Page 98 of The Pucking Coach's Daughter
He doesn’t answer. He seems to be considering something. Me, more than likely. But I’ve played against him enough to know some of his tells. That’s the hazard of rival schools so close together.
We play each other a lot. And this feels a lot like a shoot-out, staring down the opposing player and wondering who’s going to give in and move first.
Anything I know about him can also be applied to what he knows of me.
“Did you see my handiwork?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes.
“I’ll take that as a no.” He smirks. “How about this: you stop sneaking in here like a fucking creep, and I won’t call the cops.”
“Did you peek into the bedroom when you got here?”
His smirk fades while mine grows.
“Carter Masters, her ex-boyfriend stalker and peeping Tom. That’s not much of a stretch.” I cross to the living room windows, looking out at the street. “You must have a good hiding place out there. I didn’t see you.”
He grunts.
My gaze lifts to the building across the street. “Did Masters rent himself an apartment in Framingham to spy on her?” I muse to myself. “If I were him?—”
“Fine.”
I glance over my shoulder. “So our nighttime activities will remain off her radar?”
He nods once, his jaw muscle popping.
Lovely.
“Nice doing business with you, Masters.” I pass him and head for the door. No use climbing down the fire escape if he’s just going to lock the door behind me. “If you wake her up, make sure she knows the cum between her legs isn’t yours.”
twenty-nine
sydney
Penn joins me for my run. I’m not sure how he knows exactly when I leave my house, but he joins me a street over dressed in warm running gear. He seems to be in a mood, elbowing me and cajoling me into going faster and faster.
Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I let him.
Soon enough, we’re sprinting down a path through the woods. There’s snow on either side of it, and the lake is up ahead. It’s all frozen over now, and everything looks a little different than the summer. But it isn’t the same path Carter and I came down from the house party. I’m pretty sure we’re at least two miles from there.
Penn catches my hand before we break free of the woods, and he uses my momentum to swing me around. He backs me against a tree, quick as a whip.
When his lips touch mine, I fucking melt. I let him come to me, let him devour me, until he tugs down my leggings and picks me up. My thighs straddle his hips, but my leggings keep me from wrapping my legs fully around him.
His kiss deepens. He nips at my lip, opening the cut Carter left.
I’m going out of my mind.
He slides a finger inside me. My hips buck at the sensation, but my head is a mess. I just keep kissing him so I don’t have to figure out what to ask for.
I do dirty things with Carter.
I make eyes at Oliver.
I’m public with Penn. Public in a way that doesn’t even cause problems anymore. People seem to have gotten used to the fact that he claimed me. No one gives me shit for it. He reels me in and kisses me when he sees me. He tries to get me to sneak away from class to fuck.
After the first time he threw cash at me and left, he hasn’t repeated that. But I do find my little stockpile growing, and I can’t figure out when. Or who.