by K. C. Lynn
Chuckling I turn and start walking away. “Oh and, Cupcake?” Sawyer calls out stopping me once I’m at the door. I turn to see him looking at me with affection, before a smirk tilts his lips, “You’re the best fucking chick I’ve ever met too.”
His words take a moment to register, but I quickly realize he heard everythin’ I said to his father just a few minutes ago. Thankfully he doesn’t seem all that mad. Smiling I walk out, and as I make my way downstairs I decide maybe not minding my own business isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Fascination and anxiety plagues me as I follow Jesse into the packed arena. There are way more people here then I expected, especially for a small town.
“Hockey is a big deal in this town and tonight we are playing against our biggest rivals,” Jesse explains with a smile. “Come on, a friend of mine saved us seats.”
I follow her up the bleachers that are loaded with excited fans and stop once we reach a pretty brunette girl with a friendly smile. Jesse and her friend greet each other with a hug then turning, she points to me, “This is Grace, Sawyer’s girlfriend I was telling you about. Grace, this is my best friend Maggie.”
I wasn’t a hundred percent on the term girlfriend, but I didn’t correct her, and to be honest I liked the title.
“Hi, Grace, it’s nice to meet you,” Maggie replies politely, extending her hand. “Hi, Maggie, nice to meet ya too.”
She smiles in amusement, “I love your accent. It’s awesome.”
What is with the accent? Instead of asking I just reply with a mumbled thank you.
“So tell me how on earth you snagged Silver Creek’s most eligible bachelor, or heck, all of Colorado’s most eligible bachelor for that matter? Especially one who turns green at the word commitment.”
Sincere curiosity fills Maggie’s expression. I shift uncomfortably, not knowing what to say, “Well…”
“What do you mean how? Look at her,” Jesse interrupts, saving me from having to answer.
Maggie nods, “True, she’s beautiful, but there has to be more to it than that, we both know your brother is the biggest man-whore.”
Having Sawyer titled a man-whore is no surprise, but, for some reason, hearing it still twists my stomach.
Jesse narrows her eyes at her best friend. “People can change, Mags, especially when the right person comes along,” she replies giving me a soft smile.
Seriously, this girl is one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met.
Maggie shrugs, but before she can say more the over-filled bleachers go wild as the hockey players take the ice. Excitement rushes through me as the arena becomes charged with an energy I’ve never felt before. It’s my first time ever to watch a hockey game, and I can’t deny my excitement about getting to see another part of Sawyer.
Jesse points him out to me, “There he is, number eleven.” My gaze zeroes in on his tall, muscular body covered in equipment as he glides across the ice with grace.
I watch as he scans the crowd and know the moment his eyes land on me; I feel it before I see it. He gives me one of his panty droppin’ grins and winks at me. Then shows off by skatin’ backwards by the glass in front of me.
I roll my eyes but a huge silly smile is plastered across my face. Seriously he may be one cocky son of a gun but he is the sexiest one I have ever laid eyes on.
“Damn you weren’t kidding, he does have it bad,” Maggie says to Jesse. “Yup!” she replies proudly.
I feel my cheeks turn pink about bein’ talked about, but I also can’t deny the little flip my stomach does at hearing that.
All of a sudden a loud, annoying giggle sounds behind me with Sawyer’s name mixed in. Jesse and I turn around at the same time to see three Malibu Barbie lookin’ girls sitting together. One in particular points at Sawyer with a hungry look in her eyes.
Jealousy rears its ugly head the same time Jesse groans. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Yup, she’s been up there gushing and waiting for your brother’s arrival since I got here,” Maggie tells her.
Jesse looks at me with annoyance burning in her eyes, “That’s Stephanie Taylor, she’s the town bicycle, and the biggest bitch to walk the face of the earth. Pretend she isn’t here.”
I nod, knowing exactly her type… she’s a Jenny, which only makes my jealousy worse. But I try to shake it off and focus as Jesse starts to explain the rules of the game to me. It all seems very confusin’ but I figure I will pick up on it as I watch. I catch Sawyer glancing up at me every once in a while during warm-up, and every time he gives me one of his trademark panty droppin’ grins, which helps ease my earlier jealousy.
