Captain My Captain (NHL Scorpions #0.5)

by Nikki Worrell

  Keith stood back and watched her, enjoying the view. Her pink bottoms rode up when she bent low to splash water on her arms. He wasn’t sure which view he’d rather have, the front or the back. She had a fan-fucking-tastic ass.

  They finished the game without them since they stayed in the water for so long. Hunger finally drove them out of the ocean and over to the buffet table that was set up under the tent. Keith put together a plate of food, piled high with ribs, corn, and salads. He took her hand again and led her over to the jetty to eat. Sharing the plate, they talked about where they grew up, their childhoods, parents, anything, and everything. Before they knew it, the sun was setting.

  Kelly let out a gasp as she realized how late it was. “Oh my God. I need to go.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to let my dog out. I was going to bring her, but she doesn’t like being around a lot of people. She’s a rescue dog and came from an abusive home.”

  “Good thing you left her home then.”

  “Do you like animals?” Kelly didn’t trust people who didn’t like animals.

  “I love them. I’ve actually been thinking about getting a dog. I miss having an animal around. I just wonder if it’s fair to get one when I travel so much.”

  He could tell he’d said the right thing. Not that he didn’t mean it, he did. “There are plenty of us to take care of the team’s pets. I volunteer at the animal orphanage on Saturday mornings. You should stop down. I’ll help you pick out a companion. But now I have to go. Thanks for spending the day with me.”

  Keith walked her out to her car. “It was my pleasure, Kelly.” He threw caution to the wind and gave her just a quick kiss on the cheek before she got in her car.

  “What was that for?”

  “I just wanted to.”

  Her smile made his insides warm. “Oh, um, okay. Night, Keith.” She got into her car but quickly jumped back out of the seat. “That kiss was pathetic.”

  She pushed up on her tiptoes and fused her mouth to his. He quickly took control and pushed her back against the car as his hands reached out to squeeze her sweet hips. They went from zero to sixty in no time at all.

  “Jesus, you can kiss,” Keith mumbled against her lips. He broke away to nibble a path to that sensitive spot girls had right beneath their ears. Her low moan was all the further encouragement he needed. Letting his hands slide up to her ribs, he softly brushed the underside of her breasts as his thigh nestled between her legs, applying gentle pressure, drawing a surprised gasp from her.

  Kelly put her hands on Keith’s chest and pushed against him slightly, but when he started to pull away, she moved her hands to wrap them around his neck. When his hands wandered downward to cup her bottom, she hoisted herself up against him and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Oh my God,” Kelly said as she tilted her head back, her heart beating erratically. Keith took advantage of her position and trailed kisses along the column of her throat.

  “Fuck yeah! Somebody’s getting laid right in the parking lot! Do it to her, Lambert. Guess I was wrong about her being cold, eh?”

  Keith pulled back from Kelly and turned to find Ace standing entirely too close to them. “Ace, get lost. Seriously, man, not now.” Keith was the captain of the team. He couldn’t make a scene. Don’t hit him. Don’t hit him.

  “Know what I would do? I’d put her on her hands and knees. See that ass bounce as I was fucking her.” Ace provided visual effects which had Keith seeing red.

  “Too far, Ace. Too far.” As he reached out to grab Ace’s shirt, he felt a tug on his arm.

  Kelly had seen enough. “Stop, Keith. Please. He’s drunk. Don’t listen to him.”

  Brandon and Vlad caught sight of Ace’s drunken behavior and hastened over to get him. Keith gladly gave him into their keeping. “Never talk about her again. In fact, don’t even look at her. You won’t like the consequences if I ever find out you’ve disrespected her again, do you understand?”

  “We’ll take care of him, Keith.” As they dragged him away, he was still making crude motions with his hips while laughing uncontrollably.

  “What an asshole.” It was all Keith could do to keep himself from going after them and planting his fist in Ace’s face.

  The mood was most definitely broken, but maybe that was for the best. Keith had been getting carried away. He probably would have had sex with her right there in the public parking lot at that point. “You better get going. Your pup is waiting for you.” He tried to give her a smile, but he knew it fell short.

  “Thanks for defending my honor, Keith. And for one hell of a kiss, but...”

  “No. No ‘buts.’”

  “I have to say this, Keith. I like you, and I know I’m the one who jumped on you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now. Look, I have to go. See you tomorrow?”

  “You don’t want a relationship, but you’re asking to see me tomorrow? What’s that mean, Kel? Are you asking me out or what?”

  “Um, no. We have a game, remember?”

  “Oh, right.” He closed her door for her and stepped back. “See you then.” And that was that.

  Chapter 6

  Preseason passed by in a blur, with the Scorpions splitting their wins and losses right down the middle. Keith didn’t see much of Kelly in that week and a half, and he wondered if she was avoiding him altogether. What he did see of her though, he liked very much. She was by far the hottest ice girl they had.

  To blow off some steam before the intensity began in earnest, the team got together the day before their home opener to play games, swim, eat, and drink—nonalcoholic beverages. Henry hosted the event at his monstrous house in the hills. It was a tradition he started over ten years ago when he’d bought the place, shortly after being named the Scorpions’ general manager.

