Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  He gives a tight nod before getting up off his own stool. “Thanks,” he says before turning away.

  “Hey,” I call after him. “Don’t show up for training covered in bruises. I need your head in the game if we’re going to take out the championship again.”

  “Sure thing, man,” he says with a grin before turning away and ducking out the side door of Micky’s. I look back to the bar to acknowledge Charli before leaving for my table when I notice Xander’s left his wallet on the bar.

  I duck through the crowd after him and slip through the side exit. I look up and down the side alley but don’t see him anywhere. I pull my phone out and quickly send a text.

  Jaxon – Dude, left your wallet on the bar.

  His response comes through almost instantly.

  Xander – Shit. Be there is a sec.

  I wait in the side alley, guessing he will return to this spot. A guy in a dark hood comes up from the bottom of the alley and I mind my own business, figuring he will walk on by, which is my mistake.

  My eyes are trained down on my phone when the guy grabs me and slams me up against the brick wall. My head rebounds off the solid wall, but I’ve had worse hits in hockey to be affected by it, especially with the sudden burst of adrenalin surging through my veins.

  I push the guy back and the move has his hood falling off, revealing his face. It’s dark in the alley but there’s enough light from Micky’s that I recognize the sick fucker, “What the fuck?” I growl at him as I push off the wall to get in his face. I notice his hand buried deep in his pocket, shaped in a fist as if he is holding something in there.

  “Karma’s a fucking bitch,” he snarls moments before his fist comes hurtling towards my face. I try to duck but the amount of alcohol in my system has my reflexes on holidays. The guy nails me in the jaw and my body falls back against the wall. My head starts to spin and the world goes slightly blurry before righting itself again. Shit, had this guy knocked me out or damaged my vision, I would have been fucked for the rest of the season and who knows what that would have done for my career.

  By the time my vision is cleared, the guy is coming for me again. I push myself up from the wall. There’s no chance in hell this guy is getting a second go at me.

  I bend at the waist and charge at him. His body is lifted off the ground and I slam him into the opposite wall. The move forces his fisted hand out of his pocket and I notice a pair of black lace panties that I would recognize anywhere.

  He rubs the lace between his fingers as his eyes light up in a sick, excitement before bringing them up to his face. That mother fucker. I see nothing but red. There’s no doubt in my mind they’re Cassie’s missing black panties. The tiny pink bow at the top is a dead giveaway and I’m sure if I got them off him, I’d even see the tear in the fabric from where Cass stopped me from ripping them off her body.

  My fist goes flying before I even realize what I’m doing. I nail him in his eye socket, enjoying the sound of his head bouncing off the brick wall behind him, but I don’t stop there, I swiftly deliver an uppercut that has him folding over and gasping for breath.

  “Stay the fuck away from her,” I warn the sorry bastard as I steal the panties from his clenched hand.

  He growls in frustration and it’s then I realize, he’s here to have another crack at Cass. The thought alone has my knee coming up and nailing him in the guts once again.

  “She’s fucking mine,” he spits as he straightens himself out and tries to come at me again, but the guy is too winded and I catch him by the scruff of his shirt and pull him up to my height.

  “I’ve fucking warned you once already,” I snarl. “Don’t make it do it again.”

  The guy scoffs at my warning and I let go of his shirt. He drops to his feet and my fist comes hurtling towards his temple. It slams against his head and the guy drops to the ground like a sack of shit.

  There, that should do it.

  Anger pulses through my veins with a desperate need to get Cass back in my arms where I know she’ll be safe.

  “Dude,” a voice comes from behind me, sounding half impressed, “I didn’t realize you had it in you.” I turn to find Xander in the alley, looking over the guy and taking in his injuries. “Everything good here?”

  “Yeah, man,” I say, stepping away from the guy, “Just had a little misunderstanding is all.”

  He lets out a small scoff. “Right,” he says before searching the alley and finding his wallet laying on the ground. “Thanks for this,” he says, holding up the wallet and disappearing at a jog.