All the players take a seat on the bench except for five of them, one of those five bein’ Sawyer. He skates to center ice where the ref is standing and faces off for the puck with a player from the opposing team. An almost-hush silence falls over the crowd just before the ref blows the whistle and drops the puck. Sawyer gains control of it right from the drop then the battle is on. I watch in anticipation as every player from the other team is after him. Sawyer maneuvers around them, easily dodging their greedy sticks, then just like that, only a minute into the game, he scores. And I can’t help it, I yell, cheer and pull on Jesse’s arm, excitedly feelin’ so darn proud of him. Jesse and Maggie laugh their butts off at my reaction.
I watch the other four guys skate up to Sawyer and congratulate him by either hitting gloves or punchin’ him in the arm. I find it a strange way to congratulate someone. Soon he comes skating past the glass in front of me and raises his arms sayin’, “See, what did I tell you?” I can’t even roll my eyes at his arrogance because I’m too darn excited for him. Then he points at me and gives another wink before skatin’ off.
“Oh my god, it’s almost sickening to watch,” Maggie says teasingly. Rather than feel embarrassed I beam with happiness.
“So who is this you have brought with you, Jesse?” a snooty voice asks.
Jesse turns to town bicycle, the glare they share shows how much they dislike each other. “Oh her?” Jesse asks, jerking her thumb at me, “she’s Sawyer’s girlfriend,” she smirks, seeming happy to announce that fact.
Town bicycle scoffs… I hate those scoffs. “Right, nice try. Your brother doesn’t date, especially ones like her.”
Well now what the hell does that mean? I turn around and look at her snotty face in annoyance. Jesse pipes up again before I can say anything, “Actually he does date, just not whores. That’s why you never knew that.”
Maggie and I chuckle. Bicycle girl glares but keeps her mouth shut. I shrug her off and bring my attention back to Sawyer and the game.
No one is going to ruin my night, especially not a bitch like her. I watch the rest of the game in excitement and awe. Sawyer really is amazin’ and he completely dominates the ice. He also plays with good sportsmanship and never hogs the puck, which, to be honest, kind of surprised me. Every goal he scored he would either point at me from his spot or skate by the glass, givin’ me a cocky wink. This time nothing about his arrogance annoyed me, it only made me giddy and my panties wet. So wet that I was ready to go home and be alone with him. We ended up winning the game 8-4, Sawyer scorin’ five of those goals.
After the guys clear the ice, Jesse and I go wait outside the glass doors that lead to the dressing rooms. About ten minutes later I see Sawyer walk out of the change room, freshly showered with his hockey bag slung over his shoulder. My heart does its usual little flip every time I lay eyes on him. Four others follow him out, and they all laugh good-heartedly at something he says. You can tell Sawyer loves seeing his friends tonight just as much as they do him.
When he looks up, spotting me through the glass, he gets that charmin’ sexy grin of his again, which has my stomach tightening and my panties getting wetter. He picks up his pace and throws open the double doors. Dropping his bag, he strides over to me and picks me up off my feet, planting a big hard kiss on my lips in front of everyone.
“Hey, Cupcake,” he says, cr
ushing me against his hard body, my feet dangling off the ground.
I wrap my arms tightly around his neck, “Hey yourself, Sexy Sawyer.”
His grin spreads at my use of his nickname, “Didn’t I tell you I was something, baby?”
Instead of givin’ him heck for his arrogance I praise him, “You sure did. You were amazin’.” I bring my mouth close to his ear, “And it made me real hot to watch you,” I whisper seductively. I bring my gaze back to his so he can see just how much. He tenses and I feel his erection grow against my stomach. Shock and fire blazes in his eyes from my unusually bold statement.
“Are you going to introduce us, man, or keep staring at her like a fool?” a deep voice interrupts our moment.
Sawyer stares at me a second longer before dragging his gaze away. Grinning, he slides me down his body and I want to moan from the delicious contact. He takes my hand, “This is Grace. Grace, these are my life-long hockey buddies: Jake, Austin, Mike and Cam,” he points out each of the very attractive men.