  With the privacy the house afforded came a long, steep, winding driveway. Keith could only imagine what the view would be like when they reached the top of the hill, and he wasn’t disappointed.

  The two-story, yellow stucco house sat majestically at the end of the driveway, surrounded by mature trees. A large infinity pool, complete with a waterfall and two hot tubs took up a portion of the backyard, but left plenty of room for a huge barbeque and sitting area. He even spied a horseshoe pit and volleyball net set up on the side of the house as he walked around to join the others already there.

  He immediately looked for Kelly. It didn’t take him long to find her. She was already in the pool in a different swimsuit than the one she wore to the beach.

  She looked fantastic as usual. The suit was electric blue with a thick, white trim that made it slightly retro in appearance. It was a two-piece, but wasn’t any more revealing than her ice girl outfit. The bottoms were boy shorts that showcased her rounded hips to perfection. The halter-style top dipped low, but wasn’t so skimpy that she was in danger of falling out of it, so it left a bit to the imagination. Keith approved wholeheartedly, and was having a hard time not staring at her. It didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Why do you waste your time on Big Belly Kelly? You could have one of the hot girls, you know.”

  Will this guy ever learn? Again, Keith had to fight the urge to haul off and plant his fist smack-dab in the middle of Ace’s face. “Big Belly Kelly? We can’t be looking at the same girl. And did you forget what I said about talking disrespectfully about her?”

  “Huh? Oh, you mean at the beach. I don’t really remember a lot of that.”

  Keith decided to let that go. Since Ace was a teammate, he didn’t have a lot of choice. “Is this all because she turned you down, Landry?” Keith purposefully used Ace’s real name for two reasons. Number one, Ace hated it, and number two, he really hated it.

  “Come on, man. You can’t seriously believe that I couldn’t tap that if I wanted to.”

  “Oh, I absolutely believe it. From what I heard, you were only able to land Holly. Of course everyone lands Holly.” Ace
had nothing to say to that, and Keith walked away, leaving him to stand there alone.

  Kelly swam up to the edge of the pool as Keith was slipping off his shoes. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “Okay. Haven’t seen you in a while.” He was surprised to feel the jolt of anger that rose up in him at her casual greeting. By the look on her face, she could hear the coldness in his voice.

  “Yeah. Look, I think we need to talk. Are you coming in here or do you want to go take a walk on the beach?”

  “I’m coming in there.” He pulled off his shirt and slipped into the water. “Let’s go over to the waterfall.” There were a couple of people in the area, but the noise from the water splashing down from the rock wall would give them some privacy. “What’s up?”

  Kelly looked shy all of a sudden. Or nervous, he wasn’t sure which, but she wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. To his own disgust, he found it quite endearing. He had decided just last night that if she didn’t want him, that was fine. But it wasn’t fine. He still wanted her.

  “So?”

  “Geez, give me a second, will you? I’m trying to apologize and explain here, Keith.” She was holding something important back, he just knew it. “Let me just say all of this without you interrupting, okay? No pity looks, nothing.”

  “Okay.”

  “I don’t have time for you right now. That’s the bottom line. I wish things were different, but they’re not. Here’s the very short version of my story.” She stopped to take a cleansing breath, and, unconsciously lifted her chin before she continued.

  “There are a few things I danced around when we talked about our childhoods. Here it is. I don’t know who my father is. I grew up in Vegas, because my mother was an exotic dancer. She did the best she could, but it wasn’t very good. When I was thirteen, she was killed by her third—no, fourth—husband. Apparently, she had burned dinner one too many times.”

  All Keith wanted to do was gather her in his arms and comfort her. What strength she had! To live through that and be the person she was today. “My God, Kelly.” He tried to hold her hand, but she withdrew it. “Where did you go after that?”

  “I was in three different foster homes before I turned eighteen. And I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I was rebelling and got into all sorts of trouble. Nope. I was the good kid. See, I didn’t want to end up like my mother. I excelled in school, but it just wasn’t ever good enough. The checks that came from the state were the only things that kept foster parents from dumping me out on the curb. But when the foster fathers became entirely too interested in me, I ran away. Again and again. No one was going to rule my body. They may have been in control of my food and shelter, but I was not going to be violated.”

  He had no idea what to do, what to say. All Keith knew was that he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let go. Never let anyone or anything hurt her ever again.

  Kelly shook her head to clear it. “Wow. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that those times are still lodged in here.” She lightly rapped her knuckles on her head for emphasis. “Anyway, when I turned eighteen, I got a job as a waitress. I had enough money sacked away from odd jobs here and there to rent a disgusting trailer for a while. It was okay, because I knew I’d be able to save more money if I lived in a cheap place. As I began getting on my feet, I gave love a shot. It worked for a while. Or I thought it would anyway.”

  Keith had a very bad feeling about where this story was going. “One night, I gave in and let him have sex with me. He liked it rough. After the second or third time of him bruising me so badly that I couldn’t go to work, I left.” She let out a humorless laugh. “Here’s the good part. He kicked me out of my own trailer, and there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. So I moved to San Diego to start fresh.”

