Pucking Sweet: An MMF Workplace Hockey Romance (Jacksonville Rays Book 3)
Pucking Sweet: Chapter 70

In all the chaos of the pet adoption, Poppy found a way to slip my damn net. I blame the forwards. They finished their practice and came over to our rink, and then it was a free-for-all. Sully, Karlsson, and Jonesy all wanted to pet the animals and pose with them too.

Poppy was a swirl of lavender, getting us all in front of the camera, trading out dogs for cats. There was even a rabbit that Sully decided to adopt for his kids. At one point, the bulldog got loose and went slipping across the ice. Then the Humane Society rep tried to take a snake out of a box, and that pretty much ended things. Mars was the only one brave enough to hold it for the camera.

Cole had to duck out for a PT checkup, so I’m left alone to replace Poppy. I walk down the wall of the rink, searching for any sign of her lavender pantsuit. I pass the equipment room where they keep the Zamboni and some ice shovels and sweepers. That’s when I hear a soft little sound that has me turning. There in the corner, Poppy is sitting on an overturned bucket, phone in hand, crying.

Rage fills my chest as my first thought is vengeance. Who made my Poppy cry? I look all around, searching for the culprit as I stalk into the room. “What happened?”

She looks up at me, blurry tears in her eyes. “I was denied.”

I drop down on one knee, my hand brushing her arm. She stiffens, and it breaks my fucking heart. I did this. I made my girl wanna pull away from me. Swallowing my frustration, I say, “What are you talking about?”

“My application,” she says, her voice all soft and weepy.

Wait, she’s sending out job applications? Is she leaving? Did Cole fucking know and not tell me? Oh god, did she get fired? If she got fired because of us, I’m gonna march straight up to Mark’s office and—

Calm down. Ask first.

“Poppy, did you get fired?”

She blinks up at me, eyes wide with confusion. “What? God—no,” she cries. “I’m talking about my pet adoption application.”

“You’re trying to adopt one of the animals?”

She nods, sniffing back her tears.

“Which one?”

“Miss Princess,” she replies, her bottom lip trembling.

I try to think back. “The cat?”

Please say it wasn’t the fucking snake.

“Yeah, the sweet little gray and white kitty. I put in an application, but it turns out I can’t have pets at the apartment. It’s in the lease agreement I signed. The units are owned by the team, and there’s a ‘no pet’ policy.”

“Well, that’s fucking dumb,” I say. “Just don’t tell anyone you have it. The thing is like the size of a cotton ball. Hide it in a teacup if the pet police come knocking. That’s what Sanny did with Poseidon.”

She just shakes her head. “Caleb already had his dog. The shelter called the apartment complex as part of the reference check. They know it’s not allowed, and they denied my application. Which means I’m gonna lose her.”

Okay, I was really hoping this would go differently. I wanted to sweep her off her feet with a bold declaration and kiss her senseless. That’s how they do it in all her movies. But now she’s a crying, snotty mess. I rock back on my heels, thinking fast. “I’ll adopt it.”

She goes still. “What?”

“Sure,” I say with a shrug. “I’ll adopt the cat.”

She huffs, digging in her pocket for a tissue. “Lukas, you hate cats.”

“So?”

“So, you’re not adopting a cat you’re gonna hate, just to hold some kind of weird emotional leverage over me. I can’t do that with you. It’s too much. It’s too hard.”

My gut squeezes tight and I take her hand. “Poppy, no. That’s not what I—”

She gasps, eyes wide as she points down at my arm with her free hand. “Lukas, what is that?”

I follow her point down to my newest tattoo. Right. She hasn’t seen it yet. “Okay, so—”

She tugs me forward to inspect it. Just like Cole, she rubs a thumb over it, praying that will smear the ink. “Lukas, is this permanent?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Well, yeah. It’s a tattoo—”

She chokes on a shriek as she shoves my arm away and stands, nearly tripping over the bucket. “Lukas Novikov, tell me you did not permanently brand your body with a cartoon doodle of a penis!”

Slowly, I stand too, facing her. My heart is fucking racing. This is the moment, right? This is the moment I tell her? “I didn’t not do it.”

“Oh my god, you are so irresponsible.”

