“It’s good to have you home.” He got serious, and my heart gave a little lurch. Jake was rarely sentimental unless it was only the two of us.
“It’s actually good to be home. I’ve missed you all.”
“You could’ve come home over the summers, you know.” He crossed his arms in front of him and tried to look intimidating.
“Mmmmm,” I drew out. As the youngest and only girl, my parents helicoptered me into the ground. I’d stayed away for a reason. Not that I’d never come home to visit, but the occasions were rare.
“We should hang out next weekend. You could come over to my place and we could chill. Watch the game.” Jake was a big baseball fan. He’d actually had aspirations of playing professionally until he blew out his shoulder in college.
“Maybe,” I said with a teasing shrug.
“You’ll be there.” His smug expression had me rolling my eyes. There was no way I was admitting he was right. Even though I wasn’t big on sports, I’d jump on the opportunity to spend the day with him, and he knew it. I really had missed him, and I’d hated being away from him.
“Get out of here. Don’t you have something to do?” I laughed.
“Or someone,” he teased.
“Ew!” I wrinkled my nose. Then I pushed him playfully out the door and closed it. He shoved his face against the rippled glass pane and made a face. Unable to help myself, I laughed and shook my head at his antics.
In the sudden quiet, I wrapped my arms around my waist and got lost in my thoughts.
“Sydney?” I heard my uncle call from the dining room.
“Yeah?” I replied and moved toward where he was waiting. He glanced over his shoulder out to the patio, then back to me.
“I happen to know that they are looking for an assistant to the fundraising coordinator at work. You used to help your mother a lot with her charities, so I thought it might be right up your alley. I could put in a good word, and the job would be yours,” my uncle said as he stood with his hands in his slacks pockets.
“I doubt I’m qualified for that,” I argued.
“It’s not overly demanding, and they’d train you. Besides, you wouldn’t have to stay forever, and it would get my big brother off your back until you could find something you really enjoyed.” People said my uncle was a shark of an attorney, but he’d never been anything but loving with me. Then again, I was the only female on their side in about four generations. I was a little spoiled.
That was probably one of the reasons my dad was so hard on me. Deep in my heart, I knew he wanted what was best for me, while wanting me to earn my own way in the world. Because God knew if it was up to the rest of his family, I’d be a pampered, smothered princess.
Thinking about it for a few minutes, I finally nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Uncle Simon. That would be great.”
He knew I had zero interest in my father’s network security company, much to my father’s disappointment.
“I’ll text you where to go and when.”
“Perfect.” Relief poured through me.
And that’s how my life started to fall apart.
“LOUD”—Motionless In White
September—Training Camp
We hit the ice for the first time as a team since the season ended and it was like coming home. We’d had our physicals yesterday, and today we were in skates. We had our first preseason game in only four days.
“God, I missed this,” I said to McGregor as my blades cut across the rink for the first time this season. The scrape of metal on ice echoed in the air. It was music in its purest form.
“Hey, hey, boys! School’s back in session!” Halvorson, the team captain, yelled across the ice. Everyone laughed as we took turns slapping the puck around and warming up. I hoped he’d gotten over whatever chip he had on his shoulder when it came to me.
I laughed as McGregor jokingly pulled a figure skating move, and I copied him but flipped him off as I did it. Several of us had roots in figure skating, even though a lot of guys wouldn’t admit it. My dad swore it helped with agility and speed. I, for one, believed him.
“Enough of the fairy footwork,” grumbled Beck, our goaltender.
“You’re just jealous that you can barely move in your sumo getup,” teased McGregor with a laugh before he took a shot. Beck caught it with a loud “thunk” as the puck slammed into his glove.
“I can move fast enough to stop your sorry ass from getting the biscuit in the net,” he said with a wide grin from behind his birdcage. He flipped it back out onto the ice. It was all ribbing, because we knew it took every single one of us to make a strong team. Though I’d become more friendly with certain players on the team since my trade, no single person carried everyone, and we all loved the game.
