Double pucked a roomies.., p.26
Double Pucked: A Roomies-to-Lovers Hockey Romance,
p.26
We don’t talk about who won or lost the hockey game.
Because, really, we all won.
THE END
Keep reading for an extended epilogue about Trina’s, Chase’s and Ryker’s life together! And stay tuned for more sexy standalones in the My Hockey Romance series. Coming this fall is A STROKE OF PUCK, and as you wait for that romance to come to KU, you’ll love my Ballers & Babes series. That’s a football romance series set in the same sexy San Francisco sports world. Start with MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY, a friends-to-lovers, fake girlfriend romance that kicks off with a wild player auction and is FREE in KU! Turn the page for an excerpt!
Click here for the Double Pucked Bonus Epilogue!
EXCERPT - MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY
Cooper
Sierra pins me with her journalistic gaze, then gestures pointedly to the lady in my arms. “Don’t you want to kiss the girl who just gave ten thousand dollars for a date with her boyfriend?”
That was a play-action fake I wasn’t expecting.
I square my shoulders, clear my throat, and sneak a peek at Violet. Her amber eyes are unreadable, and I’m honestly not sure what to do next.
Then, someone starts clapping. Another woman cheers. Hoots and hollers bounce off the walls.
Seems the audience wants a show.
When you play a game on TV in front of millions, and in front of fifty thousand people in the stadium, you aren’t uncomfortable with an audience witnessing your failures and your victories. But when I angle to look directly at Violet, nerves spike inside me, and I’m not sure why. I’ve known her for more than twenty years, since that day she thought I was yucky when she was five.
Maybe I’m still yucky to her, and that’s why she’s frozen.
Hell, the woman saved the day, but I can’t imagine Violet wants to amp up the ruse. Maybe she’ll want to come clean this second, and admit we aren’t really a couple.
I swallow, prepping for the unraveling of our little fable. Instead, her gaze shifts to the audience, as if she’s pointing at them. As if she’s saying give them what they want.
I blink. Holy shit. She’s serious?
“Kiss me,” she whispers so damn quietly.
She’s serious.
“She’s open, Coop. Give her a kiss!” someone shouts from the crowd, and I suppose I should ask for her brother’s permission. I should check and see if he cares that I’m about to kiss his sister. But she’s already signed the permission slip, and she’s the one calling the shots.
As I bend closer to her, I don’t think of a damn thing but her lips, and her request.
Kiss me.
I tell myself to keep it chaste. Keep it tasteful, because this is being simulcast. But hey, it’s local cable access. So maybe a little tongue is fine. TV tongue, not porno tongue. Just a quick kiss to seal this charade. No one will know she’s just my best friend’s sister.
Her chin is tipped up, her amber eyes are inviting, and there’s that scent again. Peaches. It does something to me. Floats into my nostrils. Scrambles my brain. Makes me want to taste her pretty peach lips for real.
Kiss me.
I brush my lips to hers and tell myself to pull away, pull away, pull away. All we need is a kiss for the cameras. For the show. To put a neat little bow on this night. Then, we can dust off our hands and return to what we’ve always been.
Buddies.
But I don’t pull away.
I don’t break the contact. Nor does she. Neither one of us makes a move to stop. And that, right there, changes the game. This isn’t a peck anymore. It ratchets up the kiss scale. Violet slides her lips over mine, and I groan from the feel. My head is a haze, and I’m not sure I can move. She moves, though. She kisses me as if she’s telling the whole crowd I belong to her. As if she wants everyone to know she’s claimed me. That she’s taking me home tonight and every night.
Hell, this girl can act.
The problem is my dick is a method actor.
Because this should just be an ordinary staged kiss.
But he’s gone rogue.
The idiot between my legs is malfunctioning, pointing at the wrong person in an absolutely inappropriate manner. Violet resides in the not-allowed-to-think-of-as-hot category. I’m friends with her whole family, for fuck’s sake. I’m not supposed to be attracted to her, I shouldn’t be turned on by her, and I’m not going to let myself get carried away with this performance. But tell that to my body, because I’m immensely turned on as Violet and I kiss more deeply.
I take over, cupping her cheeks with my hands. I hold her face and seal my mouth to hers with a deeper, more passionate kiss. I forget where I am. I forget the crowd. The attendees. The emcee. My teammates. Jillian. Maxine. Trent. I kiss Violet on stage, savoring her taste, reveling in the sweetness of her lips, delighting in the scent that engulfs me. I kiss her like she is my girlfriend, like she’s the only one who should be winning a date with me, because she’s the only one I could possibly want.
When our lips slide apart, her lip gloss is smudged. Her amber eyes are glassy and dazed. I wonder how mine look and if they match hers.
The crowd goes wild.
Sierra cheers, then says, “The quarterback and the hometown girl. Now, that is a winning bid.”
The collective awww tells me this is a story they like.
But when I head backstage, Violet’s hand in mine, I see we’ve slid into a whole new pack of problems.
Keep reading: MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY!
(Psst…If you’ve already read Most Valuable Playboy, you’ll love Big Rock!)
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am so grateful to Sharon Abreau, AKA the hockey goddess. Sharon is a life long hockey fan and she graciously read the entire book and checked all the hockey details. Any mistakes in hockey are entirely my own. Sharon, let’s do it again!
Big gratitude to Melanie Harlow, who encouraged this project from the start and provided the much needed do it. Abiding thanks to KP Simmon for her tireless support and early reading and feedback. Thanks to Kim Bias for final tweaks, and to Lauren Clarke for taking this over the finish line. Kara Hildebrand, Sandra Shipman, Claudia Fosca, Karen Lawn Virginia Carey were immensely helpful with eagle eyes and eager spirits.
I am also grateful to Laurelin Paige for her guidance on this book and on all books, Kayti McGee for her creativity, Anthony Colletti for his acumen, and Sawyer Bennett and Sarina Bowen for hockey guidance.
Thank you to Kylie Sek for the fantastic cover and her endless patience in getting it just right. You’re a dream, Kylie!
Most of all, thanks to my family for believing in me, and thanks to my dogs for inspiration.
But last and certainly not least, I am deeply, truly, madly grateful for YOU. The readers. You make everything possible. Thank you.
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Lauren Blakely, Double Pucked: A Roomies-to-Lovers Hockey Romance
