Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Not if you feed him lame lines about being your fake boyfriend, moron. I let out an awkward half laugh and wrinkled my nose as I searched for words to undo the stupid.
Ned beat me to it.
“So, your ex-girlfriend thinks I’m your new boyfriend?”
I nodded slowly. “Well, yeah. I think so.”
“But…that’s crazy!”
“It’s not crazy. It’s—okay, yeah…it’s a little crazy,” I admitted. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”
“You didn’t. It’s an interesting detour. And I’ve never met a real hockey player up close.”
“Really? I can’t believe Kendra hasn’t dragged you to one of our games. She’s become one of our biggest fans this season.”
Ned chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I’ve never been with her, but I have been to one of your games. It was the Pride game in early December after Colby came out. The guy I was seeing suggested it, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t know anything about hockey. Or any sport. Kendra gave me a few pointers, but she tends to memorize Google entries that might be interesting to one particular player. I highly doubt she knows what’s happening on the ice any more than I do.”
Okay. I could have played this a few different ways. I could have put my truck in gear, driven him back to the party, and made lighthearted conversation about the Pride-themed holiday game or Kendra’s hockey obsession. But all I heard was “guy I was seeing.”
He said “was.” Past tense. Didn’t he? Or was that just what I wanted to hear? ’Cause if he had a boyfriend—
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. I should have thought of that. I mean, of course you have a boyfriend. Geez.” I raked my hand through my hair. “Is it the blond guy?”
“Who? No. I don’t have a boyfriend. I just went on a couple of so-so dates with someone I met online.” Ned winced, then added, “That was my first and last time using a dating app. We were so incompatible, it was funny. Or maybe it was a matter of having all the wrong things in common.”
“That’s potentially very uncomfortable,” I agreed with a laugh.
“Very. But he didn’t have blond hair. Who were you talking about?”
I smiled and was about to shrug it off. I could have easily claimed I was mistaken or that I’d been thinking of someone else. But that wasn’t what happened. ’Cause for some odd reason, I still had visions of that guy’s hand on Ned’s knee. I could see him leaning against Ned like he had every right to invade his space and offer him a non-scholastic distraction. Don’t ask me why it bugged me after all this time. It just did.
“Did any of your ex-boyfriends have blond hair and wear glasses?”
Ned cocked his head thoughtfully. “Jules. Do you know him?”
“No. I remember seeing you getting cozy with a blond guy. It’s been a while, though.”
“Yeah, try four years,” he huffed. “That was an odd breakup.”
“How so?”
“Jules got an offer he couldn’t refuse to become a daddy’s boy for a not-quite-divorced older man. He dumped me like a cup of yesterday’s coffee. It was devastating at the time, but honestly, I haven’t thought about him in years. I wonder if he’s still into getting his ass spanked by a leather daddy.”
I widened my eyes comically. “Is that what happened?”
“Mmhmm. Supposedly they met at a party. Let’s put some bold quotes around the word ‘party.’ I doubt they served spiked punch and cookies. Or even beer. I think it was a clothing-optional deal. I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘puppy-play party.’ I had to research it. And then say a rosary or ten,” he quipped with a wry laugh. “I had no idea he was into that stuff. Not that it would have changed anything.”
“Why not? Would you have spanked him if he asked nicely?” I teased.
Ned snickered. “Sure, I guess. But he wasn’t interested in spicing up things in the bedroom. He wanted someone to pay his bills.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
“It did at the time. I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But it was probably the best. It taught me to ask a few questions before I jump into a relationship. At the end of the day, you should know more about a guy than his dog’s name and his favorite color,” he replied sagely.
“True. You ougthtta know how many fingers he can take and if he prefers doggy-style or missionary.”
Ned did a double take, then threw his head back and guffawed. “All righty, then.”
I shrugged. “Too much?”
“Not at all. Like I said, thanks to Jules, I’ve done my research.” He made a funny face and shook his head. “Wait, that sounded weird. I meant…Jules was my first real boyfriend.”
“Are you seeing anyone now?”
“No, but I have a crush on a guy at work.”