Blindsided: A Moo U Hockey Romance

by Victoria Denault

  He kisses me again, but it’s urgent this time, not fleeting. And I respond with passion and need because I need him—and makeup sex—because we don’t have much more time to break up and make up. In five short weeks, the fall market season will end and so will this—us. Because our families won’t allow anything else.

  As if reading my mind, his hands find their way under my sweater.

  “It’s too cold, isn’t it?’ he whispers as he moves his lips from my mouth to the column of my neck.

  “You’ll make me warm,” I say with certainty as my hands reach for his belt.

  There’re no more words as we kiss and undress each other. I push his hoodie off his shoulders and he yanks his arms out of it and lays it on the floor. I come up behind him before he can turn back around and kiss a trail between his shoulder blades as my hands snake around his abdomen, and as one slides his zipper down, the other pushes past the waistband of his boxer briefs.

  I wrap my hand around his cock and he groans. “I swear I’ve never been as hard as I am with you. The second I see you, you do this to my dick. No matter how much sass you throw my way, I want you.”

  He lets me stroke him, long and hard, for two slow pumps before turning around to face me and kiss me, our tongues tangling the second our lips meet. In seconds, the rest of our clothes are all gone, in one big pile on the floor and he lays me on top of them, and then stretches out on top of me. I can’t feel the cold air around us. I can only feel his warm skin, hard muscles and harder cock pushing against my thigh as he nips at my left nipple, causing my back to arch. His eyes shift up to my face. “You look so fucking beautiful like this in the moonlight.”

  I feel a flush and he smiles in satisfaction as one of his hands slips between my legs and two fingers graze me. “Tate, I need this. No teasing. Get the condom.”

  I feel his whole body turn to stone for an undeniable second and I know exactly why. He forgot condoms. I whisper out a string of expletives. Tate starts to lift off of me but I reach up and wrap my hands around his neck, stopping him. “You have condoms in here? In the house?”

  “No,” I say and bite my lip.

  “Maybe your dad has some?”

  “Vasectomy,” I explain. “My parents got pregnant with me by accident and Daisy only two months after my birth, before my mom even thought it was possible. They only wanted two, so they made sure there was no chance of more.”

  “Clyde?”

  “The last time Clyde had a girlfriend was the year before I was born apparently, so anything he might have would be expired and my uncles don’t live here to leave contraception lying around.” I sigh and kiss him chastely, pulling him closer so he’s touching every part of me again. I push my pelvis up and it bumps the tip of him. He fights a groan and loses.

  “We need to stop talking about your relatives because the mood is imploding,” Tate replies and rolls off of me.

  “What I do have is an IUD,” I say and suddenly he’s rolled back on top of me.

  “What?” Tate blinks down at me.

  “I’m protected. You think I’m going to just rely on condoms? No way,” I say. “But I’ve never told a guy I use other protection because I’ve never wanted a guy enough—or trusted him enough—but I do with you.”

  “Really?” Tate seems stunned. “I know I’m clean. I get a full physical every six months and they include STD tests. And I’ve never had sex, ever, without a condom.”

  “Well, we don’t have to now. We can do other stuff,” I say even though I really, really want him. All of him.

  “I trust you too, Maggie,” Tate says softly and then I feel his fingers at my folds again and I arch my back. “And I want you so much right now.”

  “Then no teasing,” I say but I’m also pushing down on his hand, begging his thumb to find my clit, which is does and I moan.

  “Maybe just a little teasing,” Tate whispers against my collarbone. But after his thumb rolls against my clit one more time he shifts positions, and body parts, and runs the tip of his cock over my opening.

  I grip his shoulders and bury my face in his neck as he starts to slide inside.

  This is everything. He is everything. We are everything.

  Those simple concise thoughts are the only thoughts my brain can form as Tate starts to move inside me. He isn’t fast or rough, but he’s breathing against my neck like he’s run two marathons. “This… Jesus. It’s so good like this.”

