Jesus, who is this needy person speaking for me?
“We’ll see.” She paused in the doorway as I opened it for her. Before she could say anything, I hooked the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. She sighed as I let her go. “See you later,” I said as she made her way to her car.
Absently, she waved over her shoulder. Right as I was shutting the door, I saw her press her fingertips to her lips as she sat behind the wheel. By the time I was in my car and the garage door was rolling up, a goofy grin was affixed to my face.
It lasted all through practice, and several of my teammates commented. It was impossible to get rid of it though. Despite the fact that I never saw her enter the stands to watch us practice. Then again, Coach was working us pretty hard. After all, we had a game tomorrow. It was possible I missed her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Beck asked me as we were showering. The room was full of steam, and he nearly shouted to be heard over all the water and talking.
“What are you talking about?” I asked before turning my face into the water and scrubbing my beard. He didn’t answer until I turned back around, shut off the water, and wrapped my towel around my waist.
He was looking at me strangely as he followed me back to the locker room. McGregor was already there, as was Halvorson.
“Looks like the face of someone who got laid,” snarked Halvorson. McGregor looked from him to me with a confused expression. For a brief second, I paused as I stared at Halvorson with narrowed eyes.
“Dude. It’s the middle of the week and we just got home last night,” argued McGregor. “He’s good but he isn’t that good.”
Halvorson gave a sarcastic snort like he knew more than he was saying. My blood started to heat at his attitude, and I got up in his face.
“What’s your deal, man? If you have something to fucking say, just say it,” I said, my mood shot to hell.
His face morphed to one of mock innocence. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time for your shit.” I dressed, grabbed my crap, and left. I’d almost made it to my car when McGregor called out to me. Pausing, I looked skyward before I turned.
“Wait up!” He jogged to catch up. Once he reached me, I started walking again. In my peripheral, I could see him taking sidelong glances at me.
Finally, I paused outside my car and faced him. “What’s up?” I asked, trying not to sound shitty with him, because he hadn’t done anything.
“Jesus, what the fuck was that back there?”
“Ask Halvorson. I have no clue what his deal is other than he’s pissed because I joined the team. Like I had a choice. Like I called them up and said, ‘Oh! Take me! Please!’ Because I can assure you I didn’t. Do I like you and the team? Sure I do. But I didn’t ask for this and I’m sick of his fucking attitude. Being traded is the name of the game. I’m terribly sorry I didn’t have a fucking no-trade clause with Montreal, but I have one now. So fuck him.” That was one good thing my agent had done. Well, I’d thought it was. She’d negotiated a no-trade clause for me with Austin.
“Alex, man, chill. He’ll get over it. He can be a dick, I get it.” McGregor attempted to be my voice of reason, but I was beyond caring at that point.
“Yeah? Well, he needs to get off my dick, cuz he’s swinging on it like Tarzan. He’s constantly got something to say. Always digging. Always pushing. There’s only so much of his mouth I can take before I’m going to knock his fucking teeth out.” Catching movement, I looked over to see Halvorson sliding his shades on like he was motherfucking Joe Hollywood. He shot me a smirk and slid into his Porsche.
My fists clenched as he gave a sarcastic wave when he drove past us.
Something with his attitude didn’t sit well with me. It was like he was up to something, but for the life of me, I had no idea what.
“Radioactive”—Imagine Dragons
Biker Boy: I didn’t see you at practice
My phone pinged, and my heart galloped as soon as I saw his name. Glancing at the clock, I saw I still had about forty-five minutes before I was done for the day. Biting my lip, I picked it up and nervously tapped on the side. I didn’t want to seem too eager.
Me: We got busy
Biker Boy: You still coming over after work?
Me: Since all my makeup and shit is there I imagine so
That was a piss-poor excuse because it was only my emergency shit that was there. I didn’t really wear a lot of makeup most of the time. Yes, I had done myself up that first night we met, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. If I had to go to work with a bare face, it wouldn’t kill me.
