AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Funny thing is, working is what all of us Salingers do. To the detriment of nearly everything else. It’s a minor miracle that Myles and Liam are both married – for a while there it looked like they were going to be perpetual bachelors.
Before I can say anything more, there’s a beep and Holden huffs. “I have to go, sorry, bro.”
“It’s all good.” Or it will be. Once I chop my own head off.
“Speak soon.” He disconnects and I throw my phone onto the counter. Our little conversation hasn’t helped take my mind off of what happened back in the stadium though.
And no, I don’t mean the loss. I mean Mackenzie Goddamned Hunter.
The team will expect me to give them words of advice. To tell them how to improve things.
And right now the only thing I can think of is that I wish I’d put my tongue against her just once.
I throw my now-empty bottle of water into the recycling and grab an energy bar because I probably spent two thousand calories on the ice and I’d like to wake up tomorrow and not feel like I’m dying.
And then I head upstairs because it’s late and I have a hard on that won’t go away so I’m going to beat myself off to the memory of the way she parted her mouth as she cupped my face and the fantasy of sliding myself between those pretty lips as her tongue flutters against me until I explode inside of her.
Tonight I beat myself off like crazy. Tomorrow I apologize.
Maybe by next week I won’t feel like punching myself in the face.
CHAPTEREIGHT
MACKENZIE
Team practice is in full swing as I tiptoe my way up to my office the next morning. And yep, I’m completely avoiding the man who buried his face between my thighs yesterday, because I still don’t know what to say to him.
What was I thinking? Just because my mom knew how to soothe my dad doesn’t mean that I need to use the same moves on a guy I barely know. My parents were married. They’d been doing the horizontal tango for years – four kids as a testament to that.
I can’t remember the last time I reacted like that to a man touching me. I felt like putty in his hands. Like I’d do anything he told me to. I wanted to.
I wanted to feel him everywhere.
This is what happens when you don’t have any kind of physical contact for months. The last time anybody hugged me was Rachel when we were at work. The last time anybody touched me was when I got my black eye in the locker room.
And I miss it. I miss being touched. I miss being wanted. For a few minutes last night I felt like a goddess.
Now I just feel lost.
At ten my phone pings with a message and I’m glad for the distraction. At least until I see it’s the family chat.
Team talk tonight – 9pm. Dad
Great. I’ve already decided to go see Gramps on the way home, so this should top my night off nicely.
Maybe when the call is done I can pull my nails out one by one with some pliers just for fun.
By the time lunch comes around, I’ve barely gotten any work done. I haven’t eaten since last night’s hot dog either, so I grab my purse, deciding to head out to the mall where there’s a sandwich shop that does the best salads I’ve ever tasted. But before I can slide on my jacket, Eli Salinger knocks on the door.
I open it, and just like last night neither of us can find our voices. He looks as awkward as I feel. No, maybe ten percent less awkward.
Because he still has this hockey player confidence that’s impossible to miss. All muscles and intimidation. My heart starts to slam on my ribcage.
“You heading out somewhere?” he asks, his voice low.
“I need some lunch,” I tell him, still not meeting his eyes.
He clears his throat. “Ah. Can we talk before you go?”
