He gets that belligerent look in his eyes I think is so hot on his sister and I want to sock him in the teeth for ruining something I fucking love.
“No, but I’m married.”
I don’t have time for this shit. Grabbing my stick and helmet, I start for the ice.
“Fine,” he grunts from behind me. “I fucked up.”
“Don’t tell me, dickhead. Tell Natalie. Make it up to her.”
I’m halfway through the door when he calls after me. “How?”
I could keep going. Pretend I don’t hear him. But what’s that going to do for any of us? Nothing I want. So I turn around, ready to let some of that ego go. “Actually, I’ve got an idea. And you’re really not going to like it… but your sister will.”
Chapter 26
Natalie
We made it to conference finals, but lost game seven in double overtime. Greg blamed me for jinxing the team by wearing Vaughn’s jersey instead of his. No one took him seriously because I’d worn it to all the other playoff games we won, but he didn’t drop it until I mentioned how very lucky I got wearing those numbers.
Mean? Maybe. But Big Brother had it coming.
Fortunately, the team and management took the news about Vaughn and my relationship pretty well. It helped that Julia broke the story during an interview with Vaughn after a round-one playoff win when, in addition to two assists, my man scored the winning goal. Greg obviously knew about the interview ahead of time and was a good sport about the whole thing, even making a scowly cameo appearance so funny, the clip went viral.
The two guys have been flooded with interview requests ever since, but neither seems too keen on accepting. There’ll be plenty of interviews when Vaughn’s new contract goes through. Oregon wants him bad and their offer shows it.
Nothing’s official yet, but at this point, it could be any minute.
“Hey, babe, you ready to head over to my place?” Vaughn asks, coming up behind me to kiss my neck.
Setting my empty mug in the sink, I snuggle into his hold. “You bet.”
I thought I’d hold on to some doubts or reservations about what our relationship would mean for my life, but every time I think about our future together, all I feel is this joyful sense of relief. Like suddenly this kind of critical thing I didn’t even realize I was missing is right where it’s supposed to be.
Yeah, there are still a lot of unknowns ahead, but the one thing I do know is that I love this man and my life is infinitely better with him than it could ever be without.
“Got a bag?” he asks, taking my hand as we walk through my place.
“Front hall.” We don’t spend as many nights here these days. Security is better at his place, but last night he got sentimental and wanted to stay here. Or more specifically he wanted to do me against the door and then stay here.
Honestly, he has some really good ideas.
And since we were here, I figured I’d grab a few more things. We basically live together, but since we’ll be moving at the start of next season, it didn’t really make sense to pack more than once. And this works fine for now.
Vaughn swings my bag over his shoulder and, fingers caught in a loose hold, we head out.
It’s after noon on a sunny warm Saturday and it still tickles me a little that we can leave my place without worrying who’s going to see us these days. There’s usually someone. A reporter parked down the block or sometimes just a Slayers fan out for a walk. What’s weird though is that so many of them recognize me too, calling out our names like we’re friends when I’ve never laid eyes on them before.
That I haven’t gotten used to.
The trip from my place to Vaughn’s isn’t far. We drive through familiar neighborhoods, passing favorite stores and hangouts. I’m going to miss this town. I’ll be back for visits, but it won’t be the same.
And I’m okay with that.
All those months ago, I told Vaughn I was afraid of not having a choice about what my life looked like. And every day I thank my stars that I do. That I got to choose what mattered to me most. That I got to choose him.
The rest will come. A job. Coaching. Friends. Community. It’s going to be different than it was when I was a kid. Vaughn asked me to trust that he’d make sure it was, and I do. Completely.
He pulls down the alley and punches in the security code for the garage to park.
I climb out the passenger side and look through the small window toward the house. “I know we talked about waiting until closer to the season start to move, but maybe we should do it sooner.”
He raises a brow from across the hood. “Yeah?”
I shrug. “Give ourselves a chance to settle in before things get too intense from your end. I don’t know, do something crazy like actually decorate.”
“I like the idea of decorating.” He holds out his arm, waiting for me to tuck myself in for the walk through the breezeway to the house. “Playing with that app for this place was actually pretty fun.”
I smile, remembering the way we curled up on the couch a couple weeks back, using his phone to pick colors for the walls we would never paint. Pretending for a night that this was a space we could keep.
When we get to the back door, I put a hand on his arm. There’s music and voices coming from the other side. “Did you leave the TV on?”
The corner of his mouth turns up as he lets us in. “Nope.”
The fumes hit me first, and then the shockingly bright walls of a hall no longer marred by zebra-patterned paint and Old West runners. “Wha—?”
My feet won’t move and a startled laugh slips past my lips. Because I don’t understand what I’m seeing, can’t wrap my head around the six guys from the team parked in Vaughn’s living room.
My brother being one of them.
He’s sprawled in the corner of the couch, Xbox controller in hand, shouting about how Julia never would have let some shot through. He looks like he’s been there all day, and yet… I’m not getting a B&E-with-a-side-of-vandalism vibe off him.
“Greg,” I choke out. “What are you doing here?”