Biker Boy: Cool. Call or text when you get here. I’ll open the garage and you can park inside
Me: Afraid your neighbors will know you’re having sleepovers?
Biker Boy: You’re gonna pay for that when you get here
Me: Oooo. I’m scared
Biker Boy: You should be
The little devil emoji he inserted at the end made me snort out a laugh. He didn’t strike me as an emoji kind of guy, so anytime he used them, I got a chuckle out of it.
“Must be interesting,” Katie said from the doorway with a grin. Startled and embarrassed at being caught on my phone at work, I dropped it and placed my hands over it. Katie giggled. “Relax. I was just going to tell you that it’s kind of quiet this afternoon if you want to head out early. I’m going to take off in a few minutes. You going to the game tomorrow night? I meant to ask you earlier.”
“Um, yeah, I think I will. My friend Natalie has been bugging me to take her to a game.”
“Cool! I’m not going to be there because I’m going out to dinner with my sister. Sam and Josie are running the table tonight. We’ll be setting up a table at the Saturday game, so we probably won’t see a lot of it then. Have fun.” With a wave, she left. Until then, I’d worried I’d get my butt chewed for being on my phone. Though Katie was pretty cool, I was still new.
Packing up my bag, I took one last glance at the computer screen. The action shot of Alex at the end of last season was hot as hell. He’d teased about me doing research on him. Though I’d looked him up, I was telling the truth when I said I hadn’t memorized it.
Now I knew that he was twenty-five. Originally from Minnesota. Played hockey all his life. Dad was a former NHL star, and parents were divorced. Both still gorgeous, even though his dad likely had had his nose broken at some point. Alex had sure come from really fantastic genes.
There were a ton of pics of him online—each one hotter than the last.
There were also a ridiculous number of him with sexy supermodels, beautiful debutantes, and celebrities. That was not including all the pics of him with female fans. The gossip sites all pegged him as one of the biggest playboys of the NHL. The dude could literally have any woman he wanted.
Why me?
No, I wasn’t ugly. But I certainly didn’t compare to the women he was usually seen with. Maybe it was the challenge of making sure we didn’t get caught. God, what if it was that I’d been easy? Like the hundreds of puck bunnies in the world.
Ugh, I needed to stop.
Blowing out a heavy sigh, I shut down my computer. I walked out to my car, digging my keys out of my bag. When I got close, I jumped.
“Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me,” I said with my hand pressed to my racing heart. Halvorson gave me a crooked smile as he leaned against my car. “What are you still doing here?”
“I left after practice but had to come back. Left my phone.” He held up a cell phone in his hand.
“Oh. Okay. Well, what are you doing waiting by my car? You could’ve come to my office if you needed something,” I offered, confused.
“Well, I actually just happened to notice your car as I came out to mine.” He nodded over to the flashy sports car parked next to me. “Then I saw you walking out and wanted to make sure you got to your car okay. It’s not very often, but sometimes we get some sketchy characters over here.�
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“Really?” I looked around nervously. The stadium seemed to be in an okay area, and we were in the secured employee and player parking. Maybe not the most upscale neighborhood, but definitely not bad. I hadn’t had a bad experience yet.
He shrugged. “Not often, but sometimes.”
“Well, thank you.” I gave him a small smile. He continued to block my door. “Was there something else?”
Raising his chin, he appeared to study me. Then he pushed off my vehicle with a grin. “No, not really. Looking forward to working with you on this project this year.”
“Thanks, I’m looking forward to it too.”
With a friendly wave, he walked around my car, got in his, and drove off. It was then that I wondered how he’d known which car was mine. Feeling perplexed at the whole encounter, I shook my head before getting in my car and pulling out of the lot.
Halfway to Alex’s, my phone rang. Biker Boy flashed across my car’s display. The ridiculous smile on my face was a direct reflection of his call. My odd interaction with Kristoffer Halvorson was forgotten as I answered.
