Gauging the Player: A One-Night-Stand Sports Romance (The Playmakers Series Hockey Romance Book 3)

by G. K. Brady

  “I do, don’t I?”

  After Derek and Vi left, Lily checked her phone—something she’d been doing for weeks—and was disappointed with the same result. Nothing from Gage. Enough time had passed that she didn’t know exactly how to bridge the breach. Awkwardness and embarrassment bobbed inside her, not to mention the worry that she’d jinx his awesome play. It was one thing to open herself up. It was another thing to convince him to give her another chance. Was he willing?

  Only one way to find out.

  She called Ivy. “I really screwed things up with Gage.”

  “And?”

  “And I’m gonna need your help to unscrew them.”

  Chapter 36

  The Holy Grail

  For Christ’s sake, another fucking party.

  Gage groaned when he saw the text from Beckett Miller. Not only was it another party he wanted nothing to do with, but it was really going to chap his huevos. The wound from losing to Miller’s team during the Western Conference Final was still raw. And damn if Arizona didn’t go on to win the Stanley Cup! It was mid-June, a week after their victory, and Miller had one of the first turns with the trophy after announcing he was done. The big blowout was a nod to the Cup win, his retirement, and the birth of his second daughter.

  As if the victory parade in Phoenix hadn’t been celebration enough.

  Yeah, it would be a rip-roaring time. Whoopee!

  Sarah, who’d decided on a whim to spend a few days in Denver, was Gage’s lone bright spot and his plus-one. As they strolled into Miller’s backyard, Gage was bowled over by the sea of tents and balloons, a ridiculous number of children tearing around, and a stage butted up in a corner.

  Sarah’s mouth dropped open. “Wow! They really went all out.”

  “Might as well. It’s his day with Lord Stanley’s Cup. Party on,” Gage said dryly.

  He grabbed beers from one of the tents, and they ambled toward Miller, standing tall in a cluster of people. The guy was hard to miss—his smile alone was like a beacon, and a sharp pang of envy stabbed Gage. Next year, he promised himself, he’d get the holy grail of hockey and hold his own celebration with his mites and the sled team. Yeah.

  Sarah tugged his sleeve. “There’re Natalie and T.J.”

  They stood in the group surrounding Miller, intent on whatever was happening in front of them on the patio.

  “What’s going on?” Gage asked when they joined them.

  “Oh, hey,” Natalie said absentmindedly, giving them each a side-hug.

  T.J. jerked his chin. “Nelsy.” He leaned in and gave Sarah a brotherly squeeze.

  “Baby Audrey is getting baptized in the Cup,” Natalie whispered.

  Gage glimpsed the little mush-ball of a baby actually in the Cup, all swaddled and looking like a drowsy dumpling. Miller, his arm anchored around his wife’s shoulders, stood to the side while a guy in black shirtsleeves cradled the baby’s head and recited something. On the other side stood people Gage guessed were their family members.

  Miller’s life was rich.

  Gage focused on the Cup, and his breath hitched. It was beautiful, all silver and polished and gleaming, engraved with thousands of names of those who went before. What would it feel like to hoist it over his head on the ice? Kiss it? Hand it off to a teammate? Celebrate among friends and family?

  The thought of having his own day with it was suddenly overshadowed by an ache he’d been living with for months. Lily and Daisy probably wouldn’t be part of it—or anything else in his life—and his heart sank.

  He hadn’t talked to Lily since mid-April, though she’d dominated his thoughts every single hour of every single day. What would he say? Hey, I know you want nothing to do with me, but wanna get together for pancakes and coffee?

  When the baptism was finished, he and T.J. shuffled toward the Cup, keeping a respectful distance. No way would either of them touch it. Not until they’d won it.

  “Talked to Grims,” T.J. said out of the side of his mouth.

  “Yeah?”

  “Says he’ll be ready for training camp.”

  Gage gave the automatic answer. “Good.”

  What Gage didn’t share with T.J. was that Grims had sent him a text apologizing for the quandary he’d put Gage in and acknowledging he had a long way back to earn Gage’s trust. And respect. Yeah, Grims had lost a lot of chips. His use of PEDs had remained a tight-lipped team secret, so he hadn’t endured the wrath of the league. No automatic suspension. No forced drug rehab. No public humiliation. Was that just?