  He’s not wrong. This feels so good and not just physically but emotionally. I feel like I’m giving him something and he’s giving me something, and it’s creating butterflies in my belly that are their own unique breed, like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

  His thrusts are already as ragged as his breath, and I am writhing and panting and desperate for my own release, which comes on the heels of his judging by the noises we both make. My body goes limp a minute later and Tate’s does the same.

  He turns to bury his head in my hair, his lips by my ear. “Well that was…”

  Everything. It was everything. Oh my God I’m in trouble.

  “That was…indescribable.” Tate finally finishes his sentence.

  “Yeah.”

  He lifts his head to hold my gaze. His thumb slides gently across my cheekbone. “Maggie…I think I don’t want this to end when the market does.”

  Now we’re both in trouble.

  “I love that you just said that, but I hate it too,” I confess and suddenly feel like crying. “Because it feels good to know I’m not alone in my feelings, but it means we’re both doomed instead of just me. Because our families will kill us.”

  He opens his mouth to argue with me, but a sound outside has us both shut up. Something—it sounds like something metal—crashes. And then Clyde’s voice drifts through the air. “Stupid, dumb watering can. Who left it in the middle of the porch? God damn it.”

  “Shit!” I mouth the word, not even daring to whisper it.

  Tate rolls off me and I crawl off our bed of clothes and we both scurry into them as quickly and quietly as possible.

  “Will he come in here?” Tate whispers and I shush him even though he whispered it so quietly even I almost didn’t hear him.

  “Normally I would say no,” I reply softly. “But if he’s drunk, all bets are off. I can’t predict drunk Clyde.”

  Once I get my sneakers back on, I scurry over to the long, high oblong window that faces the house and peek out. I see a shadow move on the porch. Clyde is dropping his drunk ass down in the porch swing that is beside the door to his small apartment. He kicks at the offending water can but misses.

  “How are we going to get out of here?” Tate asks.

  I take his hand. I’m rolling the dice on Clyde’s level of sobriety being close to nil when I say. “We’re going to walk out.”

  Tate looks horrified but lets me walk him to the door. I quietly slide it open and hop down into the grass. Tate hops down next to me and turns and slides the glass door shut. I grab his hand again and we turn away from the house and start walking toward the field. We make it three steps.

  “Who’s there?” Clyde slurs loudly.

  “Just me Clyde,” I call back trying to do it as quietly as possible so my parents aren’t disturbed. This might work if my mom and dad don’t show up. If they hear Clyde or me they’ll wander out here and then the shit will hit the fan. “Heading home. Good night.”

  “Who is with you?” Clyde calls and he tries to get up off the porch swing but fails. He swears again.

  “Gotta get home, Clyde.”

  “That your sister? You two working on that silly tin box instead of doing schoolwork?” Clyde growls.

  I take a deep breath. “Yep. That’s why I’m leaving now, Clyde. Got schoolwork. Bye!”

  “You two girls are useless,” Clyde snarls more to himself than me so I don’t even bother with answering. “I can’t believe you two are my only heirs. Building tin boxes and expecting people to live in them. What a joke.”


  I keep walking down into the empty field, past the bees, and over the fence. I feel Tate’s hands on my waist as I climb it, making sure I make it over. When he hops over and we get to the car, he turns me around and presses me to my door instead of letting me get in. “My grandfather is right about him. Clyde Todd is a total asshole.”

  I nod. I’ve long ago lost that inherent instinct to defend my grandfather just because he’s blood. “I won’t argue that.”

  He tucks my hair behind my left ear and leans his body into mine. “You know you’re far from useless right? Your idea is actually smart and progressive, just like moving the farm to goats and bees instead of cow dairy.”

  “Thank you. I know,” I say proudly. I’ve never doubted my business sense. Even before college, I had great business instincts. “But I have to put up with Clyde because if he really wants to, he can sell the farm to a stranger. He’s the only one on the deed. He wouldn’t put my dad on it, and my uncles didn’t want to be on it. Now that dad has had a stroke, Clyde’s more hell bent than ever on selling it. He doesn’t want to wait for Daisy and me to graduate to take it over.”

