Page 39 of Puck Me Twice

“That’s better,” she announces.

“What did you want to watch?” I pick up the tablet.

“Whatever you’re watching.” She squirms closer. “I just want to be held by you.”

Selecting the first movie I can find— a superhero movie from two summers ago—I lie down on the bed and curl my arm around her belly, holding her close.

She’s soft and she smells good, and having her in my arms feels right. Like I was made for the sole purpose of holding her.

Again, I don’t see her all day. She’s not at breakfast, and she’s not on the bus to the training facility. I don’t know where she is. Did she get in trouble for visiting me last night? Nothing even happened!

It’s when we’re warming up and getting ready for the game that I finally see her again. She’s wearing a team sweatshirt and leggings with her favorite combat boots. Her blonde hair is pulled into a loose braid over one shoulder. She enters the team’s workout room with a pinched smile on her face.

“Hey,” she says, making eye contact.

“Hi.”

“Can we talk?”

I’m conspicuously aware of the guys’ attention on us as I get up from foam rolling and follow her out of the room.

“What’s going on?” I ask as she finds a quiet alcove.

“I just wanted to check in,” Vanessa says, biting her lip.

“Okay…”

“I haven’t seen you at all today.”

“It’s game day.”

“I know. It’s—” She blows out a breath. “I don’t want to make things uncomfortable for you with the rest of the team.”

“You’re not.”

“Jenkins on the plane… MacGregor at breakfast…”

“They can go fuck themselves,” I declare.

Her eyes go big.

“Everything is legal and approved. They don’t matter,” I tell her. “Are you getting flack for it?”

“Pope saw me leave your room last night,” she admits.

My stomach sinks. “Oh.”

“He was… well, he’s a dick on a good day,” she continues.

“Yeah. Tell me about it.” I shake my head. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to check on you. Make sure he wasn’t giving you shit.”

Not for this, not today.

“I’m used to ignoring him,” I deflect.

I want to pull her into my arms and hold her. I want to kiss her and never let her go.