I’d been playing hockey since I was old enough to hold a stick. Without hockey, I honestly didn’t know if I could breathe. I loved the game that much.
Unfortunately, I feel like it destroyed my parents’ marriage.
Maybe that’s not completely true, but it played into it. Cooper and I both played hockey as little kids. We wanted to be just like our dad. Mom and Dad toted us to game after game. Then Cooper’s interest branched off into motorcycles. He was flat track racing professionally by the time he was thirteen and I was eleven.
How did that split our parents up? Well, neither of them wanted to tell us no. Dad traveled with and homeschooled me, while Mom did the same for Cooper. The two seasons overlapped a little, but it still didn’t exactly allow for a lot of time spent together. Because though we spent off-seasons together, there was always an agenda—an end goal. Practice never ended for either of us.
“Nice play, Kosinski! Nice play!” Coach yelled from the side as my apple to Duncan allowed him to land it between the poles with a wicked wrist shot.
The scrape of blades on the ice, the clash of bodies against the boards, the crack of the stick hitting the puck, that was what I lived for. All of it. Every nuance, every play, every moment.
Hockey. Was. Life.
“Go go go go!” I heard my team captain yelling as we went through our drills. Sweat dripped from my head as I repeated the plays. Over and over until they were reflex.
“Let’s score some goals here! The name of the game is goals, guys!” Coach yelled. We’d been practicing for what seemed like ten hours. We were getting tired and starting to miss shots that we shouldn’t have. It showed that we needed to be there. Endurance was lacking for some, but we knew what to work on.
During the two months I’d been with Dad, I’d run every morning. Most mornings he joined me. Except, despite my sustained activity, my energy was flagging. Coach wasn’t going easy on us.
Finally, he called practice and we wrapped things up. First thing off was my helmet as I shook my sweat-soaked hair to cool off a bit.
McGregor skated up behind me as I headed off the ice. He flipped my hair up over my face and laughed. “Check out that flow. The bunnies are gonna love that shit.”
Shaking my head, I chuckled. “You’re just jealous ’cause you’re bald.”
“Hey, the ladies love the fuzz.” He ran a hand over his buzzed head. “They like the way it tickles the inside of their thighs.”
“Man, what the fuck ever. You keep telling yourself that,” Beck said as he shoulder-checked McGregor with a laugh.
We’d barely stepped off the ice when Coach yelled at me and Halvorson.
“Yeah?” I asked, letting the rest of the guys pass me in the hall as I waited for Coach to skate over and get off the ice. Halvorson looked irritated. Under his breath, he grumbled.
“I need you two to shower and meet me in the office.”
“Okay, what for?” I asked curiously. The season hadn’t even started yet. It was too early for me to be getting my ass chewed for anything. Halvorson and I had our differences, but we put them aside on the ice.
“The foundation representative needs to meet with you. They needed two players for a photo op, and I’m assigning the t
wo of you,” Coach said with a sly grin. We both groaned. He had this idea that if he kept throwing us together for shit, he would make friends out of us.
“Come on, Coach, can’t someone else do it?” I hated all that photoshoot shit. Candid shots, sure—posing for the camera? No. I wasn’t a fucking model; I was a hockey player.
“Nope. Besides, the two of you are probably the biggest beauties we have.” He laughed, thinking he was hilarious. Giving him an unamused look, I sighed.
“Fuckin’ A,” grumbled Halvorson. At least we were in agreement on this one.
“Hurry up and wash your asses.” Coach got off the ice and turned down the hall.
“This is such bullshit,” Halvorson bitched.
“I agree, but I don’t feel like getting my ass chewed.” Reluctantly, I headed to the locker room. I pulled off my sweaty practice jersey and removed my pads.
“What did Coach want?” asked Beck with a towel wrapped around his waist. He must’ve taken the quickest shower known to man. He dropped to his seat and started to pull his socks on.
“Dude. How can you do that without drying your feet first?” I asked in disbelief. He simply shrugged and put the other one on.