  The side door flies open and Shorty comes barging out with a chick in his arms. He looks at me with a grin before noticing the unconscious guy on the ground. “The fuck happened here?” he questions.

  “Same dickhead I knocked out last time, coming back for round two,” I explain.

  “Shit,” he grunts before turning his attention to the chick who’s trying to slide her thong down her legs. He looks back to me. “You done with the alley, man?” he grins.

  “You know, it’s a lot more hygienic in a bed,” I remind him.

  He shrugs once again, “Nah, this’ll be too quick to worry about finding a bed,”

  I roll my eyes and glance back at the guy, making sure he’s well and truly out before I leave. I head on through the side door and my eyes immediately search out Cass. She’s still on the dance floor and relief pours through my veins. I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her body. “You ready to go, babe?”

  She turns in my arms and her eyes widen in shock. “What happened?” she gasps, gaining Brianna’s attention and not to mention a few of the guys. Cassie’s hand instantly finds my face and I try my hardest not to shrink away from her touch because let’s be honest, it fucking hurts.

  “Nothing,” I tell her. “Just some dickhead wanting to settle an old score.”

  She presses her lips together and I see the look in her eye. I know she’s not convinced by my casual attitude towards it, but there’s no way in hell I’m telling her who the guy was. It would freak her out knowing he was here, though I’m pretty certain my warning was enough this time. There’s no way this dickhead would try for a third round, not unless he valued his life.

  “Seriously, Cass. It’s ok,” I tell her.

  She pulls me into her arms and holds me tight, “Are you ok?” she murmurs just for me to hear.

  I look into her eyes and see nothing but concern. “Yeah, babe. I’m fine.”

  She presses her lips together once more as she considers my answer, before taking my hand and leading me to the bar. She orders a bottle of water and waves goodbye to Brianna, who confirms Bobby will take her home.

  We get out into the street and she hands me the water. “Ah, thanks?” I say as my eyes discreetly move up and down the road and alleys.

  She rolls her eyes but grins at me anyway. “It’s not for you to drink, you moron. It’s cold. It’s to soothe your face and stop the swelling,” she tells me. “And besides, you wouldn’t want everyone thinking your girlfriend beats you up. I think that would damage your cred,” she laughs.

  I scoff but can’t help smirking at the little she devil. “First of all, I highly doubt anyone would think someone as… petite as you would even be capable of beating on me and secondly, if anyone asks, I’d just say it happened in bed. They’ll assume we play rough and I’ll still come out the hero. Winners all around.” I laugh.

  “I hardly see how I come out a winner in that situation,” she laughs.

  “Babe,” I grin. “I’m a fucking beast in bed, everybody knows it. I have a whole reputation built around it, so basically, as long as everyone knows you’re the one I’m with, then they all know you’re getting your world rocked each and every night, which you are,” I explain with a wink. “Therefore, you’re a winner.”

  “Oh, geez,” she laughs as she rolls her eyes. “I was nervous your ego might have deflated with that punch, but seems it’s ok. In fact, it might have even grown,” she smir
ks as we turn onto her street. “Be careful, you might not fit through the door anymore.”

  I grab her around the waist and pull her back into my chest. “My ego isn’t the only thing that’s fucking big,” I murmur into her hair as I nuzzle in to find her neck.

  “And hard…”

  “And ready…”

  I feel her thighs clench together as her bottom lip slips between her teeth. “Hmmm, I don’t know,” she teases as she pretends not to be affected by my wicked charm. “I’ve had better.”

  “Liar,” I murmur as I scoop her up in my arms and rush her down her driveway. My lips crash onto hers and she’s stripped naked before we even make it to her room.

  Chapter 20

  Cassie

  It’s halfway through the season and Brianna is being a little bitch. Apparently too sick to come with me to the boy’s game tonight.

  “Please,” I beg for the twentieth time to a girl who has been vomiting non-stop for the past twenty-four hours.

