by Steph
He didn’t know how long they would’ve stood there, barely touching, him grinning like an idiot and her looking a little shell-shocked, if the door hadn’t opened.
“Dude, you ready, yes? I need—oh, hello.”
Controlling the urge to roll his eyes, Riley shook his head instead and turned to see Jake grinning at Aly.
The Czech player had a reputation as a manwhore, and with his looks it was easy to see why. Tall, blond and ripped, the guy smiled and women threw their panties at him.
Apparently, Aly wasn’t immune. Her eyes widened as she stared at the Redtails’ best defenseman.
Which made Riley want to kick the ever-loving shit out of Jake if the kid so much as hinted at making a move on her. Okay, Jake wasn’t exactly a kid at twenty-three, but Riley was twenty-eight and had a few pounds on him, which Riley would use to kick Jake’s ass if he didn’t turn down that smile.
Luckily for Jake, Aly barely glanced at him and said “Hello” before staring at Riley again.
Take that, kid.
“I need a few seconds yet.”
Sliding a glance over his shoulder, Riley saw Jake’s mouth twist into a shit-eating grin. Oh, he would so make the kid pay for that at practice tomorrow.
“Yes, I see that. Fine. I will be in hall. You come get me when you are ready. Hopefully in the next hour.”
If he had his way, Riley would spend at least another hour talking to this woman but she was obviously working and wouldn’t be able to leave in the middle of the day.
Damn, he couldn’t wait until tomorrow night.
“I guess you need to leave,” she said, although she looked a little depressed at the thought.
“Unfortunately, yeah. I’m hosting the team dinner tonight. Twenty-two hockey players in one enclosed space. Always good for a few laughs.”
Her lips curved in a flat-out smile that almost made him pant. “I don’t know. Sounds like the setup for a sitcom.”
“Not one they could show on TV.”
The door to the office opened again and they both turned to look. This time, a short guy with a wrinkled dress shirt, black pants, and a mop of unruly black hair hustled through the door.
“Hey, Aly. Just gonna check out your terminal—”
“Wait! I haven’t—damn it.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I really have to go.”
“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When she smiled, it gave him hope that he actually would. “I’ll try. I just—”
“Hey, Aly,” the guy in her office called out. “Can you come close out your programs?
With a little grimace, she turned and hustled toward the office in the back. Giving him another look at her great ass, which he watched until he couldn’t see her anymore.
Then he turned and walked out of the office with a smile, which he knew would set off Jake.
Fuck it. He couldn’t care less.
Sure enough, Jake fell into step beside him, still wearing that shit-eating grin.
“Dude, you look like the cat that ate that bird. I don’t think I have ever seen you look this way. You know, like you are happy. You asked her out on a date, yes? I assume she said yes or you wouldn’t be smiling. Good for you. I was worried about your skills with the women. I thought maybe you were still virgin.”
With a sigh, Riley stuck his elbow in Jake’s side, making him flinch.
“Hey, kid. We’re in public. Tone it down a little.”
But, of course, Jake couldn’t contain himself. Or he just didn’t care. Riley had never met anyone with less of a filter than Jake.
“What is to tone down? Since you are not virgin, you should not be ashamed. You did ask her out, right?”
Riley shook his head, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to ignore Jake. They guy’s focus was legendary on and off the ice. But Riley hadn’t gotten where he was on skill alone. He’d been a sports management major in college and not far from the top of his class. If he hadn’t been so damn determined to play professional hockey, he probably would’ve become an agent, which he still might do some day. He was good at talking.
“Yeah, I did. She’ll be at the game tomorrow night.”
Jake clapped him on the back. “And that is what we like to hear. Maybe you get laid now. Be good for you.”
Riley couldn’t contain his laughter. It rang through the parking garage as they reached his car.
“Dude, do you ever shut up?”
Jake just shrugged. “You talk on the ice. I talk off the ice. We make a good team, yes?”
Shaking his head, Riley had to agree.
“Yeah, we make a good team.”
“Good. That is settled. Now, what are you going to make for dinner? Lad can’t handle dairy and Tyler can’t handle anything green…”
As Jake ran at the mouth again, Riley nodded at the appropriate spots, but his brain had latched on to something Jake had said and wouldn’t let go.
It’d been a while since he’d gotten laid. Like, since before the beginning of the season.
Holy shit, how the hell had that happened?
For the past seven years of his professional career, he’d played hard, on and off the ice. He’d been through ten times as many women as he had teams. He didn’t brag about it and he tried not to be a dick about it but it’d been a fact of his life.
But for the past five months, he’d been a monk.
He’d always been dedicated to the game, always showed up to win. But this year…well, this year, he was twenty-eight.
He was one of the oldest guys on the team. Still six years younger than Cary Lenville, who was probably playing his last season as he was groomed to become the Redtails’ assistant coach, but a lot of the guys he’d come up with had either moved up to the NHL or had retired.
Retired. The word alone was enough to make Riley shudder. Hell, he wasn’t ready to retire.
Which was why he was working so damn hard this season. This was his year to make it. He couldn’t afford any distractions.
And yet…he hadn’t been able to resist the blonde behind the counter.
