AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know that, but that’s not why you won’t look me in the eye, is it? Never known you to be a coward, Erik.”
His words worked. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.
“There she is,” he said with a grin that was too charming her for self-control.
“Blake—” she started, but he cut her off, shaking his head.
“You’re not going to make what happened last night awkward between us.”
She wanted to argue that fact because things were hella awkward at the moment.
“I mean it,” he persisted. “We didn’t do a damn thing wrong. Besides, it was a one-time deal. You had a bad night, and I tried to help.”
There was no try about it. The man had succeeded…big-time. Not that she’d tell him that. One of her missions in life was to try to curb his cockiness.
“And I appreciate that,” she forced herself to say when the silence drifted a bit too long. “It’s just?—”
“It’s just nothing. Nothing has changed between us. We’re still neighbors and best friends, co-parenting the cutest, sweetest dog on the planet. If you want to forget all about last night, that’s fine. Or I’d be perfectly okay with you using the memory as your future spank-bank material because I think we can both admit, I rocked your world.”
She rolled her eyes so hard, it hurt.
Blake laughed, then wrapped his arms around her, giving her a big, friendly hug. “We’re okay, Erik. Okay?”
Every ounce of tension evaporated, thanks to that hug.
“We’re okay.”
“Good.” Blake pulled away, walking to the basket where she kept Corky’s leash. “I’m going to take our girl for a walk while you drink your smoothie. I’ve got practice in an hour. Might hit the pub afterward with the gang, so I could get back late.”
She knew Blake’s “gang” consisted of teammates and puck bunnies. The team had won last night, but Blake hadn’t had a chance to celebrate, opting instead to cheer her up. Which meant, he would probably bring home one of his usual hookups for the night.
“You want to join us?” he asked, aware tonight was her night off, since her work and his game schedules were now emblazoned on digital organizers hanging in each of their kitchens.
She shook her head, lifting his smoothie. “No. I think alcohol and I are taking a break.”
Blake ruffled her hair playfully, prompting her to smack his hand away. “Cool. You good with keeping Corky tonight?”
Yep, she decided. He was definitely hoping to get lucky.
“Sure,” she said affably, hating that the idea of Blake bringing home a woman bothered her. That was something new and something very, very unwanted. Maybe they weren’t as okay as she claimed.
Blake hooked the leash to Corky’s collar, leading the dog to the door. Turning just before he left, he pointed to the smoothie. “Drink,” he said in that deep, demanding tone that had pushed every hot button in her last night. “It’ll make you feel better, dirty girl,” he added with a shameless wink.
She flipped him the bird before lifting the glass, taking a big sip and grimacing at the taste.
He laughed loudly as he left, closing the door behind him.
Erika leaned over the counter, forcing herself to drink more of his hangover cure. Opening her phone, she checked her email and messages, finding one from Doug.
She’d met the financial analyst on eHarmony, and so far, they’d met for coffee twice. He was a nice guy, and while he wasn’t Blake-level hot, he was certainly attractive. He’d messaged to invite her to dinner over the weekend.
Looked like she had passed the coffee-date hurdle.
She tried to decide if he had as well.
Yeah. She guessed he had. There hadn’t been any apparent red flags, though spotting those hadn’t proven to be one of her strengths, considering her past boyfriends. She shoved that thought away and she focused on Doug instead.
He was friendly and intelligent and a good listener. She hadn’t really felt any sort of sexual attraction to him, but they also hadn’t really tested those waters, both coffee dates ending with a simple handshake.
