Page 63 of Hockey Boy
“You ready to go, Lex?” I tug her close and bury my face in her neck. “Nervous about being alone with your fake boyfriend?” I murmur.
She pulls back and rolls her eyes. “Of course not. I just forgot.”
I give her a mock disapproving look. She’s so full of it. “You forgot you’re mine?”
“You’re annoying,” she mumbles.
“Mommy says Bossman is annoying in that same tone.”Finn stands with his hands on his waist, assessing us. “Then she tells him if he doesn’t stop, he’ll be sleeping in the doghouse.”
“We both know how much I love Deogi,” I say, crouching to meet Finn’s eye.
My brother’s ninety-pound mastiff. When he was a puppy, Beckett thought he was a mut. Now that he’s full grown, the dog is the size of a horse, and he slobbers like it’s no one’s business, so tonight he’s outside with the raccoons.
“You want to sleep over here, Uncle Aiden? Mommy always says she’ll be over it by the morning.”
Behind me, the girls laugh.
It takes a lot of restraint to keep from joining in. From where I’m squatted beside Finn, I look up at Lennox. “You gonna make me sleep with the dog tonight?”
She rolls her lips together, fighting a smile, but it’s no use. Her beautiful face lights up and splits into the biggest grin. “No. I suppose you can come home.”
Finn bumps his shoulder with mine and cups a hand over his mouth. “If she changes her mind, you know where I live.”
I maintain my best serious face and nod. “Thanks, Huck. See you soon.”
“So that was something,” I say as I pull out onto the road, desperate to fill the silence on the drive home and incredibly anxious now that we’re alone.
“We can’t really move in together.”
My head whips in her direction.
“Aiden, watch the road.”
“Then don’t say ridiculous things.”
“Ridiculous?” she asks in an almost teasing tone. God, I’d like to turn and look at her. See if she’s actually smiling. I keep my eyes on the road, though, because if she is smiling, I won’t be able to look away. “What’s ridiculous is moving in together when we’re fake dating. We barely know one another anymore.”
“You want to get to know me better?” I can work with that.
“Aiden.”
There she goes with that scolding tone again. It makes my dick twitch. I love riling her up.
“Yes, princess? You want to get to know me? How about we play a few rounds of Never Have I Ever? We can clear out the cobwebs real quick.”
“Be serious.” Even as she says it, I hear the smile in her voice.
“Oh, I’m incredibly serious. I don’t joke about Never Have I Ever. It’s sacred.”
We pull up to a light, and I finally get my fill of her. She’s got her head tipped back against the headrest and turned in my direction. Tendrils of pink glow around her face from the outside lights, and she’s smiling. Fucking glowing. I love her like this.
I’d love her even if she was yelling at me, but this? This is so good.
“Never Have I Ever is sacred,” she agrees, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “Okay, fine. Never have I ever played hockey.”
I chuckle as the light changes and return my focus to the road. “You trying to turn this into a game of strip poker, Lex?” I eye her quickly. “Because I can be down for that.”
Her lips pop open, her eyes going comically wide. “No! I was just playing the game. Telling you something about myself that feels pretty damn relevant for a boyfriend who plays hockey for a living.”