“Actually, we were his life-long buddies until he ditched us to join the Navy. I guess being a legend wasn’t enough, he had to learn how to kill someone with only a q-tip,” Jake replies, which has all the guys chuckling.
Sawyer doesn’t let their teasin’ faze him, “Don’t listen to these dicks, they’re just jealous because they would have never been able to tough out the first week of training.”
I smile at their banterin’, “Well it’s nice to meet y’all,” I wave shyly.
Jake’s eyes flash with amusement, “Ah so she’s a southerner, Evans, who knew that’s what it took to keep your dick in only one woman.”
Sawyer’s easy grin drops and he shoves Jake, “Shut up, asshole. Don’t say shit like that in front of her.”
Jake realizes Sawyer is really mad and holds up his hands, “I was just screwing around, didn’t mean any disrespect.”
Jesse clears her throat now, remindin’ me of her presence. Looking over, I see a tall, dark and incredibly handsome guy with his arm slung around her shoulders. “And this is Nick,” she says, introducing her boyfriend.
“Hi, Grace, nice to meet you.”
“You too, Nick.”
“All right we’re out of here. We have plans with Mags and Danny. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Jesse gives Sawyer and I a quick hug before she leaves.
“You’re coming for a victory beer right?” Jake asks Sawyer. “Nah, I don’t think so, man.”
Jake looks affronted, “What the fuck do you mean you don’t think so. We haven’t seen your ass for two years and you’re not going to come have a beer.”
“I don’t mind if you want to go, Sawyer,” I say honestly.
He stares down at me indecisively. I want to be alone with him just as badly as he does but I think it’s important he sees his friends.
“Come on, man, you have to come,” another buddy says, this one, I believe, is Cam.
I squeeze his hand, “Let’s go for a bit.”
“All right,” he agrees reluctantly, “we’ll meet you guys there. Overtime?” he asks the group.
They nod then clap Sawyer on the back as they file out of the lobby, leaving the two of us alone.
He pulls me against him. “I want to be alone with you so fucking bad. Say the word and we will ditch their asses.”
“I want to be alone with you too, but it’s important you spend time with your friends as well. Besides we have all night,” I say, seductively running my hands under his shirt to touch his hot, hard abs.
He groans and palms my ass bringing me tighter against him, “All night is nowhere near fucking long enough for what I plan to do to you.”
The heat in his eyes has me squeezing my legs together to try to stop the ache that happens between them. I’m about to say to hell with it and ditch his friends when the double doors to the change rooms slam open, revealing an incredibly gorgeous guy. When he and Sawyer make eye contact they glare at each other with so much hatred the lobby starts to feel just as cold as the rink inside. They hold each other’s glares until gorgeous walks out of the lobby.
“Whoa, what was that about?”
Sawyer clenches his jaw, “Just someone I don’t get along with.” Leaning down, he kisses the top of my head and pulls me behind him, “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here. The sooner we go for this drink the sooner I can do all the dirty things I’ve been dying to do to you.”
An hour and a half later I’m sitting by myself in the crowded, small pub called Overtime, regretting that I agreed to come here. The first half hour wasn’t too bad; Sawyer had stayed pretty close to me. But the more the pub became packed with people excited to see the town’s golden boy, the worse it had become. Eventually he was asked to go play pool and had tried to bring me with him. At the time I had been waiting for my drink to come and one of the guy’s girlfriends, who was somewhat friendly, (at least friendlier than any other girl here tonight) had said she would stay and keep me company. She did so, awkwardly, for about five minutes then saw a friend of hers. She told me she would be right back, which was thirty minutes ago. At one point I had gone to the bathroom and thought about joining Sawyer at the pool table, since I was on my own. But I was nervous to go up there in front of all the strangers vying for his attention. To make matters worse, for the last thirty minutes I’ve sat and watched every girl in the place glare at me and hit on Sawyer in the process. Some were familiar with him, showing me they had some sort of past that others didn’t. The worse one was the town bicycle bitch, and even though Sawyer did not flirt back or show interest he didn’t push them away either. I’m trying not to be hurt by the fact that he appears to have forgotten about me. In all fairness he is being bombarded by people, but either way you look at it, it completely and totally sucks.
