Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MOTHERDUCKER
TUCKER
There’s a knock on the door and I run a hand through my hair, probably mussing it up.
The guys decided to go to the arcade with a group of teammates after we came back from the vet. I’m grateful that they let me have the place to myself. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to spend some time alone with Taryn since the night we met, but the stars haven’t aligned until tonight.
“Hey.” When I open the door, my heart skips a beat. “You look beautiful.”
I mean it.
I love the way Taryn dresses. No one makes a flirty little summer dress look cuter and sexier at the same time.
“Thanks.” Her eyes travel the length of my body as she checks me out. “I guess we aren’t going out as planned?”
My hand goes to the back of my neck as I step aside to usher her into the apartment. “The guys went out with Vaughn and a group of other teammates. So I thought we could stay in and maybe watch a movie and order a pizza. Is that ok?”
Something passes in her gorgeous green eyes. I can’t quite put my finger on it. She doesn’t exactly look disappointed, but she doesn’t look happy either.
“Sure,” she says, giving me another appraising look. “Are you ok? You seemed really set on going out earlier.”
Is she nervous about being alone with me? I hope she knows that we don’t have to do anything she isn’t ready for. Of course I would be crazy if I didn’t hope to get closer to her, but I’m really into her. I’m willing to wait as long as she needs.
Maybe I should say that, but I don’t want to sound presumptuous. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry for changing our plans. Something came up, and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the house, but I didn’t want to cancel our date.”
“Something came up?” She looks like she doesn’t really believe me.
“Yeah. Or maybe I should say someone. Come, I’ll make some introductions.”
I walk Taryn into the living room where Baety is napping on a small dog bed on the couch.
“Do you have a baby chick?” She asks.
“This is Baety, my rescue baby mallard. She lost her mama and the rest of the baby ducks and decided to move into my duffel bag while the guys and I were relaxing in one of the hot springs in the wellness area of the campgrounds.”
Taryn leans in to take a closer look at Baety. “Aww. She’s adorable. Is this why you asked if we could stay in?”
I nod. “Yeah, do you mind? I ordered her a playpen that I can leave her in, and I paid for express delivery. It should be here tomorrow morning, hopefully. I’ll have to use a large cardboard box while I’m at practice and lock her into my room.
Hopefully, she doesn’t destroy everything.
But there’s no way I can skip morning skate.
Coach Harrison would only accept a sickie if it was confirmed by the team’s doctor. ”
“She’s adorable, Tucker. I’m sorry if this sounds unsupportive, but couldn’t animal protection find a better place for her? You’re going to be busy training and playing that summer tournament, and we aren’t allowed pets at camp.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I know. And I swear I tried to leave her at the vet. But she started quacking really loudly, like she was upset every time I tried to walk away. She had been bundled in an old pair of my underwear that she found in my duffel bag when we found her. The doctor said that when birds bond with someone other than their mother, they identify with that person. It’s called imprinting, and it happens when they’re super young.
So Baety must have hatched pretty recently.
And it seems that she has imprinted on me.
She leapt out of the doctor’s hands when I tried to leave and followed me. I didn’t have the heart to leave her.”
Taryn brushes her fingers over Baety’s fluffy feathers. “So she thinks you’re her daddy.”
“No,” I correct her. “According to the doctor, she thinks that I’m her mommy. The guys have been ribbing me and calling me ‘motherducker.’”
She giggles. “They’re the worst. So, are you really keeping her?”
“She follows me everywhere, and she wants to be with me. And it’s up to me to teach her how to be a duck.
She quacked when we found her, so she learned at least the very basics of that.
The doctor thinks she’s around one week old, and she might never learn how to communicate properly with other ducks.
Or to fly. Maybe instinct will take over, or maybe she will never fly.
With imprinting, it’s impossible to tell how much she’s gonna identify as a duck and how much as a human. ”
“Or a hockey player, in your case.” Taryn smiles.
I take her hand in mine. “I hope she doesn’t develop behavioral problems. The doctor said it’s entirely possible. But there’s no guarantee other ducks would accept her, and she’s too young to survive on her own. So I feel responsible, and I’m going to do my best to make sure she thrives.”
Taryn frees her hand from my grasp but cups my jaw. “That’s so sweet of you, Tucker. Baety was lucky to find your duffle bag rather than someone else’s. Or a predator.”
