Best Shot (Madison Howlers Book 2)

by Camellia Tate

  “I thought you’d be wearing your uniform,” she admitted, eyes sweeping once again over the very solid muscle in Dimples’ arms and chest. Now that she knew , she could appreciate that he did look as though his job was not to be knocked over. “I’ve never pictured hockey players out of their uniforms.” It took a moment before Thea realized how that sounded. She laughed, grateful the bar was too dark for him to see the color creeping up her cheeks.

  Dimples obviously also spotted the double meaning, but he didn’t tease her about that . It was... kind of sweet. Of course, then he returned to her first admission - about expecting the hockey players to be in uniform.

  “We do shower after games and then dress in... normal clothes,” Dimples pointed out. “We’d stink the place up so bad if we came here straight off the ice.” Now that he explained it, that made sense. It just still wasn’t what Thea had imagined .

  Thinking about Dimples in the shower was doing nothing to cool Thea’s flushed face. She pushed such thoughts aside to focus on what was important. “You played it very cool,” she complimented, grinning up at him. “I honestly didn’t suspect. I see now that I should have done.” It made Thea’s stomach swoop pleasantly. She liked a man who could keep her on her toes.

  “So, was I right?” she asked. “ Did you enjoy the chance to show you can talk about more than hockey?” No matter what he said, Dimples had done very well.

  Dimples laughed, earning his nickname all over again as he smiled at Thea. “I didn’t not enjoy it,” he informed her. Admittedly, they hadn’t talked about very much. Some of it had even been about hockey. “I haven’t even got your name, though,” he announced, before holding his hand out for her very politely .

  “I’m Blake,” Dimples told her.

  Thea’s stomach gave an excited flip, only for her to then feel her heart sink. Blake . She instantly thought of Doe’s soulmark. Of course, this might not be the right Blake. As Doe’s best friend, wasn’t it Thea’s responsibility to take a step back, to at least wait and see? She forced a smile, hoping her distraction wasn’t obvious.

  “I’m Thea,” she answered, giving his hand the briefest of squeezes, trying to ignore how warm and strong his fingers felt as they closed around hers. Mentally, Thea gave herself a little shake. She had to act natural! Doe would forgive Thea if she made fools of them trying to get Blake over to their table, but Thea would prefer she didn’t have to.

  After glancing around for inspiration, Thea asked, “Are the rest of the team here?”

  Blake laughed, waving his hand towards a whole table full of men. Now that he’d pointed them out, they did look tall and built, kind of like what Thea would’ve imagined hockey players to look.

  “I don’t think you’re going to make a detective,” he told her managing to sound genuinely apologetic.

  She gave a very dramatic sigh, pouted for a second, and then broke into a grin. “I’m not going to make a waitress, either. I promised my friend I’d bring a drink back for her, and here I am with just my own.” She held up the glass Blake had bought for her, taking a sip. “Why don’t you let me buy you a drink in return, and then you can come over with me?” she suggested. “My work colleagues really are hockey fans. They’ll never forgive me if I’ve spent this long chatting to you and I don’t even get them an autograph.”

  Blake laughed. This time, Thea did her best not to think about how cute his dimples looked. At least she knew for certain that Doe would like them, too. “Alright,” he nodded, letting her order drinks for them and Doe. Like a true gentleman, Blake offered to carry the tray that the barman had put the drinks on. Being tall and broad-shouldered definitely made him less likely to drop the drinks because someone bumped into him.

  Thea led them to the table and Martin honest to God squealed when he saw Blake.

  “Oh my God! You’re Blake Ashbury!” he exclaimed. Blake gave a smile that Thea noticed was very different from how he’d smiled at her. This must’ve been his ‘fan’ smile, she realized.

  Despite Martin’s excitement, Thea saw the way Doe’s eyes widened at Blake’s name. Almost as quickly, she then looked at Thea. She knew that Doe had met other Blakes in her life before, but it still wasn’t the most common of names. There was always a chance.

  It took some time to get Blake away from Martin and the rest of Thea’s colleagues. He didn’t seem to mind. At the very least, he answered the same questions multiple times without ever pointing out that they were the same questions.

