Tap Out: BTU Alumni Series Book #2

by Ciz, Alley

  Rocky had been to The Ice Box—the arena of the New Jersey Blizzards—hundreds of times in her life. First as a fan growing up, then to support her friends after they were drafted.

  Jordan owned a row of seats next to the team bench in front of the boards since her parents had switched to a luxury suite after their granddaughters were born.

  During hockey season, if the Blizzards were home, the girls spent their nights out at The Ice Box. If she couldn’t work with the team like she wanted, the next best thing was being able to cheer them on as loudly as possible.

  The Donnelly suite was packed when they walked in. She introduced Gage to Jordan’s parents and then Jake’s as they worked their way through the room. When she spotted Simone, now officially Griff's girlfriend, talking to Sammy and Jamie Hawke, she dragged Gage across the room to say hello and make more introductions.

  Sammy planted a smacking kiss on her lips as she wrapped her free arm around him in a tight hug. She caught Gage’s dark look and how his hand tightened around hers as Sammy kissed her, more attuned to his jealous streak since earlier with Jase.

  “Hey, Jamie,” she called her friend’s husband. “Control your man before he gets his ass kicked by a professional fighter.”

  A deep chuckle cut through the mounting tension as Jamie Hawke—rock star extraordinaire, front man for the multi-platinum selling, seven-time Grammy-winning band Birds of Prey, and Sammy’s spouse—came to retrieve Sammy before his pretty face could be damaged.

  “Spins,” Jamie scolded his husband, “I thought we discussed this. You need to have permission before you go around kissing people.”

  “You're right, Jam.” Sammy shrugged. “You know I get excited when I see my girls.”

  “I know, babe.” The look Jamie gave him bled with affection, even if the two didn’t show it physically.

  The rock star had shocked the world, breaking millions of female, and even a few male, hearts when he came out of the closet and married Sammy a few months ago in a private ceremony.

  "Gage, I want you to meet my friends. Sammy grew up with Maddey, and Jamie—"

  “Holy shit! You’re Jamie Hawke. My entrance song is by Birds of Prey.” She laughed at the starstruck expression on Gage’s face. She was used to seeing people react similarly when meeting her friends, but it was even more amusing to watch him since he was a celebrity in his own right.

  “I am. And you’re Gage James.”

  “You know who I am?” Gage sounded two seconds away from fanboying over being recognized by the singer.

  “Oh, yeah. Spins and I were at your last title fight.”

  Gage’s wide eyes met hers and she giggled again at his slack-jawed expression.

  "Sammy is a DJ also, and he's the one who introduced Griff and Simone," she explained.

  “You know…” Gage dropped an arm around her shoulders. “I was impressed by how cool you were when we first met. But now I get it.” He shook his head. “Do you hang out with anyone not famous?”

  “To be fair…all the pro athletes I know—with the exception of you—were my friends before they went pro. Jamie is the only celebrity who wasn’t part of our original crew.”

  He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Would I totally lose my street cred if I asked for a selfie?”

  “No.” She snorted. “But using the word totally might have cost you a few points.”

  She let him get his photo, then took him by the hand. “Come on, there’s still a bunch of people you need to meet.”

  GAGE FOLLOWED ROCKY through the crowded suite. There had to be close to two dozen people scattered throughout the room. He spotted the other Covenettes, all dressed in variations of navy and white Blizzards gear.

  Rocky in a white Blizzards away jersey, another pair of curve-hugging leggings, and those army boots he remembered from the first night they met damn near had him swallowing his tongue. He wouldn’t think being covered by the large hockey sweater would be a ball-tightening outfit, but the way the material formed to her curves when she moved, hinting at what lay beneath, made him want to rip the shirt from her body to discover the hidden treasures.

  But that was for later because she was introducing him to even more people. Jordan's adorable babies were dressed in matching mini Blizzards jerseys rocking their daddy’s number but instead of reading DONOVAN across the shoulders theirs said DADDY. He also got a kick out of the noise canceling headphones the girls wore, proudly sporting the Blizzards Yeti mascot.

