Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 164557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
I like him.
SHANE:
Dude. He seems insane. I’m not being hyperbolic either. He literally seems like he escaped from a mental institution a few days ago and somehow wound up coaching hockey at Briar.
RYDER:
If Coach vouches for him, I’m sure it’s fine.
SHANE:
It’s fine until he and/or his wife suffocate you in your sleep for accidentally breathing near one of his daughters.
BECK:
I want to meet the daughters.
The age appropriate one.
WILL:
I’d advise you against that.
SHANE:
Dude, imagine that guy being your father-in-law? I’d way rather have Garrett Graham.
BECK:
Pretty sure Gigi’s brother is still single. You could marry him as your way into the family.
SHANE:
Or I could not do that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
Sexual support animals
I PARK MY CAR A FEW HOUSES AWAY FROM MY DESTINATION BECAUSE I refuse to take the chance of anyone seeing it in case I spend the night.
Not that I plan on spending the night.
We’re just watching a movie.
I’m not going to have sex with two hockey players.
It’s.
Just.
A movie.
When I told Faith I was going over to Will Larsen’s house tonight, she interrogated me like she caught me trying to smuggle cocaine over the border. Who gave you the drugs! Who introduced you to Will Larsen!
I told her he’s my lab partner. We met in class, he asked me out, and I had drinks with him in Boston the other night. Which then earned me a long lecture and a guilt trip because I chose to make Dante my murder contact for that date instead of Faith.
I take a deep breath and stare at their house. The lights are on. A shadow moves behind the curtains, and I hear the faint sound of laughter spilling out into the night.
My heart will not stop pounding. My palms are damp. I wipe them on my skirt and force myself to step out of the car.
This is crazy.
I walk up the path.
What am I even doing here?
I’ve never done anything like this before. I thought all the kinky sex talk would stay on the app. How did it become reality? It was supposed to be harmless teasing. Spank bank material for those long, stressful nights while I work on my capstone.
Anxiety buzzes in my veins as I ring the bell. The door swings open a moment later, and there’s Beckett, grinning at me.
“Hey,” he says, stepping aside to let me in.
His white shirt is unbuttoned.
Who does that to a woman?
I can barely wrest my gaze off the strip of flesh between the two parts of his shirt. Tanned and muscular. Those abs.
“Hi,” I reply, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Come in.”
In the living room, Will is lounging on the sectional’s chaise, his socked feet propped up on the coffee table. He wears black track pants and a Briar U T-shirt, both items emphasizing long limbs and sculpted muscles.
He glances up when I enter, his gaze sweeping over me, taking in every detail.
I didn’t dress up. I didn’t dress down either, though. I selected an outfit that I’d wear on any other date. Navy corduroy skirt over black thigh-high socks and a cropped gray sweater over a white tank. My hair is tied in a low ponytail, and my only makeup is some lip gloss.
“Hey,” Will greets me. “You look cute.”
Ugh. That easygoing boy-next-door smile affects me every time. “Thanks.”
“Have a seat.”
“Want a drink?” Beckett offers. “Water? Beer?”
“Do you have green tea?”
Oh my God, what kind of question is that? They’re two college boys living in a man cave. Of course they don’t have green tea.
“Let me go look. Shane’s mom stocked our cupboards with a bunch of teas when he lived here.”
Beckett disappears into the kitchen, leaving Will to smile at me again. “You can sit down, you know.”
After a few seconds of hesitation, I sit in the middle section of the U-shaped couch, close to Will.
“How was your game?” I ask, because I know they played this afternoon. That’s why we’re hanging out this late. It’s already past nine.
“Total shit show,” he says, his tone flat, “but we squeaked out the win. No thanks to my dad. He set up this TV segment about college hockey and sicced a cameraman on us.”
“Oh, I saw that when I went to your game with Blake and Gigi Graham.”
Will breaks out in another grin. “You came to a game?”
“Don’t read too much into it. I was doing it for Blake.”
“Uh-huh.” He slants his head. “Was this before or after you found out who we were?”
“Before. But that’s when I started putting it together. Who were you playing tonight?”
“Yale. Stuck-up assholes.”
I laugh, feeling some of the tension in my chest melt away. Will always puts me at ease. “Hey, I grew up fifteen minutes from New Haven.”
“Right. You’re a Connecticut girl. Does your family still live there?”
“My parents and brother. My sister is in Manhattan.”
“You’re in luck.” Beckett reappears with a big blue mug in one hand and two beer bottles in the other. “We had green tea.”