He cuts a quick look my way and hands off the controller to Popov. “Hey, Nat. Yeah… so umm… We’re hanging out, helping with some painting.”
“Painting?”
He pushes his mouth around until it’s finally muscled into something that looks like it’s supposed to be a smile. “Because we’re friends.”
There is something so wrong with those words coming out of Greg’s mouth. But then he’s walking over to where we’re standing to bust knuckles with Vaughn who asks if Julia made her flight okay.
I blink hard, wanting to be sure I’m actually seeing this. It’s so civil. So surreal.
Greg shifts from foot to foot. “You guys want a beer?”
Quinn walks in from the kitchen with a few bottles caught in his fingers and a streak of paint through his hair. “Step ahead of you. Hey, Natalie,” he says, pulling me in for a one-armed hug.
I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open, but the guys are making easy conversation about the moves on the Xbox and what would have happened if Rux played that way during the last game. Greg laughs, and there’s a crinkle at the corner of Vaughn’s eyes. Eyes that keep cutting over to mine like he doesn’t know exactly how I’m going to react.
Is this some kind of going-away gift? Like he wants to be good with the team that means so much to me before we leave for Oregon?
Vaughn takes me by the hand and leads me out to the patio. “Bet you never thought you’d see the day your brother and I made peace, huh?”
I give in to a quiet laugh and shake my head. “I guess if I’d known you planned to do it, I wouldn’t have doubted.” This is a man people should know better than to count out. “But why?”
“Because Greg is important to you. And what’s important to you is important to me.”
I reach up and stroke his cheek. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
Vaughn’s phone pings an
d he goes stiff. Pulling back, he holds up a finger. “One sec, baby.”
He checks his phone with a grin as a chorus of distant pings and chirps starts up. What the heck?
“What’s going on?” Only, I’m pretty sure I know. Oregon.
Whoops and congrats sound from the guys inside.
“Looks like my contract has been finalized.”
The air whooshes from my lungs and drawing another breath seems beyond my ability. Because this is it. This is why he invited everyone over. So why would they be painting—?
“Hey, Allie.” He’s giving me his hushed voice, the one that carries twice the impact of his loudest bellow. Knuckle tucked beneath my chin, he tips my head so I meet his eyes. “You gonna congratulate me on my new contract with the Slayers?”
I nod, overwhelmed even though I knew this was coming. Even though I’m beyond proud of him. “Congra— Wait, the Slayers?”
The corner of his mouth hitches up and he tucks an arm around my back, pulling me in against the warm, solid planes of his chest. “Yeah, it took some convincing, but the Slayers have picked me up for another two seasons. I mean, a trade is possible. But I’ve made it clear I’m hoping to finish my career out here… in Chicago.”
“B-but you hate Chicago. You hate playing with my brother,” I add quietly, even though Greg’s not close enough to hear… and he knows how Vaughn feels anyway.
“Chicago’s grown on me. And your fu— your brother isn’t so bad.”
“Garcia?”
“I talked to him before everything went down. He was disappointed, but he got it. He’s happy for me.”
“Vaughn.” I press my forehead into the center of his chest, dizzy and clinging to the one thing that matters. “How?”
Yes, he’s a top scorer, but this is the guy who nearly got scratched from the lineup because of how poorly he fit in with the team. And now he’s signed for two years? It doesn’t make sense.
He chuckles into my hair, gathering me closer with those big strong arms. “Haven’t you learned? If something’s important to me… I’m relentless. And Allie, there’s nothing more important to me than you.”
I’m soaking his shirt with my tears but I swear I can feel him smiling above me.
“You didn’t think I could do it, did you?”
I blink up at him. “Do what?”
“Prove that I could put you first.”
I didn’t. Not like this. I wouldn’t have asked him to.
He sobers. “Hockey is a big part of my life. I’ve made sacrifices and paid dues and played like it was the only thing that mattered. But you’ve got to believe me when I tell you it’s not.”
“Vaughn, is this what you want?” I don’t even know if it’s possible to change it, but—
“Baby, never doubt it.”
I nod, not sure I can speak.
“So what do you think? Want to keep this place? The guys helped me out by painting it with the colors we picked, but only so you could see how you felt about it.” He puts his hands on his hips, looking around like he didn’t just turn his life upside down. For me. “I’m seeing some potential. But it’s up to you.”
And now I’m laughing, looking around through watery eyes… at our home. “I love it.”
This time the smile that breaks past his scowl shatters it, leaving that broody demeanor in the dust. And his smile is beautiful. Overwhelming. And the predecessor to a kiss that steals my breath and turns my knees to jelly.
My arms lock around his neck and then he’s pulling me against him so my toes leave the ground. He’s kissing me like he’ll never stop. And—
A throat clears behind us and we freeze, mouths fused, arms tight around each other. I crack an eye and find Rux standing where I’d expect my brother to be. His arms are crossed over his massive chest and there’s a distinctive splotch of red across each cheek.
Oops.