  Finally, Thea managed to steer Doe and Blake to the same side of one of the tables. “This is my best friend, Doe Holt,” she introduced, waving a hand at Doe. “And as you may have gathered, this is Blake. He plays hockey.” She grinned at them both.

  Sitting across from them, Thea could see how good they looked together, with Blake’s broad shoulders setting off Doe’s prettiness. They were like something off a Christmas card.

  “Blake was telling me earlier how much he likes that hockey brings the fans together,” Thea explained to Doe, before glancing at Blake. “Is this the kind of thing you meant, or are you not usually personally involved?”

  “I’m usually less involved,” Blake admitted. He then turned to give Doe a smile. It struck Thea how he clearly knew how to talk to strangers. A lot of people weren’t very good at including someone new into a conversation. Blake wasn’t one of those people.

  “I don’t think your friend would make a great detective,” he informed Doe seriously. “She kept telling me how disappointing it was that there were no hockey players here.” That earned him a laugh from Doe and Blake smiled at the sound, cheeks dimpling.

  “Thea would make a great detective,” Doe defended her like a true friend. “Unless the murder was committed by a hockey player, of course,” she teased, giving Thea a wink.

  “This is so embarrassing!” Thea groaned dramatically, before rolling her eyes at her own performance. It truly didn’t bother her to be made fun of, not when she knew it was done with good humor. Besides, it was giving Doe and Blake something to bond over.

  Wanting to give them more to talk about, Thea turned eagerly to Doe. “Blake is an expert with chat-up lines,” she informed her. “Ask him if he knows any about your job.” She glanced at Blake. “Doe’s career is much more exciting than mine,” she assured.

  “An expert?” Doe repeated, giving Blake a curious look. He shook his head in denial.

  “I’m really not. I promise to still try, though! What do you do?” he asked, and even managed to look genuinely keen to try. Doe seemed a little surprised by that. Even in the dim light of the bar, Thea could see her blush.

  It almost made Thea feel like she should step in. She stopped herself. If this was Doe’s soulmate, it was important that she could talk to him herself. Doe was plenty of fun and plenty of interesting. She was just also shy . Thea wanted Blake to see past that.

  “I’m a construction coordinator,” Doe answered. “It’s really not that exciting.” Thea could see how Blake’s eyes widened like he hadn’t expected that to be the answer. To be fair, looking at Doe, she didn’t instantly look like someone who worked on a construction site.

  “As a construction worker, you must be great at nailing things. Want to show me?” Blake said. For a moment there was absolute silence from Doe. And then, suddenly she burst into a high-pitched giggle. It made Blake’s smile appear once more, so wide and happy that Thea’s breath caught.

  “See,” she said, grinning. “I told you!” Doe and Blake turned to look at her , rather than each other. Thea wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything. Being quiet wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

  Attempting to use her big mouth for good , Thea urged them on with a wave of her hand. “Go on, I bet Blake has loads of questions about what it’s like to coordinate construction.” It was startling to realize that Thea already trusted Blake to pick up the conversational ball. Hopefully, he wouldn’t let her down.

  If there was a bit of confusion in the look that
Blake shot her, then Thea very effectively ignored it. She couldn’t have made it much clearer that she thought Blake and Doe should talk. At least Doe knew why . She gave Thea a small smile but did then turn back to Blake. Thea didn’t miss the way Doe tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She liked him, that was such a giveaway sign.

  “I really doubt construction is that exciting. Not in comparison to hockey ,” Doe commented.

  “No, probably not in comparison to hockey,” Blake agreed seriously before smiling to show he was teasing. “Tell me what made you get into it?” He asked. He was very good at conversation.

  Thea didn’t have to say much after that. Doe told Blake all about her job, and he told her about moving to Madison, and what it was like to play hockey for a living. Thea only had to bite her lip a few times, to keep from asking Blake more questions about himself.

