PUCKED Up (20 page)

“
Is it just you and Lily going?” Daisy asks. “I don’t know if I like that idea.”

“
There’s a group of us.” Sunny’s hair twirling gets more and more aggressive until it’s twisted all the way around her finger, cutting off the circulation. She’d never make it as a professional poker player.

“
Who else is coming with you?” Robbie’s eyes shift in my direction as he takes a huge bite of bun. I want one.

The doorbell rings, cutting off Sunny’s response. I check the clock on the wall—it’s analog, so I can read it easier. It’s after nine. Shit. Lily’s here, and my time with Sunny is almost up. I didn’t even get to give her a good morning/see you soon orgasm. Damn it.

Sunny skips around the counter and gazelles her way to the front door, throwing it open with a squeal. Her extra crunchy granola bestie throws her arms around her, and they do that weird overly affectionate hug thing girls do when they haven’t see each other in all of five minutes. Although, I’ve been here for the past two days, so it’s been at least that long since they’ve seen each other, but likely not longer.

Lily has short black hair and dark eyes. She’s almost as tall as Sunny, but with less boobs and no curves. She looks more like a prepubescent boy than a twenty-year-old woman, or maybe I’m being an asshole because she’s not my biggest fan.

Her smile widens when she sees Robbie, and then slides right off like her face is made of Teflon when she sees me. She whispers something to Sunny, her eyes wide with surprise.

“
Lily!” Daisy flails her arms like a cheerleader on PCP. Lily turns away from her huge hair and accepts the hug.

“
Hi, Momma Two. How was your weekend away? Did you have fun?”

“
Too much to talk about without embarrassing everyone!” Daisy winks.

I glance at Robbie. He gives me a smug smile and nabs another bun. I think he might have already been into his research today.

“
Oh! Kale, Benji! I didn’t see you there!” Daisy’s voice is high-pitched, and she gives Sunny an odd look.

Right behind Lily are two other guys. They look like they could be brothers, or hipster soulmates.

They’re clearly trying to join the beard brigade and failing. While there’s hair on their chins and cheeks, it’s patchy and ungroomed. It makes them look like homeless douches who stole clothes off the rack from the Khaki and Plaid Depot.

So one of these guys is Sunny’s high school ex-boyfriend? I’m definitely in way better shape, and I can grow a legit beard. And I can give her orgasms. All this should make me feel better, but with the way Daisy is looking at Sunny, it doesn’t.

Robbie gives me an eyebrow lift, grabs a fourth cinnamon bun, and nods in the direction of the door. “You better get over there, son.”

The skinnier of the two guys gives Daisy a hug. When he sees Robbie, he gets stupid excited. “Hey! Robbie, how’s it going? I was all bummed out thinking you wouldn’t be back until later today.”

“
Our flight got changed at the last minute. It was an early morning, but otherwise I can’t complain.” Robbie’s eyes pass over me again.

Kale goes in for a man hug when he’s finished mauling Daisy. I have to wonder how long those two dated, based on how familiar he is with her family. Or maybe it’s been a long-ass time since they’ve seen him. Either way, their reaction says a lot. He’s the beef tenderloin, and I’m the McDonald’s Big Mac.

I make sure I’m not leaking pool water all over Sunny’s mom’s floor before I cross the hardwood.

“
Hey, Lily, how you doin’?” I open my arms like I’m looking for a hug.

Her eyes do this weird widening thing and her lips contort, as if she’s fighting not to make a face. She ends up looking like she’s having a facial seizure. She leans forward and pats my back, straining her neck so almost none of her touches me. It’d be funny if I wasn’t already offended.

I loop an arm around Sunny’s waist from behind.

“
Miller! You’re all wet!”

“
That makes one of us.” I don’t mean it the way it sounds, but everyone’s eyes shoot in my direction. Sunny’s cheeks go pink, Lily looks mortified, and Daisy looks stunned. Only Robbie’s too engrossed in licking his fingers to notice. Kale’s reaction is the best. He looks annoyed.

