AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Erika really had prepared for the night, carrying the pizza to the coffee table, drawing his attention to the paper plates and napkins she’d already set out.
“Beer or wine?” she asked.
“Whatever you’re having.”
She walked to the fridge, then returned to hand him a bottle of Stella. He popped the caps on both before tapping his against hers.
“To beer and pizza.”
He laughed. “Amen.”
Erika sat next to him on the couch as they reached in, grabbing steaming slices of pizza, thick with cheese and tomato sauce, pepperoni, and mushrooms. She’d ordered his favorite, and again, he felt like he’d been given an unexpected gift.
Nothing about tonight was going the way he’d anticipated. Not that he was upset about that at all.
“You doing okay?” He hated to remind her of this morning, but on top of worrying about how to get them from point A, the couch, to point B, the bedroom, he’d been stressed out about the shit Doug had put her through. He’d worked off quite a bit of pent-up aggression on the ice this afternoon, much to his teammates’ dismay.
She nodded, and even gave him a genuine smile. “I am. My mother always said the best way to clear your head of negativity is to clean. So, on top of the laundry, I’m happy to say my closet has never looked better and there are currently six bags of clothes ready to be donated to charity.”
“Damn. Very productive day.”
“Yep. It was. And while I cleaned, I forced myself to face some painfully real facts.”
Blake frowned. “Like what?”
“Like I am the worst judge of character when it comes to the guys I date.”
Blake grimaced. “When it comes to Doug, I agree wholeheartedly. However, I wouldn’t know about the rest. You’re frustratingly tight-lipped when it comes to talking about your past relationships.”
Erika rolled her eyes. “That’s because I’m afraid you’ll reciprocate, and I don’t have eight hours to dedicate to listening to you go into detail about all your sexual escapades.”
“You’re only allotting eight hours for that?” he joked.
Erika snorted, then took a swig of her beer. “See? Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
Blake did a quick cross-his-heart motion. “I promise this doesn’t have to be a tit-for-tat conversation. I’m just curious about this big bunch of duds you’ve apparently dated.”
She giggled softly. “Not sure I’d call it a big bunch.”
“How many exes are we talking about?”
Her smile faded into a grimace. “Two exes and one oopsie.”
Blake tried to hold back his astonishment, but he failed miserably, his eyes widening. Erika was a gorgeous, intelligent, fun woman. How in the hell had she made it all the way to thirty with just three lovers? “You’ve only slept with three men?”
“Yup.” She raised one hand, wiggling her fingers adorably. “Haven’t even used all the fingers.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to let her know she was never going to fill a one-handed quota, since her count was ending with him.
He was going to be Mr. Number Four and that was where her count was ending.
Still, Blake shook his head in disbelief.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Erika narrowed her eyes, though there was no heat behind her words or expression. “I told you when you were laying on the charm after I moved in…when I date, it’s with an eye toward a committed relationship.”
“So who were these three losers?” he asked, genuinely curious. “I already know you didn’t lose your virginity to that prick Troy.”
She grinned. “You have a bad habit of calling my exes names. Troy’s a prick, Doug a tool. The rest are losers and duds?”
