by Kat Mizera
“Does Coach Caldwell provide that?”
“Absolutely. And honestly, she’s probably the best coach I’ve ever had. She has a different way of going about things, but man, when everyone is on board, it works so well. It’s taken her a while to get her footing with us, but now that she has, I expect big things.”
“You’ve given me a lot to think about. I appreciate it.”
“Any time. Really. If you feel like talking hockey, or anything else, shoot me a text, and if I’m not doing stuff with the team, we can shoot the shit.”
“Thanks again. And good night.”
“Good night, Cass.”
14
Logan spent time with a lot of women, and he had a good number of female friends, but he’d never had one that loved hockey as much as he did. The more he and Cassie talked about her potential role as an assistant coach for the Tudor team, and other random topics, the more he wanted to talk to her. They talked every night that week while he was on the road and he was a little embarrassed to admit he didn’t care about going out with the guys. He’d been happy to head up to his hotel room and talk to her, both on the phone and via video chat.
It was nice to talk to a woman who didn’t spend the whole time giggling or batting her eyelashes at him. Well, she giggled once in a while, but usually it was when they were laughing about something funny to both of them, and he loved the sound of it. Which was becoming a problem. He’d made up excuses to the guys more than once, just so he could go up to his hotel room instead of going down to the bar, all because he wanted to talk to Cassie. This wasn’t like him, and how much he was looking forward to hearing her voice—yet again—made him uncomfortable.
They were back in Anchorage now, and he’d been totally pumped about seeing her, so he’d told Ryder and Jude he had plans. They were going out partying and he was heading home to do…what exactly? It wasn’t like they were sleeping together, and man, he’d been in a hell of a dry spell lately. He should have been out getting his sexy on, instead of going home to a woman that wasn’t his girlfriend.
He debated turning around and meeting up with the guys a dozen times, but as he pulled into the driveway, the urge to go inside was irresistible. He needed to see her, talk to her some more, just hang out. Maybe she was as curious about him as he was about her and they’d be able to sort out this crazy attraction. Maybe they’d fuck like bunnies and that would be the end of it.
He grabbed his bag and walked through the garage, opening the door to the kitchen. There was music playing, Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole,” and Cassie was…dancing. She wore nothing but an oversized T-shirt and panties, and holy hell, those legs of hers. She was swinging her head in time to the heavy beat, her hair a wild halo around her head as she raised her arms above her head.
This was what she considered mediocre dancing?
He was rooted to the spot, his mouth a little dry as he continued to watch. She swayed and twirled, singing to the song, her breasts bouncing beneath the thin fabric of her top. It was somehow as innocent as it was erotic, because she was truly only dancing for herself. But the way she moved was breathtaking, even when it was to the grinding sound of industrial rock.
His body came alive for the first time in weeks, and the erection pressing against the fabric of his slacks came on so quickly it was painful. Holy fuck, what was happening to him?
She spun around the island, did a slow, gyrating move as she bent her knees and crouched down, before springing up, losing her balance, and catching sight of Logan, all at once. She shrieked in alarm, he yelped because he’d been so lost in thought she simultaneously scared the crap out of him, and she fumbled for the remote control that would turn off the music.
“What the hell?!” she demanded, her eyes blazing as she brushed her hair back from her face.
“I just got home and you were dancing and I didn’t want to interrupt…” His voice trailed off. He felt and sounded like an idiot.
“Jesus. I think I just lost ten years off my life.” She held a hand against her chest, taking a few short, staccato breaths.
“Sorry.” He paused, hoping he could get his dick to settle down before she noticed the bulge in his pants. “Where, um, where’s Coco?”
“She’s at the vet overnight. She needed shots and to be groomed and I had to work so I couldn’t pick her up before they closed. Ryder said it was okay for her to sleep there.”
“Oh, right.” He’d forgotten about that.
“So, uh, welcome home.” She gave him an almost shy smile as she leaned against the island.
She was so fucking hot right now, he couldn’t stand it. He took an unconscious step toward her, almost forgetting the erection probably tenting his slacks, though he didn’t dare look down.
Her eyes were a little hooded as she met his gaze, and he watched her slowly pull her lower lip through her teeth. Damn, he was close enough to touch her now, and the look in her eyes told him she wouldn’t turn him down if he tried to kiss her. And he wanted to so damn much. Those plump, pink lips would be sweet and he could practically taste her tongue already.
“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly.
“Th-thank you.” She looked startled.
Fuck. No matter how much he wanted to, kissing her would be a huge mistake.
“Well, um…” He cleared his throat, stepping back again. “I, uh, I’m gonna change and then go meet up with the guys.”
“Oh.” Now she looked sad.
Maybe even disappointed. Damn, he was being an asshole right now, but hell, he was disappointed too. There was simply no way on god’s green earth they could hang out tonight after the way he’d just reacted to her.
