.
“So you’re really looking for an apartment?” I ask as I lift one half of my sandwich.
He nods, chewing on some salad. “Yeah. I mean, this thing at the cottage was just a temporary thing. It’s always been the plan.”
I nod slowly and watch him open his mouth and put a forkful of chicken in his mouth. A mouth I’ve touched with my own. A tingle of electricity ripples up my spine, which I promptly ignore. “So the other night has nothing to do with it?”
He swallows and reaches for his Gatorade. “The other night? No. Your reaction after the fact? Yeah.”
Guilt swirls inside me. I look down. “I’ve been an ass.”
He doesn’t say anything. Just sips his drink. I put down my sandwich.
“Look, I don’t regret it. I enjoyed it a fuck ton, which is why I think I freaked out.”
“Angie said you two had had threesomes before.”
I rub my forehead. “Yeah. With one of the ice girls.” His eyes flare at that.
The ice girls are kinda like cheerleaders for hockey teams. It’s more of an American team tradition than a Canadian one, but they dress in skimpy outfits and entertain the crowd, on and off the ice, between periods.
They give away prizes and stuff. Because they’re employed by the team, it’s completely off-limits to be involved with them.
“She used to flirt with me, and then I caught her flirting with Angie. We joked about it one night, and then we kind of, well, talked about what if we… and we both liked the idea. Anyway, it happened off-season, after the ice girl quit, of course, because of policy.”
“I mean, okay.” Grady looks skeptical, and I feel myself blushing. “So what has you freaked out is the different body parts in this threesome? And that you have to see me all the time after the fact?”
“No. And no. We see the other girl all the time. Or we did. She worked at the Jamba Juice by our house in L.A., too, and we were all fine. Pleasant even.” I reach for my drink at the exact same moment he puts his down, and our knuckles bump.
The brief contact is more satisfying than this meal, which is actually delicious.
“So you’re feeling shame over the fact that…” He looks pained. “That it was a guy.”
“Fuck no.” I can’t even let him think for a second I’m homophobic or have gay guilt.
I don’t. “I’m feeling shame over the fact that I liked it more than I liked fucking my girlfriend.
My hand on your cock and your tongue in my mouth was…
the best feeling I’ve felt in years. Fucking years.
And yeah, I feel like an utter asshole for thinking that. For feeling that way.”
The room is filled with nothing but the hum of the air conditioner.
Grady stares, wide-eyed, fork frozen in mid-air, a very small dollop of ranch dressing sitting on his bottom lip precariously close to where his beard begins.
I reach out and wipe it away with the pad of my thumb, and heat soars through me.
Grady’s voice is hoarse and rough when he finally speaks. “I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Welcome to the club.”
“Can we just be like we were with Kendra? Normal. Just power on like I didn’t just say any of that, and you don’t remember what I look like naked.”
“I’ve known what you look like naked for over a year now. Perks of the job,” Grady quips and he winks as he adds, “And you were never normal.”
I flip him off. He laughs. The fog of tension and awkwardness lifts after that.
We both go back to eating, and the topic shifts to the upcoming game.
And then, after we clean our plates, he moves to sit beside me on the couch and we look at a few rentals he’s considering.
None of them is right for Grady, and I tell him that.
“Why?” he questions, pinching his ginger eyebrows together. “I mean that loft has killer views of the harbor and a gym too.”
“Yeah, but… your place in West Hollywood was just so… you. These places don’t have that… I don’t know what.” I shrug, and he looks at the listing on his phone again and then drops it on the armrest. “Keep looking. There’s no rush. Honestly.”
He looks like he’s ready to argue, but then my phone vibrates in my back pocket and I pull it out to see that Angie is video calling me. “Do you mind if I accept?”
“Go ahead.”
I accept the call, and Angie’s face illuminates my screen. She’s frowning, and at first it looks like she isn’t wearing anything, but then I see the edge of a towel just above her chest. “There’s no hot water.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. “Okay. I know the tank is on its last legs. Shit.”