  “You’ve got to be kidding, right?” she groans at having to engage in any type of communication. “You know I’d love to go, I hate missing games. I mean, I don’t think I’ve missed one of Bobby’s games since we were kids.”

  “I know,” I mumble, as I sulk on the couch.

  “And?” she prompts.

  “And I’ll text you updates as it goes.”

  “And?”

  “And I’ll video all the important parts,” I say, mimicking her voice as I roll my eyes at her. “Though, I’m pretty sure you can watch it live somewhere.”

  “Ugh,” she groans. “I don’t have the energy for that shit. Just send me the good stuff.”

  “Fine,” I grumble, sinking back into the couch again.

  “Oh, and you better take your car. I think the boys would flip if they knew you walked all that way by yourself,” she tells me.

  “Yes, mother,” I smirk as she quickly sits up and holds her stomach.

  We both sit in silence for a few moments as we wait to see what little game her stomach is going to play right now. She lets out a breath. “False alarm,” she says relieved before laying back down and pulling the blanket back over her shivering body.

  I check the time on my phone and I know it’s either leave now or miss the opening, and I have to admit, watching Jax take the ice looking like an absolute god, proud and full of confidence kind of gets me hot, like really hot and I don’t want to miss that.

  I stand up and pull Jaxon’s jersey over my head. A thrill runs through me at getting to be the woman who gets to wear his name and number on my back, it makes me proud to be his girl. “Alright,” I tell Bri as I grab my keys. “I better go, do you need anything?”

  She looks up at me with big puppy dog eyes. “Could you grab my soup first?”

  “Really?” I grin. “Maybe you should get your boyfriend to come and take care of you.”

  “Shut up,” she says with a grin that she couldn’t possibly avoid as her mind goes straight to the guy who swore he would never be a one woman kind of man, but I guess miracles do happen. “Carter doesn’t do sick, and besides, I don’t want him to see me like this. His idea of looking after me is sexual and as much as I want that, I’d probably blow chunks all over him and ruin any chance of him returning.”

  I try my best to shake the image out of my head as I head to the kitchen to fetch the woman her soup. “You’d be surprised by the kind of stuff Carter would put up with for the woman he loves.”

  She looks doubtful but eventually allows me to leave.

  A moment later, I’m piled into my car and backing out the driveway. I turn up the volume on my playlist and belt out a little Celine as I trek over to the ice rink. I watch the clock as I get stuck in the roadworks on the main road. A chuckle rips from my chest as I remember Jax and Bobby getting stuck at this exact same place only a few short months ago and stumbled across Brianna and I in our pole dancing class.

  The clock continues to tick and I get a sinking feeling that I’m going to miss the opening that I love so much. I fidget and tap my nails on the steering wheel as I anxiously wait for the traffic to move along. I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Jax.

  Cassie – I’m running late. Don’t let that game start without me. Love you.

  Jax – And deprive you of that tingly feeling you get when you watch me skate? Wouldn’t dream of it. Drive safe.

  Another ten minutes later, it finally starts to move and I gun it. I get to the ice rink a few minutes later and just my luck, only find a spot right up the back of the parking lot, so rather than have to run all that way, I pull into the athletes parking and park across the back of Jax’s truck, I mean, it’s not like he would be leaving before I am.

  I quickly check the time as I put my Beetle in park and turn off the ignition. Relief washes over me. If I run, I might just make it. I notice a few other people also rushing to make the start of the game and I pull out my phone once again as I rush forward.

  Cassie – Just running in now. Kick ass tonight.

  Jax doesn’t reply, but I didn’t expect him to. Coach Harris is probably giving the players their pep talk before sending them out to the ice.

  I slip my phone into my jeans pocket and push forward, trying not to physically run as to not look like a desperate fool, but honestly, I’m walking pretty damn fast. The doors to the stadium come into view and I grin knowing exactly where my seat is, unlike the idiots around me who are all going to have to search through the crowd for their spots.