  Keith couldn’t stop himself. He grabbed on to her and pulled her over to the ledge, still holding on.

  She allowed it and smiled at him before she continued. “There’s more crap after that, but the bottom line is that I’m good now. I’m independent; I have a couple of decent jobs. My apartment isn’t too scary to walk to at night, and I’ll be finished my bachelor’s degree in accounting in six months. Six months! I made it, Keith. I made it. I don’t want to screw that up.”

  To his horror, she had tears in her eyes when he looked at her. “I just don’t have room in my life for you right now. I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.”

  What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Just tell her what you feel. “Wow, Kelly. That’s amazing.”

  She actually snorted at his statement. “Amazing? It’s pathetic. Poor little orphan girl. How cliché am I?”

  “Are you crazy? You beat all the odds. Look at you! Look at all you accomplished. I had no idea you were in school. Where do you find the time? You have two jobs that I know of, volunteer at the animal shelter on weekends, and go to college? Shit, Kel, all I do is pass a six-ounce piece of rubber around the ice. I’m barely good enough to sit next to you.”

  “Oh, you’re good enough, Keith, but you scare the hell out of me. I’ve known you for how long, a couple of weeks? And I feel things for you I’ve never felt before. It scares me to death. There’s never been a man in my life who hasn’t disappointed me in some way—not one. I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on men in general, but that’s the way it is. I’m just not ready for a relationship, and you need to know that.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll wait for you to be ready, but I’m not going anywhere. You might want to resign yourself to my wanting to be around you, not to mention hitting on you. Speaking of which, that suit is a total turn-on.”

  “I purposely wore this because it covers me up so much!” Kelly splashed him and swam away.

  “Oh no, you don’t!” Keith swam furiously after her, awed that she was able to put such a large distance between them in a few short seconds. When he reached her, he picked her up in his arms, spun her around, and threw her back into the water. She came up sputtering her indignation.

  “I can’t believe you did that!” Laughing all the way, she swam back to him and put her arms around his neck. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

  “So am I.” In front of everyone at the party, he kissed her. Right there in the water. Not caring if the whole world saw them. Since she didn’t push him away, he took advantage of being in the water where no one could clearly see his hands and ran them over her hips and bottom, squeezing those plump globes in his hands. He truly couldn’t get enough of her. He knew he was falling for her. She was a ruining him for all other women.

  Chapter 7

  Sunday morning rolled around and with it, some free time for Keith. The Scorpions had an evening home game, so he had a few hours to kill. He was really missing having a critter in the house and decided to go see Kelly at the animal orphanage.

  “What are you doing here?” Kelly’s smile lit up the dank hallway as she came out from the back near the kennels.

  “I want a critter. I’m not even sure what kind.”

  Her smile grew brighter as she continued her walk toward him. “Yeah? We have a critter here that isn’t as popular as the puppies. Care to take a look?”

  “Hmm. It’s not some mutant cat or something, is it?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and see. Follow me.”

  “Gladly.” He could watch her hips swing all day long. No hardship there. Jesus, that ass!

  They got to the end of the hallway, and she opened a door to her left. Keith saw that the room was full of a menagerie of animals. There were snakes, turtles, and even frogs. “You have these kind of guys in the shelter? What the hell is wrong with people?”

  “Who knows? At least they don’t kill them or put them out in the wild where they wouldn’t be able to care for themselves anymore. I really try not to think about it too much. It makes the job too hard. I want to take them all home.”

  “So, which one is my new buddy?”

  Kelly walked over to a cage in the corner of the room and came back wi
th a huge ball of black and white fluff. It had really long ears and big feet. “This little girl is Daisy. She was hit by a car and had a broken leg. She’ll make a great pet, but her leg will never heal well enough to make it back in the wild, so after the vet set her leg, they brought her here to be adopted.” She handed Daisy to Keith and studied his reaction. She was not disappointed by it.

  “It’s a bunny. Jesus, Kel. I just lost my man card. I’m in love.” He proceeded to give Daisy little bunny kisses as Kelly’s face softened toward him.

  “Wow. Yeah, you did, but it works for you. You’ll take her?”

  “Try and stop me. But you’re going to have to teach me how to take care of her. I’ve never had a bunny before.”

  “Why don’t you take her cage and water bottle for now? There’s food in there, and I’ll stop over on the way home with her medications and instructions for her. Is that okay?”

  Keith was so busy murmuring sweet nothings to his new pet that he didn’t hear what Kelly had said. “Huh?”

  She had to laugh at his bonding with Daisy. “I’m going to stop over at your house with stuff for Daisy and show you how to care for her, okay?”

  “Yeah. Absolutely. When? I have to leave for the rink around four.” It was only noon so he had time.

  “I’m almost done here. I’ll be over in about an hour? I want to stop home and shower first.” No way was she going over to his house smelling like wet dog. Even though she wasn’t going to date him or anything, of course.

  “Sure. We’ll see you then. Wait—don’t I have to fill out all kinds of paperwork?”

  “I think I can vouch for you.”

  “Thanks.” He spoke quietly to Daisy as he gently placed her back in her cage. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go home. You’re going to like it there. And I’m going to buy you lots of carrots.”

  ***