Page 65 of Securing the Pucking Rebound

“Yeah, I know. So, what did you want to talk to me about exactly?”

“I invited a girl to watch the game with me, Monroe. I’m low-key freaking out. I don’t do that shit. Why did I even ask?” Because you want to spend more time with her. And you really want to fucking kiss her.

She wants to; I can see it in her eyes. Her body is screaming for me to make the next move. But her head…fuck. That’s on an entirely different page. I swear, both times I’ve got close, there’s been a flicker of fear in them. I want to know what it is, what puts it there, almost more than I want to discover just how sweet she tastes. And that’s a problem, because I never, ever want anything more from a woman than the pleasure she can offer me.

“Because you enjoy spending time with her?” Monroe asks, dragging me from my thoughts.

I think of last night. Did I want to spend my evening putting up shelves and sweeping hair from a salon floor? No, not really. But it was the best evening I’ve had—aside from hanging out at her apartment—recently. Even if I was walking around practically naked, which, let’s be honest, Sienna enjoyed the fuck out of. I caught her looking over and over. I won’t lie; it gave my ego a nice little boost.

I thought it was over the moment she caught sight of my tattoo. I didn’t even think about it when I dropped my sweats, but the second she mentioned it, I thought she was going to figure it out. After all, there’s only one reason I have that on my thigh, hiding from the sight of most people.

It’s personal. Private. A memory of a time I don’t want to share with anyone but the girl who was there with me at the time.

We spent hours that summer lying on our backs and watching the stars twinkle in the sky.

I knew fuck all about astronomy before she appeared in my life, but that first night, she started questioning what we were looking at and mentioning different constellations.

She was intrigued, which meant the second I got back to my room, I started researching. I’m pretty sure I learned more in those two weeks than I did in a year at school. I was desperate to give her the information she needed, and it was so worth it when I pointed out the Scorpius constellation a few days later, and she squealed in delight.

“Are you watching the game at your place, or going out?”

“I don’t know. This is the problem. I asked without a plan, and now I’m freaking out and need help.”

This time, a laugh slips out of him.

I’m not sure what my face shows, but he quickly schools his reaction and folds his arms over his chest as if he’s getting serious.

“Okay, so let’s break this down. If you invite her to your place, that’s kinda intimate. Letting a girl into your space is a big deal, right?”

“Right,” I agree. I don’t fuck puck bunnies at my place. The risk of them coming back for more and causing our concierges a nightmare is too big. Some bunnies be cray cray, and I really don’t need that in my life.

“She might think you’re after more if you invite her up there.”

I nod, aware that getting too close to Sienna seems to make her as uncomfortable as it does excited.

“So you go out to watch it where you’re surrounded by others, but you might get recognized.”

I nod again, following along with him.

“I don’t want to share her with anyone else, but⁠—”

“Fucking hell. She’s really got to you, hasn’t she?”

Yeah, about fifteen fucking years ago, and apparently nothing has changed.

“Have you already…You know?”

“Fucked her? No.”

“Then you should probably go out.”

“Yeah,” I agree. That’s what my gut is saying, but I really, really just want to stay in and keep her all to myself.

“You should take her to Bills. That place never gets that busy, and he’ll probably let you have the back booth. It has its own screen, so it’ll give you the privacy you want without the pressure of being alone in your apartment.”

My brows pinch. “How are you so good at this?”

He chuckles. “Women aren’t all that hard to figure out, man. You just gotta watch and listen. The movies and books might seem over the top at times, but it’s pretty much what they want.”