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Victor rolled his eyes. “You’re still fucking people.”
They’d all been friends for way too long to take offense to anything Victor said.
Tank turned back to Blake. “I can only assume you’ve stalled out with Erika. So I guess it’s my job as best friend to offer you your choices. Do something about it, or you’ll be back to taking victory laps with Mindy.”
“Mindy.” Blake shook his head in disgust. “No fucking way.”
Tank crossed his arms. “It’s not like you’ve made any progress on the Erika front, and Mindy’s been complaining about you not calling her anymore.”
“You know I’m not sleeping with Mindy. Ever again,” Blake insisted, feeling slightly guilty for not clueing his best friend into the fact he had taken a step forward with Erika. Of course, it had been followed by two steps back, but Tank didn’t know that either.
“Damn,” Tank muttered, his tone catching Blake off guard.
“Damn?”
He sighed. “I made the mistake of taking her home one night, and she’s been fucking clingy ever since. Did you know she can tie herself up in bed?”
Blake was all too aware of that party trick.
Coulton’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
Tank and Blake both nodded.
“That’s fucking weird,” Victor said, his words matching Blake’s opinion. “If I want a woman tied to my bed, you can be damn sure I’m going to be the one tightening the fucking knots.”
Tank laughed loudly, reaching across the aisle to punch Victor on the arm. “I knew you were a kinky bastard.”
Victor growled but didn’t deny the accusation.
“Seriously, Blake. What’s going on?” Coulton asked. “You’re the one who’s usually in a big-ass hurry to get home to that damn dog.”
Blake hadn’t told any of his friends about his night with Erika. He wasn’t sure why, but now…when he considered it…he thought maybe it was because he didn’t want to jinx it until it was all sorted out and official. He’d had a niggling feeling that wasn’t the case when she’d left to go the hospital, so he’d kept his mouth shut.
Now that niggling feeling had taken over, growing to a 9.0 earthquake on the Richter scale.
“Is it that guy Erika’s seeing?” Tank asked. “Is it more serious?”
Blake also hadn’t told them about Doug attacking Erika because he hadn’t known how to share that story without sliding into the aftermath. Now, though, he was ready to come clean about everything…because he needed his friends’ advice.
“It’s a long story.” He started by telling them about losing Corky, leaving out the part about Erika’s intense fear of storms because that was too personal. Instead, he said they’d both been freaked out over losing the puppy and had fallen asleep at his place.
“You two and that fucking dog,” Victor muttered.
Then he told them about the next morning, about Doug hitting Erika, shaking her. Blake had never questioned how solid his friendship with his teammates was, but if he had any doubts, they were erased by the sheer murder in their eyes when they learned Erika had been hurt.
“What’s Doug’s fucking last name?” Victor asked through gritted teeth.
“Where does he live?” Coulton looked equally deadly.
Blake wished he knew the answers to those questions. “I punched him, probably broke his nose.”
Tank scowled. “That’s not enough.”
“Fucking tell me about it,” Blake agreed. “Anyway, I comforted her, but then I had to leave for practice, so we made plans for dinner later.”
“You two eat dinner together most nights. So what?” Tank asked.
“We had sex.”