“Hello, handsome,” I said with a grin. Then my face heated because maybe I was overstepping my bounds. It had me wondering what the rules to a casual hookup situation were.
“You almost here?”
“Just about,” I said as my heart went haywire at the thought of seeing him again soon. That in itself told me I was playing with fire. I was getting too caught up in him, too quick, and the odds that this would end badly were scarily high.
Not only was I risking my job, but I hated to see what my uncle would say if he found out I was banging one of the players. Lord help me.
“Good, I started supper.”
“You cooked? And don’t you mean dinner?” I grinned as I switched lanes.
“No self-respecting Minnesotan calls it dinner unless it’s midday.” He sounded affronted but then snorted out a laugh. “Just get here safe.”
“Yes, sir!” I said in a snarky tone before I giggled.
“See you soon.”
“Yep,” I replied then ended the call. The rest of the drive was a bit of a blur because I was antsy and on the edge of my seat. Rationally, I tried to tell myself it was because this was new. New sex was exciting.
No, it wasn’t.
I’d had plenty of short relationships that involved sex. Wow, that made me sound like I was easy. Okay, maybe not that many relationships. The one thing I could say with certainty was that none of them, and I meant none, left me feeling like Alex did.
When I pulled into his driveway, I didn’t actually need to call. One of the garage doors was open to an empty bay. I pulled in and turned off my car. Then I sat there for a minute trying to get my heart to chill out. The door that went into the house opened, pulling me out of my half-assed meditation.
Too bad my heart wasn’t close to calming down. When I stepped out of the car, everything else was meaningless background. The man standing there as the garage door slowly closed held my complete attention.
Dark, wavy hair brushed his toned shoulders, and an Austin Amurs T-shirt stretched across his perfectly sculpted chest. Worn and slightly tattered jeans were slung low on his narrow hips. The look on his face screamed I want to fuck you. Now. On the hood of your car.
My hooha was answering, For the love of God, yessssss!
“You coming in? Or are you gonna stay out here all night?”
“I’m coming,” I said breathlessly. To which he smirked.
“You sure as hell will be,” he said softly. Oh, sweet Jesus. Inside, I whimpered.
When I reached him, my stomach flipped, and I took a deep breath. That was a mistake too, because the scent of his body wash, cologne, or whatever it was that made him smell so delicious hit me. It nearly made me dizzy with desire.
He didn’t move out of the way at first. The tip of his tongue touched his bottom lip before his beautiful teeth bit it. It was a sexy standoff until he backed up for me to come in.
He was grilling steaks on the indoor grill that was a part of his fancy range. His entire kitchen was a chef’s dream.
“It smells delicious,” I said as I set my purse on the kitchen island and turned to face him. Like the graceful cat that was his mascot, he prowled toward me. Stopping toe to toe, he hooked the back of my neck with his firm hand and pulled me in.
“Thanks. I hope you like your steak medium,” he murmured. “If not, I can pull yours off now, or leave it on longer.”
“Medium is actually perfect.”
By that time, my heart was hammering against my ribs and my stomach was full of butterflies clamoring to escape. Everything about him hit my senses, and the second his lips touched mine, it was like being hit with a million volts. Despite the slow and sensuous way his lips owned mine, it was explosive.
Finally, he broke away, leaving me reeling and dazed.
“Let’s eat before I’m tempted to have my dessert first,” he whispered against my forehead before he gave me a chaste kiss there and stepped away.
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked, feeling slightly useless. He glanced over his shoulder from where he was plating our food.
“Yes, you can grab whatever bottle of wine you want from the wine chiller,” he said as he motioned to the massive built-in cooler in the corner of the kitchen. As I selected one, the giant cat rubbed against my legs. His purr was a loud rumble.
“You,” I said accusingly to the beast. “I want you to know you scared the absolute shit out of me.”