“What? It’s just a tattoo. I have like fifty others—”

“Yeah, tasteful, beautiful pieces of art,” she cries, waving at the rest of the tattoos on my arms. She’s seen them all, inspected them, asked for stories about them. The memories of her, warm and soft and naked in my arms while I took her on a tour of my tattoos, is something I hold deep in my chest, buried with whatever part of me holds my soul.

I cross my arms, making sure the cock and balls tattoo is visible. “Well, this is art to me. You drew it.”

She shakes her head, arms crossed, mirroring my stance. “You walk away without a second look. For weeks, you freeze me out, freeze Colton out. And then you do this? I wanna know why! Why would you get that as a freaking tattoo?”

“Because I fucking missed you! I was sad, and alone, and feeling like my entire life was caving in on me. I was so fucking desperate, feeling like the only thing I could do to make the pain stop hurting was to go numb. And the only way I’ve ever been able to go numb before was through drinking or sex. Well, I couldn’t drink because I had a game.”

Her eyes go wide as she steps away from me, the walls of her heart slamming shut.

Oh, fuck.

“No, no,” I say quickly, raising my hands toward her. “Poppy, I just thought about doing it. Old habits die hard, right? I thought I’d lost you both forever. I wanted to die—”

“What were you going to do?” she says through her tears.

I shake my head, my tone firm. “I didn’t do it.”

“What were you going to do, Lukas?” she asks again.

She’s not gonna stop until I say it. “I didn’t go out and fuck someone else, Poppy. I swear on my fucking life, I haven’t been with anyone since I walked away from you.” But then I’m groaning. “Well, I mean, technically, I have. But—”

“Goodbye, Lukas.” She darts around the other side of the Zamboni.

“Poppy, no! It’s not like that. Just wait—”

“Just get away from me, Lukas.”

I grab her arm, pulling her to a stop. “It was Cole.”

She tries to pull away from me. “Let me go—”

“I was with Cole,” I say again, and she stops struggling.

Panting, she searches my face, tears in her eyes. “You and Cole?”

I nod. “Me and Cole. We fucked yesterday. We figured you wouldn’t mind, seeing as you want us all to be together anyway. Cole isn’t cheating, he’s ours.” My voice breaks with the depth of my emotion. I cup her face, stepping in. “Poppy, I would never cheat on you. I got this stupid tattoo as a reminder that I’d have to be a dick to ever think there would be a woman who comes after you. It’s only ever gonna be you, me, and Cole.”

“And the baby,” she says, her tone quiet, distant. “Which you’ve made clear you don’t want.”

I let her go, taking a deep breath. “Okay, listen—”

Before I can get another word in, she’s going stiff and pulling away from me. I turn to see Shelby and Sully wandering up, arms around each other.

“Hey, guys,” Shelby chimes. “You two coming to the party tonight?”

I groan. Shelby has a birthday party tonight, and we all said we’d go.

Poppy takes a step back, trying to wipe under her eyes. Shelby notices. “Everything okay here?” she asks, glancing between us.

“We’re fine,” I say.

We’re not fine. This was a disaster, and Cole’s officially gonna kill me. Forget me running this time. He’s gonna shove me head-first into a cannon, and light the fuse. Maybe I should’ve tried sarcasm. That always tends to work better for me with her. I bait her a little, she rises to it, then I swoop in with the charm. Why the hell did I go for sincere?

“Party starts at seven,” says Sully, also glancing between us.

“I don’t think I’ll make it,” says Poppy. “Sorry, Shelbs. I’m just not feeling very well.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” says Shelby, reading through the lie. She looks suspiciously over at me.

Fuck me. What does a guy have to do to get a little privacy in the workplace to confess his undying love to his pregnant secret ex-girlfriend?

“Excuse me,” says Poppy, using the O’Sullivans as human shields to escape me.

I have no choice but to watch her walk the fuck away.

“What the hell was that about?” Sully says, glaring at me.

Feeling desperate, I turn to them. “I need your help.”

Shelby still looks wary. “What do you need?”

“I want to adopt a cat for Poppy, but I don’t know how. Will you help me?”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Why would you adopt a cat for Poppy?”

“Aren’t you allergic to cats?” Sully adds.

Taking a deep breath, I finally say those three little words . . . I just say them to the wrong fucking person. “Because I love her. I am so in love with her that it’s physically hurting me. And she wants that cat, but she can’t have that cat, so I’m gonna get her that fucking cat, or die trying. Do you understand me? I will die to get her that cat, Shelby. Now, I ask again. Will you help me?”