by L. P. Dover
Thoughts of Callie ran through my mind. “Had better things to do. Besides, I wasn’t in the mood for crabs.”
Maddox’s smile flattened and I chuckled. I’d known too many men who’d gone to that strip club and came back with more than they’d bargained for. Callie was the reason I didn’t want to go, but I respected her enough not to let them know just yet, even if I wanted to throw it up in their faces.
Braeden nudged me in the arm as we walked into the locker room. “What do you want to bet Maddox goes into the shower to shave off all his pubic hair?”
“I’d die laughing.”
I followed him into the locker room and he froze when he turned the corner, his wide-eyed gaze fixed on something. “You’re not the only one who’s going to die laughing.”
Kellan slapped me on the back and pushed me forward. “What the hell’s going on?” I demanded. Once around the corner, I saw what Braeden was looking at. My locker was devoid of my pads and uniform, and in its place was a bright pink bikini. “Seriously?”
Kellan burst out laughing. “It’s your choice, brother. Women can be difficult sometimes.”
Dropping my bag, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Callie probably expected me to choose my pride over humiliation. Little did she know I was about to prove her wrong. Taking off my clothes, I grabbed the bikini. “Here we go.”
Chapter 15
Callie
“Think he did it?” Hannah asked, trying her best to keep up with me.
Picking up my pace, I hurried down the hall. “Don’t know, but I’m dying to find out.” On my surgery days, I couldn’t carry my phone with me into the operating room. The suspense had killed me all morning.
When we got to the locker room, we grabbed our phones and headed into the break room. The cardiothoracic surgeon I worked for, Dr. Robert Sands, was already at the table eating his lasagna and salad. He was in his midforties with graying dark hair and wrinkles around his eyes from smiling so much. It was one of the things I liked about him. He was also married to a restaurant owner who always packed him way too much food.
“Hello, ladies,” he said. “Hope you’re hungry. Got plenty here.”
My stomach growled. “Your wife is amazing. Please tell her thank you for me. I’m starving.”
He chuckled. “She’ll be happy to hear it.”
I loaded up my plate and Hannah scooted closer, clapping her hands impatiently. “We can eat in a minute. Let’s see if you got a message.”
Robert looked at us like we were crazy and went back to eating his food. Pulling out my phone, I saw I had two missed calls from my parents, one text from Kristen, and a voice mail. As much as I wanted to check the text, I listened to the voice mail first.
“Hey, honey. Your father and I wanted to catch you before we got back on the boat tomorrow. Call us back. We miss you and love you.”
“Was it him?” Hannah asked impatiently.
I shook my head and laughed. “It was my parents. I have to call them back before they get back on the ocean.”
Robert finished his food and stretched. “They still cruising around?”
“Yep. They’ve been dying to do it all their lives. It was the one thing they looked forward to when my brothers and I moved out of the house.” They deserved it, too, after working nonstop for most of their lives and rarely getting a break. They never got to do anything for themselves.
Robert sighed. “One day I hope to be free like that. Got a long way to go.”
“Don’t we all,” Hannah cut in with a laugh. She nudged me in the side and glared down at my phone. In a way, I was nervous to look at my texts. If Dallas didn’t wear the bikini, then I had no choice but to let him go. A huge part of me didn’t want to do that, but the other part knew it’d be best.
Taking a deep breath, I opened Kristen’s text: Take a look at this . . .
She’d attached a video clip. I pressed the play button and held my breath as she appeared on the screen. Her red hair was pulled high in a ponytail and she had the goofiest grin on her face.
“Hello, my darlin’. I’m here at the rink, as you can tell by the loud shouting going on behind me.” I could hear the guys yelling and the sound of their skates slicing across ice. “I thought you’d want to see what’s going on. Apparently there are others who are enjoying the show as well.” She turned the camera to a couple of onlookers who couldn’t contain their laughs as they filmed something on the ice. Then she pointed the camera toward the ice.
“Oh my God,” I squealed, slapping a hand over my mouth. “He actually did it.”
Robert and Hannah both jumped up from their seats and stood behind me. Hannah burst out laughing as we all three watched Dallas warm up in the bikini. He wasn’t in the goal, but out on the ice, skating around while someone else took the net. All the others were in their gear, while Dallas’s ass cheeks were bare to the world, and his front . . .
I couldn’t even begin to describe how much I loved looking at the front of his body. No wonder women loved him.
“Is there a reason we’re watching a man skate around in a bikini?” Robert asked curiously.
Hannah giggled. “Callie made him do it. Now she has to go out with him.”
Robert grabbed his plate and threw it away. “He must really like you to do that,” he said to me. “Not many men would.”
“Would you for your wife?” I asked.
He stopped at the door and said, “In a heartbeat,” before walking out with a smile.
Hannah shook my shoulders. “This is so awesome. I wonder what your brothers are going to say about this. They hate him.”
Groaning, I sat back in my chair. “I know. And right now, I don’t. Not even a little bit.” Every day, I fell for him more and more.