I pretend like I haven’t said something inappropriate and stick out my hand to the guy I know didn’t date Sunny. “You must be Lily’s boyfriend. I’m Miller.”

“
Oh, I know who you are.” He takes my hand and squeezes like he has something to prove. “Benji.”

I squeeze back until he flinches. “You watch hockey?” This guy looks like golf or hacky sack are more his speed.

“
Sunshine watches a lot of hockey, so that means we all watch a lot of hockey,” Lily says.

“
When Toronto’s out, I go for Chicago because of Sunshine.” He winks at Sunny. If he wasn’t dating Lily, I’d probably want to punch him in his damn face.

“
It’s not like Alex had any choice what city he plays for.” Sunny laughs, but it sounds forced. “Oh! Kale, this is Miller. He plays on the same team as Alex.”

There’s no introduction as her boyfriend. No suggestion that there’s anything going on between us aside from me knowing Alex. I can’t tell if it’s intentional, or she’s nervous.

“
Is Alex here this weekend?” Kale stretches up, like he’s trying to see over my shoulder.

“
Um, no. Alex isn’t here. He’s at home. Miller’s sister is his fiancée.”

Kale seems even more confused. It makes me wonder if he knows about me. “So, you came to Guelph . . .” He trails off.

“
To see Sunny.” I bite back a smile as understanding finally dawns.

Daisy breaks the awkward stare-down. “You don’t have to leave right away, do you? Why don’t you all come in for a visit? I’ll put on some coffee, and herbal tea for you, Lily. Sunny made cinnamon buns!”

“
They’re delicious.” Robbie pats his stomach.

“
And they’re vegan, of course,” Sunny chimes in.

“
I love your buns!” Kale has the nerve to wink at Sunny.

“
I’m looking forward to trying one. I’ve only ever eaten Sunny’s cookies.” I adjust the strap of her tank top.

Sunny flushes and elbows me in the side. Lily gives me a look. Daisy misses the innuendo and links arms with Lily, leading her into the kitchen.

“
I could go for some cookies right now.” Robbie saunters over to the fridge and opens the freezer.

“
I’m gonna put on some dry clothes,” I say as the rest of the group follows him.

“
Okay. I guess I’ll be in the kitchen.” Sunny seems conflicted as I grab her wrist to stop her. I consider telling her she should put a bra on. I can see her nipples poking through her shirt, but I decide against it. Instead I lean in close, kiss her cheek, and say, “I’m sorry you had to lie, but I wish we hadn’t been interrupted.”

“
Me, too.”

I head up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I want to get a bead on this Kale fucker, so I don’t want to be gone long. My plan is two-fold; changing means I can get all my shit out of Sunny’s room and into the spare bedroom before her parents make it upstairs. Otherwise they’re going to know Sunny lied—if they haven’t figured it out already. Plus there are condoms and condom wrappers all over her floor from the past two days.

I grab my duffel bag and stuff all my shit into it. Whatever I left in her bathroom can stay there. I’ll make a stop in Muskoka if I need something. I pick up a bunch of empty condom wrappers and kick a few more under the bed as I go. Based on the mini snowstorm of wrappers, Sunny and I got our serious fuck on this weekend. I’m surprised she’s not complaining about being sore, and that I don’t have a chafed dick.

Andy comes into the room and does a circle around me, nudging me with his nose.

“
Psst. Hey, buddy, you gotta go downstairs.”

Robbie calls for him somewhere from the floor below. Andy ignores him, like he does pretty much everyone but Sunny—and sometimes me if a treat is involved.

“
Go, Andy. Go see Robbie.” I push his butt toward the door, but he runs into the bathroom and shoves his head in the garbage can. I don’t know what he steals, but I need to get the hell out of Sunny’s room before someone comes up here, especially Sunny’s dad. As mellow as he is, I don’t think he’ll be cool with me banging his daughter all weekend long.