“You in trouble already?” He chuckled as he pulled a shirt over his head.
“Nah, he’s volunteered us for the foundation,” I grumbled. Beck laughed.
“Aww, you get to be pretty and splattered on all the fundraiser shit.”
“I guess,” I said as I rolled my eyes. After stripping down, I went to shower.
Around me, water ran and voices echoed off the walls as the team bullshitted. I closed my eyes and tipped my head back under the spray. Letting the hot water loosen my overworked muscles, I tuned everyone out.
“Better get your ass in gear,” I heard Halvorson say as he passed me, obviously done with his shower. Fighting flipping him off, I shampooed my hair, conditioned it, lathered up my body, and rinsed. All within about five minutes.
Halvorson was dressed and waiting by the time I returned to my cubby to get my shit. I ignored him staring at me as I dried off and dressed. “You like what you see?” I finally said when I slipped my shoes on and turned to him.
“Fuck off, Kosinski. I’ve been waiting on you for over twenty minutes.”
I scoffed. “Whatever, man, I barely took five minutes to shower. You could’ve gone down there ahead of me. It would’ve given you more time to suck Coach’s dick.” He bowed up, and I knew he wanted to hit me but he wouldn’t. He hated my guts but wouldn’t jeopardize his position as captain or the team in general. At least not in front of everyone.
Not in the mood to argue with him, I walked away and headed to Coach’s office. I’d only made it halfway there when he moved up to walk next to me.
“You don’t always have to be such a dick,” he said under his breath. I stopped, and he did too. Turning toward him, I crossed my arms.
“Look, I didn’t ask to get traded. I get that we have some bad blood, but fuck, man, we’re on the same goddamn team now. You’re supposed to be the team captain. Act like it.” I was sick and fucking tired of him being an asshole to me.
He stepped toward me and pushed his chest out. “You didn’t deserve that spot,” he growled.
“Oh, now we get to the root of your issues,” I goaded him, knowing it was stupid.
Like a flash, he fisted the front of my shirt and slammed me against the wall. “You. You’re my issue. I’m sick of your cocky fucking attitude and you thinking you own the goddamn ice. Your spot should’ve gone to Andre Bruschka. Instead, they set their sights on you. All because you’re Jurek Kosinski’s son.”
“Fuck you!” I shoved him off me. “I earned my own place on that ice. I didn’t ride my father’s name into shit.”
“Hey! That’s enough,” Coach bellowed from the end of the hall. “Get your asses in here.”
With one last glare at each other, we walked down and stepped into Coach Nick Soderberg’s office. My anger was so hot that I barely noticed the two women waiting in the room until I heard a soft gasp. At the same time that my eyes hit a pair of familiar blue ones, Coach introduced them.
“Alex, Kristoffer, meet Katie and Sydney. They represent the foundation and will be the ones you work with on this year’s projects.” My heart was hammering in my chest, and I barely heard what he said. My mind was too busy imagining the way she’d screamed my name as I was pounding into her and giving her the fourth orgasm of the night.
Because standing there in the office was none other than the Sydney from my one-night stand at the end of last season. She was also the same Sydney who’d starred in a great many of my fantasies over the summer.
Looked like this season was about to get a whole lot more fun.
Or a lot more complicated.
“Soft”—Motionless In White
Holy shitballs.
Alex, my one-of-a-kind one-night stand. The man responsible for ruining me for other men. The man I’d thought was a biker passing through. My Alex was Alex Kosinski, hockey player. No, not just hockey player, NHL superstar hockey player. Why, oh why, hadn’t I done better research on the team when I started?
“Sydney?” I heard his deep voice say, and I blinked rapidly to clear my vision. He was standing in front of me with his hand outstretched. Realizing I’d made myself the center of attention, I flushed hotly. Then I slipped my hand in his to shake. The shock to my system at his touch was something I hadn’t been prepared to experience.
“Nice to meet you,” I said weakly. One of his brows cocked as if to say oh, this is how we’re playing this? His strong callused hand wrapped around mine. I’d had visions of those same hands sliding over my skin for months.
