I rush through a quick shower and dart into my room to get dressed as he chats away to Tank, Jared and Ashton in the kitchen.
I pull on a yellow summer dress and throw my hair up into a messy bun then put on a little mascara and lip gloss. I stand in front of the mirror and am pleased to find the old me. The me who was confident and happy. The me who found herself sexy and bold, rather than the jumpy uneasy girl Brett had turned me into, and I know for a fact that I have Miller to thank for that. He has quite literally saved me from myself.
I grab my handbag and pull my phone from the charger on my bedside table to find a text message from an unknown number. I sit on the edge of the bed and open the message.
Unknown – Baby, I miss you. Did you get my flowers? Come back to me.
An anxious, nervous shiver rushes through my body. It couldn’t be Brett, could it? Had he found my new number? And why after all this time?
Dani – Who is this?
Unknown – It’s Brett. I wasn’t lying when I said you were mine. I want you back, Dani.
Holy crap. Were the flowers from him? God, now I’m kind of glad Sophie stole them off the dining table and put them in her room. Fear trickles through me but I know it’s stupid. I’m with Miller now and there’s not a damn thing Brett can do about it. He’s got to be stupid if he thinks I’ll ever go back to him after the hell he put me through.
Dani – Delete my number Brett. I’ve moved on.
Brett – The hockey guy? Come on baby, stop being ridiculous and come home.
The hockey guy? How the hell does he know I’m with Miller? I decide not to respond and throw my phone in my handbag, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. Nope, I’m not going to let that D-bag ruin this for me. I quickly glance in the mirror one more time and find my way to the kitchen in search of the man I am quickly falling in love with.
Miller’s eyes find me the second I make my way into the kitchen. His eyes roam up and down my body with an appreciative smile then come to a stop on my face. His eyebrows pull together as he takes me in. He steps up and wraps his arms around my body. “You ok?” he asks, his voice filled with concern.
“Yeah,” I smile up at him. “I am now.”
---------
“I’d like to thank you all for coming out to our ‘One Night With’ auction today to help support the Dragons as we raise funds for The Denver Youth Hockey program,” I say into the microphone as I stand up on my makeshift stage in front of what must be at least one thousand men and women who quieten down from all their chanting and cheering for my boys.
It has been such a crazy day. After I spent the last few weeks promoting the shit out of the auction, far more people have shown up than I could ever have imagined. We had originally set up in one of the lecture halls and have had to move it to the ice rink, where I stand in the middle of the ice on a little stage, looking up into the grandstand with a thousand people staring back at me. The eyes on me nothing for my nerves, but there’s no way in hell Sophie was going to stand up here, so this gig is all mine.
“Alright, let’s meet our boys,” I sing. “Please put your hands together for the undefeated Kings of Denver, the mighty Denver Dragons.” The crowd roars as Miller leads the boys onto the ice. They all show off as they skate around the rink, motioning for the crowd to get as loud as possible, and I must say, for an arena that can hold eight thousand people, this crowd certainly is doing a great job of filling it with noise.
Miller makes a hand gesture to the boys and they make a quick lap before coming and taking a seat in the row of chairs lined up on the ice, facing the crowd.
“Ok, before we get started, let's cover a few ground rules,” I say, getting a collective groan from the crowd and the boys. “As many of you would be aware, the majority of the team are single and have generously volunteered themselves to be auctioned off tonight,” I explain and receive a scoff from each and every one of my boys. “Ok, so, I may have slightly twisted their arms, but what the hell. They are still here before us,” I laugh as the women of the crowd start cheering and whooping for the boys.
“We are playing by standard auction rules. If you would like to make a bid on one of these fine, young men, just raise your hand,” I explain.
“Alright, let’s get this party started,” I holler through the microphone, sending the crowd into another round of cheers. “Calm down, calm down,” I say, gesturing for the crowd to take their seats. “I’m sure you would all like to get this over with to get the most out of your time with these boys,” I laugh.
I spin to face the boys and smirk at them. Each and every one of them narrow their eyes at me, trying to work out what secret I hold. My eyes roam over the boys and land on Coach Harris. “Coach,” I start, “please step forward and show these fine people what you’re made of.” The boys grin at me as Coach Harris’ mouth pops open in shock. Yeah, we definitely didn’t discuss this.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”
The women of the crowd boo and I turn my gaze on them. “Can I hear from all the lovely women and men out there who would love the chance to win ‘One Night With’ the strapping Coach Harris.” The crowd roars causing his face to turn beet red in embarrassment.
“You’ve got to lead by example,” Tank laughs ushering Coach into the center.
He groans but eventually obliges and stands in the center, raising both his arms and flexing his muscles for the ladies, which naturally, sends them wild. Coach Harris definitely keeps in shape so I’m not surprised.
I start the auction off and I must say, were all shocked when we sell him off for five hundred and sixty dollars. Maybe we're going to rake it in tonight. Coach struts back to his position at the end of the row of Dragons, looking extremely pleased with himself.
I turn my attention back to the boys. “Alright, which one of you misfits are up first?” I ask.
A man from the crowd shoots up and hollers, “I wouldn’t mind winning you for the night, Dani.” The audience breaks into laughter.