  “Then I will sell you my land,” Tate promises and I smile because I think he actually would try. But the Adler farm isn’t his either. Not alone. Although I think George has made Louise and his dad Vince official co-owners.

  “Let’s go.” I get in my side and he gets in the passenger side, and we drive for a few minutes in silence.

  Finally Tate says. “Did Clyde actually think I was Daisy?”

  I grin. “He has horrible night vision and the beer goggles also don’t help.”

  He laughs loudly. “Oh my god I wish we could tell her because Daisy’s head would explode.”

  I pull to a stop in front of the hockey house and he reaches to undo his seat belt. “Come in.”

  I shake my head even though I don’t want to say no. “I can’t. Daisy knows by now I didn’t go straight home this afternoon like I said I would. If I don’t show up before midnight, she will have her spidey-sense activated and she won’t stop harassing me until I tell her where I’ve been. She’ll know it was a boy.”

  “You mean her weird doppelgänger intuition. Because you’re creepy twins?” Tate has the smirkiest smirk that ever smirked on his face right now. I remember when it used to make me want to punch him but now…it makes me want to kiss him. So I do.

  “I hate you.”

  “No you don’t,” Tate replies and cups my face. “And we’re not breaking up.”

  “We’re not together, remember?” I reply. “We’re just scratching an itch. Not a big deal.”

  “Oh we’re a big deal,” Tate argues and kisses me again. “The biggest deal. The kind of deal that either destroys families or merges farms.”

  “Tate, what the hell are you talking about?” I ask and pull back because the more he kisses me, the more I think anything is possible, and that’s dangerous.

  “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

  I stare into his forest green eyes and open my mouth to answer. To say no, of course not. This isn’t a possibility, and I don’t entertain fantasy. I’m a no-nonsense, farm-raised, salt-of-the-earth Vermonter with a business brain. A logical one. I can’t waste time on impossibilities. “Yes. More than anything.”

  “Good because I want you too. As my girlfriend, as my person.” Tate kisses me again and for one brief, perfect moment I let my heart do a victory dance. “So we’re going to do it. We’re going to try and make this work.”

  “How?” My brain asks, essentially kicking my heart into submission. “No one—and I mean no one—will be okay with this.”

  “Jace will be,” he says but it doesn’t sound all that confident. “I mean, not at first, but if I explain it to him. Tell him how sure I am about you, he’ll come around. It might take some time but he will. And as much as your sister both annoys and slightly terrifies me, she will too. Don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. But there will be so much judgment and yelling first,” I reply honestly.

  “It’s worth it,” Tate replies.

  “Yeah. It is.” I nod and he leans in to kiss me again but I pull back. “But Daisy and Jace are just the tip of the Todd-Adler iceberg. My dad and your dad used to get into brawls in high school. And your dad despises Bobby for allegedly hitting on your mom, and George and Clyde. George and Clyde—”

  “Are the reason we’re together, so we should thank them,” Tate reminds me jokingly but then he grows serious. “Look, it’s definitely not going to be easy, but maybe this is exactly what will finally stop all the drama. And if they can actually learn to tolerate us together, and then tolerate each other. Maybe merging the farms can happen.”

  “Tate…”

  He kisses me, hard, and then reaches for the car door. “Just think about it.”

  “Okay.” I nod.

  He closes the car door but instead of walking up to his house he turns back and motions for me to lower the window. I hit the button and it slides down so he can lean in. “Look, it sounds crazy, I know. But crazy things happen. Hell, if someone had told me just a few months ago that the first person I would make love to would be Maggie Todd, I would have told them they need a shrink. But that’s exactly what just happened tonight. So why not this too?”

  Did he really just say that?

  Tate winks and says, “Night, Firecracker,” and I stare after him, speechless, as he walks off with my heart.