  Gage’s opinion on the outcome was ambivalent at best—he was glad his teammates had remained oblivious, but he was still pissed at his captain. He was also busy beating himself up for his role in the whole mess, even though, in the end, no good answer had existed. This was a rare instance where Grandma had had it wrong. The right path wasn’t always clear, whether you had a moral compass to guide you or not. No, this problem had bled all across the gray spectrum. Nothing about it was tidy, and answers weren’t always easy or obvious.

  Just like expecting Lily to do what he wanted and give Jack up might not have been so black-and-white either.

  T.J. whacked him on the shoulder, jarring him back to Miller’s backyard.

  “Let’s go congratulate the son of a bitch and get it over with.” T.J. smirked.

  After the obligatories were dispensed with, Gage glanced around. Sarah had disappeared, so he peeled away to scour the huge yard for her. In the far corner, the band had started up, but Sarah wasn’t there either, so he continued his sweep. Where the hell was she?

  A small movement in his hand startled him. When he looked down on blond curls and bright gray eyes, he realized what he’d felt was a small, familiar hand sliding into his.

  “Hi, Gage.” Daisy looked up at him shyly.

  Emotions rushed up from his gut, jamming his throat. He dropped to a knee and yanked off his sunglasses so he could look into her luminous eyes.

  His voice came out in a cracking warble. “Hey, kiddo. How’ve you been?”

  Her body twisted from side to side. “Good.”

  “Is it okay if I give you a hug?”

  Her answer was to throw her arms around his neck and cling tightly. It took every bit of restraint to keep him from picking her up and crushing her to him. Instead, he breathed in her sun-kissed hair.

  When he finally unwound her arms from his neck, he peered at her. “You’ve grown. And you lost another tooth! What are you doing here?”

  “Uncle Derek’s band is playing.” She turned and pointed to the stage.

  He squinted, finally recognizing Derek’s form. “Is, ah,” he cleared his sticky throat, “is your mom here?” His heart started jackhammering at the thought.

  “She’s—”

  “Right here.”

  He turned at the sound of Lily’s voice and looked up from where he knelt. The sun shone from behind, outlining her shape and lighting sleek blond hair. As he rose, a tentative smile began curving her lips. His heart was now throwing itself against his ribcage in a bid to escape.

  “What happened to your hair?” he blurted. Oh, smooth!

  Her hand immediately reached up to run over it. “I used a flat iron.” She let out a nervous laugh. His confusion must have shown because she added, “It’s not permanent.”

  “I like,” he said dumbly. His eyes traveled up her body and stopped at her neck. “Where’s your necklace?”

  Her eyes shimmered with something he didn’t recognize but bored straight into his soul. “It was time to put it away.”

  A moment passed before the full weight of her statement registered. A puck-sized lump formed in his chest. His hopes wanted to climb, they really did, but he tethered them.

  Eyes still trapped in her gaze, he swallowed hard. Neither of them moved, blinked, breathed.

  “Mom?” Daisy piped up, shattering the spell.

  Lily gasped a laugh, her palm pressing against her chest. “Yes, sweetie?”

  “
Your song is coming up.”

  To Gage, she shrugged an apology. “I’m singing a few songs. Will you be here for a while?”

  A little voice told him he might be dreaming, so he drank her in. She wore a sundress with bright blue flowers, its hem just above her knees. On her feet, white sandals with straps that wound around her shapely calves. Simple. Beautiful. Heart-stopping.

  Heart-aching.

  He twirled his sunglasses. “What was the question?”

  Another lilting laugh. “Are you sticking around?”

  “Yeah. Yes. Sure.” His sunglass-spinning was so vigorous that they flew from his grasp.

  Daisy giggled and ran to pick them up.

  “You look great,” he whispered reverently.

  “So do you, Professor.” Lily’s gaze swept from his face, over his T-shirt and board shorts, to his flip-flopped feet. He suddenly wished he’d worn something nicer.