I scan the room one more time and notice a pair of Sunny’s underwear peeking out from under the bed. It’s the pair with the tiny pale and dark blue polka dots on it. I scoop them up and rub the soft cotton between my fingers.

I don’t know what I’m planning to do with them. I’ve never been a panty collector, but they’re my First Time With Sunny underwear. They’re also the underwear she was wearing before I gave her her first-ever cookie-eating orgasm, and her first-ever sex orgasm, so that makes them special.

I shove them in my bag as the sound of a throat clearing draws my attention to the door. Robbie’s standing there with that suspicious look again. He pops a cookie into his mouth and chews.

I make sure the panties are tucked away safely. “Hey, Robbie. Sunny must have left her door open. Andy came in here, and I wanted to make sure he didn’t get into anything. You know how much he loves to eat out her trash.” When he blinks at me, I review what I’ve said and rewind. “I mean, eat out of her garbage can. I don’t want him to get sick.”

He surveys the room with a critical eye. I think I managed to get rid of most of the condom wrappers. At least the ones in plain sight.

“
You should come downstairs and get one of those cinnamon buns before they’re all gone.”

“
I’ll be right down. I just need to get changed.”

“
Everyone’s on the back deck.” He stuffs another cookie in his mouth and waits for me to leave the room before he closes Sunny’s door. I stop in the guest bathroom to change out of my wet shorts.

Less than two minutes later I’m on my way outside. That Kale dick is sitting right next to Sunny, and Lily is on the other side. The only open seat is next to Daisy. It looks like she fixed her hair, or tried. Both sides are even in terms of bigness now.

“
Miller! I saved you a cinnamon roll.” Sunny holds up the plate and smiles, but there’s still tension underneath.

I make a point of circling the group instead of reaching across the table. Leaning down right next to Kale, I tuck invisible strands of hair behind Sunny’s ear and brush a kiss over her shoulder, keeping it polite for current company. “Thanks, baby.”

The conversation consists of a lot of inside jokes from Lily and Kale, which is damn annoying. Kale also tries to reminisce with Daisy, who doesn’t seem all that comfortable or happy with the situation. It sounds like he used to spend a lot of time at the Waters’ place. I don’t like it, and I don’t like that Sunny’s spending time with him in cramped quarters. At best, they’ll have separate tents. At worst they’ll all be sleeping in the trailer together. Of course this inspires images of the four of them engaged in an orgy, including a Sunny sandwich. I need to talk to her alone before she leaves today.

“
Miller?”

“
Huh?” I glance around the table. Everyone is looking at me—except Lily. She’s busy texting under the table. I realize I’ve been staring off into space. Actually, I’ve been staring at Sunny’s chest. Her nipples are saluting me from under her tank. If I’d mentioned them before, I could have had a minute with her upstairs.

“
What’s the name of the camp you’re volunteering at again?” Sunny asks.

“
Oh. It’s Camp Beaver Woods.” Me and Randy had a good laugh about that.

“
Why’d you pick one in Canada? It seems out of the way.” Kale picks a dandelion fluff out of Sunny’s hair. I want to shove it up his left nostril with my fist.

She’s fixed her hair since I first came downstairs. It’s not the wild mess it was. The braid is smoother, but tendrils have already escaped, blowing around her face when the breeze picks up.

“
Usually I do a couple of weeks in the Chicago area so I can visit my family, but now that I’m back there, I figured I’d do something different this year. And I wanted an excuse to see Sunny. I was hoping to convince her to come visit me for a couple of days out there, but it looks like you got to her first.”

“
Looks like.” He grins.

I lean back in my chair and return the smile. “I don’t mind sticking around for a few days after the camp is over, though.”

The tension at the table is thicker than my playoff beard. I’m aware I’m having a pissing contest with this skinny douchebag in front of her parents, but I want to establish myself as real competition.

Lily puts down her phone. “So this camp you volunteer for, it’s for hockey brats?” She says it more than she asks.

I frown. “It’s a sports camp, but a few of the kids have special needs.”