  17

  Tate

  Five days later the sun is barely up when she crawls out of my bed. She has to go back to her apartment before Daisy wakes up and finds her missing. We’ve fallen into a system of sneaking out of our homes at night and sneaking into each other’s beds and leaving before anyone can catch us. There’s also a few clandestine meet-ups in hidden corners of the campus in between classes or before and after my hockey practices. I’m almost one hundred percent certain some of the guys like Lex and Jonah have figured out we’re together, even though no one has seen her come and go from the house, but no one is talking about it and that’s what counts.

  My dick gets hard watching her get dressed in the early morning light, so when she leans back down to kiss me goodbye I try to pull her back into bed. But she has more willpower and common sense than me and doesn’t let me. “If I stay another minute, Daisy will catch me doing my walk of shame and that’s not how I want to tell her.”

  I groan, even though I know she’s right. “Okay. But you’re still planning on telling her today, right?”

  Maggie nods and pulls her hair up into a ponytail. She snuck over here at one in the morning in workout wear and running shoes so that if anyone caught her sneaking out—or in—she could say she had insomnia and went for a run. “I was going to tell her on our way over to the hockey game. That way she doesn’t have a lot of time to yell at me or run home and tell the family, and she’ll be forced to watch you play and hopefully you can woo her with your talents.”

  “Who doesn’t want their sister with the best defensemen in the tri-state area?”

  “Daisy hates big egos, so you might wanna rein that in.” She gives me another quick kiss but makes it to the door before I can grab her again. “Have a good day and a kick ass game. I’ll see you at the Biscuit afterward.”

  “I’m going to kiss you. In front of everyone,” I warn.

  She smiles. It’s big and bright and drop-dead gorgeous. “I hate PDA but for you, I will make an exception.”

  She disappears, closing the door behind her and I get out of my warm comfortable bed, like a lovesick fool just so I can watch her jog down the street. My God, I’m in love. With Maggie Todd. The world is officially upside down, and I like it better this way.

  I try to catch some more Zs but I can’t. I’m tired but I’m restless. Not just because Maggie is supposed to tell Daisy today, but because I also want to tell Jace. So I decide I might as well get that done and throw on some clothes and get in my truck.

  As I barrel up the lo
ng drive to the farm, Dad is on the porch, sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs, probably on his first coffee break of the morning. I park behind his truck and hop out. “What’s going on, son?”

  He sounds concerned. I smile. “Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d see if I could steal Jace for breakfast before he has to go to school.”

  Dad pulls off his tattered Patriots baseball cap and scratches his thick, dark hair. “I’m sure it won’t take much convincing. But make sure he actually goes to school, okay?”

  “Of course. Why? Has he been skipping?” I ask as I climb the stairs to the porch.

  Dad nods. “Your Ma got a call from the vice principal two days ago. Because apparently it was his fourth sick day in the last two weeks.”

  “Shit.” I shake my head. “He has nine months left and then he’s free. What the hell is he doing?”

  “Maybe ask him over pancakes,” Dad replies. “Because your Ma is pissed not just at him but at me for not noticing he was doing it. At this point, she wants him to move into her place in town and you know we need him here. But I need him to graduate, so…I’m thinking about it.”

  As if on cue, the screen door swings open and Jace walks out. The sleepy expression on his face shifts to confusion when he sees me and then annoyed when he sees Dad. “I’m going. I’m going. I’ll take a selfie with the school bus driver if you want proof. You don’t have to have Tate drive me.”

  “I was actually here to take you to breakfast,” I tell him. “But if you want that selfie with sixty-year-old Eddie the bus driver and his vibrant array of seventies concert shirts, feel free to say no.”

  “I’m in.”

  “Straight home after school, Jace,” Dad calls out as we make our way to the truck. “Not only do we have apples to pick, you’re grounded.”

  “I know. I know.” Jace rolls his eyes aggressively as he slams my truck door.

  I hop in and get us on our way. Jace talks about the farm and football the whole way to the diner, and I let him because I don’t want to rile him up before we get there—and I drop my bomb. He tells me about the progress they’re making with the barn and how we, luckily, have less crappy unsellable apples than last year. “And Dad was able to make another payment on the mortgage, so the bank is easing off for now.”