“Now why is the prettiest girl in the whole bar sitting all alone in a dark corner?” a deep voice, that oozes charm, breaks me out of my self-pityin’ thoughts. I turn to see the gorgeous guy, who was glaring daggers earlier with Sawyer, holding two shots in his hand and wearin’ a lazy grin on his already handsome face.
I give him a suspicious look when he takes the chair across the table from me. “What’s your name sweetness?” he asks flirtatiously.
“It ain’t sweetness, that’s for sure,” I respond with annoyance. He knows I’m with Sawyer, since he saw us in the lobby, so he shouldn’t be callin’ me that. He quirks an amused eyebrow at me and patiently awaits my name.
“It’s Grace,” I answer, giving in.
He gives me a panty droppin’ grin that I know oh so well and says, “A sweet name for a sweet looking girl.” I roll my eyes, which makes him chuckle, “And sassy. Just the way I like them,” he gives me a wink.
“Just settle down over there, Romeo, because this sweet and sassy girl is taken, which you already know since ya saw me with Sawyer in the lobby at the hockey arena.”
Surprise, and something that looks a lot like admiration, flashes in his amused gaze. Leaning back, he crosses his arms in front of his broad chest, “Well that’s just the thing, I did see you with him earlier, but for the last forty-five minutes I have been watching you from across the bar, sitting here all alone. So I figured maybe I misinterpreted you two earlier, because if you were my girl I wouldn’t leave you alone for a fucking second.”
The truth of his words sting. I shrug trying not to let my hurt feelins’ show, “Well he’s been gone a long time; a lot of people have clearly missed him and want to catch up.”
He grunts, “Whatever you say, sweetness. Here, have a shot with me,” he puts a lime and shot glass down in front of me.
“I ain’t drinkin’ that. How do I know you didn’t put somethin’ in it?”
He looks at me completely insulted, “What? Are you fucking serious? Look at me! I don’t need to put shit in a girl’s drink, I can fucking get any chick I want.”
I stare at his stricken face for another second before I can’t contain myself anymore and burst out laughing.
His face softens into a smirk, “You were fucking with me, weren’t you?”
“No I wasn’t,” I reply honestly, continuing to laugh, “but your face was pretty darn funny.”
He chuckles, joining in on my amusement. I have to admit he is one good lookin’ bugger, with dark hair and warm chocolate eyes that compliment his bronzed skin. He has a hard, lean body, not quite as muscular as Sawyer’s but still one that any red-blooded female would notice. I think about the response he gave just a second ago.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I have a good idea now why you and Sawyer hate one another.”
His easy smile vanishes, “Oh? Enlighten me, sweetness, what is your idea?”
“Because you’re both exactly alike.”
He looks at me, insulted again, “I am nothing like that asshole.”
“Yes you are. You’re both sexy, charming buggers, with the biggest egos I’ve ever seen.”
His face softens into a lopsided grin, “You think I’m sexy?”
I roll my eyes, “See? That’s so somethin’ Sawyer would have said, you also missed the big ego part.”
He chuckles but his expression quickly turns serious, “Well you’re wrong, sweetness. First off, that asshole’s ego is way bigger than mine, and secondly, the reason why I hate the son of a bitch is because he fucked my girlfriend a couple years ago when he came back for a visit.”
I wince at his words. Ouch! I have to say, no matter how big a man-whore Sawyer is, I’m surprised to hear he would do somethin’ like that.
“Oh well… that wasn’t very nice of him. Or your girlfriend for that matter.”
His lips split into a grin again before he lets out a chuckle, “I have to admit, sweetness, you are probably just as cute as your accent.”
I throw my hands up in frustration, “Why on earth do y’all keep sayin’ I have an accent?”
“Because here ‘we ain’t talk like this’,” he says, mockin’ me.
I narrow my eyes, “First off, buddy, that ain’t an accent, it’s just how I talk. It’s how my Mama always talked too. And secondly, it ain’t nice to make fun of people.”
