Page 46 of Dangle

“Breakfast is good,” he murmured, his voice so small and soft, I barely heard him.

Laughter escaped in a huff when I responded, “You sure about that?”

One eye opened, the only one I could see, with his face still buried in the pillow. “I’m a hockey player. You never have to ask if I need or want to eat. It’s a given. Always. Eating is a full-time job for a hockey player. It takes a lot of calories to keep an ass this fine.”

“So I’ve heard,” I said with a laugh.

That got his attention. He lifted his head, resting it in the palm of his hand as he rolled onto his side—shameless and not the least bit modest. I approved. Modesty and I weren’t even acquaintances.

A dynamic…nope. Not going there.

“You date hockey bros often?” he asked, then added, “Or is it second-hand knowledge?”

“The second one.”

His eyes darkened as they raked over my body from my face to my crotch. My blood heated and my cock took notice. A smirk pulled at his mouth when he looked back at me. “Good.”

I wasn’t sure what that was about, but I could guess. And it gave me a thrill. Instead of acknowledging it, I went back to the original battle plan. “Okay, then…breakfast.”

“It’s the most important meal of the day.”

“Jesus fuck.” I laughed. I had to. He bratted beautifully. It made me want to throttle him and fuck him, and I wasn’t sure which would satisfy me more.

I scrubbed both hands over my face and into my hair. When I looked back at him, he was grinning like a fucking Cheshire cat. I pressed my palm over his mouth when it fell open, his tongue curling and pressing against his molars as if he was reloading for his next bratty launch. “Are you one of those crazy diet hockey guys who doesn’t eat real food, or…”

“Food. Like real food? Eggs and sausage and bacon. The craziest I get is hot sauce, multigrain toast, and a massive fucking amount of protein bars and shakes.”

“Considering this is Priest and Cam’s place and they have a hockey player for a partner, I’m sure there’s plenty of real food here to eat,” I said as I stood to make my way to the kitchen.

Once there, I pulled open the fridge and laid out everything I needed to make the two of us breakfast.

He followed, his hand brushing over my ass as he passed behind me where I stood, turning on the gas cooktop. My dick twitched in my pants, making me thankful I had my back to him. Looking over my shoulder, I chuckled. He stood in front of the coffeemaker naked as the day he was born, rummaging through the drawers and cabinets.

“Eureka!” he yelled, showing off the large jar of coffee pods he’d unearthed from somewhere.

He was the cutest little shit. At least fifteen years younger than me if I had to guess, but…

“How do you take your coffee?” he asked, interrupting the train of my thoughts when the last of the water sputtered from the machine on the first cup of coffee.

“Black.”

The alarmed look on his face cracked me up. “I don’t sip the shit. I’ll guzzle a few espressos to get a jolt first thing in the morning, and depending on what my day looks like, another few in the late afternoon, but other than that it’s flavored water.”

The words I spoke only made his face turn from alarmed to afraid as he held out the cup. I took it from him, downing it like a shot of liquor before handing it back to him.

“Another?” he asked wide-eyed.

“I can fix it when I’m finished here. I don’t expect you to wait on me.”

His brow tweaked as if—but it disappeared too fast for me to figure out what it meant. With it gone, he dropped another pod in the machine and pressed the button, then straightened his shoulders. He turned to look at me and said, “I can make coffee. You’re making breakfast.”

“Then, yes. Please and thank you.”

He smiled. A soft, pleased stretch of his mouth that came with a tiny wiggle-dance. He set a third pod to brew as he doctored his now finished cup. I glanced toward the water Ileft him on the nightstand. I walked over, picked up one of the remaining bottles of water, and set it on the counter next to him when I returned to the kitchen.

“Here. You need to drink some more water. Coffee is a diuretic.”

He smirked and saluted as he said, “Yes, sir.”