Miller shoots to his feet. “She’s not for sale,” he snaps, staring the man down with absolute venom.
He backs off immediately as the women of the crowd all sigh dreamily at Miller’s protective boyfriend side, because the moment Miller could, he made it a well-known fact that we’re a couple. In fact, after the last four weeks of accepting the inevitable, we have apparently become the new ‘it couple’. FML.
“Cut it out,” I warn playfully. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see what kind of dough these boys bring in,” I say, getting right back on point. “Bobby,” I say, looking at the man in question. “Why don’t you lead the team off tonight?” I gesture to the center of the ice. He groans and makes his way over, though I see the excited sparkle deep within his eyes. In fact, I see it in all of theirs.
Bobby goes for eight hundred and forty-five dollars and the audience gives a round of applause. The auction moves on steadily with the prices raising more and more as I get closer to the seniors.
The boys snicker and giggle to themselves when Jaxon is sold for one thousand three hundred dollars to Jared and I realize that the team had put Jared up to it, because I know for a fact that Jared would never bid on Jaxon, especially as he is crazy in love with his boyfriend. I bet the team paid him to do it. That suspicion is confirmed the second I lock eyes on Jared who gives me the wickedest grin I have ever seen.
I roll my eyes and get on with it.
I make it through all the boys, leaving just Tank and Miller, the two team members who are currently not single. “Ok, ladies and gentleman, that completes our single volunteers for our ‘One Night With’ auction,” I explain as they all boo, each and every one of them wanting to get their hands on the major prizes of the team. “But… I have personally spoken to the girlfriends of these fine specimen, who have agreed to put their men up for auction,” I tell them getting cheers and hollers from the crowd while Tank and Miller get out of their chairs to star
t protesting. “As long as you horn dogs promise to keep your hands to yourselves,” I warn, causing the crowd to laugh as one.
The boys skate over and Miller takes the microphone from my hands and flicks the off switch. “No,” he says immediately. “I’m a one woman man,” he tells me.
“I second that,” Tank says.
“Quit it,” I say. “Don’t think of it as a date, just imagine it as spending time with a fan for a good cause. Do it for your team,” I tell them.
“Fine,” Tank growls unhappily as Miller groans right along with him.
Miller makes his way back to his seat while Tank stands front and center. The bidding starts straight away, starting at one thousand and getting higher by the second. Women all around raise their hands over and over, trying their luck at getting their ‘One Night With’ Tank. Sophie stands by the side watching with raised eyebrows and her mouth hanging wide open, much like the rest of us as the figure rises higher and higher. Finally coming to a close at three thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight dollars. Shit, and to think Sophie is taking that home for free.
Tank takes his seat, looking extremely impressed with himself as Miller stands and skates to the center. He glances over at me with regret in his eyes and I know this is killing him, but I couldn’t say no. He’s the captain and needs to do this for his team. I blow him a kiss which seems to brighten his mood.
The Miller show immediately turns on as he puts on a front for the crowd, showing himself off with a cocky attitude that the crowd believes he truly possesses, but none-the-less, they eat it up like he’s their last meal.
The bidding starts quickly. Just like Tank, it starts at one thousand it goes higher and higher as woman after woman raise their hands, or should I say the competition raises their hands? The auction flies easily past three thousand and jumps to three and a half when he releases one of those damn sexy half smirks that only a male can do.
He glances over at me with mischief in his eyes and no matter how much he hates taking another woman out, he truly does love the attention. He slowly shrugs out of his shirt, showing off his perfect body, sending the crowd wild, particularly the women, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I see a few men getting a good look at my man too.
The bidding raises to four thousand and then to five and comes to a screeching halt when one very familiar woman stands up, raises her hand and calls out, “Ten thousand dollars.” Miller’s head whips around to the voice with confusion, probably wondering why some strange cougar is dropping so much money on him.
“Fuck,” I hear murmured through the surprised crowd.
“Mom?” I ask, completely and utterly stunned.
The crowd hushes as they try to figure out what’s happening with eyes flicking between me and my crazy mother. “Sorry hun, I couldn’t let you auction your man,” she shouts over the distance.
I see Miller visibly relax from the corner of my eye and I can’t help but smile for my own relief. “Well, there you have it guys,” I say into the microphone. “Thank you so much for making it out tonight. Please make sure that all our successful bidders make their way down to the lobby to sort payment and find your man,” I explain. “And boys,” I say, fixing them all with a hard stare. “Remember what we discussed in the locker room,” I remind them, referring to the ‘no sexual favors’ rule for tonight. They all groan and smirk as they nod along.
“Alright, get out of here,” I laugh.
The crowd quickly make their way out as the boys make their way over to me.
“That was surprising,” Coach Harris says extremely stunned.
“Do you have any idea how much money we raised?” Aaron asks.
“Not sure,” I tell them. “But my guess would be somewhere upwards of forty grand. I won’t know till I can sit down with a calculator, but that, including the twenty we’ve already made from the calendars is pretty damn impressive.”
