Page 33 of He Has Game (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
Chapter 8
Finn
There is no justification for me going inside her apartment after the Uber car drops us off in the street. I know this as I give the driver a twenty and let him go. I can’t take her to my place and I need to go somewhere because I know Aiden will wonder what’s wrong with this picture if I’m home early without her.
Letting him think I’m really engaged is the lousiest part of this charade. So maybe I should tell him, make an exception since I know I can trust him with the secret. It’s for a good cause.
Vivvie is silent as we walk up the stairs. She didn’t question me coming up with her and I’m wondering if she has expectations. And what they are. But I rein in my horny imagination as she opens the door.
“You hungry?” I say because I’m starved and it’s another legitimate reason to come here, so I can share the ravioli I got to go from The Fours. I need it. Almost as much as I need a long night of sex.
“I should be,” she says. She takes off her coat and stands there holding it, so I take it from her and throw it on the sofa, then take her by the hand to her tiny kitchen.
“You don’t mind if I eat, do you? We didn’t get a chance to.”
“Please do, I’m sorry if I made you leave sooner than planned.”
“That’s a bad habit you have. Always apologizing for things as if everything is your fault.”
“I’m a responsible person.” I can see that she’s kidding more than defensive. “Okay, I admit it, I’m kind of a martyr. Grace tells me often enough. But I have something to confess that I really am sorry for.”
“Spill it.” How bad could it be?
“Grace knows. I told her about ourarrangement.”
She says it like it’s a dirty word and I chuckle as I dump the carton of ravioli into a bowl and throw it in the microwave.
“Aren’t you going to cover that? It’ll splatter red sauce all over the inside of—”
I turn to her, can’t help my grin because she’s so correct and uptight and I want to undo her, unwind her and make her messy and do inappropriate things to her so badly my cock is weeping. Shaking my head, I shut the microwave door, without covering the bowl, and stand in front of her where she’s sitting on a bar stool, face to face.
“Are you going to report me to the microwave police?” I use a low, seductive voice because I can’t help teasing her, she’s too tempting, and at least this is something I can get away with, I think, without scarring her for life. But I rip off a paper towel and cover the dish.
“No,” she answers me as if it were a real question. Then she takes a deep breath, looks up at me with those green eyes, soulful and pretty, and says, “Aren’t you angry? I told Grace. She knows.”
“She’s your best friend, right?” I say. She nods. “You trust her, right?”
She nods again. “But she talks, when she’s drinking. She might inadvertently say the wrong thing.”
She has a point, but I refuse to be worried about Grace. Now that the engagement is official and the word has been put in motion, it’ll take on a life of its own. And I’m confident I can put on a convincing show.
“Don’t worry. We can make people believe it’s real.” Her face pinks and I watch the color rise like the sun, gorgeous and tempting as fuck.
She waves a hand. “But it was so careless of me. To put your Stanley Cup dream in jeopardy.”
Her heartfelt concern touches me because I’m not made of stone. Though I don’t remember the last time I’ve had someone care so deeply about my dreams. Not since my high school coach.
Putting a hand to her soft face, because I can’t seem to stop myself, I sigh and say, “Grace would have figured out the truth about us because women, especially good friends, have a special sense about these things. “I’m not surprised in the least.”
“How can I make it up to you?”
My cock triples in size in a nanosecond when she says the magic words. My mind flashes in Technicolor display all the possibilities. But I shut it down because we’re alone in my apartment and she’s . . . Vivvie.
Vulnerable.
Not mine.
“How about a kiss?” I say, because I’m like a starving man and ravioli isn’t going to do it for me. I’m determined to keep it to kissing only.
