Page 41 of Puck Off, She’s Mine

"I love you."

He groans, tipping me backward. "Again."

"I love you," I gasp, arching up to meet his thrust. "I love you."

His eyes blaze with heat and triumph, and I know damn well it's going to be a while before we go meet his dad. I'm not complaining though. Hell no. This right here is precisely where I want to be.

Chapter Eleven

Phoenix

"Ihave a question," Cara says, her eyes shining with mischief as she peeks at me before turning to look up at my dad across the table. We're at the bar in the Toyota Center, plates of nachos abandoned between us. She looks fucking beautiful, her earlier anxiety all but gone now. All that's left is the bright, happy smile plastered across her gorgeous face and the impish look in her eyes.

I fucking love seeing it. Judging by the way my dad grins at her, he does too. As expected, he loves her. I never had any doubts. I think he sees pieces of my mom in her, and he will always ride hard for my mom. The man has been wild about her since long before I came into the world.

I feel the same damn way about the woman sitting beside me. It doesn't matter what life throws at me. It doesn't matter where I end up or how I get there. All that matters is her now.

"Fire away," my dad says, lifting his beer to his lips.

"Did you know that your son was a drug dealer, a secret billionaire, and that he's in the running to be People's Sexiest Man Alive this year?" she asks.

My dad chokes on his beer, his blue eyes flicking to me. "Uh…what the fuck?"

"Traitor," I mutter to Cara, who bites her lip, trying to contain laughter.

"You accomplished all of that in the last month?" my dad asks like he's impressed. Honestly…that tracks. He grew older. He never grew up.

"Fuck no," I groan. "My teammates are just assholes who can't be trusted. Never give them marching orders unless you're fucking specific or this is what happens."

"You mean you're just figuring that out?" My dad shakes his head. "You should have learned long ago never to trust a teammate with an important mission, son. They have too much goddamn fun going rogue." He smirks at me. "You know how many times I ended up scrubbing toilets in the arena because your uncle is an asshole? We'd have the vague shape of a plan, and then he'd decide to fuck it all up. Somehow, I always ended up taking the fall."

"You probably deserved it," I mutter.

"Fucking probably." He chuckles. "But I'll never admit it." His gaze drifts to Cara. "He's been keeping you busy, huh?"

"Little bit," she agrees, smiling sweetly.

"Not my fault. I can't even keep track of all the shit I've allegedly done this week. I told them to start a vague rumor, not turn me into fucking D.B. Cooper."

My dad laughs again, his eyes light.

But Cara turns wide, triumphant eyes on me. "So, you're finally admitting it, huh?"

I cup her cheek, smiling. "Depends, baby."

"On what?"

"Do you love me?"

Her gaze bounces from me to my dad, her cheeks pink. "Phoenix…"

"Answer the question, Cara."

"Yes," she whispers.

I brush my thumb across her bottom lip, my heart bottoming out. Fuck. I'm never going to get used to hearing it. Never. "Then yeah," I say, my voice rough, "I'm finally rich enough to afford the expensive truth to your expensive question."

Her entire face goes soft, and I can't resist kissing her. I don't give a shit if my dad is watching. She's looking at me like I hung the moon. I have to kiss her right now.