Irresponsible Puckboy (Puckboys #2)(32)

Dex has turned mute—not the best time for that to happen, so reflexively, when we sit down, I reach for his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. When I try to take it back, his other hand seals on top of mine.

Sid’s smile is easy as he takes his seat. “How’s married life treating you?”

I blanch. “Getting straight into it, huh?”

“That was actually just a conversational question, but hey, if you want it on the record, we can do that.”

“Oh.” I swallow my tongue. “In that case, it’s good.”

Sid’s still smiling as he says, “Oh, fun. One-word answers look great in articles.”

“Sorry. Umm …” Wow, is this how Dex feels when reporters ask him questions he doesn’t know how to answer?

“New tactic,” Sid says. “Let’s start from the top. When did you two meet?”

Dex beats me to answer, hands tightening painfully around mine. “We’d played against each other a handful of times when Tripp played for Colorado. I remember hearing the news he’d been traded to Vegas, and I was relieved he’d be guarding our net. He wouldn’t let me get a shot past him when we went head-to-head.”

I remember walking into a new arena, with a new team, and Dex practically crash-tackling me into a hug. “I think I might have fallen in love with him a little the day I first entered the Vegas locker room. He made me feel welcome. Like I was needed.”

“That was three years ago,” Sid says. “When did everything change for you two?”

“We were immediate best friends.” I swallow hard. “And I had feelings for him for a long time, but I never said anything because he’d only dated women before.”

“Ah, yes. Up until recently, you were dating Jessica Cox?” Sid locks eyes on Dex.

“I was. She, uh …”

Uh-oh. His first stumble.

“She helped me through my confusing feelings for Tripp,” he says.

“Are you saying she turned you gay?”

Damon cuts in. “Nope. New direction, please.”

“Sorry, I’ll rephrase. How did she help you?”

Dex is sweating like when he does post-game interviews and they ask him something about scoring stats and he says, “We had a great game today. Great game. We worked as a team. And we’re a great team. And yeah. We had a great team game today.”

I can just see him blurting that all over Sid. I step up. “She was always wary of our friendship because we’re so close. Dex came to me saying Jessica thought he was in love with me.” That part is actually true. Whenever they’d fight, he’d turn up on my doorstep and say she yelled at him that we should just fuck and get it over with. She’d constantly joke that Dex loved me more than he loved her, but I could tell it was one of those jokes that held a lot of truth.

“Uh, yeah,” Dex says cautiously. “She encouraged me to follow my heart, and my heart led me to Tripp. I think he’s owned it from the beginning, but I was too dumb to see it. Maybe no one’s told you this, but I’m not exactly known for my smarts.”

Everyone in the room snickers except me because I know it hurts him when he feels the need to be self-deprecating like that.

“So it was a short engagement,” Sid says. “Uh, how long exactly?”

“We woke up one morning, and the idea came to me. We were married that afternoon.” Dex turns to me, pinning me with those big brown eyes. “And when we were standing at the altar, promising our lives to each other, it felt … easy. Because I want to be by Tripp’s side always. He truly is my other half. I think it goes to show you can fall in love with anyone if you’re not paying attention.”

My skin heats, and this moment feels too real.

“Then we got shitfaced and stumbled home,” Dex finishes, breaking the spell.

“Please don’t write that last part in the article,” Damon says.

Sid laughs. “I won’t.”





We’re left to change in the locker room even though we’re only putting our jerseys on and lacing our skates.

I’m thankful for the privacy, though, because I get to check in with Dex. “That wasn’t so bad.”

He shrugs and takes his shirt off, all the contours of his back muscles rippling as he does. “Most of it was true.” He throws his jersey over his head.

I break my gaze from his incredible body and wonder which parts exactly. “Like you practically adopting me as soon as I walked in this very room three years ago?”

He goes to say something but cuts himself off with a grin. “One good thing about it is we have been close for so long, it’s not too hard to talk you up.”

“Not too hard.” I hold my heart. “The romance is killlllling me.”

I finish lacing my skates and then take off my jacket and shirt to put on a jersey. When my head pops through the hole, I find Dex’s gaze trailing over me, but I don’t understand.

It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.

“You all good?” I ask tentatively.

“Totally. Let’s get this over with. Ooh, do you want to go to D for dinner tonight? I feel like steak.” Somehow he says it without even making the joke about a big D steak like he usually does.