  Not once had Rocky let go of his hand. It was as if she was able to tell he wasn’t used to being a part of a large group—and her squad was huge.

  Through the years, there was always a part of him that was a little bit jealous when Wyatt would regale him with stories from the firehouse, his cousin finding his own tribe of people outside the two of them.

  Though Tony was like a second father to him, he'd never developed a kinship with the others he trained with. His old gym was nothing like The Steele Maker and he was learning to feel more at ease around Rocky and the girls quicker than he was with the guys.

  He felt a squeeze on his hand as he looked around at all the people in the main area of the suite.

  “You okay?” Rocky asked, her eyes assessing when he glanced down at her. There she went again, reading him like a book.

  “Yeah.” They settled into the seats overlooking the empty ice below. “Still not used to how many of you there are.”

  She shifted in her seat, eyes taking in the room full of people. “It is a lot to handle.” She smiled as she focused on him once again. “But I have complete faith you’ll be a full-fledged member of our squad soon enough.”

  His heart gave a kick at the idea. He relaxed back, choosing to enjoy the moment instead of over-analyzing it.

  “Jor, can we hold the babies now?” a young voice asked.

  He turned to see a small boy who looked to be around eight with light brown hair and blue eyes wearing a Ryan Donnelly jersey and a pretty dark-haired girl about the same age with bright green eyes in a Jake Donovan jersey.

  “Of course, honey. Why don’t you and Carlee take a seat and you can each hold them for a while,” Jordan said sweetly.

  “Sean,” Vince called out excitedly, dropping into a seat. “My man, pots and pans, what’s up, little dude?”

  The boy reached out a hand to do the similar funky handshake Gage had seen Donnelly do with Vince earlier that day. “Is your sister here too?" Sean asked. "Or is she in her usual seat?”

  “Yeah. She’s right over there.” Vince laughed at the brush-off and pointed across the aisle to where he and Rocky sat.

  “Rock. Put it on me,” the kid said, puckering his lips at her. He had hella game for a second grader.

  Rocky giggled a tinkling laugh as she released his hand to take Sean’s face in both of hers, laying a smacking kiss on his cheek. Sean smiled proudly to himself as she pulled away. “Dude. What, are two wives not enough for you? You trying to collect another?”

  “To be fair, I called dibs on Madz before Ryan. And we all know you were only with Jase while you waited for me to be legal. Ten more years, Rock.” He held both hands up, illustrating the number with his fingers.

  Gage bit the inside of his cheek to hold back a laugh. He didn’t have much experience around kids, but Sean was hysterical. His game was smoother than most guys he knew around his own age, let alone someone who wasn’t even in the double digits.

  “Dude,” Rocky said with a shake of her head. “Where the hell do you come up with this stuff? You’re eight.”

  The kid looked like a mini version of Ryan Donnelly and Gage assumed he was another Donnelly sibling.

  “Oh, shit. You’re Gage James,” Sean said, his blue eyes going wide when he spotted him in the seat next to Rocky.

  “Sean,” Jordan chastised. “Don’t let Mom hear you curse. Not unless you want her to ban you from hanging out at my house when the guys are over.”

  “Sorry, Jor,” Sean said before focusing
on him once again. “But, whoa. Like seriously, this is so cool.” He looked over his shoulder at someone. “Oh my god. Jamie. Did you seeeeeee, Gage James”—he whisper-shouted his name—“is here. He knows our friends. How flipping cool is this?”

  “I know, buddy.” Jamie Hawke, fucking Jamie Hawke, agreed.

  He couldn’t believe that the rock star he was fanboying over a few minutes ago was doing the same with an eight-year-old about him.

  “You had Velasquez tapping out in fourteen seconds to keep the belt in your last fight,” Sean continued to gush.

  For the next few minutes, he listened to Sean recap his entire career, only breaking to introduce his best friend, Jake Donovan’s younger sister, Carlee. The kid was also well versed on the stats of all the other fighters from The Steele Maker.

