Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Jordy

“Take that, Mr. Small Dick.” Lola hurls the sledgehammer that’s almost the same size as her, from over her shoulder and pummels it straight into a television.

I let out a “ hell yeah” when the screen splinters. “Show him, Lola.”

Dropping the sledgehammer to the floor, she wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. “That one felt good.”

“One for the road?”

“Okay.” Tongue peeking out the side of her mouth, she looks around in search of her next victim. She grabs the baseball bat that’s leaning against the wall and then picks up an oversized glass vase on the way. I try not to laugh as she struggles with the trousers of the blue boiler suit issued to her when we came in. Even rolled up, they are still too long, and she has to keep pulling them up. In comparison, mine are three inches too short, making them look like flood pants.

“Give it everything you’ve got.” I cheer her on as she places the ornate vase on top of a pedestal and then takes a step backward.

Readjusting her safety goggles, she lowers the additional Perspex mask for extra protection as she gets into position.

Looking like a professional baseball player, legs wide, she bends her knees slightly, brings the bat over her shoulder, shifts her weight back and forth from foot to foot, then shouts at the top of her little lungs, “This is for all the lying cheating exes everywhere. Especially for you, Graham. Take this, asshole.”

My dick thickens, watching her pummel the glass vase into smithereens, propelling the shards at the opposite wall, in what looks like a one-hundred-mile-an-hour strike.

Fuck me, she looks hot when she’s angry.

I holler, “That’s my girl,” not meaning to, then follow with a long whoop whoop and punch the air to cover up my slip of the tongue.

She drops the bat, causing it to clatter against the concrete floor, and shoves her hands above her head, cheering. “Lola, one, deadbeat ex, nil.”

With my ass resting on the partially smashed-up wooden side unit, I clap my hands in applause.

She rushes over, catching me off guard when she stands between my legs and throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you for this, Jordy.”

I’m momentarily startled at being this close to her again. “You’re welcome.” I gulp, not knowing where to put my hands.

“Oh,” she gasps as she brushes against my very apparent erection.

Fuck.

Aw, screw it. I admit what she does to me. “Watching you smash stuff up was a fucking turn on. You look hot when you’re angry.”

Her chuckling chest vibrates against mine.

Leaning back, she rests her arms on top of my shoulders. “Really?”

“Really.” I reach up and twirl a pigtail she tied up as soon as we arrived around my finger.

“You look like Harley Quinn.” My voice is full of humor.

She scoffs, “I wish. I need hot pants, not a boiler suit, to pull that look off.”

“You look sexy in anything.”

“Even a boiler suit?”

“Especially a boiler suit.”

We’re silent for a beat too long before she says, “You’re flirting with me.”

“Is it working?”

Her eyes drop to my mouth, then back up again, and when she runs her tongue along her bottom lip, I get my answer. It is.

“No,” she lies with a sheepish grin, removing herself from my arms. “What’s next?”

“Cake,” I reply, readjusting my throbbing dick.

“Cake sounds amazing. You’re the best wingman ever.”

“I know.” I stand to my full height and take a bow, pointing toward the changing rooms. “Now move that sexy butt of yours or we’ll miss our reservation.”

Back in my truck, I nervously look around at the several inches of snow that have fallen since we went inside.

“We should take a rain check on dessert and head home.” Lola reads my thoughts then holds her phone up to show me the weather report. “It’s supposed to get worse over the next few hours.” Her voice sounds a little shaky as if she’s anxious to be stuck out in the snow.

So am I.

“Shit. I agree.” I lift my phone out of the center console to cancel our reservation at the dessert restaurant. “Where are you staying tonight?”

“The closest hotel with availability.” Her attention is back on her phone. “Swan Lake View?” she suggests.

“You are not staying there.” It’s a five-star, but I lie, “Their beds are uncomfortable.”

“Chateau Valley then?”

“Nope, no way. They are way overpriced. The breakfast is shit too.” Another lie.

“I’ll let you decide then,” she says, sounding exasperated. “Drop me off wherever you recommend. Anywhere but home. I don’t want to see Graham.” She looks up out of the windscreen. “You had better be quick because the snow is getting thicker, and you need to get home before it gets any worse. Where do you live?”

“My apartment is just around the corner.” I point up ahead of us.

“You have an apartment in the city?”

“Yeah, it makes it easy for me to get to and from the arena.”

Nodding, she smirks, “Figures. Well, drop me off at the nearest hotel to your apartment, please. I’ve already taken up too much of your night.”

“It’s only nine o’clock, Lola.”

“And you have a game tomorrow. You need your sleep.”

“I never sleep well before a game, and I wanted to do something nice for you tonight.”

“You did. I loved everything, thank you. But you have shitty taste in music.”

I lay my hand over my heart as if I've been wounded. “You cannot tell me Taylor Swift is better than Imagine Dragons?”

“I can, yes.” Her face is serious, but she can’t hold it for long before she lets me hear that laugh of hers again.

“You’re staying at my place tonight,” I tell her before I can overthink it.

Shaking her head, she dismisses my suggestion. “No way. I can’t stay at yours.”

“You need a room for the night, which I have, and I live around the corner. It’s common sense, Lola.” I put the truck into drive.

Checking her into one of the many five-star hotels would be easy, but the little devil inside of me wants to keep her longer.

“You shouldn’t be alone tonight. Also, staying in a hotel room by yourself sounds pathetic.” I pause to give her space to think. “I don’t want tonight to end. I’ve had fun,” I confess, which feels good to be honest.

“Me too.”

I shoot her a smile. “That’s settled then, you’re staying with me.”

“ At yours. Not with .”

“At mine,” I repeat.

“Okay.” I about melt in my driver’s seat as she bites her bottom lip and blushes, then shyly looks away. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“There’s nothing to tell, Lola.”

“True but I don’t want you to get into trouble with work because of me.” Her voice is small and faint. “And the last thing Wade needs is more drama. I need to keep a low profile until the end of the season, for Wade’s sake. He needs me. He’d be lost without me.”

“No one will ever find out.”