Page 10 of Puck Me, Valentine
What just happened?
And what am I supposed to do now with this—I look down at myself, at the obvious bulge in my jeans—situation?
* * *
I think about it all through breakfast.
Through my morning biology lecture, where I take exactly zero notes and Dr. Chuck has to call my name twice before I realize she’s asking me a question.
Through lunch, where I sit with Liz and Luke but contribute almost nothing to the conversation, just pushing pasta around my plate and nodding at appropriate intervals.
“Val?” Liz waves her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Valentine Wylie. You okay?”
“Fine.” The word comes out automatic. “Just tired.”
“You’ve been weird all day.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Did something happen?”
Did something happen?Did Devlin Bower show up at my door in a thunderstorm, accuse me of sending him an explicit Valentine’s Day card, kiss me until I couldn’t breathe, then threaten to make my life hell?
“No,” I lie. “Just stressed about the fundraiser.”
They don’t look convinced, but they let it drop. I make my excuses as soon as I can, claiming I need to check on the animals.
Which isn’t entirely a lie. I do need to check on them. I just do it as quickly as humanly possible, rushing through feeding schedules and medication times, barely stopping to give Gerald his usual lecture about his attitude.
My mind won’t stop replaying last night.
The way Devlin’s body felt pressed against mine. The heat of his skin through his wet clothes. The hard length of his cock—god, I can’t stop thinking about that. The fact that Devlin Bower was aroused. For me.
Except he wasn’t, was he? He was probably just aroused by the situation. By the power dynamic, the confrontation, the opportunity to humiliate me. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.
Someone like Devlin doesn’t get hard for someone like me.
By evening, I’ve managed to pull myself together enough to participate in the group chat like a normal person. I type out a message about needing extra study time for organic chemistry, which is true even if it’s not the reason I’ve been avoiding everyone.
I’m walking back to my room, mentally preparing for another night of not sleeping, when I see Will Nakagawa in the hallway.
“Hey, Will.” I paste on my brightest smile. “How’s it going?”
He stops, and something in his expression makes my stomach drop. He’s polite but distant, his usual warmth nowhere to be found.
“Val. Hey.”
The silence stretches awkwardly.
“I wanted to ask—” I swallow hard. “Did I upset the hockey team? With the flyers? The fundraising thing?”
“No, it’s fine.” His tone is flat. “I’ll come to the fundraiser. I’ll bring an old jersey for the auction. But I can only stay about fifteen minutes. Duty and all that.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks, I—”
“See you around, Val.”
He walks away before I can say anything else.
I stand there, frozen, as several other hockey players pass by. They don’t look at me. Don’t acknowledge me at all, except for one who mutters something to his teammate that makes them both smirk.
Oh.
