Just One of the Boys

?”

“That’s okay with me, because I know there’s something I’ll always win at,” he says, pulling me tighter. I feel so small, wrapped in his arms and pressed against his hard chest.

“What’s that?” I whisper.

“Loving you most.”

. “And I am desperately in love with you.”

Another lesson learned from Al:

It’s time to man up.

“Okay, then go do it,” Xander says exasperatedly.

“Did I say all that out loud?”

“You were muttering to yourself. Kind of creepy. Okay, loverboy, it’s game time!” He whacks me on my back.

Another lesson learned from Al:

It’s time to man up.

“Okay, then go do it,” Xander says exasperatedly.

“Did I say all that out loud?”

“You were muttering to yourself. Kind of creepy. Okay, loverboy, it’s game time!” He whacks me on my back.

I grind my teeth together. “What?”

“You took your eyes off the puck,” he says slower, as if I didn’t hear him the first time.

This rookie…this rookie is trying to give me advice? A hiss escapes my lips. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Yeah,” he says. “You’re someone who lost the puck.”

“They’ll know,” he groans.

“You know they won’t,” I spit back. “My own boyfriend can’t tell us apart when we’re on the ice!”

“Oh yeah,” Xander says, rubbing his chin. “He grabbed my ass once. That was awkward.”