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Today was one of those days.

We didn’t have time to catch each other before he had to get to the arena, so the first time I saw him again was when I watched him skating around the zone during warmups. And, of course, he didn’t notice me because TJ got inside his head during games and tried to block out the crowd.

I wasn’t sure I would have survived this life if I hadn’t formed strong friendships with the other girls. Especially with Rox.

“Is Fi gonna come?” Rox asked Dinah.

Dinah shook her head. “She’s balls deep in edits right now. Riley understands.”

I almost spit out my drink. Dinah and Rox always said what they were thinking, and it still came as a shock to me at times. They also had mouths worse than hockey players. TJ’s words, not mine.

I kept my swearing to a minimum, but lately, it had been coming out more. Mostly during sex. If I was riding TJ, or underneath him, or he had me bent over the bed, swear words that used to make me blush flew out of my mouth. And I didn’t care because being with TJ was like he unlocked the cage I had been trapped in.

Rox poked my arm. “What are you thinking about?”

“Sex,” I blurted out and clamped a hand over my mouth.

While that was true, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck, but my face was flushed and hot at the admittance.

Dinah let out a loud laugh. And holy crap, that tiny girl had a booming laugh. She had such a big personality, which made sense since Noah was such a quiet, sensitive guy.

Rox blanched and pretended to put her finger down her throat. “Gross, I’ve already been scarred for life now.”

I cringed and gave her a pained look.

Last night, we thought we had the condo to ourselves. I didn’t realize Benny and Rox were there until TJ’s phone kept vibrating with a text from his sister telling him I was being ‘loud AF.’ At the time, I had been lost in pleasure, but now I could barely look Rox in the eye.

Rox laughed. “Oh my god, you should see how red your face is! For the record, I’m so happy for you. I haven’t seen Tristan this happy in…well, I can’t remember the last time.”

“Can I ask you guys something weird?” I asked. I bit my nails and felt the blush creeping up my neck again.

Shut up, Max. Don’t even ask them your weird, naïve question. What are you doing?

Rox raised a dark eyebrow, clearly intrigued, and I hoped I didn’t gross her out by my question.

“It’s a sex question,” I said and stared down into my plastic cup of wine.

Dinah put a hand on my leg. “Honey, you don’t need to be taught the birds and bees, right?”

“No! It’s…not that…I…um…” I sputtered and put my hands over my face.

“Oh my God, spit it out!” Rox exclaimed and took a sip of her beer with the shake of her head.

I pulled my hands away from my face and turned to both of them. They looked giddy with anticipation. “Um…is it weird if a guy calls you a ‘good girl’ in bed?”

Dinah barked out a loud laugh and then chugged her beer. Rox stared at me open-mouthed.

Dinah finished her beer and laughed again. “Holy fuck. That was NOT what I thought you were going to ask. But no, I don’t think it’s weird…if you’re into that thing, but everyone’s different. Some dudes like to be called Daddy.”

She made a face.

“Don’t kink shame, D!” Rox teased.

Dinah held up her hands in surrender. “No judgment, it’s just not my thing!”

I nodded in agreement. TJ asked for that once, but we both decided it wasn’t for us. He preferred me moaning his name instead.

“I prefer the opposite,” Rox said with a grin. “But if you’re both good with it, there’s nothing weird about it. Yeah, I’m not a fan of the Daddy thing, but everyone has their tastes.”