Get Pucked

41. lakehouse

DAKOTA

"Goodbye, Mr. perfectly fi-ine! How's your heart after breaking mi-ine?"

Leaning forward in my seat, I grab Parker's shoulder and continue singing into my closed fist, acting as my microphone.

In the rearview mirror, he shakes his head watching Brooks, Ellie, and I screaming our hearts out in the back seat. The same as we've been doing for the past two hours.

It's the first week of March, meaning it's also spring break. Normally, we'd just hang around campus, but the NHL announced a change in rules, allowing teams to call players up starting this Wednesday in order to give them an extra week to prepare for their move.

So, to de-stress the guys, Ellie convinced her parents to go on a trip this week so we could borrow their lakehouse. Then she called Nate and guilt-tripped him into taking the week off of work to join us. We also decided to take one very full car, not wanting to spend the few hours drive away from eachother if we could help it.

Parker has been driving with Connor in the passenger seat, then the three fun people took the back seat. This car has a third row, but we had to put the seats down to make room for our bags and Birk's crate because we obviously couldn't stand to leave him behind.

Both of the guys up front let out a sigh of relief when the house comes into view, putting an effective end to the concert happening in the backseat.

Nate is waiting out front when we pull up and is quick to grab Birk's leash and get him inside, excited to introduce him to Ryke.

We all head inside to our rooms, and Parker steals my small suitcase away when we reach the stairs.

I roll my eyes. "I can do it myself, you know."

"No offense, love, but do I look like I care?"

Giggling, I slap his ass as hard as I can, running around him to show him the way to the guest room but also so he won't give me a five-star in retaliation.

We're staying together in one room, Brooks and Connor are sharing Nate's room, Ellie is getting her actual room, and Nate is taking his parents' for the week.

Parker has never been here before, so he looks at me with a wild expression when I start to strip the second he closes the door. Ignoring his questions, I rip my bag from his grip and start tearing through it, pulling on the first bathing suit I see.

It's become a tradition to race and see who can be the first to get in the water, and I'm a four-time champion. Pushing past a still-confused Parker, I race down the stairs, Brooks hot on my heels, and sprint as fast as my legs can take me through the back door.

When my feet hit the dock, I hear Connor scream expletives way behind me, obviously mad that he has no chance. Right as I leap off, Brooks wraps his arms around my torso, spinning our bodies so that he breaks the surface first.

"No!" I splash at him when we reach the surface. "You're such a fucking cheat," I laugh.

Ellie and Connor are close behind us, jumping in and bobbing back up only a few feet away.

"That was dirty, Brooks, I liked it." Connor fist bumps him, starting to swim back to shore.

As we all walk up the small beach-like shore, lightly pushing and shoving, Parker and Nate make their way outside. He looks a little less confused now, and I'm guessing that Nate filled him in on everything.

I've obviously seen his bare skin many, many times, but seeing him stroll towards me in his bathing suit is making my body tingle. It doesn't help that his biceps are flexing as he finishes rubbing sunscreen over his tattooed arm.