  But when their mom called them to come eat, they ran off like normal youngsters on the hunt for food.

  “Vin. Oh my god. Thank god you’re here.” A pretty blonde, the one with the ice blue eyes he recognized from his first trip to Espresso Patronum, dropped herself across Vince’s lap.

  “Hey, Madz. What’s up?” Vince hooked an arm around her waist, letting her legs hang over the armrest of the seat they now shared.

  “I need a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?” he asked skeptically.

  “The kind you’re perfect for.”

  “Use your words, Madz. You’re an author, it shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

  Looked like this was the last member of the infamous Coven that he hadn't met yet.

  “Exactly how hard would it be to convince you to be the cover model for the book I just finished?”

  “Ohhhhh. You’re so right. He’d be perfect,” Skye said and the other girls chimed in to agree.

  “How would you guys know?” Vince asked.

  “We’re her beta readers for everything she writes,” Gemma explained.

  “Duh,” Becky added helpfully.

  “So, will you do it?” Maddey asked again.

  “What, run out of hockey players?”

  Maddey rolled her eyes, undeterred by Vince’s lackluster response. “I need someone…grittier. And you have that Theo James Divergent feel about you. But if you’re not up to doing it, I think at least one of my brothers should be home soon and I can ask them to do it.”

  “I didn’t say I wasn’t interested,” Vince hedged. “Is it going to be one of those ones where I have to stand around shirtless by myself so you girls can ogle me?”

  “Vin, don’t play dumb. You know I always do couple shots for my covers. I have the perfect girl to be your partner, just say yes already. You know you want to.”

  “Of course I’ll do it, Madz.”

  “Love you, Vin.” She gave him a beaming smile, then turned on Gage. “Now you.”

  He wasn’t a small guy, being on the top half of the six-foot measurement mark, but some of these ladies were intimidating in their intensity.

  “Do you have any idea how hard it was to meet my deadline when all Lyle wanted to do was wax on in very specific detail about the newest fighter at The Steele Maker?”

  He had the overwhelming urge to apologize, and Rocky buried her face against his side, laughing as he did so. Over the last few days, she had been less hesitant with the physical touches. He liked it.

  “No worries.” Maddey brushed off his apology. “You’ll make it up to me when you don’t fight me when I need my next model.”

  Every warning he'd ever heard about how charming Maddey was flashed through his mind, and he was confident she would end up being right.

  The babies were passed around, getting love from everyone until a representative from the Blizzards entered the suite to walk the women down to their seats for the first period.

  Vince, a baby cradled in his arms, moved into the seat next to Gage.

  “You doing all right?” The speculative look in those familiar gray eyes made him think Rocky wasn’t the only member of the Steele family able to read him.

  He shook his head. “But I will be.”

  * * *

  Rocky loved watching the game so close to the ice. It reminded her of her time working as one of the PT students assigned to the Titans during college.

  Down here, it was like being in the middle of the action. When the players checked each other into the boards, you could feel the vibrations of the hit in your bones.

  At the start of every Blizzards game, Jordan put her fist to the boards to share a knuckle bump with Ryan through the glass and pressed her lips to it—regardless of how gross it might be—to give her husband a good luck kiss before he took his position between the pipes.

  “So what’s going on with you and Gage?” Jordan asked the moment she settled into her seat.

  “Yes,” Skye cried. “Please tell me you climbed that boy like the tree he is.”

  “Would it be wrong if I took notes?” Maddey asked with a playful smirk.

  She'd known she would have to face the inquisition at some point. She wasn’t at all surprised they jumped right into it as soon as they were alone.

  “Unfortunately, no.” She scrunched her nose in disgust.

  “Still holding out on you?” Jordan’s words were laced with sympathy.

  “Oh, yeah. Every day he does something to tease me. Taunt me. I swear he takes some sort of evil pleasure in getting me all worked up, only to leave me with major blue clit.”