“Nice to meet you, too.” He smirked. The other guy had barely made my radar, but he stepped up and shook my hand next. No one else had noticed the tension between me and Alex, but he seemed to pick up on something, as his gaze flickered from me to Alex and back to me. I watched with trepidation as I waited for him to bust us out on our lie.
“Kristoffer,” he offered. “Nice to meet you.”
Relief settled in my bones when he didn’t say anything more.
Katie was explaining her ideas and plans to the two of them as I stood back and reeled at my current situation. Maybe it shouldn’t be a big deal. Sure, we’d slept together, but it didn’t mean it had to affect our working relationship.
Oh, God, who was I kidding? We’d fucked like rabbits all night, and I hadn’t been able to forget it. Every night, I relived it in my dreams.
“Sydney,” Katie said firmly. I jolted out of my thoughts, embarrassed at getting lost in my head twice since stepping in that office.
“I’m sorry. Yes?”
“I asked if you could set up the photographer for Tuesday to shoot the images of Alex and Kristoffer,” she repeated, though I’d missed it the first time.
“Of course,” I replied with my cheeks on fire. I dropped my gaze to my tablet, where I entered the note to call the photographer. When I raised them, it was to find Alex’s locked on me.
The meeting was called to an end, and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I thought I’d make it back to my small office without having to awkwardly interact with Alex again. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t realize he’d followed me until I dropped my stuff on my desk and the door clicked.
Startled, I glanced up to find him leaning on the closed door.
“Alex,” I said in surprise. Nervously, I shuffled things on my desk.
“Oh, so you do remember me?” He raised a sexy brow and smirked. Damn him for being so beautiful. Several of the players were pretty hot, but I obviously hadn’t seen them all. And in my defense, it never crossed my mind that Alexander Kosinski, left wing of the Austin Amurs, would be my one-night stand Alex.
Since starting my job, I’d noticed a lot of hockey players were beat up and rough-looking. Speaking of my job, it had turned out to be one that I surprisingly enjoyed enough that I hadn�
��t bothered looking for a different one.
“Of course I do.” My face heated again—something it did often around him. “But I didn’t know who you were that night. Honest.”
“Trust me, I know you didn’t,” he said as he continued to stare at me. The predatory look in his eyes reminded me of the critically endangered cat the team was based on.
“Oh. Okay. Well, I didn’t want you thinking I was trying to use you as a connection to get this job. I actually thought you were a biker. I mean, you were with that club and staying in a hotel.” I dropped my gaze to my desk, but he was mesmerizing, and I had to look at him again.
He chuckled. “Well, my brother, Cooper, is a member. I just hang out with them every so often.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling awkward and suddenly at a loss for words.
“I still want you,” he bluntly announced. My eyes bugged. If I thought my face was heated before, it went up in flames at his statement.
“Alex! I—we can’t!” I sputtered.
“Why not?” He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it would be a big fat no-no for us to be together. Granted, I hadn’t read the employee manual like I probably should’ve, but I was sure there had to be some kind of fraternization policy with the players, or people would be trying to get jobs with the team to hook up with players all the time.
Not to mention, I couldn’t risk losing my job. I needed my job. My father would be all through my ass. Hell, he might disown me. Or worse, make me work at his company. So far, he’d been happy with my choice of jobs. For one, it made my mother happy because I was working with charitable endeavors. When Mom was happy, Dad was happy.
“Maybe because you’re a player and I’m an employee of the franchise?” I asked incredulously, like it should’ve been obvious. He took a step closer to me, and I retreated behind my small desk.
“Are you afraid of me?” His head tipped inquisitively. My traitorous eyes trailed down his fit body, remembering every inch of it. Inwardly, I groaned. His moisture-wicking shirt hugged every muscle. The edge of his tattoo peeking from the end of his sleeve, reminded me of digging my nails into his inked skin as he hovered above me. I licked my lips, and he chuckled darkly.
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