“I hope you’re seeing this,” Kristen explained, zooming in on Dallas’s groin. “Don’t get me wrong, Dallas isn’t bashful, but it takes a lot of guts to skate around with your dick almost hanging out. It’s kind of dangerous around all the sharp blades.” Hannah and I both choked on our laughs.
“All right, boys, let’s get to work,” Coach Carlisle shouted. Kristen zoomed back out and Dallas headed her way with the biggest and most triumphant smile I’d ever seen on his face. Coach Carlisle blew his whistle. “That means you, Easton. Take that shit off.”
Dallas lifted his stick. “Will do, Coach!” He stopped at the wall and looked right into the camera while Kristen snickered in the background. “I did it, Callie. I made a fool of myself, just for you.” He winked. “See ya after practice.” He quickly skated off the ice, giving me a wonderful view of his backside.
“There you have it,” Kristen said, turning the camera back to her face, her smile melting to something more serious. “He’s obviously not going to give up on you. I know Dallas can be a pain and do stupid things sometimes, but I watched him in Nashville. He really likes you. Just give him a chance. I’ll talk to you later.”
“What are you going to do?” Hannah asked.
I looked up at her, a huge smile stretched across my face. “Something I probably shouldn’t.”
By the end of my shift, I half expected to see a text from Dallas, but I didn’t. I changed out of my clothes and waited for Hannah to do the same. “Why don’t you call him?” she asked. “He’s probably waiting for you.”
In a way, I was too nervous to. I hadn’t been nervous around him until after I saw what he was willing to do to get to me. “I’ll call him when I get in my car.”
Once we were clocked out, we headed out to the parking lot. The sun was still out, which meant the days were getting longer. I loved having more daylight. Looking up at the clear blue sky, I breathed in the cool evening air. “Um . . . Callie?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think you’ll have to call him. Might want to look at your car.”
Jerking my head down, I searched for my car, and right beside it was Dallas, dressed in a fitted green T-shirt and jeans, leaning against his red sports car wi
th his eyes right on me. Heart racing, I blew out a shaky breath. “He’s here.”
“Yep, and now you’re his. Good luck. I’ll be with your brother if you need me.” She patted me on the back and winked before hurrying to her car.
“How did you like the show?” he asked as I drew closer.
I couldn’t contain my smile. “Very interesting. I think pink’s your color.”
Chuckling, he held out his arms. “Have I proven myself yet?”
Stopping in front of him, I leaned against my car. “I think you have.”
“Good. Then you and I are hanging out at my place tonight. You can follow me over there.”
He opened his door, but I grabbed his wrist. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not jumping into bed with you. I may have agreed to do this, but we move at my own pace, got it?”
He sighed, his smile fading. “I’m not going to push you into anything, angel. I didn’t agree to humiliate myself and my pride just to have sex with you.”
I motioned for him to get into his car. “Lead the way, then.”
On the way, I wasn’t surprised to get a call from a certain brother. “Hey, Justin,” I answered.
“Hey. You off work already?”
“Yep. Just got in my car.”
“Want to meet me and Maddox for dinner?”
“I wish I could, but I have plans. I’ll see you at home later.”
“Okay, but I have a question first,” he said. Sucking in a breath, I waited for him to say he was on to Dallas and me. I was the only one from back home who knew about the bikini prank. “Did you have Kellan put the bikini in Easton’s locker to get him back? Because let me tell you, that shit was hilarious.”
“Oh yeah,” I answered, laughing nervously. “That was me.”
“Thought so. The guys gave him hell all day. It’s about time someone gave him shit.”
“Yep,” was all I could say. I couldn’t imagine what all they said to him. “Rain check for dinner?”
“You got it. I know Maddox wants to spend more time with you. He’s hoping you have some single friends you could hook him up with.”
I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ll see what I can do.” We hung up and it wasn’t long before we arrived at Dallas’s. The Tudor-style home on the lake was two and a half stories. The outside was covered in brick and stone, making it look as if it was built in the Old World. He pulled around the circular driveway into one of the empty garage spaces, while I parked just outside, admiring the house.
“You okay?” he called out.
“Yeah,” I gasped. “Just loving your house. It’s amazing.” I walked into the garage and he took my hand. My whole body shivered and I loved it.
“Is it not what you expected?”
“Not at all,” I said. “In my mind, I pictured a much smaller bachelor pad with beer cans everywhere.” We walked into the house to the perfectly cleaned kitchen with swirling gray marble countertops. “Definitely not something like this.”
“Want to take a tour?”
“Yes!” He walked me through the house and it felt like I was whisked away back in time. He even had his own little movie theater and game room. “You don’t have to go anywhere for fun. You have everything here,” I joked.
“True, but I’ve never had a reason to stick around. With games, practices, and parties, there’s just not much time.”
Still holding my hand, he took me outside to the pool and moved two lounge chairs together. I sat down on one and he took the other. The view of the lake was breathtaking. “I would make time if I had this house,” I breathed, leaning back in the chair. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Maybe I’ll be able to spend more time here now that you’re mine. I mean, we can’t exactly hang out at your place, can we?”
I snorted. “Not exactly. And who says I’m yours?”