  “Yup, that’s totally going in a book,” Maddey commented.

  “If I didn’t feel how much he did, I would start to question if actually wanted me,” she confessed, that familiar insecurity burning like acid. But there was no denying the hard press of his trouser snake against her body when he would brush his body against hers.

  “Oh, he wants you,” Becky confirmed. “I swear he looked like he wanted to bash Jase’s pretty face in when he stopped by the gym earlier.”

  She spent the bulk of the first period filling them in on everything that had transpired during and after Jase’s visit to The Steele Maker. She knew better than to leave out a single detail.

  “You are so getting laid before the weekend is over,” Gemma declared when she finished telling them about getting clam-jammed by the massage table.

  “Why do you say that?” She failed to keep the hope from her voice.

  “He’s this close”—Gem held her thumb and pointer finger centimeters apart—“to breaking.”

  “I agree with Gem,” Jordan said. “If he almost fucked you in your office over thinking you and Jase had something going on, just think of how he’ll feel after spending the night out at Rookies with him and a bunch of both my brothers’ teammates.”

  She didn’t want to play games to capture his affection. She wanted to be picked because she was enough, not due to some misguided jealousy. Still, she knew her friends might have a point.

  “Besides,” Maddey cut in. “Nothing makes an alpha male claim his mate like a little competition.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gage loved hockey. You had to respect a sport where the guys dropped their gloves and fought it out when necessary.

  The suite Jordan's family owned was directly above where the girls had seats down at rink level. They all seemed to be super into the game and he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Rocky’s tiny blonde friend bang on the glass, yelling at the players battling it out for the puck in front of them.

  Throughout the first period, he noticed a few people with lanyards hanging from their necks who stopped to talk to Jordan and Skye, as well as some of the guys on the Blizzards shout something to them from their bench.

  “You know how when we went out last week we told you Rocky was like the mayor of the world?” Vince said when Gage mentioned how much attention the women got.

  “Yeah.” He also remembered the irrational jealousy that spiked through him as he watched Rocky interact with the college hockey players.

  “Well, if she’s the mayor—” Vince started.

/>   “Then Jordan’s the president,” Nick finished.

  He found it a very apt description of the tiny blonde.

  As Damon passed him a fresh bottle of beer, he realized not once since the girls left had he felt awkward or out of place with the guys. A first for him. Vince ensured he was included in group conversations, Damon had kept him hydrated and lubricated, and talking with Jamie, the frontman of one of his favorite bands, was a damned dream come true.

  When the game broke for the first intermission—the Blizzards up by one thanks to a sweet goal from Ryan—he and the guys made their way up from the seats to the main area of the suite to get some food. Jordan and Gemma had even arranged to have meal plan-appropriate selections for Vince to enjoy.

  Sean sidled up to their table, hot dog loaded with spray cheese and potato chips in each hand.

  “So, little dude. Whatcha going as for Halloween next week?” Vince asked, salivating over Sean’s food like a dog would a steak.

  “Carlee and I are going as Ducks,” Sean responded with a mouth full of junked-up hot dog.

  “Like the bird?” Vince sounded as confused as Gage felt. He'd think the kids were a little too old to be trick-or-treating as animals.

  “Noooo.” Sean dragged out the word as if to say don’t be stupid. “Like The Mighty Ducks.”

  “Dude…I loved those movies growing up,” Gage declared proudly. “Whose jersey you gonna wear?”

  “Charlie Conway. Captain, like my brother.”

  “Good choice. You going with the old school green jerseys?”

  Sean shook his head. “The white ones.”

  “Yeah, I want to be Julie The Cat.” Carlee ran over to join them, stealing one of the hot dogs from Sean.

  “Yup. She wants to be the goalie like her brother. And she wasn’t a Duck in the first movie,” Sean explained.

  Gage wondered if all kids were as cool as these two. If not, he hoped he could mold his godchild to be.

  His eyes automatically found Rocky as the girls arrived in the suite, a smile growing when she and Maddey chose to join them.