AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She made her way to the kitchen. "Water or something else?"
"Water."
With that, she chucked a bottle of water at his head. He easily caught it but realized that, while she might have let him in for the night, she still hated him.
She said, "You get to give Nathan his first dose."
"Sure. I'll even do the second," he said as he pulled the puppy into his lap and sat on the sofa. He realized that her sofa was so much better than his. He wouldn't have an issue sleeping there.
"That sounds good." It seemed like she was going to head off, but she paused. She looked so sexy as she lingered in the doorway. "If you need anything, I'll be right over there."
"Thanks, Clarissa." He forced a smile. He was getting whiplash from her. It seemed like he might stand a chance with her, but then he got shut down almost as quickly. He stayed on the sofa. He wasn't sure how Clarissa would react if he actually tried to make a move. But he let his eyes linger on her wonderful ass. He wanted to hold it one more time. Hell, he wanted to kiss her and get a feel for her lips. They seemed to be absolutely perfect.
PK was surprised at the lack of holiday décor in Clarissa’s apartment. Not that he had much, but he did have a little tree up. He was never home for long during the holidays, but since he wasn't playing, he’d gotten a Charlie Brown Christmas tree a few years ago. He had his leg lamp as well, since he couldn't play in Cleveland for so long without making a trip to the Christmas Story house or owning at least one leg lamp. Although, he only brought out his normal decorations for Christmas. He kept thinking about getting an elaborate Christmas tree this year but wasn't sure if it was worth the effort. Although, if he could spend the holidays with Clarissa, it would be worth the effort.
"Dude, get yourself together. You're lucky that she didn't try to arrest your ass." He rubbed Nathan's ears and said, "Seems like the two of us need to get some sleep."
Clarissa
She had a hard time going to sleep. She couldn't get the sexy ex-hockey player lying on her sofa out of her mind. Tonight, she saw a whole new side of him, a side that she loved. He was a softie, and he knew about dogs. It was nice that he hadn't tried to take the puppy away from her, although the pup was a traitor by staying downstairs with him.
The crazy thing was, he didn't even try to come upstairs with her. She had a guest room which he should have known about. He could have had a bed. He didn't even ask. Instead, he followed the puppy to the sofa and pretended like there wasn't another bedroom. Nor did he act on her flirting with him. It wasn't like her to flirt with a guy the way she had after chucking the bottle at him. It should have been clear that she was interested in him the moment she hung around longer, but he hesitated. So now she wondered about him.
The crazy thing was, they now had a puppy that they were caring for together. The dog was adorable yet needed around-the-clock medical care. She was glad that PK was willing to take the first three hours of Nathan's care. She normally would have relished the few hours of sleep but not tonight. She thrashed around until finally getting into a deep sleep.
She dreamt that it was Christmas in the near future. That much was clear by the insane amount of Christmas décor going on. She walked downstairs to witness PK on the floor, shirtless and playing with a baby that was on its back. It was sexy as fuck to see him doting on the baby and oblivious to the world. She loved spying on him. Nathan barked from the sofa, drawing PK's attention to her. He had that sinful smile of his on. Nathan continued to yip and kept getting louder and louder.
The yips changed into a screaming alarm clock monster. That jolted her awake, and she said, "Fuck."
She silenced the alarm and rubbed her eyes. She felt like crap, since all the alcohol had caught up to her. She twisted the cap off the water bottle that sat on the nightstand. She took a sip as she tried to remember why she would have set the alarm. "Nathan."
She got up and padded downstairs. Much to her surprise, PK was sitting up on the sofa, shirtless. She expected him to still be asleep, especially if he’d done the first two doses of the antibiotic.
He whispered into his phone, "Yeah. I'll be there . . . It's all good. See you soon."
She stared at his body. Calling him eye candy didn't do his body justice. He was toned and beautiful, which she had already figured from the way t-shirts would cling to his muscles. What she hadn't expected was the tattoos. He had full sleeves that spread across his torso. From where she stood, it was hard to make out what the tattoos were depicting. It was a lot of black and very little skin, but it was beautiful.
He laid the phone on the coffee table and yawned as he stretched out his arms.
It took all her self-control not to drool. Instead she said, "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. It was actually a good call." Even though he was turned away from her at that moment, she knew he was smiling. He turned and asked, "You okay with Nathan for the morning? I have to go back to Dallas."
"Yeah. What's in Dallas?"
"My old team."
No wonder he sounded happy. As she’d realized last night, there was a lot to learn about PK. She knew that him not playing hockey on the professional level wasn't a good thing. Hell, it was a major reason he'd been playing those godforsaken drums at all hours of the day. Maybe she might get a few days without hearing him play.
She scanned the room and said, "I don't see Nathan. Don't tell me he escaped while you were asleep."
PK chuckled before turning towards her and the sofa. "Nah. The little furball is asleep on the sofa."
"Don't call him that." She couldn't believe he was being so silly to the puppy. She leaned over the sofa to see he was right. The puppy was completely passed out in a little ball. From the indentions on the sofa, it was clear that the puppy must have curled up next to PK's body.
"Don't get your panties in a twist. He doesn't know what it means. Besides, you can't tell me that he's not one." It was crazy to see him be so indifferent and willing to call the puppy a furball when he clearly loved the puppy and let him cuddle up against him. He leaned down. "If you want to get some sleep, you can. I gave him his pill already."
That seemed unbelievable. The puppy was out like a light. How had he already gotten his medicine? She'd heard nightmare stories about how it was to get dogs to take their pills. "How did you get it done so quickly?"