  Eventually, she let Martin distract her, telling her all about how exciting it was to be sitting at a table with a genuine member of the Madison Howlers. He didn’t seem to mind that Blake was fully occupied with talking to Doe. Thea smiled to herself as she watched Doe bloom under Blake’s attention.

  Blake found her before he left, to say goodbye, and thank her for the introduction to her friend. It was sweet, Thea reminded herself. If she felt a little sad that she didn’t get any dimples from Blake’s goodbye smile, it would pass.

  It wasn’t until she and Doe were safely in their Uber, heading home, that Thea could ask how the rest of the conversation had gone. It had looked good from where she was sitting, but she wanted to be sure .

  Thea didn’t have to fake her squeal of delight when Doe admitted that she’d asked Blake out. She wanted her friend to be happy, and Blake seemed like a guy who could make Doe happy. He clearly had enough good sense to recognize a good match when he met one because he’d said yes to Doe’s suggestion of a date.

  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too weird if Thea was around when Blake came to pick Doe up.

  Chapter Two

  Ever since Blake Ashbury had been little, he’d been told that it was very important to hide your soulmark. The first time Blake had even seen someone else’s soulmark was when he was about ten. It was a year before his own soulmark would settle neatly under his left kneecap. The memory would always stay with him, just because Blake had been so surprised.

  The man had been working on the Ashbury estate. It had been Blake’s nanny who’d had to tell him not to stare. It had also been her who had explained to Blake that some people wore their marks openly once they met their soulmatch. Some, he’d learned much later in life, also just wore them openly. Their families hadn’t raised them not to .

  It was years after his own soulmark came - the name ‘Dorothy’ always well hidden from everyone - that Blake realized that his parents weren’t a soulmatch. The romantic notion that everyone found the right person and that that person’s name matched theirs was just that - romantic. At least according to Blake’s family. Connections that benefitted the family financially or in business were much more important.

  Even when Blake had chosen hockey over the family business, soulmarks were still something you hid. He had seen the way fans threw themselves at players. He’d even heard horror stories about players who had ended up dating fans only to find out that they weren’t a match, having their private lives dragged across tabloids. So Blake carried on hiding his soulmark.

  Not that Blake had ever even met anyone called Dorothy. It was an old fashioned name, he felt. Maybe not as unusual as some others, but it was far from common . Blake didn’t mind not having met anyone who matched the name on his skin. He knew a few people who had. It mostly just seemed quite awkward.

  It wasn’t that Blake didn’t want to one day meet his Dorothy. He just didn’t really hold his breath waiting for it. Blake liked dating, he liked to get to know people. It was a lot more important to find a connection with someone without relying on the soulmate element to magically work out.

  Sometimes that worked for him and sometimes it didn’t. It had, however, earned him the reputation of being a romantic. Blake wasn’t sure that was what he was . Unlike a lot of his teammates, Blake also didn’t sleep around. It was a personal choice and he didn’t fault those who did . Blake just preferred to date.

  Which was probably why half the team was currently asking him questions about stuff that was none of their business.

  “Of course it’s our business! If we don’t have gossip what will we talk about?” Ricky proclaimed dramatically from where he was putting his shinpads on.

  “Yeah, Ashy, come on! You got hit on by two hot girls,” one of the rookies almost whined , making Blake roll his eyes.

  “Doe asked me out and I said yes,” Blake said, in hopes that’d shut them up. It didn’t.

  “Was she the blond one? Or the brunette? They were both hot,” Ricky said.

  Blake could hardly disagree. Both Thea and Doe were very attractive. At first, Blake had thought that he had a solid thing going with Thea. But then she’d basically pushed him and Doe together and, well... Doe was very sweet. She was precisely the sort of girl who Blake normally dated. So when she’d asked him out Blake had said yes.

  “The blond one,” he answered. “And can we now stop talking about this like gossipy teenagers?” he asked but was met with loud grunts and multiple ‘no’s. Somewhere on the other side of the locker, Blake was pretty sure he even heard James say ‘but we want the details ’.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” the Coach bellowed, walking into the changing rooms. Blake honestly didn’t think he could’ve been more glad about the potential of being told off. When someone tried to answer, the Coach shook his head. “I don’t actually care. We’ve got a new guy I’d like you to meet,” he said instead. Suddenly, everyone was a lot more interested in that.