I glanced over at him and his grin widened. “Me.” Hearing him say it made everything inside of me tighten. I’d never really belonged to anyone before. “Do your brothers even know that we talk?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I spoke to Justin on the way over here. He knows it was my idea for the bikini prank, but I think he believes it was just a prank. Not a test.”
“When are you going to tell him?” he asked curiously.
He stared right into my eyes and I stared back. “Do you even want me to? I figured a guy like you would want to keep a relationship under wraps. Wouldn’t want to hurt your reputation with the women.” It came out as a joke, and was supposed to sound like one, but obviously I didn’t do a good job from the glare Dallas gave me.
“Really? That’s what you think?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. If we go public, it’s going to piss off my brothers and probably cause a media frenzy. Also, if things don’t work out, I don’t want to be portrayed as the idiot who thought she could tame the infamous bad boy Dallas Easton. That’s not what I want at all.”
“So you don’t want to tame me?” he asked, his humor coming back.
“I already know guys like you can’t be tamed. The good thing is, neither can I.”
“Oh yeah?” Turning his body to face me, he grabbed my legs and swung me around to face him. “What do you say we make a bet? If you win, we keep things between us under wraps. But if I win, you forget about my past and we start over. No more secrets from your brothers or the world.”
Groaning, I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight. “What do I have to do?”
“Simple. We take it to the ice. If you can get at least three out of five pucks past me, you win. If not, I do.” He held out his hand. “Deal?”
It wasn’t in my blood to back down. Taking his hand, I squeezed it as tight as I could. “Deal. We play tomorrow night.” I’d done it before and I could do it again.
Chapter 16
Dallas
“I can’t believe she agreed to this.” Braeden chuckled and shook his head. Practice was already over and everyone was gone for the night. Kellan had just finished clearing the ice, making it smooth and glassy for our shootout.
Stretching my arms over my head, I cracked my neck from side to side. “She’s a firecracker.”
Braeden leaned down on the side wall, resting on his elbows. “Didn’t she go over to your house last night?”
The front door of the rink slid open and Callie walked in, carrying a bag over her shoulders, with Kristen by her side, both grinning mischievously. Callie still had on a pair of pink scrubs with her golden hair down in waves past her shoulders. She really did look like an angel. “Yep, and she left right after I called for the bet. The woman’s seriously going to drive me crazy.” In more ways than one. I wanted her more than I’d wanted anyone in my life.
Braeden slapped me on the back. “Better you than me, man.”
Callie walked up and smiled at Braeden while Kristen winked at me. “Have fun.”
“Ready for this?” Callie asked. “If you’re afraid, you can always forfeit.”
I held out my arms. “Bring it on, baby.” My pads were all on and I was ready to go.
“All right, I’ll be back.” She walked around the edge of the rink to the back hallway.
Braeden smacked a hand on the wall. “I’m heading out. Let me know how it goes.”
“Will do.” He walked out the door, leaving me alone with Kristen.
“Think you can lock up on your way out? As much as I want to watch you two in action, I really want to get home and into bed.”
“Of course.”
Kellan turned out the office light and joined us, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders. He set the keys on the wall in front of me. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
They walked out the door and I skated around the ice. When I turned around and caught sight of Callie, I thought I’d lost my mind. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and then opened them back up. Nope, she was still there . . . dressed in a blue fucking bikini. “What the hell are you doing?” I c
alled out.
She skated around me, her bare body so close I wished I could touch her. Her nipples peaked through the fabric of her top and I wanted to taste them so fucking bad. “Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice sexy and soft.
My dick twitched. “That’s why you came in with a huge grin, isn’t it? You thought you could distract me by flashing that gorgeous body of yours.”
She bit her lip. “Is it working?”
“Why don’t you come closer and find out?”
Giggling, she skated away and fetched her stick and a puck. “Sorry, but I can’t let you distract me. Got to keep my head in the game.”
I skated to the goal and put on my mask. “Let’s get started then. The sooner we begin, the sooner I win.”
With a sly grin, she stretched her arms over her head, poking her breasts out. “Whatever you say.”
The confidence Callie exuded was such a fucking turn-on. I’d never met a woman who was sexy as hell and could play hockey. Not to mention, give me a run for my money.
“Five shots is all you got,” I shouted. “Get three in and you win.” She waved me off as she circled around the puck. “Stay focused,” I whispered to myself. It was hard to do that with my dick begging to be set free. He wanted what I couldn’t have . . . at least, not yet.
Tapping the puck with her skate, it slid across the ice as she skated toward me. Her stick handling was smooth and precise as she focused on me. The second our eyes met, I knew it was a mistake. A man could get lost in those eyes of hers, and I sure as hell did. She took the shot and it went right between my legs.
“Really, Dallas? That was an easy one to stop.”
I shrugged. “Got distracted. It won’t happen again.”
She snickered. “We’ll see about that.”
Lifting the puck with her stick, she popped it up in the air, bouncing it up and down as she skated toward me. Heart pounding, I watched that puck like a hawk. There was no way in hell I was letting it past me. The second it landed on the ice, she reared back and slammed it as hard as she could, only I was there to stop it.