Gametime: A Moo U Hockey Romance by Jami Davenport (shoe dog free ebook txt) 📗

“Tell me about it.” I sank down in my seat so I was no longer able to see the top of her head.

Lex’s eyes filled with sympathy. “I’m sorry, man, but she’s stupid if she’s disappointed you weren’t your brother. If I was so inclined, I’d do you in a heartbeat.”

I laughed, grateful for Lex’s humor. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“You get my vote any day of the week.”

I’d spent a lot of time helping Lex out last year, and the guys joked we had a bromance going. I was glad they didn’t hear his latest vow of loyalty.

“Being mistaken for my brother is normal, but being mistaken to the point the girl didn’t know who she was fucking has never happened to me before. It’s pretty demoralizing.”

“If she still wants Patrick after that, she doesn’t deserve you.”

“Thanks. We talked and agreed to be just friends, then last night, I ran into her at the library, and we were more than friends.” I didn’t give him the details. He knew enough to understand my dilemma.

“Did she know which twin you were?” When he saw my grimace, he said, “Sorry, I had to ask.”

“Yeah, she knew. I was late getting on the bus because I was hoping to catch her after class. I don’t know what’s going on with us, if anything.”

“Well, sounds like something is. If she’s confused, it’s not right for her to lead you on.”

“I don’t know that she’s purposely doing that.” I appreciated his support even if I didn’t agree with him. Everything with Naomi was too raw, too up in the air. Talking about her might give me a little relief, but this conversation also made my stomach clench in frustration.

“Can you keep another secret?” I asked in an attempt to change to a safer topic.

“Buddy, I am your secret keeper.”

I told him about my deal with Coach Garfunkle and his quest to make me the best player on the team.

“I’ve been telling you that you sell yourself short. He sees what I see.”

I shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. “I don’t know. We start on Sunday afternoon. I have no idea what to expect.”

“I’ve got your back. If you need an extra stick, I’m there.”

“I appreciate that. The last person I’d ask is my brother, and I don’t want the other guys to know I’m getting special attention. I feel weird about it.”

“Why is Patrick the last person you’d ask?”

“I don’t know how he’d take it. We’re tight, but we’re also uber-competitive.”

“Sibling rivalry?”

“Yeah, twin rivalry. That’s even worse.”

“I can only imagine.”

“Hey, Pax, get your ass back here! We need another player for poker,” Patrick shouted from the back of the bus. I looked at Lex, reluctant to desert him when he’d been so good to me.

“Go ahead. I hate poker. I’ll stay here and lust after Kaitlyn.”

I laughed, feeling better now that I’d gotten a load off by telling him my two secrets.

I got to my feet to make my way to the back of the bus, not able to resist one more glance in Naomi’s direction. She was half-turned in her seat and our eyes met briefly. I swallowed hard and looked away.

Cal, Tate, Jonah, and Josh hunkered over a deck of cards sitting on a suitcase. I joined them, keeping my back to Naomi so I wouldn’t obsessively stare at her, but I wasn’t as successful at keeping my mind off her.

9

Choices

Naomi

I stared at Paxton’s fine ass as he walked down the aisle to the back of the bus. I knew what that ass looked like naked with all those tight muscles and—

OMG, last night. I still didn’t know what to do about that. We shouldn’t have, or I shouldn’t have done that. But the look of ecstasy on his face when I made him come had made my misgivings worth it. Still, what was I doing? Did I see Paxton as a surrogate for Patrick, or were my feelings more complicated than that?

“Oh, my God, it is true,” Kaitlyn declared. Startled, I jerked my attention away from Pax’s ass. Heat rose up my collar to my neck and cheeks, causing Kaitlyn to snort with amusement.

“What’s true?” I adopted my best innocent tone, but I’d already blown my cover, what little cover there was.

“You have the hots for Pax, don’t you? And here I thought you wanted Patrick all this time. I was so wrong.”

“Shhh,” I whispered, glancing around to make sure no one heard her.

Kaitlyn snickered, totally entertained by my discomfort.

“I don’t know why you say that.” I made a feeble attempt at denial. Guilt was written all over my face, and Kaitlyn was a smart cookie.

“I saw you two playing tonsil hockey on the couch of the hockey house a week ago. I can’t believe you were sitting on that couch. Do you know what kind of biological material is on that ratty old thing?”

“I was drunk, and I don’t want to think about that couch.”

“That makes two of us. I’ve spent a few drunken nights on it myself. Soooo, do we have a twin love triangle going on here?” She waggled her eyebrows and drew a scowl from me, which delighted her all the more.

“No, we do not. Paxton and I are friends. We were just drunk, that’s all.” I hadn’t been drunk last night, but I squashed that thought.

“Really? So you’re still wanting to get into Patrick’s pants?”

Did everyone on campus but Patrick know about my long-time crush on him?

“I don’t know. A girl can’t graduate from Moo U and not have a piece of that, can she?” I made fun of my entire sticky situation and hoped she’d drop the subject.

Kaitlyn lowered her voice. “I haven’t.”

“You haven’t?”

“Nah. And then Lex came along, and nobody measures up to him, but if I were forced to choose between the twins, I’d choose Patrick for a one-nighter and Paxton for an every-nighter.”

“Really?” Now she had me intrigued.

“Really.” She winked at me conspiratorially but didn’t elaborate.

“My dad’s pushing me to date