Change on the Fly (Totally Pucked, #1)

by Maren Moore

For all the girls who have loved someone in secret. This one’s for you.

“I’m becoming one with the floor.” She groans.

Fuck, she’s gorgeous.

That’s the last thing I should be thinking about, yet here we are. I’ve watched her grow from a boy-band crazed teenager into… this beautiful woman. A woman who is so off-limits, it’s not even funny. What the hell are you thinking, Davidson? Get your shit together.

When you can’t sleep… the remedy is always cereal.

Damn Reed, you’re turning into a pussy.

damn, she’s beautiful. And for the second time tonight, even though I know I shouldn’t, I realize just how much of a woman she’s become. Somehow, I never noticed it. I never let myself notice it. I probably shouldn't now, but I do.

And that’s how the rest of the night is spent, talking about nothing with Holland, eating a Pop-Tart, and for the very first time, I realize that I might be in some seriously deep shit.

I have a feeling that this phone call just changed the rest of my life. Fuck.

I love books. Like, I really love them.

She's the weird one who likes to binge serial-killer documentaries and podcasts on how to effectively dismember someone,

For Holland to have this much faith in me… it feels like the best compliment in the world.

“You are a godsend, Holland.”

It’s comments like that and her unwavering confidence in me that make it even more difficult to stop thinking about her. Honestly, ever since the other night when I picked her and Em up at the sorority house, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. Just like now, the way she’s standing in front of me, shyly fidgeting with the buttons on her cardigan, she’s beautiful. Effortlessly so.

She’s a fucking knockout, and I guess I never allowed myself a second glance at her since she’s Emery’s best friend, but now, I can’t seem to stop looking at her. She’s wearing a pair of yoga pants that flare at her hips and hug her ample curves. I’m captivated, and I need to get my head on straight.

Ugh. Out of all people to be obsessed with, why does it have to be my best friend's brother? The one person in the world I can't ever have.

"I'm not going to be okay if you keep touching me." Holy shit. My eyes dart down to where he’s adjusting himself then back up to his face. Oh god, Reed was getting turned on from my hands being on him. Jesus, Holland, your hands are practically on his dick.

I collapse on my knees to the side, clutching my stomach, thinking about Reed Davidson being injured by a classic novel.

His deep brown eyes gaze into mine, and I suddenly feel exposed. Open. Raw. On display for Reed Davidson.

"Holland." He whispers my name raggedly, and for the first time, I think he might feel the same way that I do.

"Fuck, you're beautiful."

It’s not just me that needs you… it’s Evan too.”

"Please, Holland. This is me, Reed Davidson, the hottest hockey star you'll ever meet, begging you. I need you.

The past few days have been a whirlwind, and I still can't believe Holland is going to come on the road with me. Or the almost kiss that happened. Was it a little crazy? Yeah. Is it probably a bad idea to be in such close proximity with the girl who is suddenly making my dick hard just by opening her mouth... absofuckinglutely, but it's done.

I'm nervous about being alone... with Holland. Because I want to be alone with Holland, and the things I want to do with her are things that can never happen.

just never really noticed her until recently. Like really fucking noticed her. She's gorgeous and I don't trust my dick when it’s in the same vicinity as her."

"I don't even know Emery that well and I know she's four-foot-eleven of pure violence."

"I'm not. The fucking problem is that I know that, but my dick hasn't gotten the memo…” I trail off. “She’s just… I don’t know, different. I know I shouldn’t, I fucking know, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not.”

"I'm completely fucked."

"Reed, she's the most important person in my life. I just don't want something to happen and for me to lose her. All I have is you, mom and Holland."

but the beauty that I'm looking at has nothing to do with the city.

I feel like a total dick for not noticing these things about her.

Did Holland pack... lingerie? Or is this what she always wears underneath her modest sweaters and ripped jeans? My mouth goes dry. I swallow thickly, trying to gain back rational thought, but it escapes me. When Holland realizes what I've got in my hand, her cheeks flame the same color of her nightie and she snatches it from my hand and shoves it back into the half-opened suitcase. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Now I can't stop picturing her wearing nothing but that little red negligee, and me ripping it off of her into a pile of tattered lace on the floor. I want it, fuck, I need it.

"Weed?" Evan asks, breaking my trance. He pronounces his r's like w's, so he's taken to calling me, weed. Honestly, I don't even give a...

“I can be brave,” Evan mumbles. “You are brave, buddy. It’s okay to be afraid sometimes because you have me, and together, we can be brave. We can face anything.”

“I wuv you, Weed.”

It’s a good day. The best day I’ve had in a long time, really.

I don’t know if it’s the wine or the city lights, but Holland’s eyes seem to shine each time she laughs, which she has been doing nonstop tonight.

Who knew drinking wine could be so fucking sexy? There are lots of things that I didn’t realize were a turn-on until Holland did them.

I want every single second I can with Holland.

I’m glad you and Evan are here too. It’s different with you here.”

She turns slowly, revealing her delicate neck and the naked skin of her back. Her hands are in her hair, lifting it up to expose the tangled chain. My eyes scan the expanse of skin that I want to make my way down with my tongue, then back up to the slope of her shoulder. I gingerly lift the flimsy chain from her neck and unhook it. When my fingers brush against her skin lightly, she shivers. A response that has my cock twitching beneath my sweatpants. Fuck, how does something so innocent feel like so much… more?

Leaning closer, I pull the tangled pieces of hair from the chain, until it’s free, and then slide my hands around to remove it from her neck. She looks back over her shoulder at me, her pupils dilated with the same feeling that I feel, and murmurs, “Thank you.”

“Reed,” she breathes. I know. I don’t even have to ask about the warning tone in her words, because I know. But, I don’t fucking care. We’ve been dancing around this, pushing it away like it wasn't here, but I can’t ignore it any longer. “I should go.” I nod. She should. Doesn’t mean I want her to.

"Reed? What are you doing he-" I don't give either of us a chance to think. Stepping forward, I close the distance between us, my hands sliding up her jaw, into the nape of her hair and pulling her to me. Then my mouth is on hers. Her soft body collides with mine, and she whimpers beneath my touch. I kiss her like I'm dying of thirst, and fuck, I want to drown in her.

This is reckless and a recipe for fucking disaster, but I don't care. Maybe I will later, maybe we both will. But right now, all I want is to lose myself in the girl that I can't stop thinking about.

When she opens her mouth to let me in, I slide my tongue in and groan when she fists my shirt like she's holding on for dear life. My hands slide down her back to her thighs and I pick her up, stepping farther inside the room. I kick the door shut behind me, and her legs tighten around my waist.

"We shouldn't do this. No, we can't do this, Reed," she says again. "Don't give a shit." I kiss along the path of her jaw, down her neck, sucking until she's whimpering beneath me.

"Reed." I pull back and look at her. "Stop thinking, Holland. Listen, I couldn't sit on the other side of that goddamn door for another second, thinking about you, obsessing about having you. I'm losing my fucking mind. I can't be around you and not touch you any longer."