“Okay, so, I’m gonna go change.” He was tongue-tied as he grabbed his bag and practically ran to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him and then leaning against it, closing his eyes. He was not supposed to be feeling like this around her. She’d only been living there a few weeks and suddenly he was completely infatuated. It had to stop before he did something stupid. Especially since the chemistry between them just now had been pretty damn intense.
She’d looked disappointed when he said he was going out tonight, but that was purely for self-preservation, which she had no way of knowing. He had to protect the friendship at all costs. If not for himself, then for her, because if he did something that caused her to have to move out, he would have screwed her over for the second time and he absolutely refused to do that.
They didn’t see each other for a couple of days because their schedules didn’t allow it and Logan was grateful for that, if not completely frustrated with himself. He’d never gotten hung up on a woman before, not like this, and he couldn’t snap out of it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t muster up enough interest in anyone he met to take them to bed, so he was distracted, frustrated, and so fucking horny. On top of that, he was hiding it from his friends by leaving bars with women and then bailing on the women once they were alone. If roles had been reversed, he would have called himself a cock tease.
In fact, if irony were a tangible thing, it was probably laughing at him, because in addition to his traitorous penis and fickle libido, he was more exhausted than he was when he was actually out partying and getting laid. Instead, he was sneaking around like a teenager, pretending he was something he wasn’t, and it was fucking ridiculous. Somehow, he had to get his mojo back with women, even though it might kill him.
“Good luck tonight!” Cassie called the morning of their next home game. She had her backpack on and was heading out to class.
“Are you coming to the game?” Ryder asked her.
She shook her head. “No. I have class, then practice, then work. I won’t be able to swing by the house between practice and work, so take Coco out before you go.”
“When’s your last game?” Logan asked her. He knew it was soon and hoped against all hope he could be there for it. His schedule was such a pain in the ass, but he knew it was important to her and planned
to drag all of their mutual friends to it as well.
“Next Saturday,” she said. “It’s a seven o’clock.”
Logan pulled out his phone and opened the calendar. “We have a day game!” he announced. “Our game’s at one, so assuming we don’t go into overtime and have a meeting or something, we should be able to make it.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She waved a hand, not meeting Logan’s gaze. “It’s no biggie.”
“It’s absolutely a biggie,” Ryder countered, frowning at her.
“Well, if you guys can come, that would be great. Charli, Sara, and some of the other girls are going, but you guys are busy with hockey. Really. I don’t expect you to rush around after a game.”
“Like I said, unless something crazy happens, we’ll be there.” Logan nodded.
“I’m late,” she said, pulling out her keys. “See you later!” She waved and disappeared out the door.
“Did you two have an argument or something?” Ryder asked, eyeing Logan over the rim of his coffee cup.
Logan took a sip of his own coffee to buy time to figure out what to say. “No. Why?”
“’Cause she hasn’t been home in days other than to sleep, hasn’t been to any of our games, and just now she didn’t even look at you. Something definitely happened.”
Logan’s jaw tightened as he struggled with what, if anything, to tell his friend. They were close, but not that close, and anyway, he couldn’t tell him he was starting to get crazy feelings for their ex-stripper roommate whom Ryder desperately needed to help take care of Coco.
“What happened?” Ryder demanded.
“I, um, well, it was nothing.” Logan gave a half-hearted little laugh. “She was half-dressed, dancing around the kitchen and I walked in on her. And I stood there and watched ’cause, you know, I’m a guy and she’s a hot woman who didn’t have pants on.”
“She was dancing around the kitchen naked?!” Ryder asked, his eyes widening.
“No, nothing like that. She had on panties and a T-shirt. But you know, no bra or anything. It was hot, that’s all, and I watched for a second and then when she saw me it scared her and I jumped and she jumped and it was just dumb. Nothing happened but I feel bad she caught me looking at her like a horny kid or something. I’ll apologize if she’s ever home and we have a second alone.”
“Oh.” Ryder looked relieved. “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine once you tell her you’re not a creepy, weird, fucking peeper dude!”
They both laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it right. Come on, let’s finish breakfast so we can get to the morning skate.”
Logan poured another cup of coffee and changed the subject. Here he was again, having to make something right with Cassie. Why was he such a fuck-up when it came to her? He hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but now things were awkward, which he hated. Well, the only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to fix it.
15
The week leading up to Cassie’s final college hockey game was busy and stressful. She’d picked up an extra shift at the restaurant when someone called in sick, she’d had to take Coco to her training class because Coach Caldwell called an unexpected dinner meeting and Ryder couldn’t do it, and she had so much homework as she passed the midpoint of the semester.
The good news was that being so busy distracted her from last week’s weirdness when Logan caught her dancing in the kitchen. She hadn’t been embarrassed so much as unnerved because he’d snuck in without her hearing him and the look in his eyes had been one of pure lust. She’d seen it a thousand times at the club when she danced, so it was easy to recognize, but it didn’t make sense because he’d turned and gone out without a second thought. If he was attracted to her, why was he being so weird?
He’d been a huge help to her when she’d been asking him questions about coaching, and they’d talked every night that week. Then he’d gotten home and turned into somebody else. She wasn’t expecting anything from him, but it seemed like they’d started to get close and now he was barely talking to her.