Jake punched him on the shoulder hard enough to make Riley flinch. Luckily, they were stopped for a red light.
He shot Jake a glare. “What the fuck?”
“You have not listened to one word I said this entire time, have you?”
“How could I not be listening? You haven’t shut up since we left the hospital.”
Rolling his eyes, Jake sighed. “I supposed you are to be forgiven considering the hot girl you scored.”
“That’s not who I was thinking about.”
Jake smirked. “So what are you thinking about? You don’t look happy whatever it is. What is wrong? Tell me. I am good listener.”
Then the guy fell totally silent. A minor miracle. No one on the team would believe it.
“Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking about the season.”
“Should be a good one. You are a good addition to the team since we lost our last grinder.”
Riley shook his head, smiling. “Happy to be of service.”
“And we are happy to have you. You and CJ make a good team.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not on the first line.” Which rankled, like a splinter in his heel. Damn it, he wanted to be on that first line but Coach had him on the second. Of course, it just made him work that much harder, which Coach knew would happen.
“Word is Knapper will not be here long. Duchene is having problems.”
Dickie Duchene was the Philadelphia Colonials’ third-line right-winger, notorious for playing as hard as he partied. Problem was, sometimes he didn’t know where the line was and he crossed it more than he should.
“Yeah, I heard the same.”
Sure, he’d briefly entertained the thought that maybe he’d be the one called up. Totally unrealistic considering he’d only been with the team since the beginning of this season and Sam Knapp had been a Colonials prospect since his draft four years ago.
“But this
is an opportunity for you, yes? You will get Knapper’s spot on the first line.”
Riley just shook his head. “Life doesn’t always work the way you want it.”
Jake shrugged, the arrogance of youth written all over his face. “Then you just have to make it work for you. What is saying? When a door closes, you climb out the window. Sometimes you just have to make your own window by breaking down the wall.”
When Jake looked at him with a smile, Riley laughed all the way to grocery store.
Chapter Two
“So…I’ve got two tickets to the hockey game Friday night. Wanna go with me?”
Vivi looked up from her drawing table, shock written all over her sister’s face.
“Did you just say hockey? As in ice hockey? As in, you’re going to go to a Redtails game? With actual hockey fans all around you screaming and yelling and having a good time and possibly spilling their beer all over you?”
Aly rolled her eyes at her sister, unwilling to concede that Vivi had a good reason for her shock.
“Yes, I am. And I thought you could come with me since you don’t work tomorrow night.”
Sitting back in her drafting chair, Vivi narrowed her gaze at her and gave her a once-over, pushing rainbow-hued, waist-length hair over her shoulder. “You look like my sister but you’re speaking in tongues. Who are you and what have you done with her?”
Flipping Vivi the bird, Aly spun her sister away from her desk, where she’d been drawing something that looked like erotic fan art of… “Is that the Tenth Doctor and Ianto? Why is the Tenth Doctor kissing Ianto?”
Vivi shrugged. “Why shouldn’t they kiss? I’d watch at least two episodes of them kissing, wouldn’t you? And you’re not getting out of this conversation that easily. Why do you have tickets for a hockey game tomorrow night? You hate hockey.”
Aly wrinkled her nose. “I never said I hated hockey.”
Vivi’s stunning aquamarine eyes widened even more. “I distinctly remember having a conversation where you said something about hockey being a sport played by illiterate farm boys.”
Wincing, Aly shook her head. “I did not.”
Vivi nodded as she turned back to her drawing and picked up her pencil. “Yes, you did. I think you were dating that lawyer wannabe at the time. He was a total douche, by the way.”
That much was totally true. He had been a douche.
“So what if I did. I’m a girl.” Aly pulled the covers up on Vivi’s unmade bed then sat on the edge. “I can change my mind. Come to the game with me Friday night.”
“Why the sudden interest in hockey?”
Aly didn’t answer the question right away. Instead, she let herself look around her sister’s room.
The home they shared technically belonged to their parents, but Aly and Vivi now paid the second mortgage her parents had taken out so they could buy a home in Florida, which was where they now lived full time. Leaving Vivi and Aly with a very nice cottage home in a good neighborhood not far from the hospital where Aly worked. Aly’s decent salary and Vivi’s fluctuating salary as a freelance graphic artist, part-time tattoo artist and part-time waitress allowed them to pay that mortgage and all the bills with no problem.
And the fact that their parents lived a thousand miles away in Florida made it that much sweeter.
“Aly? What’s going on?”
Vivi had abandoned her drawing again and now watched her with narrowed eyes.
“Nothing’s going on.”
Vivi snorted. “Yeah, right.”
Aly finally looked at her sister. “So…I met this guy today.”
A knowing expression now crossed her sister’s face. “Ah. That’s where you got the tickets. Let me guess. He works for the team. He’s their…what? Their accountant? Their lawyer? Their marketing guy?”
Aly couldn’t wait to wipe that smirk off her sister’s face. “Second-line right wing.”
Her sister’s stunned expression made her smile.
“Holy fuck. Seriously?”
She shrugged, as if hockey players asked her out all the time. “He came into the office today with a problem with his bill.”
