by L. P. Dover
Blocked is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Loveswept Ebook Original
Copyright © 2017 by L. P. Dover
Excerpt from Playmaker by L. P. Dover copyright © 2017 by L. P. Dover
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
LOVESWEPT is a registered trademark and the LOVESWEPT colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
Ebook ISBN 9780399180880
Cover design: Diane Luger
Cover photograph: Art-Of-Photo/iStock
randomhousebooks.com
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1: Dallas
Chapter 2: Callie
Chapter 3: Dallas
Chapter 4: Callie
Chapter 5: Dallas
Chapter 6: Callie
Chapter 7: Dallas
Chapter 8: Callie
Chapter 9: Dallas
Chapter 10: Callie
Chapter 11: Dallas
Chapter 12: Callie
Chapter 13: Callie
Chapter 14: Dallas
Chapter 15: Callie
Chapter 16: Dallas
Chapter 17: Callie
Chapter 18: Callie
Chapter 19: Dallas
Chapter 20: Callie
Chapter 21: Dallas
Chapter 22: Callie
Chapter 23: Callie
Chapter 24: Callie
Chapter 25: Dallas
Chapter 26: Callie
Chapter 27: Dallas
Chapter 28: Callie
Chapter 29: Dallas
Chapter 30: Callie
Chapter 31: Dallas
Chapter 32: Callie
Chapter 33: Callie
Chapter 34: Dallas
Chapter 35: Callie
Chapter 36: Callie
Chapter 37: Callie
Epilogue: Callie
Dedication
Acknowledgments
By L. P. Dover
About the Author
Excerpt from Playmaker
Chapter 1
Dallas
“Another undefeated win. Tonight’s going to be good.”
Braeden nodded and ran a hand through his blond hair, scoping out the crowd. “Can’t argue with you there.”
I looked around the room at all the women, scantily dressed in their skintight dresses, ready to have some fun. We’d just won another game, our rank undefeated. We were already halfway through the season. It was time to celebrate what was going to be another victory year.
We bypassed the women and headed toward the kitchen, where most of the guys from my hockey team congregated along with other dudes I didn’t know. Maddox Ledger had a habit of inviting outsiders to our parties. Guess I couldn’t blame him, since he was the one hosting the party.
On every inch of the gray marble counters were bottles of wine, liquor, and beer. Maddox was at the head of the kitchen table, tossing back shots with some of our teammates. It was tradition to throw a killer party the night of our first home game win, and it was Ledger’s turn to host. The guy was a fucking douche, but he knew how to throw the parties. I could always count on him to have a horde of women at my beck and call.
Maddox held up a bottle of tequila. “Shot?”
Braeden and I walked up to the table and Josh Harrison, our backup goaltender, moved over to let us in. “Fuck yeah,” I said. “Pour me two.”
Braeden held up his hand. “Same for me.”
Maddox poured our shots and I tossed mine back, relishing the burn as it went down my throat. “Great party.”
A sly grin spread across Maddox’s face. “Yes, it is. I don’t do them half-assed.”
Josh slapped a hand on my shoulder. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. “That’s for damn sure,” he said, tossing his beer bottle into the trash can. “Maybe one of these days I’ll actually get to play.” He poured himself a shot of tequila and downed it, his frustration on display for the world to see.
Maddox shook his head, trying to hide his smile. “I’m going to leave that to you.” He walked off and the room cleared out except for Braeden. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with Harrison’s crybaby bullshit about how he never got to play. Don’t get me wrong, he was a good goaltender, but he wasn’t as good as me.
“You done whining yet?” I growled at Josh. His eyes darkened as he stared at me. He was only twenty-two, but I had more years of experience and he knew it. Our coach wasn’t going to choose him over me.
Josh bucked up, lifting his chin in the air. We were about the same height, but I had a good thirty pounds more of muscle on me. I could snap him in half. “Maybe if you started working with me like Coach said, I’d get better. Instead, you leave me high and dry.”
It was true. I was supposed to work with him, but I didn’t want him getting better than me. It was my time on the ice and no one was going to take that away from me. “Only you can make yourself better. You can’t blame that shit on me,” I spat. “Now get out of my face.”
His jaw clenched, but I wasn’t backing down. It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten into a fight with one of my teammates. As one of the alternate captains, I had to keep the others in line when our captain wasn’t around. Josh huffed and stormed out of the room.
Chuckling, Braeden slapped me on the back. “Makes you wish Carter was here, doesn’t it?”
I scoffed and poured another shot. “He’d tell me Josh was right. I don’t want to hear that shit right now. All I want is to drink and fuck, and then fuck again.” Kellan Carter was our captain and my best friend. As far as morals went, he was a saint. Especially now that he was married to one of the sexiest women in the world with a kid on the way.
Grabbing the bottle of tequila, Braeden nodded toward the living room, where the DJ started to play. “Let’s go.”