“Yeah, so your brother just decided to take a quick jog around the block. He’s uuh… totally happy for you.” His eyes cut to Vaughn’s and then back to mine. “If you’re happy. But maybe try to keep it PG around him… you know, for a while.”
Vaughn breaks from the kiss completely and threads his fingers through mine. “I can wait. Not like I’m going anywhere.”
Rux’s eyes flick down to our locked hands, his brows knit into an uneasy frown. “Yeah, I guess that’ll be okay.”
The poor guy isn’t joking, but half the room starts laughing, me included. And when Greg shows up ten minutes later, I can see the struggle in his eyes before he mutters his congrats and pushes a stiff smile to his face.
Vaughn gives my hand a squeeze before letting it go. “I’m going to start the grill. O’Brian, want to give me a hand out here?”
“Yeah, man.” Then to me, he asks, “Your friend George coming over?”
I don’t have time to answer before Vaughn cuts in with a grumbled, “Jesus, Quinn, for the last time, she’s not into you.”
No. She's definitely not. And after what she told me, can't say I blame her.
Vaughn pulls me in, and the kiss he drops at my cheek has my heart doing flip-flops. It’s tender and sweet. Easy. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world. And I can’t believe this is what my life looks like.
A hand settles on my shoulder, solid and warm. Greg. “This what you want, Goon?”
I can’t help but smile at the decades-old nickname and the guy who wouldn’t let me shake it. “Yeah, this is what I want.”
“He still might get traded. You know how it works. The game always comes first.”
“Not always.” Not when it matters most. And that’s what I needed to know… what I never thought he or anyone would be able to convince me of.
“Yeah, guess not. I don’t know a lot of guys who would take that kind of pay cut or go through the shit he did to make this work. He says he loves you.” He’s looking at me like I’m about to take the car out for my first solo spin. “And I can see you love him.”
“I do,” I say, smiling into my beer.
He nods. Arms stacking higher across his chest, eyes going hard as he juts his chin toward Vaughn. “You want a ring?”
That beer wasn’t supposed to go into my lungs. After a few hacks, I gawk at my brother, but he’s already laughing, backing away with his hands up. “Gotcha. I’ll let you guys figure that out yourself.”
…And we do.
Six months later in Vancouver, in the hotel that started it all. I wake up in the very same bed I snuck out of almost two years before. Vaughn is lying beside me, a gorgeous sparkling ring pinched between his fingers and that sexy smile on his always-a-little-rough face.
He opens his mouth, but I cut him off with my kiss, and when we come up for air, that ring is on my finger and I say the most wonderful word ever spoken.
“Yes.”
Thank you for reading DIRTY SECRET! I hope you had as much fun with Vaughn & Natalie as I did. Hungry for more Slayers' hockey? Quinn & George are up next in DIRTY HOOKUP.
Ready to go back to the very beginning? Fall in love with Hank & Abby in HARD CRUSH, book 1 of my Back To You series of sexy second chance romances.
I never thought I’d see her again
Let alone find her in the same spot I left her ten years ago, teaching at the high school where we fell in love.
I should have kept walking
But I wanted that laugh. That smile.
I wanted five minutes before I got back to the life with no room for my past.
One kiss was all I meant to take
But then her fingers were in my hair, her breath hot against my lips.
My hands… everywhere.
Now I want more
I want her, but she only wants the guy I used to be.
And just like the first time... I can’t stay, and she won’t leave.
One-Click HARD CRUSH here
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((HUGS))
Mira
Also by Mira Lyn Kelly
SLAYERS HOCKEY
DIRTY SECRET (Vaughn & Natalie)
DIRTY HOOKUP (Quinn & George - Coming Soon)
BACK TO YOU
HARD CRUSH (Hank & Abby)
DIRTY PLAYER (Greg & Julia)
DIRTY BAD BOY (Jack & Laurel)
DARE TO LOVE
TRUTH OR DARE (Molly & Ty)
TOUCH & GO (Ava & Sam)
NOW & THEN (Brynn & Ford)
COMING AROUND AGAIN (McTark Re-releases)
Just Friends (Matt & Nikki)
All In (Lanie & Jason)
THE WEDDING DATES
MAY THE BEST MAN WIN (Jase & Emily)
THE WEDDING DATE BARGAIN (Max & Sarah)
JUST THIS ONCE (Sean & Molly)
DECOY DATE (Brody & Gwen)
WAKING UP
WAKING UP MARRIED (Megan & Connor)
WAKING UP PREGNANT (Darcy & Jeff)
UNCONNECTED NOVELS
ONCE IS NEVER ENOUGH (Nichole & Garrett)
NEVER STAY PAST MIDNIGHT (Levi & Elise)
THE S BEFORE EX (Ryan & Claire)
FRONT PAGE AFFAIR (Payton & Nate)
WILD FLING OR A WEDDING RING (Cali & Jake)
Acknowledgments
Writing is a team sport. I couldn’t do it alone. I wouldn’t want to. And I am beyond grateful, every single day, for the girls who make sure I never feel like I am.
DIRTY SECRET: A Slayers Hockey Novel Page 17