“He’s a hockey player? I bet you were just thrilled to find that out.” Darcy grinned. “So, you told him to get lost, right?”
“Um…”
Darcy’s jaw dropped. “Hayden Lorraine Houston! You slept with him again, didn’t you?”
“Not exactly. I did go out for a drink with him, though.”
“And?”
Hayden told her about the under-the-table orgasm. When her friend shook her head, she added, “I couldn’t help it! He just started…you know…and it was really good…” Her voice drifted.
“You have no self-control.” Darcy shot her a weary look and asked, “Are you going to call him?”
“I don’t know. God knows I want to. But calling him defeats the purpose of a one-night stand.” She groaned. “I just wanted some stress-busting sex. And now I’m even more stressed-out.”
“So tell him to take a hike. You’ve got enough on your plate without an arrogant hockey player demanding overtime sex.”
Hayden laughed. “He is pretty determined.” She remembered the passion flaring in his eyes when he’d brought her to climax yesterday. “He’s driving me crazy, Darce.”
“Good crazy or bad crazy?”
“Both.” A shaky breath exited her throat. “When I’m with him all I can think about is ripping off his clothes, and when I’m not with him all I can think about is ripping off his clothes.”
“I don’t see the bad part here.”
She bit her bottom lip. “He’s a hockey player. You know how I feel about that.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t want to be with anyone involved in sports. God, I hated it when Dad used to coach. No real place to call home, no friends. Hell, my friendship with you is the only one that lasted, and half of it took place via e-mail.”
Reaching for another mint, she popped it into her mouth and bit it in half, taking out her frustration on the candy. “I don’t want to date a guy who spends half the year flying to other states so he can skate around an ice rink. And besides, I’m dealing with too much other stuff at the moment. The franchise is taking some heat, Dad’s dumping all his Sheila problems on me, and Doug has already called twice wanting to talk about us. I can’t launch myself into another relationship right now.” She set her jaw, practically daring Darcy to challenge her.
Which, of course, she did. “You know what I think?” Darcy said. “You’re making too big a deal out of this.”
“Oh, really?”
Darcy leaned back in her chair and pushed a strand of bright red hair behind her ear. “You’re only in town for a couple of months, Hayden. What’s the problem with having some fun in the sack while you’re here?”
“What happened to your one-night-stand speech?”
“Apparently it isn’t working out for you.” Darcy shrugged. “But you seem to believe it’s black and white, one-night stand or relationship. You’re forgetting about the gray area between the two extremes.”
“Gray area?”
“It’s called a fling.”
“A fling.” She said the word slowly, trying it on for size. She’d never been a casual-fling girl, but then again, she hadn’t thought she was a one-night girl, either. Maybe a fling with Brody wouldn’t be so disastrous. It wasn’t like he wanted to marry her or anything; he just wanted to burn up the sheets for a while longer, continue the fantasy…
But if she agreed to let their one night lead into a fling, who’s to say the fling wouldn’t then lead to something more?
“I don’t know,” she said. “Brody is a distraction I can’t deal with at the moment.” She paused, her mouth twisting ruefully. “But my body seems to have a mind of its own whenever he’s around.”
“So take control of your body,” Darcy suggested.
“And how do I do that?”
“I don’t know, next time you get the urge to jump Brody Croft’s bones, try an alternative. Watch some porn or something.”
A laugh tickled Hayden’s throat. “That’s your answer? Watch porn?”
Darcy grinned. “Sure. At least you won’t be thinking about Mr. Hockey when you’re busy getting turned-on by other men.”
“Right, because the men in porn are so wildly attractive,” Hayden said with a snort. “What’s the name of that guy who used to be really popular, the chubby one with the facial hair? Ron Jeremy?”
“It’s not the seventies, hon. Male porn stars have come a long way. Trust me, just take a long bubble bath, put in a DVD and go nuts. You won’t think about Brody even once.”