Of course, with her track record with men, she’d probably gotten it all wrong, so it was better this way. Too bad he occupied every single one of her fantasies and then some. She lay awake at night imagining what it would be like if he touched her, kissed her, fucked her. Hard and rough, pulling her hair and smacking her ass as he pounded into her.
Just the thought got her so hot and bothered, she considered taking matters into her own hands—literally and figuratively.
Jesus, she had it bad for him. And the more time they spent together, the worse it got. She could hang out with Ryder all day and night and never feel anything but friendship; five minutes with Logan and her nether regions heated up like gasoline on a fire. It had been way too long since she’d had sex and she had to take care of that soon or she was going to wind up sneaking into Logan’s room one night and seducing him.
Yeah, right.
There was no way in hell she’d ever have the nerve for that. They were just friends, and she repeated it to herself like she was memorizing a formula for a math test. Usually, if she repeated something enough times, she’d learn it. With Logan, her brain was definitely on the fritz because no matter how many times she said it, it didn’t stick.
He was here tonight, though, along with most of her friends, and as she prepared to go out onto the ice for the last time as a college hockey player, she let her thoughts wander. It was always better not to think too much about the game so she was relaxed. Then, once she was on the ice, her attention wouldn’t be on anything else.
“You ready?” Deirdre came up beside her, smiling.
“As I’ll ever be. You?”
Deirdre wasn’t planning to play college hockey anymore either, so this was it for both of them.
“Yeah, I’m kind of done. Playing here hasn’t been that much fun—” She dropped her voice. “I’m looking forward to not having to rush from practice to work. Just school and work. It’s a lot simpler.”
“For me, too.”
Their eyes met and Deirdre held up her fist. “So let’s do this tonight, okay?”Cassie bumped her fist against Deirdre’s. “Let’s go!”
They walked down the tunnel to the ice, and Cassie skated around a few times for the warm-up. Now that she was out here, she was in the zone, ignoring the cheers and calls from her friends, though she heard them. She’d seen Charli holding up a big sign that said “Reynolds--#18! Congratulations on graduating!” Charli was thoughtful that way, but Cassie was only thinking about one thing: winning.
This was her last game, and she wanted to end her career on a high note. There were more people than usual in the stands tonight, probably because Charli and Logan had practically dragged the entire Blizzard organization to the game, so that added a level of excitement she didn’t usually feel.
There was also a touch of nervousness knowing that a team of NHL players was here, but they knew her and her situation with this team. The girls were young and the team was part of the lowest college sports level that existed. That didn’t mean she didn’t want to win, though, and with her own personal cheering section, she was ready to go. Deirdre won the first face-off easily and passed it to Cassie, who took it all the way down the ice into the other team’s zone. She shot at the net and missed. Deirdre was there for the rebound, but her shot missed too.
Though they dominated in shots on goal, the first period was a lesson in futility. Nothing worked, and the puck seemed to bounce in every direction but the net. By the start of the second period, Cassie felt like she was playing by herself. Deirdre tried, but her heart wasn’t in it after their frustrating first period, and the second was no better.
Cassie sank down in the locker room, trying to figure out if there was a way to bring this team together in the next twenty minutes. She and Deirdre were the only ones putting any effort into the game at all, and poor Sienna, their rookie goalie, was all but standing on her head trying to keep shots out. It felt like Cassie should
have had something to say to bring them together, to make something happen tonight, but her mind was a blank.
How was she going to coach these girls if she couldn’t even play with them? Maybe the whole coaching thing was a bad idea. She was helpless to change the trajectory of this game and as far as she was concerned, it was over. Just like her hockey career. If she couldn’t inspire them when she was one of them, she’d never be able to coach them and she’d have to talk to Coach Azure as soon as possible.
The final score was 1-0, but it felt like they’d lost by a dozen goals, and Cassie was the first one back in the showers, hoping to let the day’s frustration run into the drain with the water. She leaned the top of her head against the wall of the shower, closing her eyes to hide the tears that threatened. It shouldn’t have been such a big deal, but for some reason it was. She’d struggled with so many things, both personally and professionally, it didn’t seem fair that she couldn’t at least have ended her hockey career on a high note.
Steeling her resolve, she wrapped a towel around her and stepped into her plastic shower sandals, padding back to her locker.
“Your friends are here,” Deirdre said, sinking down next to her. “Including your super-hot roommate.”
“They’re both pretty hot,” Cassie murmured. “Which one did you mean?”
“Logan. Duh. Regardless, they’re waiting for you in the hall.”
Cassie groaned. “Geez, I’m really not in the mood for a party.”
“How come? Our season is over and we’re both graduating. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?”
“I guess.” Cassie shrugged as she pulled on jeans and a sweater. She remembered to put on deodorant and comb the tangles out of her hair, but she wasn’t going to bother with makeup or anything. She was tired and sad and definitely not in the mood to go anywhere.