“Well, damn.” Scrambling up from her chair, Vivi grabbed her laptop off her desk and hopped onto the bed beside Aly.
Like two teenagers, they spread out on the bed with the laptop between them as they Googled Riley and clicked on the first listing for a site called hockeydb.com.
Vivi whistled as soon as the site came up. “Damn. He’s hot.”
She grinned at the breathless appreciation in her sister’s voice.
“And he’s even hotter in person.”
Which he totally was. Tall. Dark. Handsome. Wicked grin and green eyes that made her want to kiss him…which made no sense at all.
She’d gone back and forth all day about accepting the tickets, had tried to tell herself she really shouldn’t accept them.
She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him she’d never been to a game. And Vivi had every right to be shocked about her wanting to go. It definitely wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d do. And especially not as the guest of one of the players. Who wanted to take her out for a drink after the game.
She should’ve told him no and stuck to her answer. But there’d been something about him…
She’d already checked out his page on the Redtails site at work this afternoon, but now she read over his stats again.
Riley Hatch. Six-two. Two-ten. Just turned twenty-nine a month ago. He’d played for five different leagues, including Boston University. She hadn’t expected that, which made her wrinkle her nose at her own arrogance.
“This is the guy who gave you tickets to the game? What did he want?”
“What do you mean?”
Vivi rolled her eyes. “I mean, what does he want from you?”
“He wants us to go out with the team after the game for drinks.”
Vivi’s eyes got even bigger. “No fucking way. Seriously?”
All right, now Vivi was starting to get on her nerves. She adored her younger sister but sometimes…
“Hey!” Aly smacked Vivi on the arm. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Vivi knocked her shoulder against Aly’s in retaliation. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just mean, athletes have never been your thing. I can’t believe you said yes.”
“I didn’t exactly say yes. Yet. I told him I might have plans.”
Aly snorted. “Which, of course, you don’t.”
Her sister knew her too well. “I know, but…I’m not sure what he wants.”
Vivi’s eyebrows rose. “He wants what they all want. The question is, what do you want? If you want to go out with the guy, then do it. It’s not like you have to sleep with him. I don’t think he expects sex for a pair of tickets.”
“I know that. He seems really nice. And when he smiles… No lie, I swear my ovaries exploded. Seriously hot.”
Vivi raised her hand as if to testify. “No argument from me. The guy is totally fuckable. You should jump his bones, which I know you won’t, but still.”
Was she really that much of a puritan? No, she didn’t sleep around. Never had. She had to have a connection with a guy before she fell into bed with him. Otherwise, there was no point.
Yes, she’d felt an immediate reaction to Riley, but that didn’t mean she had to jump into bed with him right away.
Then again, Riley probably jumped in bed with every girl he asked out for drinks, and when she told him no, she’d never see him again.
“I’m not going to jump his bones tomorrow night.”
Vivi rolled her eyes again. “Obviously. Just don’t expect to hear from him again when you don’t put out, you know?”
Aly heard the bitterness in her sister’s voice and had the urge to go completely against her nature and beat the living shit out of Vivi’s ex-asshole of a boyfriend who’d crushed her heart and her spirit. Jamie Dunbar might have a multimillion-deal with the NFL, but the prick had made her s
ister cry for weeks, and if Aly ever saw him again, she’d smack the shit out of him.
Yes, every girl had that one guy who broke her heart into a thousand pieces. Well, every girl except Aly. She’d never fallen that hard for a guy. And yes, she secretly worried that maybe there was something wrong with her.
But she never wanted to be like Vivi, bitter and crushed because of a guy.. Or like her mother, stuck with a man she couldn’t stand but wouldn’t leave.
“So are you coming with me Friday night or not?”
Her sister rolled her eyes. “Of course. Gotta see this guy for myself. Besides, you won’t go if I don’t, and you need to get out and have some fun. You’re starting to remind me a little of Mom and that’s scary.”
Aly’s brows knit together. “What do you mean?”
Vivi rolled onto her side and propped her hand under her head. Aly mimicked her position.
“You know. You never have any fun and you’re always worried about something.”
“I’m not always worried.”
Vivi’s brows rose. “I notice you didn’t say anything about having fun.”
Now Aly rolled her eyes. “Work’s been crazy lately and I haven’t had a lot of time—”
“Excuses, excuses.” Vivi waved her hand in front of her. “Just like Mom. She always has an explanation for why she doesn’t do anything, and you’re starting to act like that, too.”
Aly opened her mouth to deny it…then closed it because she couldn’t.
“That’s a low blow.”
“No, it’s true. And you know it. But you have a date. With a real hottie.” Vivi’s smile widened. “Maybe you’ll actually get to find out if he’s good in bed.”
“It’s just a date. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“So you’ve never had sex on a first date?”
“Not since college. Older and wiser.”
Vivi rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Live a little. Get what you can out of the guy before you dump him.”
The flat tone of Vivi’s voice worried Aly but she didn’t say anything because, god forbid, she didn’t want to sound like their mother, who she tried so hard not to be like.
“We haven’t even gone out for a drink. Maybe he’ll turn out to be a dick and I won’t see him again.”
