With Sunny being pregnant, I’m sure things will be different from the usual booze fest and overly late nights. Or maybe not—Alex’s wife, Violet, and her friend Charlene Hoar are going to be there. Those two can drink like fish, and they like to stay up all hours of the night. I’m sure there will be dirty Scrabble games and shenanigans, both of which I’m looking forward to.

I’m not used to having this much down time. Prior to moving to Chicago, I’d always worked more than one job, so only having one means a lot more freedom to pursue hobbies. Not that I worry too much about being idle; Randy keeps me busy when I’m not teaching skating lessons. I don’t have the opportunity to get bored—especially not since I moved in with him about four months ago and he enrolled me in beard riding classes.

I figured maybe once we were living together his insatiableness would wane, at least a little. It hasn’t. While I’ve been teaching this morning, he’s been texting me all the places he thinks we should have sex when we get to the cottage. Ironically, a bathroom hasn’t even made the top five. The forest is a prime pick. He’s mentioned playing hide and seek more than once, but the way he says it makes me think his version will be a lot different than the game I played with Sunny as a kid.

The door to the changing room squeaks as it opens. Someone needs to get out the WD-40 and deal with that. I’m around the corner, out of view, so I call out a hello to avoid scaring whoever it is. I get nothing back. A chill runs up my spine at the sound of distinctly non-feminine footfalls. Relief forces my heart back down from my throat when Randy peeks his head around the jamb.

“What’re you doing in here?” I ask, double knotting my skate before lowering my foot to the rubber-padded floor.

He scans my outfit, and a devious grin pulls up the corner of his mouth. “Stopping in for a quick visit.”

“In the women’s staff locker room? What if someone else was in here with me?” It’s a reasonable question. Occasionally I’m not the only instructor on the ice.

His eyes widen, and he checks over his shoulder. “Is there someone else here?”

“No. But there could’ve been.”

“But you’re telling me there isn’t,” he confirms.

I nod. “Still. What if you’d seen one of the other girls naked?”

He frowns and runs a hand over his beard, looking anxious. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Just imagine how embarrassed I’d be if someone else’s boyfriend walked in while I was naked.” Now I’m messing with him.

The furrow in his brow deepens, and his eyes go dark. If I didn’t have a session in fifteen minutes, I’d be excited about that look, because it typically means very good things for the Vagina Emporium. Sadly, she’s covered in multiple layers of fabric. And I’m hours away from any kind of relief for the ache that’s flared low in my belly.

“Only I see you naked,” Randy barks.

I snicker-snort. Sometimes Randy can be so very irrationally male.

He stalks forward to loom over me. “You think that’s funny?”

“Someone else seeing me naked? No, I don’t think that’s funny at all. Your reaction to the unlikely possibility is, though. When we get to Alex’s cottage, should we put you in a loincloth? We’ll rename you a random sound, and you can club me over the head and drag me into the forest. We’ll live in a cave, and you can battle bears to entertain me.” I bite the inside of my cheek to hold in my laughter.

Randy cracks a sheepish grin. “That was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah.”

He brushes a few strands of hair, imaginary or not, away from my cheek. “I’m a little greedy when it comes to you.” He traces the edge of my jaw, the pad of his thumb sweeping my bottom lip.

“I’m aware.”

Prior to me, Randy had seen lots of women naked. I thought I had a thick skin until I started dating him. As the girlfriend of an NHL player, I get personal messages from his former conquests about how they’re a way better lay than I am, among other fun things. It was shocking at first, but at least I have friends who get what I’m going through.

I’ve had a total of five sexual partners, including Randy. I’m assuming Randy’s had at least ten times that. Maybe it should bother me, but it doesn’t. Now that we’ve decided to be together, he’s never given me a reason to worry about him being unfaithful. His dad’s history of cheating isn’t one he wants to repeat.

“You still have a few minutes before you have to be on the ice, right?” he asks.

“I should get out there soon, but yeah.”

Randy makes a noise but doesn’t respond with words, which is sometimes his way. He’s very much an action man. I knew he loved me a long time before he said the words out loud. All the little sacrifices, all the sweet things that come unprovoked are perfect examples of how he feels. And I feel the same way. But I don’t think he’s here to tell me he loves me. Not based on the gleam in his eye or the bulge making an appearance in his pants.

“What’s up?” I pat the hard lump under the jeans. “Other than moody dick.”

He covers my hand with his. “Wanna have a quickie?”

“I don’t have enough minutes for that.” I put my palm on his chest when he leans in. My resistance to Randy’s advances is minimal, even with time constraints.

“I can be superfast. I bet you’re halfway to coming already.” A smirky grin tugs the side of his mouth. That smile used to infuriate me. Occasionally it still does.

Randy may be right; he has the incredible ability to get me off with very little physical contact. He’s rather cocky about it. Being in a public locker room where someone could walk in any second should be a deterrent. But it really isn’t—for either of us. Also, Randy takes much longer to come than I do. It’s one of the positive side effects of the accident he had when he was a kid—the one that nearly robbed him of half of his amazing cock—and I have my doubts he’ll be able to get off in under ten. His record is twelve minutes, and he was just crazy excited; it was the first time we went without a condom. Now he’s gotten used to going in bare, so his longevity is astounding.

“There’s no way you’ll come before I have to get on the ice, and then we have to sit in a car with Sunny and Miller. You’ll have to behave yourself for two hours with blue balls. How pleasant is that going to be for you?”