  “I owe you an apology.” He shook his head. “For my mom. For being a selfish, possessive jerk. For … lots of stuff.”

  Her smile grew wide, dazzling him. “It can wait. I have a few things to say to you too.”

  The air between them was charged, and his body felt like a high-voltage wire coursing with electricity. He needed to keep himself in check. After all, he had no idea if she’d removed the necklace for a new guy. Christ, he hoped like hell she hadn’t. And if there wasn’t a new guy, it didn’t mean he had a place in her heart. She’d never told him she loved him—he’d been the doofus who’d put it all out there.

  Daisy gave him his glasses, then tugged her mom’s hand. “Come on, Mom.”

  Gage came to his senses and crouched down. “Hey, kiddo. Dance with me, and we’ll watch your mom together, okay?”

  Daisy beamed at him. Soon he was barefoot in the grass, swinging her arms as they swayed among a handful of people gathered in front of the stage. The band wrapped up their song, and Lily stepped up to the mic.

  A crowd had filled in around them, including Sarah, T.J., Natalie, and the Millers rocking their daughters.

  Mere feet away, Lily looked right at him, sending his pulse into overdrive, and in that sultry, torch-singer voice of hers, said, “This one’s for the Professor.” His mouth went dry.

  She launched into “Love Sneakin’ Up On You,” sending chills dancing along his spine, raising the hair on his arms, his neck. Unlike her usual singing style, she didn’t close her eyes. She kept them fixed on him.

  His chest ballooned with possibility, but he quickly reminded himself she was performing. This wasn’t real. He’d go with the flow, enjoy the moment, and wear the biggest damn smile he’d had in months.

  When the song ended, the audience applauded and Lily breathed thank-yous into the mic. Then she looked at Miller. “May I?”

  Smiling, he nodded back at her. “Go for it.”

  “I want to thank Beckett and Paige Miller for having us here today to celebrate not only Arizona’s Stanley Cup win—” Hoots, whistles, and cheers interrupted her. “Not only the win,” she resumed with a grin, “but Beckett’s retirement and the birth of their beautiful daughter Audrey. Congratulations!” Lots of clapping now, along with ear-piercing whistles and various barky chants for the Colorado Blizzard.

  Miller surveyed the crowd with a fake glare. “The beer’s for Arizona fans only.”

  Lily laughed, and the crowd quieted. “I’d also like to thank them for allowing me to hijack the stage for a few minutes. As some of you may know, this band has been a Denver fixture for some time. I was fortunate enough to have been a full-time member back in the day, singing alongside my brother-in-law, Derek,” she made a grand sweep of her hand as Derek bowed, “and his brother, my late husband, Jack.”

  “Yay, Uncle Derek!” Daisy clapped and bounced in place. “Yay, Mommy!”

  Gage folded his arms over his chest, questions forming in his brain.

  “When we lost Jack, I never thought I’d recover,” Lily continued.

  Someone elbowed Gage’s arm, and he swung his head to the side, surprised to see Ivy and Parker next to him.

  What in the actual hell is going on?

  As if reading his mind, Ivy lifted her chin toward the stage.

  “After Jack’s death, I never imagined falling in love again. I believed we only get once chance at finding ‘The One.’” She began choking up. Gage jerked in place, all of him wanting to comfort her, and Ivy placed a hand on his arm.

  Lily’s eyes landed on him, bright with tears, setting off a chain reaction in him. Emotions jammed his throat, and tears stung his eyes.

  “I was wrong,” she said. “Some of us are fortunate enough to get a second turn. I didn’t know it for a long time, and it wasn’t until I pushed mine away that I realized I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. I should have never let you walk out that door.”

  Cartwheeling acrobats tumbled through his stomach. He jabbed his thumb at his swelling chest and mouthed, “Me?”

  He could feel eyes burning into him even as a few tears spilled down his cheeks, but he didn’t give a fuck. All his attention was focused on one person, one voice, and the one pair of eyes locked on his.