The room was dark, lit only by the colored lights the DJ brought in. Some of the guys danced with their girls, while a lot of the women danced with each other, their bodies rubbing together. It was such a fucking turn-on.
I couldn’t take my eyes off a certain blonde, wearing a tight black dress with her tits about to fall out. Biting her lip, she danced provocatively in front of me, beckoning me out onto the dance floor. Braeden nudged me in the side. “What are you waiting for?”
Grabbing the bottle of tequila from him, I took one last swig and grabbed her around the waist, just in time for “How Do You Want It” by 2Pac to play over the speakers. Turning around in my arms, she rubbed her ass against my dick as she danced, giggling as my cock sprung to attention. All I wanted to do was lift her dress and fuck her senseless.
Grinning broadly, she faced me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m Britney. Why don’t we find somewhere more private?” She smelled like cherries and I had no doubt she’d taste like them, too.
I nipped her ear and she shivered. “Follow me.”
I knew exactly where to go. Maddox’s house had over a dozen rooms to choose from, and I always chose the same one that was farthest away. That way, no one could hear the screams of pleasure as I fucked her. Taking her hand, I pulled her to the back room and shut the door. There was a bed on the far side of the room, but we didn’t make it there. Britney was on me in an instant, her hands fumbling with the button on my jeans.
“We need to hurry before my friends notice I’m gone,�
� she said, her voice rushed. She reached into my jeans, wrapping her hand around me. It felt so fucking good.
Chuckling, I lifted her up in my arms, revealing her bare ass as her dress pushed up around her waist from straddling me. “Your friends will be fine.” I squeezed the back of her thighs and pushed her against the wall. “You’re not going to want me to finish that fast.”
Reaching into my pocket, I slipped out a condom and unzipped my jeans. Before they could fall to the floor, the bedroom door slammed open. “What the fuck? You’re so dead, Easton.” With Britney in my arms, I couldn’t turn around fast enough before I felt the searing pain of a beer bottle smashing against my head, the sound echoing in the room.
Britney screamed as I dropped her to the floor while blood ran down my face into my eyes. “Son of a bitch,” I growled, jerking around.
“Jeremy, stop!” Britney cried.
The room spun, but I wasn’t about to let that cocksucker get away. Unfortunately, my head felt like it was going to explode. I ran a hand over my scalp and felt glass stuck in my skin. Blinded by my blood, I swung at the figure in front of me, connecting with his jaw. The sound of his pain was music to my ears. I didn’t know who Jeremy was, nor did I care. The bastard was going down.
Once he was on the floor, I kept swinging until I was pushed off of him. “He’s down,” Braeden huffed, pulling me away. The smell of blood permeated the air and I could feel my consciousness slipping with each passing second. More people charged into the room, their voices panicked as they surveyed what had to be a bloody scene.
“What the fuck went on in here?” Maddox shouted.
“No time for that,” Braeden snapped. “We need to get Dallas to the hospital. There’s glass stuck in his head.” My pulse pounded in my ears and I closed my eyes. I couldn’t move my body, everything felt numb.
Maddox’s booming voice brought me back. “Davis! Where’s Callie?”
“She’s coming,” someone else shouted.
I had no clue who he was calling for, but when a pair of soft hands cradled my head, I opened my eyes. All I saw was a beautiful face with blond hair and green eyes before everything went black.
Chapter 2
Callie
“You’ve been here for only a month and your life is more exciting than mine,” Hannah sighed. Hannah Martin was twenty-six years old, just like me, as well as my coworker and friend. On the first day of work at the hospital, we clicked instantly. It was a hard transition moving from Minnesota to North Carolina.
Linking my arm with hers, I laughed as we entered the hospital locker room. “I wouldn’t exactly call it exciting.”
Our shift was over and it was time to change clothes and head out for the afternoon. We were both RNs and worked in the ER, but I was also a surgical nurse. The kind of things we saw on an everyday basis would shock most people.
Hannah scoffed and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Your brother is a gorgeous hockey player who just got traded to the best NHL team in the league. I’d kill to know those kinds of people.”
I rolled my eyes. Even though my brother was now playing for the Charlotte Strikers, it was challenging for him, considering it was midseason and we had to move quickly. Luckily, my two other brothers found an amazing house we could all live in until I bought my own place. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, Han. Besides, I did invite you to the party a couple of weeks ago. You could’ve met the whole hockey team.”
She released her long chocolate-brown hair from her bun and waved me off. “Yeah, yeah, I know. And what an eventful night that was. You spent almost the whole evening plucking shards of glass out of that Neanderthal’s head.”
I changed out of my scrubs into my favorite pink skirt and white top. With wearing scrubs all day every day, I really missed my colorful, more feminine clothes. “Don’t remind me,” I huffed. “I haven’t been to another party since.” It was probably because there hadn’t been another celebration party since that night. Dallas wasn’t allowed to play the last two games and the Strikers lost. My dress still had bloodstains on it from his head. I had yet to see him again face-to-face after that fiasco. He probably didn’t remember a thing from that party other than the fact he almost beat a man to death. Apparently, charges weren’t filed, which shocked me.
