Puck Block : A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Bexley U)

I slap the top of the Uber and throw some money on the girl’s lap before shutting the door. The Uber driver rolls his window down.

“I sent you the address. Get her home safely,” I say.

“Will do, man. Good game tonight.”

I nod to the older gentleman, then he’s driving off with my drunken dance partner. I was half inclined to jump in the Uber with her to put some much-needed distance between me and Taytum, because I know what she’s doing, and I have no one to blame but myself for the raging jealousy storm I’m in the middle of.

I stare at the football house. The white sheet that’s hanging on the porch with a child-like painted wolf on the front is blowing in the wind, and I contemplate whether or not I should head back inside. I move my gaze farther to stare at the stars, hopeful that there’s a hidden answer up there, but I stop at the bright light coming from the upstairs window. My breathing halts, and I stumble backward.

I blink once, then twice, and then bite my tongue so hard blood fills my mouth. My eyes shut tightly, and I curse God.

“Are you fucking testing me?” I ask him.

An owl hoots from the tree, and I stand there, completely dumbfounded, before finding the beady little monster. Really? 

I can’t help but look at the window again, hoping to God Taytum isn’t still there for the world to see, but naturally, she is. My blood boils. He’s touching her like he knows what she likes, and I hate to break it to him, but I know what she looks like when she’s completely out of control with pleasure, and the face she’s making isn’t it.

Fuck. Just leave. 

I turn around and stare at the car-lined street, but I can’t move.

I’m frozen in place.

I can’t have her.

I know I can’t.

But I can’t stand by and set her up with guys anymore.

I can’t help her get laid.

I can’t willingly watch her fall in love with someone who isn’t me.

I should have never touched her, but unfortunately, I did, and now I’m forever fucked.

The party is in full chaos mode when I make my way back inside the house. Most of the hockey team has left, but the football players are still playing beer pong. Girls are slowly losing layers of clothes and dancing to music I can’t seem to hear over my heartbeat. My attention shifts from the steps to the dance floor, and then back to the steps. I climb them one by one with a hand around my throat and impulse driving my actions.

I might kill the innocent guy I set her up with if I go into the room and watch him touch what’s mine.

So instead, I walk over to the bathroom that Rush doesn’t let anyone use during parties because he doesn’t want anyone “fucking in the shower” and praise my sperm donor of a father for giving me my height. I easily reach up, grabbing the key off the top of the door ledge, and shut it after I’m inside.

I can’t fathom looking at myself in the mirror because I know I’m going to look so fucking almighty with my plan when I should feel like shit for it.

Taytum is reckless to my soul, so let it be damned.

The shower turns on, and it’s set to every girl’s favorite temperature–hell.

Steam billows around me, and it thankfully fogs the mirror so I don’t have to face myself. When the air is too thick to breathe and sweat trickles down my back, I crack the door, and it rushes out like Niagara Falls.

I press onto the wall and wait. My hands fall into my pockets, and I cross my legs at the ankles. My heart beats harder with each bead of sweat that falls from my hairline, but when the fire alarm finally goes off, setting off the rest throughout the house, I push forward and turn off the shower. I open the door further to watch every bedroom fly open at the same time.

Taytum is two doors down, and it’s the only room I care about.

Everyone is confused in their lustful or drunken state. Not much difference if you ask me. They stumble over to the stairs, half-dressed, with their hands covering their ears, and then I see Taytum following Knox.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

She’s fully dressed but looks a mess.  Her shirt is crooked, and her hair is tangled at the ends. He looks back at her once and shrugs as they fall into the stampede of everyone else. The raging alarm is doing nothing but blending in with the fast thumping of my pulse, and I wait until she’s walking past to grab onto her arm. I pull her into the steamy bathroom, and she gasps.

Once she registers that it’s me, she surveys the room and lingers on the foggy mirror before shifting her gaze back to mine. I slowly close the door, and it cancels out some of the blaring beeps from the fire alarms that are slowly being turned off by Rush and his teammates.

“Are you kidding me?” Her question is obviously rhetorical. “You set the fire alarms off?”

Taytum pretends to be unbothered, but I linger on her neck and watch her pulse beat like a thunderstorm behind her skin.

I take a step toward her. “I did.” The lack of control I have when it comes to her is pathetic.

She rolls those ocean-blue eyes, and I take another step in her direction. I reach forward and run my hand down her hair to smooth out the wild tangles.

Taytum flings my hand away. “Why set me up with someone only to ruin it just when it gets good? You’re unbelievable, Ford.”

“Gets good?” I scoff angrily. “I saw the way he was touching you. Don’t forget, I know what you look like when you’re turned on.”

Her mouth flattens. “What do you mean you saw?”

I answer with one word. “Window.”

She breathes heavily and then crosses her arms in that bratty way that I love. “This is the second time in one week where you have interfered with a date—and you forced me into this one.”

“Date.” I laugh but it comes out harsh. “You mean fuck session.”

Taytum and I are head to head. She’s glaring at me, and all I can think about is how I want to kiss her. I want to replace his mouth on hers with mine.

Goddamnit, what the fuck am I doing?

“Fine.” I gaze at her mouth. “Date, fuck session, whatever you want to call it. Either way, why did you set me up with him if you were only going to sabotage it in the end?!”

I move fast.

I force her up against the bathroom door, and she hits it at the same time a heavy breath escapes her. I reach behind her and lock the door. The click breaks through the one fire alarm continuing to blare, and I slap my hands against the wood to cage her in. “Because!”

Taytum straightens her spine in defiance, and God, she’s so fucking pretty. Not a single flaw covers her smooth skin and feminine features. Her lips are beyond kissable, and her body has always fit so perfectly in my hands that I can’t help but crave it every second of the day. “Why, Ford?” she repeats. “Why set me up with someone if you’re going to throw a fit afterward?”

My head is tangled with too many unsaid truths, and all I can do is blurt something without thinking. “Because if you don’t run off with someone else, then I’ll just be more inclined—” Wait. I grind my teeth to stop myself.

The glimmer in her eyes shines with a dare. “Inclined to do what?”

My palm finds its place on the curve along her waist, and it makes me question everything. “I’ll be inclined to make you mine.”