What If I Knew You (Anaheim Stars Hockey #3)

8. Bodhi

CHAPTER EIGHT

BODHI

W ow is right.

She didn’t give me time to think about what kissing her might feel like, but hell, what I wouldn’t do to kiss her again. I know I’m not supposed to feel anything and I’m not saying I’m gushing over this girl, but also, I’m a fucking lucky bastard. Corri is drop dead gorgeous. Her light-brown hair is full of curl, but she has part of it pulled up behind her. The rest hangs in ringlets passed her shoulders, a few tendrils blowing in the evening breeze. Her bright blue eyes are as mesmerizing as her friendly smile. She has a narrowed facial structure with high cheekbones, a dainty nose, and lips that taste like marshmallows.

The green floral dress she’s wearing wraps perfectly around her small waist but flaunts her curvy hips. The tie of her dress hangs loosely along her left side. And those heels…fuck. Maybe I have a shoe fetish because those heels make her legs look killer.

“Okay, so I don’t think you have to worry about kissing.” I watch as she trails her finger from her lips down to the top of her chest. “I uh…” She clears her throat. “I don’t have any critique for you because that was…good. Very good.”

Thank fuck.

The last thing I wanted to do was give her a bad impression.

But also, she’s very easy to kiss.

And I really want to do it again.

“I like marshmallows.”

Her lips turn up in a smile. “What?”

“Shit,” I whisper, shaking my head like an idiot. “Sorry. It’s just that uh, your lips tasted like marshmallows.”

“Marshmallows huh?” She touches them with her finger again and I find myself wishing I could be touching them again. With my tongue. “That’s definitely one I haven’t heard before.”

“You’re a good kisser, by the way,” I say. Hell, I have no idea if what I’m saying is cool or totally ridiculous. “You made it very easy, I mean.”

Her smile widens so I’m going to take that as a good sign. “Good. That’s what this arrangement is supposed to be all about, right? Making things easy for you so you can feel confident?”

Heat spreads across my cheeks, my ears, and my neck. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Sensing my embarrassment, Corri places a tender hand on my knee. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Alan. I promise I’ll be a safe space for you.” She sits back and leans against the loveseat cushion. “There’s no judgement and no preconceived notions. I can usually read another human being pretty well and you give off a friendly vibe.”

“You think?”

“Mhmm.” She nods but then gives me a quizzical look. “Should I be worried? Because I’m not.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Not at all. I know you don’t know me, but I promise, at my core, I’m a good guy. I’m just…”

Lame as fuck.

“Inexperienced but curious?” she offers.

I nod. “Yeah. That sounds better than what I was saying in my head.”

Though I should also add liar to my list.

Now that I’ve met Corri and she seems like a decent woman, I feel guilty that I’m lying to her about who I am.

Okay, maybe not really lying as much as omitting.

Lying by omission. That’s a thing, right?

Because that’s what I’m doing. But there was no way I could tell her who I am and then turn around and tell her I’m a virgin. And I certainly couldn’t tell her who I am and then take her up on her offer for intimacy help.

Talk about professional suicide.

She could tell anyone and it would kill me.

I’d be the embarrassment of the team for sure. Coach would bench me immediately and I’ve only just gotten started. I have so far to go with the Anaheim Stars.

But at least when Corri turned around and saw me she didn’t gasp and say, “Oh My God, you’re Bodhi Roche, the rich pro hockey player!”

I’ll count myself very lucky that she doesn’t recognize me.

I wonder if I should have her sign an NDA.

But how would I do that without revealing who I am?

And if I tell her, she could refuse to sign and walk away and then tell the world.

I guess I’m in this now for better or worse.

Maybe it’s not so bad.

She seems pretty easy going.

And she didn’t talk sports at all when I told her what I do.

I have to keep myself from chuckling when I glance at her because she probably doesn’t know shit about hockey. She probably works all day as a nurse and then spends her evenings shopping online or hanging out with friends. Nothing about her screams sports fan.

Thank God.

“So, now that we’ve gotten the kissing part out of the way,” she begins, “maybe we should talk about what else you want to, you know, try. Or learn. Or practice. Or whatever.”

“You mean like, a list?”

“Yeah.” She smiles. “Let’s make a list. That will keep us on track.”

She pulls her phone from her purse and opens an app. “So, what comes to mind when you think about your experience or rather, what you want to experience?”

“Umm, well.” I glance around quickly to make sure nobody could be listening to our conversation. Even still, I lower my voice to a soft murmur. “I want to feel comfortable pleasuring the woman I’m with so I guess I need to learn how to touch her?”

Corri nods. “Yes. For sure. There’s a fine line between flirty touching and touching that means a whole lot more. In fact, if it’s okay with you, maybe we should start out with something easy like touching. I can show you what most women like in terms of, you know, genital touching…”

Fuck, she just said genital touching.

“Finger stimulation…”

Fucking finger stimulation

“And how to bring her to orgasm.”

Orgasm.

She said orgasm.

And I’m sitting here nodding like we’re discussing hockey stats in a press conference.

How is this even happening right now?

“Yeah.” I nod, trying fucking hard not to move my head too eagerly. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

She grazes her thumbs across her phone murmuring words like touching, fingers, and orgasm. “Okay. What else? What about oral?”

Jesus Christ.

“Yeah. Definitely oral.”

Her gaze flits to mine. “Has anyone ever…” I watch as her eyes fall to my crotch and, swear to God, I feel my dick twitch in my pants knowing that one, she’s looking there and two, she’s asking me if anyone has ever sucked my cock.

“Uh no.” I shake my head. “Nobody.”