Once Hannah was dressed in her shorts and tank top, we grabbed our things and headed out to the parking lot. The sky was so blue with no trace of a cloud in sight. I was used to March being chilly in Minnesota, but in North Carolina, it was anything but. The warmer weather was going to take some getting used to. At least I was able to bring out my cute spring clothes.
“Maybe now that I broke up with my no-good, worthless, cheating boyfriend, I can start hanging out with you more,” Hannah stated flippantly. She acted as if being screwed by the man she’d been with for two years was no big deal, but I could tell her heart was still broken. It was time that changed.
I walked her to her silver Honda Accord. “I’d like that. Other than my brothers, you’re one of my closest friends.” She opened the backseat door and tossed her bag in. “Want to come to the rink tonight?” I asked. “Justin scored some private rink time just for us. You can finally meet my brothers.”
Her eyes lit up. “Seriously?”
“Of course.” I laughed. “They’ve heard a lot about you. And now you don’t have a boyfriend holding you back. It’ll be nice to have a girl to skate with.”
Her smile faded slightly. “I’ll end up making a fool out of myself. I’m not good at ice skating. I’ve only done it once.”
I shrugged. “Then don’t skate. Just come and hang out. You’ll have fun, I promise. Then afterward, you can get dinner with us.”
I could tell she really wanted to come. “Do I have time to go home and freshen up?”
“Yes,” I squealed happily, flinging my arm around her shoulders. “Meet me at the rink in an hour.” Being around someone other than my brothers was going to be heaven. I needed the girl time.
Carter Skating Center was a brand-new ice rink in Charlotte where the Charlotte Strikers now practiced. Kellan Carter was the captain of the team and the owner of the rink along with his wife, Kristen, who was a little over six months pregnant. Other than Hannah, Kristen had become a close friend of mine as well. The rink was basically my second home.
Grabbing my bag out of the trunk, I hurried inside. I could hear the guys still practicing and the coach yelling at them, so I diverted down the back hallway to see if Kristen was in the office. Sure enough, she was sitting at her neatly organized mahogany desk with her feet propped up, her face hidden behind a book. There were several pictures on the wall, one of her and Kellan at their wedding, another with them right outside of the rink on opening day, and the others of the Charlotte Strikers when they won the Stanley Cup the past four years.
“Must be nice to read on the job,” I said with a laugh, entering the room.
Chuckling, she glanced at me over the top of the book. “It is when I’m not allowed to do anything else.” Her eyes brightened as she took me in. “You look cute in your skirt. One of these days, I’ll fit back in mine.”
“It won’t be long,” I said, tucking my blond hair behind my ear. It felt good to wear it down. At work, I always had to keep it up so it wouldn’t get in the way.
“I can’t wait to get back to M&M. I miss designing.” Now that the rink was open, she took a small leave of absence from her regular job at M&M Architectural Design so she could help Kellan. The woman had amazing interior design skills. I thought I was pretty good at decorating, but she had me beat. Sighing, she set her book on the desk. “If Kellan had his way, I’d be at home eating bonbons. The man won’t let me anywhere near the ice.”
Setting my bag down, I looked down at her rotund belly and smiled. She had on the cutest purple maternity top that made her auburn hair look brighter. “Can’t blame him. He just wants to keep you and your little munchkin safe.”
She stood and waved her ha
nd dismissively. “Please, he knows I’m an expert on the ice. I was a figure skater for most of my life.” Circling around the desk, she opened her arms and hugged me. “It’s good to see you again. You going to skate around with your brothers?”
I nodded. “For a little while. Hannah just broke up with her boyfriend and she’s coming to hang out. I think she’s afraid she’ll make a fool out of herself if she skates.”
Kristen winked. “That’s why you get one of your brothers to help her.”
“My thoughts exactly.” And I knew just the one to do it.
“Have you thought about my offer?” she asked curiously.
Groaning, I picked up my bag. “You mean the one where you want to set me up on a date?”
Her face brightened. “Yep. I know the perfect guy. All you have to do is meet him.”
I wasn’t ready to get involved with anyone just yet. Before I moved to North Carolina, I was in a relationship with a guy I knew in college. We were together for three years when things started to fizzle out. The spark we had in college wasn’t there anymore. Through mutual understanding, we decided to end things, but it still hurt at the time.
“Well?” Kristen prodded. “What do you say?”
With a heavy sigh, I gave in. “Fine. Just give me a few weeks until I find my own place to live.” I kept telling myself I’d go out and search for houses, but with working all the time and going to the hockey games, I hadn’t had a chance.
Kristen squealed and clapped her hands. “Perfect. You’ll like this guy. He’s a police officer.”
“Sounds good. I look forward to meeting him.” Glancing down at my phone, I saw it was nearly six o’clock. “And I have to go. Hannah and my brothers should be here any minute.”