The boys laugh as we celebrate our huge win for the night. “Go get your skates off, you’ve all got a certain woman to impress,” I say, then glance to Jaxon. “Except you, Jared loves Chinese, by the way,” I smirk.
“Shut up,” he groans as they all break away and head for the locker room.
Miller stays behind and helps me down off the little stage and carries me to the side where I can stand without making a fool of myself. “Looks like I’ve got a date with your mom,” he comments.
“Looks like it,” I laugh.
“Any tips?” he asks nervously.
“No, she’s super easy,” I tell him. “Just be your normal charming self, but if that fails, lose your shirt.”
Chapter 16
Miller
“Hey man, have you seen this?” Tank asks as he kicks his way through my front door.
I hit pause on my Xbox as I glance up at him. “Seen what?” I ask.
He throws his phone down into my lap as he passes me and heads for the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. “The girl’s latest article was just posted.”
“Ah,” I say, picking up his phone and lighting up the screen to find the article. I quickly read through it and find a huge grin on my face by the time I get to the end. “Fuck, they make us sound so much better than we are,” I laugh as I scroll through the pictures Dani had attached to the article. I get to the end to find the article has already been viewed over two thousand times.
Tank comes and joins me on the couch, picks up my discarded controller and hits play “I know,” he says. “They’re killing this assignment,” he smirks proudly and I must say it’s a nice change to see this guy finally with a woman he loves.
“Yeah,” I smile. “So, what’s up?”
“Nothing, wanted to chill,” he says.
“Bullshit. I saw you two hours ago. You never want to chill after a gym session,” I scoff.
He places the controller down on the coffee table next to his beer and takes a deep breath. “I’m thinking about asking Sophie to move in with me,” he says as I take a drink from my beer.
I do my best not to spray it all over my living room as I take him in. “What?” I ask completely shocked. Tank prides himself on living alone and hates the company, hell, the dickhead didn’t even want to move in with me. “That’s pretty serious. It’s a huge step for you,” I comment.
“I know, man,” he says. “But I can’t imagine not living with her. We’re practically together every night anyway.”
“True. How do you think she’s going to take that?” I ask with a smirk, knowing just how hard Tank has had to fight to get any sort of commitment out of that girl.
“Fuck man, you know what she’s like,” he laughs. “It won’t be good. She’ll have my balls for even asking, but she’ll give in eventually.”
“Yeah, she will,” I agree.
“How're things going with Dani?” he asks, picking up the controller once again.
I smile thinking about my sweet girl. “Great,” I tell him honestly. “She’s amazing, but I feel like she’s hiding something.”
“Hiding something?” he asks with curiosity. “What? Like she’s cheating?”
“Nah, nothing like that,” I tell him. “I don’t know, it’s like something has her freaked. She puts on a brave face and acts like nothing’s wrong, but I can see it. Something’s bothering her.”
“Did you ask her about it?”
“Nah,” I comment with sarcasm then give him a stupid look. “Of course, I asked her. What kind of shitty boyfriend do you think I am?” I scoff.
“Sorry man, it was just a question. No need to bust my balls,” he laughs.
I smirk over at him and shake my head in exasperation. “I’ve asked her a few times and she just shrugs it off, but I’ll get to the bottom of it, even if I’ve got to beat a few heads together to do it.”
He nods his head and I know he’s thinking that he would do the same had it been Sophie. “Alright man, let me know if you need my help with anything.”
“Sure.”
We
sit for another thirty minutes going back and forth between the Xbox controller when I finally decide to get up, plug in the second one and switch to an NHL game, so I can beat his ass on the screen as well as the ice.
There’s a soft knock at the door and I put the controller on the table and head to the door. I open it up to find Dani and Sophie standing before me with bags upon bags of groceries. “Well, well, to what do I owe this pleasure?” I ask, getting pushed aside by the girls who rush in towards the kitchen and put the groceries down on the bench, then glance down at their reddening hands.
“We’re making you two dinner,” Dani declares as she strides up and presses a kiss to my lips.
“Oh really?” I ask, catching her around the waist before she has a chance to escape me. I deepen the kiss and moan as her tongue slips into my mouth.
She raises her hands to my chest and gently pushes me back. “Get out of here. We have work to do,” she says as she ushers me out of the kitchen. I get pushed back into the living room and can’t help the grin that takes over my face as I flop back onto the couch beside Tank.
“Who was that?” he asks, taking in my face.
“The girls. They’re in the kitchen. They want to cook us dinner,” I smirk.
“Shit,” he groans. “What are we going to do?”
I laugh at his response knowing there’s nothing worse than Sophie and Dani’s cooking. There’s a reason they live with Jared and let him rule the kitchen. “What we always do, man. Suffer through the pain with a smile.”
“Shit. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that girl,” he grumbles.
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I groan at the early morning light as my alarm goes off from beside me. I reach over, turn it off and uncurl myself from Dani’s beautiful naked body. She groans in her sleep as I climb out from around her and pull the blankets back up to tuck her in.
I head into the bathroom and do my best to piss with my morning wood and quickly get ready for training, not wanting to disturb too much of her sleep. I go about the house making sure I’ve got everything I need, feeling good that today is going to be yet another great day.
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