  I rush up the side of the stadium when my body is yanked backward. I’m pulled completely off balance by who the hell knows and I scramble to catch my footing, but it’s no use, the concrete path is coming fast. A dark shadow crosses my vision, but my first thought is about trying to save myself from this fall.

  My ass hits the floor and I know without a doubt that there’s going to be a bruise. I hardly have a moment to dwell on it before the dark shadow appears directly in front of me with a sick, twisted grin on his slimy face.

  Shit. The guy from Micky’s.

  I try to scream and look around for help but everyone seems to have already gone or is too busy in their rush to get inside to notice anything else. He slaps his hand over my face and I flinch at the pain it causes or maybe it’s the feel of his skin on mine once again.

  I try to scream against his hand but it’s useless. His eyes sparkle, enjoying my fear and I know I have to get out of here.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he tells me as his eyes flash with something darker and I realize just how much trouble I’m in right now. He grabs me by my hair and yanks me to my feet. My feet scramble beneath me trying to catch myself to relieve some of the pain. I scream out but once again, his other hand remains firmly over my mouth. My hands fly to my hair as I try my hardest to claw his hand away.

  Shit. My heart beats rapidly in my chest and I promptly begin to freak out. What the hell am I going to do? How am I going to get out of here?

  I kick my legs out and attempt to hit him, but he jumps back out of the way. “Mmmm, feisty,” he moans, momentarily closing his eyes, only to open them again to reveal even more darkness.

  I continue to claw at his hand in my hair, trying to free myself and I know it must be cutting him as I feel the wetness beneath my fingers but all it does is spur him on. He adjusts his hold in my hair and uses the hand over my mouth to slap me hard. I whimper in pain as the hand returns to my mouth. “You’re going to regret that,” he tells me before he uses his hold on my hair to lead me back towards the parking lot.

  I try everything I can to get free. I kick my legs out, drop all my body weight to the point he has to drag me, but nothing works. I swear, if I had something to use as a weapon, I’d be using it or at least attempting to cut my hair from my skull. We reach a dark car and I continue fighting, trying my hardest to get free from this bastard. All I know is I cannot be forced into that car. I don’t know what could possibly happen to me or where I would end up. The t
hought alone terrifies me and has me begging for freedom.

  His hand covering my mouth finally releases me and I instantly scream out which only makes him smirk a little more. Tears of pain or fear stream down my face, but I don’t get a chance to look around to see if anyone’s coming to help before he puts his other hand to the back of my head and slams my head down into the metal framing of his car.

  My head spins and the world around me instantly falls to nothingness.

  Chapter 21

  Jaxon

  Coach Harris stands in the center of the room giving us his usual pre-game pep talk. His words have the boys all riled up and ready to go but for the first time, the effect isn’t the same on me. Something just feels… I don’t know. Off.

  I can’t put my finger on it but whatever it is. I don’t like it.

  I try to tune it out and concentrate on Coach. After all, it’s halfway through the season and naturally, we’re in the top position to take this thing out. Semi-finals and finals are quickly approaching and I need to have my head in the game more than ever.

  Some lady with a clipboard comes knocking at the door and lets us know the start of the game has been delayed by ten minutes due to the ice rinks Zamboni breaking down. I can’t help but think this is a sign, something bad is going to happen and my guess is that it’s this game. Bad things always happen in threes. First, there’s Cass running late, though she should be here by now, second is the Zamboni, what comes next?

  Maybe I’ll miss a shot or fuck something up real bad. There are most likely scouts in the audience who are watching me, waiting to see if I’m the kind who will crack under pressure. I don’t know but my gut tells me something’s up.

  I consider it could be nerves, but then I haven’t been nervous before a game since I was a kid. This shit is as natural to me as brushing my damn teeth in the morning. It has to be something else, but what?

  Coach knocks over the bin at the end of the room and tips out a bucket of pucks at the other end before instructing us to take some practice shots while we wait for the ice.