Chapter 11

ELEVEN

Saylor

Canyon goes to open the door for the delivery guy while I finish drying my hair. I pull on yoga pants and a light sweater, dab a tiny bit of perfume behind my ears, and hurry out to the kitchen to join him. He's already unpacking the food, and I grab utensils from the drawer.

"This smells amazing," he says.

"It's my favorite place to order from. I try not to eat fried food, but tempura is my weakness."

"We all deserve a little fried food once in a while," he says, popping a piece of shrimp in his mouth.

"Wine or water? I have a fairly well stocked bar, but I don't keep beer in the house."

"I'm good with water. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, flying to Alaska, so I don't need to drink tonight anyway."

"You'll be gone a week?"

"Yeah. We've got two games in Anchorage, then Vancouver and Seattle before we head back."

"It's nice you can do two games there back-to-back instead of having to fly all the way to Alaska multiple times in one season."

"Yeah, the league makes adjustments for the Anchorage team. I can't imagine playing up there."

"Would you say no if they traded for you?"

"I have a no-trade clause in my contract with the Phantoms, so that's not happening for at least the next five years, but I wouldn't necessarily say no in the future. It's all about money." He takes a bite of a spring roll. "Oh, these are good."

I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and hand it to him.

We eat in companionable silence for a few minutes, like we did this every day instead of having just gone on our first date yesterday.

Our first official date is almost definitely going to be our only date, but it's been worth it. I can't remember the last guy who rocked my world like Canyon has. I have regrets, of course, because it will be so hard to find a man who can get me off like he can, but I knew the risks going in. I just didn't anticipate it would be so good.

"There's a team fundraiser happening on the twenty-fourth," he says in between bites of shrimp tempura and chicken fried rice. "It's for the homeless shelter right by the arena. The team is working on a bunch of community outreach projects and that's one of them. Would you want to go?"

He says it so mundanely, as if going to events together is the norm. Just like eating Thai food in my kitchen after rocking my world in bed. And the bathroom.

"I…" I'm not sure how to respond. Is he asking me out again?

I should ask.

I really should.

But I'm too afraid of what his answer might be, and I'm still a little punch-happy from all the orgasms.

"I need to check my calendar," I say instead.

"It's a few days after we get back from the trip," he continues. "So just let me know.

He doesn't miss a beat, eating and swallowing as he talks.

"Is it fancy?" I ask. "How am I supposed to dress?"

He freezes, as if he hadn't considered that.

"Uh, I don't know." He makes a face. "I'll ask Gabe. Or you can ask Harper. I know they're going."

"Okay." I open the calendar on my phone.

I have a meeting that evening with the local shopkeepers, something we do quarterly to keep up with everything going on.

Shit.

I hate to cancel, but another evening with Canyon is way more fun than talking about running a group ad to bring in more customers this summer.

"I'd love to go," I say, adding it to my calendar.

"Great." He gives me a lazy once-over. "Eat up. I have something very special in mind for dessert."

My insides turn to liquid fire and the space between my legs gets damp.

Is it normal to be this horny?

It's probably because it's been so long since I've had sex.

"What were you thinking just now?" he asks, putting down his fork and slowly wiping his mouth with the napkin.

I swallow.

Should I admit how much I want him?

He's basically already said he wants to see me again.

I can't think of a single reason to lie or pretend to be coy.

"That I'm a little confused by how easy it is for you to turn me on," I say, putting down my fork as well.

Our eyes meet, and he shakes his head. "I thought I'd be ready to leave," he says in a quiet voice that's almost confused.

"One and done," I agree as he approaches me, his eyes blazing with intensity.

"It's been a lot more than one and I'm definitely not done." He palms the back of my neck. "I need to be inside you again, Saylor. A lot. You're driving me fucking wild."

"Same."

"I know we had an agreement but…tonight won't be enough."

"For me either."

"I can't be your boyfriend."

I make a face. "I honestly don't even know what that means. I'm thirty-one, not seventeen. We don't have to go steady to enjoy sex."

"No."

"I have one rule."

"Name it."

"If we're doing all these incredibly intimate things… we don't sleep with other people. If and when you do, that's fine. You do you. But you don't bring that shit home to me. Even using condoms… doing oral and stuff puts us both at risk. Minimal risk, but more for me than you since I have neither the time nor the inclination to meet random men at bars and whatnot."

He's thoughtful but then nods. "That's fair. So we're monogamous while we're doing this. When it's done, we walk away."

"Yes."

I'm an idiot, but he's just agreed to the one thing that makes me uncomfortable with casual sex—the idea of bringing random diseases home.

And he's just dipped his head to kiss me, so I can't even think about anything else.