“Yeah, I can’t even think about what could have happened if she had bumped into a fox or something worse.”
I take my phone out of the back pocket of my sweatpants. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Wanna order a pizza? Or anything else you would like for dinner.”
“A pizza would be great. We’ve been dancing all day and I’m starving.”
“Do you have any preferences?” I open the app on my screen.
Taryn shrugs. “Not really. As long as it doesn’t have BBQ sauce on it or anchovies. I’m game for pretty much anything else.”
We settle on a supreme pizza and once that’s ordered, I lower myself onto the couch by Baety’s bed and pat the space next to me. “Come on, baby. Let’s choose a movie to watch.”
She sits close, our outer thighs touching. She’s warm and soft, and I barely resist the urge to wrap my arm around her shoulders.
“Hmm. Are you going to choose something with car chases and explosions?” She muses as I open my streaming app.
“Nope.” I smile. “I like action movies like the next guy, but I don’t mind rom-coms.”
Taryn’s eyes narrow skeptically. “Is that so?”
I grin as I give her the remote. “Check out my list and see if I’m lying to you.”
“Oh wow. I’m impressed, Tucker. You have a few action and disaster movies, but you also have a ton of rom-coms.”
My smile widens. “I grew up with two little sisters and two brothers. Family movie night was kept equal. And I’m not afraid to admit that sometimes I enjoyed the rom-coms more than the action movies.
Actually, my favorite was when it was Mom’s turn to choose the movie.
She always picked the best old movies. She still does. ”
After a short debate, we decide to watch The Cutting Edge.
We pause the movie when the pizza is delivered, and at the same time, I feed Baety some of the pellets I got from the vet.
The duckling goes straight back to sleep after eating and after letting Taryn pet her without biting.
“I think Baety likes you.” I smile, stretching my arms and resting them on the back of the couch, closer to her shoulders.
“I like her too.” I smile. “And I understand why you wanted to stay in tonight. At first, I wasn’t sure.”
I wonder what she means. “Why do you think I wanted to stay in? Oh.” It dawns on me as Taryn’s lips curl into a little smile. “You thought I planned to make a move on you?”
She looks straight at me. “The thought crossed my mind.”
I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t cross my mind too. “Can I be totally honest with you, Taryn?” Looking into the green depths of her eyes might be a mistake, because I’m sure how much I want her must be written all over my face.
“Please.” Her voice comes out lower, a little breathless as she leans slightly closer to me.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you twenty-four seven.
Since the second I saw you inside Joe’s and I bought you that drink.
It’s been my first thought when I wake up in the morning and my last thought before falling asleep at night.
I’ve been thinking about it when I’m in the crease and my only focus should be the puck.
When I skate, when I hit the gym. When I eat, and in the shower.
I can’t stop imagining how your lips would feel against mine, how you would taste.
It makes me so hard that I fear I’ll pass out and I’ll be found in the shower with the hard-on from hell.
So I have to take care of it. But the whole time, I imagine it’s you wrapping your hands around my cock and making me come. ”
There’s a beat of silence; the air between us is cracking with electricity. For a second I wonder if I said too much. If I should have stopped talking before admitting what happens when I think about her in the shower.
“Then why don’t you?”
I blink a couple of times, unsure about what she’s saying. “Why don’t I what?”
“Why don’t you kiss me? I’ve been thinking about it too, Tucker.”
A part of me wants to jump her bones and never even come out for air. But I want to commit this moment to memory. So I scoot a little closer to her and cup her face with my hand. I close the distance between us gradually, slowly.
This is what I want, savoring every second of it. Her soft breath fanning over my lips; the tips of our noses touching as I tilt my head. And finally, the soft warmth of her lips.
The first contact with her lips is featherlight, a brush. But I’ve waited this long for this, and my patience is about to run out. I go in again, more fully this time. A little more pressure for a little longer.
Fuck. Even just this feels so good.
When I advance again, she begins kissing me back, and I snap. My lips press on hers with bruising force until she opens for me.
I know I’m in trouble the second I taste her. As my tongue brushes against hers, I’m instantly addicted.
And like every junkie worthy of that name, I drink her in until we’re both breathing hard.
Taryn’s hands are fisting my t-shirt as if I were her last lifeline.