Page 96 of Lucky Mother Pucker

“I was happy to.” Her gaze focuses, and her expression turns serious. “Are you okay after what happened with your dad?”

I nod and loosen my tie. “I’m done being around him. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

Sadness flashes in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Leo.”

“Don’t be. None of this is your fault.”

We step out of the car together, then head inside. When I close the door, Lucy immediately steps out of her heels. Wally runs up to both of us, his tail wagging. I give him a few scratches behind the ears, then he turns to Lucy and licks her face and hands. She kisses his head.

“Nick is staying at Poppy’s tonight, so I’ll sleep in his room,” I say.

“Okay.” She heads toward the staircase, while I walk across the living room to Nick’s bedroom.

“Good night, Luce.”

“Good night,” she says softly.

I stand in the open doorway and watch her walk up the stairs to my bedroom, Wally following behind her.

I think about how, if we kept going with that kiss, I’d probably be walking up to my bedroom with her…

I swallow hard and try not to think of all the filthy things I want to do to Lucy.

She’s your friend. Nothing more.

I slide out of my tux jacket and take off my tie, then toss them onto the bed. I slump against the doorway, exhaling sharply. What a night.

Chapter 36

Lucy

“Hey, Lucy. Do you have a sec?”

I walk over to Paula’s desk. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Evan and I were talking yesterday, and we both agree that we’d like for you to have a more active role in the training of the players.”

I perk up, excited. “Really?”

She nods. “We’d like for you to shadow us when we’re taking the guys through stretches and during their sports massage sessions.”

“That would be amazing. I’d love that.”

“Great.” She hands me a thick packet. “This is a rundown of all the stretching and massage techniques we use on the players. We’d like you to go through it and get comfortable with them. I’ll email it to you also, but just in case you want a break from staring at a screen, I printed it.”

“I’ll get started on this right away.”

“The best way is to practice the stretches and massage techniques. You can do it on yourself, but it’s best if you can practice with another person. Friends, family, whoever you think wouldn’t mind you stretching them out and massaging them.”

I go back to my small desk in the corner and flip through the packet. And then I have an idea.

I pull out my phone and add Poppy, Anna, and Briar to a group text.

I’m nervous as I start to draft a message. They’re new friends, so hopefully they won’t think this is weird.

But I need to push out of my comfort zone. These past few years, I got used to being on my own. I didn’t even think about making new friends. I didn’t have the time or the energy. I was just trying to work and survive.

But now that things are more stable for me, I have new friends, and I want to spend time with them.