“Yeah, shit. I have an appointment with an interior designer, Landon. I can’t be late.”
“Why?” I’m confused. She never mentioned this to me.
“Because she’s the best Maine has to offer and I only got the consult because she had someone cancel,” Angie explains. “Can you tell me how to fix it? Quickly?”
“Ah… no,” I say. “I think we have to call a plumber. Text my uncle Holden. He might be able to fix it or at least know a plumber.”
“That will take hours!”
“Could she shower at Winnie and Holden’s right now and deal with it after her meeting?” Grady suggests.
As if just noticing him for the first time, Angie’s eyes slide to him on the screen. Her manicured brows furrow for a heartbeat, and then she smiles. “Hey, Grady! You two hanging out?”
“Yeah, we’re on a lunch break,” Grady tells her.
She nods slowly. “It’s a day off today, right?”
“Yeah,” I answer. She knows days off don’t mean we sit around doing whatever we want. She’s been a hockey girlfriend all of her adult life.
“Oh, I meant to tell you, a bunch of us are going to a steakhouse for dinner tonight. Please come,” Grady says and grins.
“You know they’ll ditch me with the check because newbie and all.
I mean, it’s a trade, but the same stupid game will apply.
They’ll all leave before the check. If you come, at least we can split it. Plus, it’ll be fun.”
“Yeah. Of course. I’d love to come.” I need to start bonding with my new teammates anyway. Although I dread the check. These guys eat like oxen.
“Hey! So I should go and harass your aunt for a shower. I can’t miss this meeting.”
“Why do we need a designer?”
“Because if you expect me to live in this place, it needs some refreshing,” Angie states flatly. “And a new water tank. Talk later.”
Angie disappears from the screen. I drop my phone on my lap and try not to swear.
I have my eyes closed and my head tipped back, but I know Grady is watching me.
I feel him shift beside me on the sofa, which was not meant for two large hockey players.
His thigh rubs against mine, and I fight that shiver of lust once again.
“She doesn’t like the cottage?” He sounds shocked. “It’s kind of fucking perfect.”
“I agree, but she doesn’t, clearly.”
I stand up as I pinch the bridge of my nose and fight the stress headache that’s coming. “I want her to be happy. I do. The thing is, she also wants to hold onto the place in L.A. I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ll be traded back any time soon. And I still have a place in San Fran.”
“Landon Real Estate Tycoon Casco.”
“More like Landon Cash Poor Casco,” I grumble, the headache blooming between my eyes. “And I have medical bills. I mean, the insurance the league offers is comprehensive, but still. There are bills.”
He inhales sharply. I finally open my eyes and look at him.
He seems worried. “Well, I mean, how much can a consultation cost? When we get home, I’ll talk the place up and even have my sister swing by and compliment the space.
Sometimes women just need to hear praise from other women.
Dudes are the same. I mean, if my mom tells me good, save it hits different than when my dad does. ”
“Because our moms would cheer for us if we skated with our helmets on backwards,” I mutter.
That gets me a big old bark of a laugh from my favorite redhead. Now I’m grinning too. I grab the plates and cutlery from our lunch. “I should head back to my room.”
“Or you could go donate some blood? A kidney? I think they pay for that.” He’s joking, but it hits weird because no, I can’t donate blood. Cancer patients can’t. But I don’t say that because Grady, as always, is trying to be the good guy.
I give him a smile. “See you tonight.”
“Yeah, I’ll text you when we’re heading to the lobby.”
I nod and head out. If it wasn’t for Angela, I would feel a lot lighter about everything.
Now I’m stressing about expenses, and also a little peeved because I love the cottage the way it is.
And it might create family drama if we change it too much.
It’s not mine alone. It’s shared family property.
To be honest, I don’t even know who technically owns it since Gram died.
I’m stressed for whole new reasons when I get back to my room and decide to take a nap.
I peel out of all my clothes and do the one thing that I know relieves stress—I jerk off.
And yeah, as I come, back arched and shooting my release all over my stomach, I’m reliving that night and the way Grady came all over my hand.