Pucking Around: Chapter 35

“Well?” I say, my voice coming out all high and squeaky. “I literally just said moving in would be the worst idea—”

“You’d have your own room,” Jake says quickly. “Own bathroom and everything, and it locks, and you can see the ocean from your window.”

“It’s a block off the beach,” Caleb adds. “Gorgeous. You’ll love it, Hurricane.”

“And there’s off street parking for your truck,” says Jake. “And I’ve got a home gym and a rooftop terrace to watch the sunset. You can cook anything you want. Or don’t cook. During the season I have a company make all my meals so I stay on track with my diet. But there’s a second fridge, and you can fill it with whatever you want.”

I feel like I’ve entered some bizarro dimension where my words come out, but I’m not understood. “Jake, you’re not listening. I can’t play house with you. I just said—”

“Cay’s gonna come too,” he adds, jabbing a thumb at his friend.

I sit back, hands pressed flat against the sticky Formica tabletop. “What?”

“Yeah, you said you want more of both of us,” Jake presses. “Not a relationship if that freaks you out,” he adds. “But I can’t keep doing this, Seattle. I can’t have you in my city and on my team and not be closer to you. I need more. And I’ll take anything I can get. You wanna fuck me? You just name the time and place. You want him?” He jabs his thumb at Caleb again. “Have him. With me there, without me, me watching from the side holding some electrolyte water. I guarantee you, he’s not saying no, and neither am I.”

I look to Caleb, and he gazes unflinchingly back.

“But this isn’t just sex for me, Rachel,” Jake adds, his face solemn. “Hell, at this point, I’ll settle for just breathing your air. I’ll rub your feet on the couch after a long day. I’ll do your laundry. I’ll hold your purse while you shop for trail mix. That’s how crazy I am about you. I have to be me, and this is who I am. This is how I feel. Move in and be with me. With us. Whatever that looks like to you, we’ll figure it out. Just give me more than this nothing. I can’t bear another second of the nothing.”

Girl, hold it together.

This man is so damn earnest. He loves me. He doesn’t know me yet, but he loves me all the same. I glance between them. “I don’t understand the rush to move in. We can do all those things, Jake. We can hang out and get groceries and explore the city. We can cook at your place or mine and—what?”

Caleb snorts as Jake just shakes his head.

“What am I missing?”

“Jake’s a pro hockey player, Hurricane,” Caleb replies.

“Yeah…”

“And I’m an equipment manager. And you’re the team doc. And the season has already started…”

I raise a brow. “Yeah? So?”

He tugs out his phone. “Dude, show her your schedule,” he mutters at Jake.

Jake pulls out his phone too and they both flash me their calendars for the coming week. It’s madness as I take in all the dots and colored bars denoting activities. On Jake’s calendar alone there’s a complicated matrix of practice, workouts, PT, travel, games, PR, video meetings. Caleb’s calendar is just as jam-packed.

“I bet yours doesn’t look any prettier,” says Caleb, tucking his phone back in his pocket. “You want a pro hockey player in your life while he’s in season? You gotta live with him. You’ll never see him otherwise.”

I look to Caleb. “So…what? You’re gonna move in with Jake too?”

He shrugs. “We’ve lived together before. It’s not a big deal.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Yeah, domestic life partners, right?”

“God, that nickname haunts us,” Jake mutters, still messing with his phone.

But Caleb holds my gaze. “Something like that,” he says softly.

“And what’s your endgame here, Snuffy? You’re just gonna move into Jake’s house with your cute dog and your surfboard and…what? Rub our feet and buy us trail mix?”

“Hey, don’t knock it, Seattle,” says Jake. “Cay gives excellent foot rubs. Better than me, actually. But I’m the better cook. We can only trust him not to mess up breakfast. He’s strictly an eggs, bacon, and toast guy.” He leans forward, elbows on the table. “You come to me if you want pasta carbonara with seared pancetta, grilled jumbo shrimp with coconut rice…or, you know, help in the shower.”

I shake my head. “You two are crazy. This is so beyond crazy.”

“Yeah, crazy smart. Come on, Seattle. Make me the happiest man on earth and move in with me…and Caleb…and Poseidon. We can’t forget the world’s greatest doggo,” he adds with a grin.

Shit, I forgot about the dog. Oh my god, this is so not happening. Has the lure of unlimited dog snuggles really just tipped the scales in the boys’ favor? “Fine,” I hear myself say.

They blink at me like a pair of sexy owls. Then Jake all but chokes. “Wait—did you just say fine?”

“She just said fine,” Caleb mutters.

“Oh, god. Okay. Breathe, everyone,” Jake says, hands flat on the table, wide smile on his face. “We’re so fucking doing this. You’re moving in. You’re both moving in. Tomorrow.”

Caleb slips out of the booth, holding out a hand to me. “Three platonic fuck buddies and a hyperactive dog. What could possibly go wrong?”