Tomorrow, I'll probably bang my head against the wall, but right now he's got his hand on my breast and his tongue in my mouth.

Tomorrow seems incredibly far away.

* * *

Canyon leaves around five in the morning after a lot more sex, another shower, and what he called a nap. But he has to get home to prep for his road trip, and frankly, waking up with him might be more than I could handle. I've thrown caution to the wind with him, but I'm not stupid. Spending more time with someone as handsome, enigmatic, and amazing in bed is going to set me up for heartbreak.

I understand that intellectually, but I'm also firm in my belief that you only live once. In my experience, my biggest regrets are all about the things I didn't do. And missing out on time with a sexy hockey player who rocks my world seems dumb.

I'm having lunch with Harper and what we call our lunch bunch. We started the group right after the holidays, so we've only met twice, but the plan is to do this regularly. We're all busy, professional women with responsibilities and time constraints, but we're determined to make time for friendship. It's important, and never more so than now, when some of us are pairing off, getting married, and thinking about starting families. None of us wants to lose ourselves to those kinds of changes, so we're pre-emptively trying to prevent it.

"Sorry I'm late!" Harper is the last to arrive, Autumn in tow, and she sinks down across from me at the mid-Wilshire Mexican restaurant we chose.

"The busy CEO," Autumn mutters, shaking her head.

We all laugh.

"I ordered you a margarita," I tell her.

Harper looks startled. "Oh, I've been trying to lose a few pounds… I'm going dry for the month."

I cock my head, thinking that sounded odd. Harper was in great shape and worked out five days a week. What was she talking about?

"I'll drink it," Autumn interjects. "I need one. My boss has been a bear today." She gives Harper the side eye.

Harper grimaces. "Sorry. Today really has been a bear all around, and I've had a headache for a couple of days."

"Well, sit back and relax," I say, wiggling my eyebrows. "Because I have gossip."

All eyes turn toward me.

Harper's are filled with amusement, since she can probably guess what I'm about to say.

"This doesn't have anything to do with tall, dark and hockey-playing sexiness, does it?" Autumn asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Wait, what did I miss?" Cheyenne purses her lips. "I swear, I feel like no one tells me anything!"

"You're never here," I point out.

"Still. Someone should text me."

"Well, tell us already!" Bailey Walker says, her eyes twinkling. She's an actress and screenwriter who's Jensen Bang's girlfriend. We worked together early in my career, and though we're not best friends or anything, we've stayed in touch over the years.

"You're killing me," Sage Reynolds, another actress who is Bailey's closest friend, murmurs, sipping her cocktail.

"Okay, okay." I grin at them. "So, most of you know I went out with Canyon the other night."

"You were out with him the night your gallery was broken into," Cheyenne said. "And then he showed up to help with clean-up yesterday. But I thought nothing happened."

"Nothing happened that night." I dramatically pause as the waitress drops off more drinks. " Last night was something else."

"Last night?" Stevie looks confused.

"We were going to have a do-over date," I explain. "But I was running late, and I'd just gotten out of the shower when he got there. And, you know, one thing led to another. And another. He didn't leave until five this morning."

"You hooked up with Canyon?" Bailey grins. "Damn. He's like the team wild child."

"And a moody son of a gun too," Harper interjects. "I can't believe you got him to chill out enough to get naked."

"Oh, trust me…" I twirl my drink with a laugh. "He got plenty naked."

"Did he grunt at you and stuff?" Chey asks, laughing. "I don't think I've ever heard him laugh."

"He laughs. A little."

We all chuckle.

"So… is this a thing?" Harper asks after a moment. "Are you dating?"

"No?" I make a face. "Honestly, I think it's just sex. But, you know, really good sex."

"Is that healthy?" Stevie asks quietly. She went through an ugly break-up not that long ago and I know she's in therapy, still having a tough time.

"Probably not," I acknowledge. "But after what happened the other night at the gallery, I refuse to deprive myself of something I want."

"Are the two things related?" Sage asks. "I mean, just because someone wrote that word doesn't mean you have anything to prove—in either direction. But I've always found friends-with-benefits to be tricky."

"Oh, come on. You guys are way too serious! It's just fun. Sexy, passionate fun. And I've been without any of that particular kind of fun for almost a year, so I was due."

"Look, if you're happy, we're happy," Bailey says. "We just don't want you to get hurt."

"Same. And trust me—if things start getting weird, I'm out. I've just always been the careful one. I can count on one hand how many one-night stands I've had. I've only had three serious boyfriends my whole life, and all three of them broke up with me. So being cautious doesn't guarantee a good outcome either. I just want to have fun."

They all look at me for a moment and then Sage lifts her glass. "To fun."

"To fun." We all clink glasses and dig into the chips and salsa the waitress has just dropped off.