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Fuck. I was ready, too. But I’d wait. No jerking off between now and tomorrow night. I wanted Charlotte to feel it all, just like I felt it right now. She’d managed to replace my worry with a clawing, burning need for her body.
Charlotte
I read through the list I’d made as I waited for Bennett’s game to start. I was streaming the game on my laptop, which had proved more of a challenge than I’d expected. James had been hogging bandwidth with some game he was playing, and I’d had to agree to do his laundry so he’d get off his computer and let me use the Internet.
I’d think about having to touch his underwear later, because I was in a good mood right now. The list had tipped the scales even further in Bennett’s favor.
Bennett: pros
Sweet
Loyal
Caring
Easy to be with
Highly attractive
Committed to our kid
Intelligent
Sexy as fuck
Amazing in bed
Good at fixing things
Makes me feel good
Bennett: cons
Faces lots of temptation from other women
Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with any other cons. There was only my general hesitation about falling in love and ending up like my mother. Sometimes I wondered if she’d started out with a backbone and lost it in the warm, fuzzy haze of being in love.
She’d taken back men who’d cheated on her, put up with one who stole from her, and begged one on her hands and knees for another chance when he said he wanted to move on. Even as a kid, I’d wondered where my mother’s pride was. She hadn’t needed those men. She was working two jobs and raising two kids on her own, which made her a badass in my book.
But some women felt incomplete without a man, and she was one of them. I’d vowed to never be that way. I dated, but never got stupid and overly invested. When I was told I dated like a man, I took it as a compliment.
I heard the sound of the game announcer’s voice, so I turned up the volume on my laptop. He was introducing the Flyers’ first line.
Killian Bosch skated out first, followed by Liam and Bennett. I felt a thrill at seeing Bennett. Something had changed for me after our text convo yesterday. I’d realized it was okay to admit how much I wanted him physically. The glimpse he’d given me of his own vulnerability had opened me up to sharing a little of my own.
Bennett burst out in full force, landing himself in the penalty box for slashing within the first two minutes of the game. As soon as his time was up, he came charging out of the box onto the ice, snow flying up from his skates.
All the muscles and lines of his body were made by this game. He had to be strong to move so fast on the ice. I realized for the first time how hard he must have to work every day to compete at this level, and I felt a new respect for both him and my brother.
After Bennett got his second slashing penalty, his coach yelled at him when his line got back to the bench. I sent him a silent message to stop showboating for my benefit.
The Flyers won the game 4–2. I’d taken a shower after watching it and was getting into bed when my phone dinged on my nightstand. I picked it up, already smiling because I knew it was Bennett.
But it wasn’t.
Liam: I’ve been thinking. I want to meet the father of my niece or nephew.
I cringed and wrote back.