  Lily nodded. “Yes, you. I want everyone here to know that you are the finest, most caring, loving man I know. I look at you, and my heart races as if it’s going to jump out of my body. As your grandma so wisely says, life’s too short, and I don’t want to spend another minute without you. You’re the love of my life, Gage Nelson. I love you, and if you—”

  He sprang onto the stage—later he’d wonder how he did it—pulled the mic from her hands, and kissed her long and deep, savoring the taste of strawberries on her lips and the heady smell of jasmine and almonds. Someone slid the mic from his grip. Everything fell away until all that remained was the feel of her soft curves nestled against him and her fingers plowing through his hair. Whistling and clapping and cheering became dull noises in his foggy brain. He kissed her with all he had, afraid she was a dream he’d awaken from and lose.

  “Get a room,” someone laughed.

  He couldn’t have cared less that they were, literally, onstage putting on a show.

  Finally, he registered Daisy’s tiny voice. “I hope Gage is going to be my dad.”

  Me too, princess.

  Lily pulled away, breathless, smiling through her tears. “I didn’t intend on doing this in front of so many people.”

  “I don’t give a shit about them.” He was breathing hard. “Let ’em watch. Maybe they’ll learn something.”

  She giggled.

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “You love me?”

  “So much. Do you still love me?”

  “Absolutely.” He thumped his palm against his chest. “Tell me again. I want to be sure I heard you right.”

  She placed her small hands on his cheeks and brushed away his tears. “I love you, I love you, I love you! Can you forgive me for being so blind?”

  “I did months ago.” Relief swam in her glistening eyes. “Can you forgive me?”

  She nodded. “Did.”

  “So these are the good kind of tears, right?” He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and waited.

  “Yes, Professor. The best kind of tears.”

  Lily floated on clouds so high she wasn’t sure she’d ever come down. He still loved her. He still wanted her. He was hers. Gage lingered on the platform, grinning at her, holding her hand while she sang Bonnie Raitt’s “Sweet Forgiveness.”

  When the song was over, they stepped offstage and joined family and friends eager to congratulate them.

  Ivy hugged her tight. “You deserve this life with him, Lil.”

  More happy tears sprang to Lily’s eyes. “Thanks, Ive, for everything. Especially for being tough enough to make me wake up.”

  “That’s what big sisters are for. And speaking of big sisters …” Ivy introduced her to Gage’s sister, Sarah, a beautiful brunette with hazel eyes.

  Sarah pulled her in for a hug. “I never w
ould’ve guessed you were a hooker,” she laughed, instantly putting Lily at ease. “I’m so happy for my brother,” she added with a warm smile.

  “I’m afraid your mom won’t be pleased.”

  “Don’t you worry. We’ll get her there.”

  The afternoon passed in a blur. Finally, Gage leaned in and kissed Lily’s temple. “What do you say we blow this Popsicle stand? Ivy said she and Parker will take Daisy tonight.”

  “What about Sarah?”

  “They didn’t offer to take her too.”

  Lily smacked his chest. “You know what I mean.”

  He laughed. “She wants to hang out for a while, so she’ll take my car.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Will you give me a ride?”

  Lily fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I’d love to, Waffle-Butt.”

  A look of horror came over his face. “Oh shit. She didn’t.”

  She nodded. “Yes, she did. So how old were you when you made the brilliant decision to sit buck naked on a hot waffle iron, Professor?”

  He groaned aloud, pulling his hand over his face. “Two.”

  Lily’s eyebrows bounced. “Do you have a scar I missed? I think I need a closer look-see.”

  His lips quirked. “On one condition.” He wove his fingers in her hair and tilted her head to the side. “You will never, ever tell anyone—especially my teammates.”

  “Ooh, you might have to do a lot of kissing to shut me up.”

  “It’s on.”

  As they drove to her house, she took in his profile, and her heart stuttered. He wore a perma-smile, glancing at her periodically without saying anything. She’d had a lot of time to consider everything she loved about him, and she added that one to the list. He seemed to dial into what she needed and give it to her, even if it was utter silence. She’d never felt so in tune before, not even with Jack.

  How had she almost let this man get away?

  Gage’s eyes roamed over her hair, and she was suddenly self-conscious. “Not a good look?”

  “It’s a great look, but so are the curls. Then again, you could be bald and you’d still be gorgeous.”