  They knew this was coming, of course. New and traded players were still always exciting to receive. A guy about a head taller than Blake walked in and hilariously someone gave a small cheer. “This is Blake Remington, coming to us from Memphis. Let’s try to treat him well, yeah, boys?”

  “Wait, wait!” Connor said from next to Blake. “We already have a Blake,” he announced like this was a serious consideration. Like maybe Remington should be traded back just because they couldn’t have two Blakes on the team. It was... sweet. And kind of funny.

  “It’s cool,” other-Blake laughed. “Call me Remy,” he added. That seemed to satisfy Connor, who nodded.

  Shaking his head, Blake stood up to hold his hand out to Remy. “I’m the original Blake,” he teased.

  Remy grinned back, squeezing Blake’s hand. “At least that’s one name I can guarantee I’ll remember,” he announced. “You’re on the third line, right?” Blake must’ve looked surprised because Remy laughed.

  “I’ve been watching videos of recent games,” he explained. “If I want to hit the ground running here, it makes sense to come in prepared.”

  “Preparation, that’s what we like,” Nilssy announced, smacking Remy on the back on his way past. It made Blake laugh. None of the guys except for maybe Hayden were very good at being prepared for anything. Maybe hockey didn’t count. They all would’ve watched videos of recent games for a new team they were joining.

  “Yeah, I center the third,” Blake nodded. “I would apologize for you not being able to use your name, but I’m guessing ‘Remy’ is a hockey nickname?” It was the same as people calling Blake ‘Ashy’. He responded to it as well as his first name. “You’ll still have to let me buy you a welcome-slash-sorry drink after training,” he decided with a grin.

  “I’m not going to turn down a free drink,” Remy agreed, earning him an approving laugh. “We can skip the apology. I’ve been answering to Remy for years, I doubt I’ll notice the difference. Even my girlfriend -” Remy paused, then shrugged. “Ex-girlfriend, now. Even she never called me Blake.”

  “Oh, that sucks man,” Ricky offered and Blake gave a nod. It was obviously a pretty fresh bre
akup if Remy still had to remind himself she was his ex now.

  “I hope it wasn’t because you had to move?” That would definitely suck. Blake knew that Connor had been worried about that when his girlfriend had been about to move to the other side of the country. It wasn’t something that Blake had any personal experience with. He’d never had a girlfriend around the time he’d had to move.

  “No,” Remy answered, shaking his head. “No, in a way I was glad of the opportunity to move. Get away from everything that reminds me of June, at least until it’s not so raw.” He sounded casual, but Blake suspected that was more because he didn’t want to turn his first day with a new team into a pity-party.

  “Not to mention,” Remy added, with a broader smile, “getting to play with all of you lot. You’ve done well for yourselves this last season, making the playoffs. I’m hoping I can help us make it there again.”

  That was definitely the right thing to say. It earned Remy a loud cheer. Blake laughed, shaking his head. “Come on, new-Blake, I’ll show you where your locker is,” he said jokingly. After that, it wasn’t long before the Coach hurried them off to the skate, pushing them all to show Remy just how good of a team they were.

  It was in the post-training rush that the topic of Blake’s dating life came up again.

  “So wait,” Ricky said, managing to sound actually thoughtful . James instantly made a joke about that, earning some dirty socks thrown at him by Ricky. “ Anyway ,” he continued after a moment. “Does that mean the brunette’s single?”

  It took Blake a moment to realize what Ricky was on about. He was a little surprised by how his insides shifted uncomfortably. It almost led Blake to say that Thea wasn’t but he hardly knew that. “I guess? Why? Need me to get you a date?” Blake joked, hoping that he managed to sound fine.

  “Well, she was very pretty.”

  Thea had been very pretty and funny. Just because she hadn’t been interested in Blake didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be interested in one of his teammates, he supposed. In fact, she’d been pretty interested in hockey players even if she hadn’t recognized any.