Alex chuckled from over by the stove. “I should’ve warned you, but I can honestly say I was pretty distracted last night.”
After setting the bottle on the table, I went in search of an opener. He pointed to the proper drawer, and I set it on the table too.
Dinner was amazing.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?” I asked before I took another scrumptious bite. It literally had me moaning.
“Fuck, Syd. Don’t do that,” he said in a pained voice with his fork halfway to his mouth.
I froze midchew. He swallowed hard, then placed his food in his mouth. The whole time, his eyes held mine.
Through a charged silence, we finished the meal. The dishes went in the dishwasher, and we christened his kitchen counter.
At least I hoped we were christening it, because the thought of him doing it with someone else made me ill. Not that I was naive enough to think there had never been women; I simply didn’t like to imagine it.
Later, after another hot soak in his opulent bathtub, we were snuggled up in bed. Victor was sleeping against my back, and I rested with my head on Alex’s chest and one leg thrown over his. I traced the tattoo on his upper chest.
“Did you decide if you’re going to use my tickets for tomorrow night’s game?” The question rumbled through his chest.
I lifted my head, resting my chin on his rock-hard pec as I looked him in the eye. “Actually, I think I will.” Though I tried not to smile, the corner of my mouth quirked, and his face lit up.
“Cool. I’ll make sure the tickets are at will-call. Or I can have them delivered to your office.” It wasn’t what he said but the expression on his face that told me he was happy with my decision.
“Will-call is fine. Saturday night I have to run the foundation table with Katie, though,” I admitted. “I’ll try to get a few peeks at the game if I’m able.”
“Thanks, babe.” He stretched to kiss the tip of my nose. Then he shut the light off.
Snuggling, I fell asleep thinking I could get used to nights like that.
“How Did You Love”—Shinedown
“This is only Coach Soderberg’s second season with the Amurs. The past few years have been a learning experience for Soderberg going from player to coach. Not to mention he’s one of the youngest coaches in the league after coaching in the AHL for only a couple of seasons. That’s gotta be tough. He probably played against a lot of these guys at one time or another.” The ann
ouncer was spouting mindless filler as we stepped off the ice after the first period.
It faded away as we moved further down the tunnel to the locker room. As the team pulled their gloves and helmets off, we dropped dejectedly to the bench. We were losing, and it didn’t sit well with any of us. At least we were only going into the second period one point down.
Except we never recovered. The entire game, we trailed by one.
“What the fuck was that out there?” Coach shouted in the locker room after the game. Sitting there sweaty, pissed, and bummed, we took the ass chewing. Thankfully, he chilled after his initial outburst. Coach was pretty fair and usually levelheaded. None of us really blamed him for shouting, because we all wondered the same damn thing.
Me: You wanna join us for a drink?
Sexy Sydney: I don’t think so. I have to work in the morning. Rain check?
Hating to admit that it kind of bummed me I wouldn’t see her, I walked over to the bar we usually went to after a game. It wasn’t a big fancy club; it was more of a hole in the wall that suited us fine. I shot her a text before I went inside.
Me: What about after Saturday’s game?
Sexy Sydney: I’m working the game. Don’t know what time we’ll get out of there. I’m sorry.
Me: Fine. We’ll reassess after Saturday’s game, but I’m calling the rain check Sunday morning. No excuses. Be ready to be up early
Sexy Sydney: Um K
We all nursed our woes with a beer, then went home with a new determination for Saturday’s game.
Thursday night’s loss had sucked donkey dicks. Friday’s practice was long and grueling.
By Friday night I was already feeling sexually frustrated. Which was crazy as hell, because I had gone half the summer without pussy and survived.
Deciding it was too easy for her to blow me off over text, I called her.
“Hey. Y’all practiced forever today,” she said in place of a hello.
I blew out a hard, ragged exhale. “Yeah, Coach was relentless. What do you say to a quiet night in with me?”
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