Page 76 of Pucking Good Girl

“Macklin, this looks delicious, but I think you’re overestimating how much I can eat.”

“Don’t worry,” he chuckles, setting the plate in front of Talia. “Becks and I will finish what you don’t.”

I offer her a bowl of fresh fruit and pour her a glass of orange juice.

“Oh,” Talia moans after taking her first sip. “Is this freshly squeezed?”

It is. “I don’t like store-bought stuff. Unless they have a station to squeeze your own oranges, buying the pre-made stuff is a minefield of weird ingredients and added sugar. I prefer making my own so I don’t have to worry about what’s in it.”

Mack doesn’t miss this opportunity to rib me. “Ah, yeah. You haven’t seen this side of Becks. He’s obsessed with nutrition and macros and all that shit. Especially during the season.”

I throw a blueberry at my brother, and he catches it in his mouth, putting on a huge show of chewing it.

“I’m not obsessed,” I argue. “But what we eat has an impact on our performance on the ice. I don’t know how you’re as fast as you are with all the pizza you eat.”

“Pizza is the meal of champions,” there’s total conviction in his words. “Besides, not all pizza was created equal. The place I buy from uses organic flour, fresh tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oil. They use real mozzarella only, not that ultra processed stuff some places try to pass for cheese.”

We’ve been arguing about this for years. “I’m not saying that pizza is always bad for you, but you’d eat it every day. Sometimes you actually do that. You can get away with it now, but one day⁠—”

I stop in my tracks. Not because of Mack’s eye roll, but because of the way Talia is looking at our back and forth.

Mack notices too. “What’s up, baby? Do you want to weigh in on our debate?”

She shakes her head, swallowing the piece of bacon she was eating. “No, I’m just enjoying listening to what you both have to say. I love how passionate you both are. It’s cute.”

“Cute?” My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Did you just call us cute?”

Talia rises from her chair to climb into my lap. “You’re both very cute.”

I’m about to complain that men aren’t cute, but the second her lips touch mine, I forget everything else. I can’t even remember what Mack and I were bickering about.

Talia’s lips are hot on mine. She tastes like the syrup she poured all over her breakfast and the orange juice she’s been drinking.

She’s so soft against me, and it doesn’t take long until things heat up between us.

My hands sneak under the oversized t-shirt she slept in to find smooth, bare skin underneath it.

She moans when I trace the underside of her perfect tits with the tips of my fingers. My reaction to that sound is immediate and fierce. I’m rock hard within seconds.

Talia notices the effect she has on me and grinds against my erection.

“If I were to stop playing with your tits to check between your legs, would you be as wet as I think you are?”

She grinds against me again. “No. Probably way more than you think I am. I might make a mess on your sweatpants.”

I’m about to get up to carry her back to bed, but Mack’s growl causes me to freeze, reminding me that we aren’t alone.

My brother shakes his head, and I brace myself for whatever is about to come out of his mouth.

“You two are so fucking hot when you start kissing like that.”

That’s so not what I was expecting him to say.

“Thanks… I guess.” I bite out, unsure of what the etiquette is in a situation like this one.

On the one hand, we spent another crazy night with Talia between us. On the other hand, I’m under no illusion that Mack isn’t thinking about how he can make Talia choose him over me.

I think my hunch is confirmed when my brother gets up from his chair and comes to stand behind Talia.