“Is that something you’d like to experience?”

My mouth just went fucking dry because how the hell do I say to this beautiful woman that I’d be a fool to stop her if she wanted to suck my dick. I try to conjure up any remaining saliva in my mouth but there is literally nothing there. To my extreme delight our waiter delivers my second drink and I swallow almost all of it in one fell swoop before I answer, “Iiiii think I would probably like that very much.”

“Great.” She smiles, holding back a laugh, I think, as her head dips back to her phone and her lips form the word blowjob .

“So other than plain old fashion sexual intercourse, we could try things like toy play, or maybe work on a little dirty talk.”

“Do women like dirty talk?”

I see the mischievous grin form across her lips before she brings her head up to look at me. “Alan, there is nothing hotter than a man who can take charge in the bedroom and praise his partner for a job well done. I may just be speaking for myself, but nothing turns me on faster than a dirty talking sexual partner who tells me all the ways he wants to pleasure me.”

“Was your ex a dirty talker?”

She surprisingly laughs out loud. “Good God, no. There wasn’t a dirty bone in his scrawny British body.”

“Then how would you know if you enjoy dirty talkers?”

“Oh. I read books.”

My brows peak. “Dirty books?”

“Is there really any other kind?” She smiles. “My best friend writes steamy romance books so she got me into the genre. I’d be lying if I said some of those reads don’t turn me on more than I’ve ever been turned on before.”

“That’s setting the bar high for all the future men in your life.”

“Maybe.” She shrugs. “But if the guys in this world aren’t reading romance books as sex how-to manuals for their women, what are they even doing?”

“Romance books. Kinkier the better. Noted.” I match her smile and then watch her as she notes the words toys and dirty talk into her phone.

I am flabber-fucking-gasted that we’re sitting here discussing the sexual relationship we’re about to enter into as if we’re discussing what to pack for my next away game. Yet, Corri is making this the easiest experience I could have ever asked for.

“One more question.”

“Alright. Shoot.”

“Have you ever seen a naked woman, Alan?”

“Are you asking me how much porn I’ve watched?”

She laughs quietly. “Uh, not necessarily. You said before that you’ve never been with a woman. I was just trying to gauge what that really means for you. Not that sex has to equal nudity, because it doesn’t if we’re talking just the physical act of penetration.”

“Right. Penetration.” Good God I don’t know why I just said penetration. “Umm.” I swallow the knot forming in my throat. “I’ve seen naked women before on television and I’ve been to clubs with my colleagues a few times so I’ve seen plenty of topless women, but I’ve never uh…you know, been in bed with a naked woman.”

“You’ve never touched a boob?”

My eyes inadvertently fall to Corri’s chest.

She’s right.

She has nice chesticles.

“Nope.” I shake my head. “Definitely never done that.”

She nods. “Gotcha.”

She’s quiet for a moment, the space between us filling with awkwardness the more each second passes by.

Fuck, this is so weird.

Why is this weird?

Because you’re literally using a woman for sex, asshole. That’s why.

“Look, I’m really sorry. This is like the craziest thing I think I’ve ever done.” I shake my head. “I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

She gives me a sympathetic smile and covers my hand with hers. When she touches me something in my chest tightens. “It’s fine, Alan. I completely understand. If I’m being honest, this is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done as well. And if you feel too uncomfortable and you don’t want to?—”

“I do,” I interject, trying to nod confidently but not appear over-eager. “I do. I want this. I…I need this.” I sigh. “Look, I know it’s lame, but I don’t want to be a virgin anymore. I want to know what the fuck I’m doing when I’m with a woman. I want to know how to make her feel good. I want to be able to pleasure her in every way possible. But to do that I need to experience what it feels like to be inside a woman. I want to know what a woman tastes like. I want to know how my body is going to react so I can be prepared. It’s one thing to experience those feelings as a teenager but as an adult I…”

“You want to be prepared. You want to be in the know.”

“Yeah.”

Corri swallows the last of her drink and sets her glass on the table in front of us. “Well, drink up Alan. And then perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private. I actually don’t live too far from here. It’s just a couple blocks. We could walk, if that’s alright with you?”

I toss back the rest of my whiskey. “Perfect.”

I stand and offer her my hand, which she takes. Her skin is warm and soft and she doesn’t try to disconnect from me so I don’t let go of her either. I lead us to the elevators and when the doors close in front of us, she turns and lifts up on her toes and kisses me again. Not as long this time, but enough that I’ve gotten another taste of that sweet marshmallow. She wobbles against me and I place my hand on her waist to steady her. She squeezes my other hand with hers and then her mouth opens and her tongue swipes against mine. I can feel her tits pressed up against my chest and it’s all I can do not to reach up my hand and touch them. Fuck me, why didn’t anyone ever tell me that kissing a sexy woman could feel so good?

I feel like I’m walking on air right now.

I feel like I could skate drills faster than lightning if I wanted to.

Also, with her lips on mine and her tits brushing against me, the sensations taking over my body are making my dick hard.

“You know if you keep this up I’m going to be walking home with a teenage boner, right?”

She smiles and chastely kisses me once more. “I’m about to get naked with you, Alan. Kissing you is giving me something to think about so I’m not nervous and so I don’t make you nervous.”

Holy shit.

She’s going to get naked.

That idea isn’t doing a thing for my boner.

But fuck if it’s not making my heart race.

Okay. We’re doing this.

It’s happening.

Fuck. I’m nervous.

“I’m not nervous,” I tell her, trying to hide my smile. “I’m…cautiously excited.”

“Good.” The elevator dings and the doors pull open. “Let’s go.”