Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Yes, it is. Especially after what he shared about Eva at dinner.
I’m not tired in the least, so I follow him out to the living room. He parks himself on the couch.
“Ready?” I ask, arching a skeptical brow as I sit next to him.
“Yes. Or I can read to you,” he offers, gesturing for me to give him the device.
A hot hockey player reading a romance book to me? I didn’t turn down the private plane. I’m sure as hell not turning down this adventure. I hand him the Kindle and catch him up to speed on the story. “So, Mariana just came into Hayden’s office, and she’s driving a hard bargain on hiring his firm.”
With a got it nod, Dev clears his throat, then begins. “And there’s one more thing I want, she tells me, those sharp eyes lasered in on me. Too bad it won’t be for me to bend her over the desk,” Dev says, and to his credit, there’s not one snarky remark the rest of the scene. Not as he reads about them arguing, not as the hero and heroine trade dirty glances, and not as the hero talks about all the filthy things he wants to do to her.
When the chapter ends, Dev waggles the e-reader. “How long will it take for them to bang?”
A grin takes over my face. “We place bets in book club on that.”
“Yeah? How do you usually do?”
I blow on my nails. “I’m a pretty good bang predictor.”
He lifts a brow in admiration, then holds my gaze for a long moment—a moment that sends a rush of warmth down my chest, straight to my core. “And what’s your prediction for this one, Aubrey?”
Those tingles spread across my skin. Heat flares brightly inside me. Even though I’m sitting on the couch, my knees feel weak. I try to catch my breath, but it’s hard to breathe with his gaze pinned on me.
“Hard to say,” I finally manage.
He’s quiet, but his green eyes speak volumes. They flash with dirty thoughts till he drags a hand down his face like he needs to recalibrate all his systems.
He mumbles something that sounds like sorry. “We should…”
“Yeah. Go to bed,” I say, feeling both heady and hollow at the same time.
He gestures to the bedroom, making it clear I should go first. I get up, and I’m tempted to look back. But I don’t. I’m pretty sure what I’d see, though—the evidence of his desire tenting his shorts.
It takes him a minute before he makes it into the bedroom again. Once he’s under the covers, he says hoarsely, “Night, Aubrey.”
“Good night, Dev.”
I don’t fall asleep for a long time. But when I wake in the middle of the night, I feel him against me. His big body is pressed against my back, his hard length prodding my ass. His steady breathing coasts over my ear.
He’s asleep.
So is his friend, who’s flat on his stomach, with one hand resting gently on my shoulder.
Sparks shimmy over my chest. Arousal pulses in my core. Wild thoughts flood my brain.
I don’t know how I’m going to survive in this bed with Ellie the Elephant since she takes up so much space.
21
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
Aubrey
Twigs crunch under my feet as the summer sun sneaks its rays through branches canopying the trail. Wildflowers bloom along the path while birds chirp from nearby branches.
Bees buzz too.
But nope. I refuse to think about the birds and the bees. I’ve got a better plan for Ellie the Elephant today.
Keep the guys talking about hockey, like I’ve done all afternoon on our hike. “So that game last year when you went into overtime when you were playing the Sabers,” I say, cueing Dev on my next round of hockey chatter.
Another hockey tale will keep my mind where it belongs. Off my lust. “They were working you hard in that game. Taking shot after shot on goal. Were you exhausted at the end of it?”
Dev’s ahead of me, hiking in trim khaki shorts and a T-shirt, and fine, the clothes look good. But I’m not checking out his ass. Nope. I’m not at all admiring the gloriously firm shape of it whatsoever.
I so am.
With a quick glance back at me, he gives an easy shrug and winds past a small boulder. “Yes, but no. I’ve got pretty good stamina,” he says, a twinkle in his green eyes.
Great. Just great.
I try to laser in on a question that can’t become wordplay. “What about you, Ledger? What’s the wildest game you’ve ever played in?”
From behind me, the Sea Dog forward hums, clearly giving it some thought. I steal a glance at him as he says, “That’d have to be—”
“Fuck. Shit. Hell.”
I startle, whipping my gaze back to the man in the lead who’s backing the fuck up, right into me.