In Your Pucking Dreams, Captain

Puck Buddies

Noah’s PoV

Yes!

I waited for Kendra Drake to make some crazy ‘psych!’ comeback she just just blessed me with her permanent glare. Nothing made a peep but the soft thump of the rap music from my stereo.

It was so frigging real that my tongue caught in my throat. “Could you repeat that?”

She breathed. “God, you’re hopeless. Well yeah, I want to do this.”

“Date me?”

“What?” She spat. “No. I meant the other thing. Intimacy without strings.”

Yup, that was the one.

My balls clenched so tight, she wouldn’t believe it. When I first laid eyes on Kendra, I didn’t figure she’d be that kind of girl. Flighty. Wild.

“Geez, give a guy a little warning.”

Kendra bristled, her hand reaching for the door handle. “This is so dumb…”

“No.” I caught her hand. She slinked back.

“Give me a second to process this.”

“Dude, there’s nothing to deliberate. Man desires woman. Woman then evaluates if the man is worthy of her attention, before desire. It’s as old as time.”

There she goes again.

Acting like this spark between us was like some thesis project. I watched Kendra slurp her coffee in awe.

It was hard to believe she wasn’t acing classes at a college.

“Okay.”

She nodded. “But we need to establish some ground rules.”

I frowned. “Rules?”

Before I could blink, she retrieved a blue folder from her backpack and handed it to me.

“What the hell is this?”

“Open it, big shot.”

I flipped through and chortled at the title.

Kendra turned pink. “Hey, what’s so funny?”

[THE PUCK BUDDY AGREEMENT.]

“You’re such a nerd.” I exploded in laughter, holding my sides.

“No I’m not. If you’re done being a clown read it.”

“Do I need my attorney to be present?”

“This is my insurance, jerk.”

I focused on the first rule. I’m not your girlfriend, so don’t tell anyone. Girlfriend? I wheezed. I wouldn’t go that far either.

The rest of all four rules seem pretty reasonable. No evil clauses claiming for the O’Shea fortune.

“Do I get a word in this?”

“No.”

“Fine.”

I snatched a pen from the glove compartment and signed the damn thing. I noticed Kendra signed her name with a heart for the ‘e’

“See that wasn’t so hard.” She took the folder. I looked at her properly. There were slight grey marks under her eyes. Seemed pretty focused.

“Come here.”

She leaned over. I tucked her chin under a crook of my finger and covered her soft mouth with mine. A feeble breath came from her, which made me deepen the kiss.

We were official, and I wanted to make the most of it.

“My place or yours?” I asked, nipping her lower lip.

“Hmm.” She purred. God, it sounded sexy as hell.

I trailed kisses down the length of her neck. “Or do we keep using the locker room?”

She gasped, pressing her palms flat on my

chest. “What? No way.”

“So yours.”

She widened her eyes. “Um, actually, I…I live in a bad neighborhood...”

I raised my head. “I can handle myself.”

“And I live at home…”

Right. Wouldn’t want any family walking in.

“Then my dorm.”

“Are you nuts? What if someone…sees me?”

“You don’t look so different from every girl on campus.”

“Gee, thanks. This is serious okay, we’re on a minefield.”

“Look, I promise no one will recognize you.”

******

Later that day, I walked through the doors of the dorm, I peeled off my coat. The entire space looked like a tornado had swept through it and left a trail of discarded shirts and empty food takeout tins from virtually three continents.

“Stiles!” My voice boomed across the room.

There was no response.

I threw myself on the couch and texted him. The dorm is a pig sty. Dude, it's your turn to clean up as scheduled on our calendar!

My phone chimed almost immediately.

[Stiles: You’re a good man.]

[You have received $200 from Christopher Stiles.

Memo: Housekeeping fee]

I shook my head.

Asshole.

Kit seemed to forget I didn’t need bribes. Drop of water into the ocean.

There was a new scholarship kid on the team. Reed. A bit humbler than Warrington. He could probably use the money. But damn, I don’t know if that’ll make things weird between us.

My doorbell rang.

“Damn it.” I just laid down. I hadn’t even thought of how much I wanted Kendra in my arms right now. She’d rushed on home to catch some sleep after we kissed for five more minutes.

It had to be Kit, I thought as I reached the door.

“Dude, two hundred barely…”

It wasn’t Kit.

The man on the other side carried a dark shade of blond hair, black coat with a cross bag slung over his shoulders. My jaw went slack as he spread his arms wide.

“Noah!” He barked, throwing his arms around my shoulders. “Oi, lad you’re almost as tall as the Big Ben!”

Every kid in the world had experienced some kind of disappointment. No fancy gaming gear, food on the table, or being told no. Well, I hadn’t experienced that sort of thing until my Uncle materialized out of thin air.

As he released me, I started to shut the door. He pushed his arm through to stop it.

Too late. It caught. My uncle yelped.

“Now, Noah, you wouldn’t let your merry old uncle freeze to death, would you?” His thick London accent blustered in anguish.

“Actually, I’d make a snow cone out of your popsicle. Ed.”

“Jesus, you’re a ray of sunshine…ow, my arm!”

He backed off, clutching his arm.

I slammed the door shut, much to Ed's outrage.

I panted hard, disbelieving my eyes.

I reached for my phone off the couch, my finger froze over mom’s ID.

This information could kill her.

Why was Ed here, anyway? Especially after he’d tried to kill Dad.