Erik

by Sawyer Bennett

  “Did you like what we did, Blue?” I murmur and her eyes slide back to me slowly. She gives an almost imperceptible nod but it’s enough for me.

  “Do you want more?” My voice is husky and raw.

  “Yes,” she whispers and it makes me want to beat my fists upon my chest like Tarzan.

  I rub a thumb over her cheekbone letting my eyes roam over her face before I answer. “We’ll see…I’m not in a rush.”

  I’m teasing her, of course, and she well knows this. She gives it right back to me with a bland smile. “Neither am I. I’m a very patient woman.”

  I can’t help but laugh because I doubt either one of us are patient enough to drag this out too far.

  I didn’t get to see Blue yesterday as she had plans with Billy during the day and plans with Sadie in the evening. I was too proud to ask her to ditch Sadie so I could see her and I wasn’t about to interfere with anything to do with Billy. I realize that Blue might not be able to be as spontaneous as me when it comes to plans, because much of her free time is devoted to her brother. I’m going to have to plan ahead if I want to spend time with her.

  After our game in Houston tonight, we’ll be flying to Dallas in the morning where I will have a good chunk of tomorrow free as our game won’t be until the night after that. I capture her hands in mine and squeeze.

  “Would you like to go with me tomorrow to the Dallas aquarium?” I ask her. “It would have to be after our morning practice, but then we can eat a nice lunch somewhere and if you’re not sick of me, we can do dinner out too.”

  Blue’s entire face brightens and the smile she gives me is almost blinding. “That sounds like fun. Do you think we should invite the others?”

  By “others” I know she means the group that we’ve normally been hanging around with for meals or drinks during our road games. That would be Valerie, Lyla, Sadie, Bishop, Legend, and Dax.

  “No fucking way,” I tell her with a shake of my head. “This is a date and it’s just me and you.”

  Blue tilts her head and grins. “In that case, I gladly accept.”

  “Can’t wait,” I tell her and that is the honest to God truth. While I’m excited about our upcoming games against Houston and Dallas, I’d have to lump a date with Blue right up there with them on the exhilaration scale.

  “You know,” she says with a contemplative expression on her face. “This was what I sort of imagined would happen five years ago when you asked me out on a second date. Wanting to spend actual time with me—out of bed, that is. It’s weird that it’s happening now.”

  Her words make me feel like shit again for the way I treated her, but they also give me hope because I’m giving her what she needs. “I was different then. Honestly, I never wanted to just spend time with a woman. I was a bit of a douche, you’ll agree.”

  “Agreed,” she says impishly.

  “It’s different now,” I tell her.

  Her voice is soft and wistful. “Yeah…it is.” She then gives a slight push to my chest. “Now get out of here so I can work.”

  I consider kissing her but instead I step away. That would just be too typical. Shooting her a wink, I leave the galley and return to the table where my buddies are already immersed in another hand of five-card draw.

  I sit down and watch the action, sipping at the bottle of water Blue had brought me right before the plane had taken off.

  My phone buzzes in my back pocket so I pull it out. An incoming text from my father, compliments of WiFi on the plane.

  I open it up and read, Hey, buddy. Just checking in to see how things are.

  With a grin I shoot a quick text back. Going great. On the plane to Houston. You?

  He responds back immediately. Things are great. Got a hot date tonight with a realtor I met in a loan closing yesterday. She’s got a set of double D’s on her that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

  I snort when I read that. My father is a bigger player than I am. In fact, I would have to owe much of my own playboy ways to the way Pierce Dalhbeck raised me.

  He and my mom, Lauren, divorced when I was twelve years old. My mom got primary custody at first and she quickly remarried a man that I despised. Her new husband, James, was a religious nut and a strict disciplinarian. While my mom tried to act as a buffer between us, we had not been living together a mere six months before it was clear it was not going to work out. My parents agreed that I could stay full time with my dad and just have weekend and holiday visitation with my mom, who I was still incredibly close to.

  Living with my dad did not make me love my mother any less. In fact, she is the most important woman in my life. I could never hold it against her for marrying James because despite how much I couldn’t stand the man, I could see that he made her ridiculously happy. Once I moved in full time with my father, things even got a little better between James and me.

  Life in my father’s house, however, was a complete contrast to living with my mom and James. In hindsight I can say he was not the best role model when it came to teaching me about women and relationships. He and my mom divorced because he had cheated on her with his twenty-year-old secretary at his law practice. It was something I do believe my father was regretful about because he never wanted to hurt my mother. But it also became clear after they divorced that he probably just wasn’t the marriage type.

  In other words, he liked variety and youth among his women. During my formative years when a boy turns into a man, I basically watched my father have a revolving door of young beauties on his arm who I knew were there only to fulfill his base needs. Anybody that knows Pierce Dalhbeck would not be surprised in the slightest that I ended up just like him.

  Despite all of that, or maybe because of it, my dad and I are very close too. He went to all of my hockey games growing up and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. He paid for me to attend fancy training camps and always bought me the best equipment. Much of my success in the league comes straight from the opportunities that my father gave me growing up to hone my skills.

  I shoot my dad back a text that ignores his description of his date tonight. Are we good for lunch in a couple weeks?

  The team is flying to my home state of Minnesota to play the Raiders. My dad always attends several of my games a year because he can afford to take time away from work and travel to them. But I can’t miss up an opportunity to hang out with him when we’re in the same city. It’s an early-morning flight and I’ll be able to squeeze in a late lunch after a practice skate.

  My dad texts back, You betcha. Lunch is on me.

  Deal, I text back.

  Sadie walks up to our table and asks, “You boys need anything?”

  “Yeah,” Dax says with a laugh. “Send Blue over here before Erik perishes from not being able to see her.”

  The guys all start laughing but I don’t even bother looking up from my phone.

  “Bite me,” I tell the guys and then shoot another text off to my dad. I’ll be bringing someone I want you to meet.

  Chapter 12

  Blue

  Sadie lets out a huge yawn as the team bus pulls in front of the hotel. The flight crew has the option to ride the same buses that the team takes from hotels to arenas as a perk of our job if we want or we can take an Uber. If we go with the team, this means we get to the arenas really early before a game which can be boring. But tonight we hopped the ride since the arena in Houston sits amid a huge retail and restaurant complex where we had no problem killing a few hours window shopping before the game.

  For both trips, there and back, I sat with Sadie, even though Erik had beckoned to me when I got on. I just gave a slight shake of my head, not wanting to be so obvious about our relationship on game day. I feel like that’s sort of interfering so Sadie and I took a pair of seats near the front of the bus.

  The game tonight against the Jam went into overtime an
d my throat was raw from cheering. The Vengeance pulled it out, though, and I’ve never seen a more determined group of players in my life. They’re gritty and inexhaustible when it comes to fighting down to the wire for a win. As always, Erik was a pleasure to watch on the ice and I have to admit, tonight was a bit different. Watching him out there, and knowing that we were actually a couple put a new spin on things. I had even more pride in how he played, and it was more nerve-racking to watch because a win would be more personal to me since it was personal to Erik.

  I follow Sadie off the bus, hopping off the last step. “I’m going to wait for Erik,” I tell her.

  She throws a hand over her shoulder in acknowledgment. “See you up in the room.”

  I’m waiting for Erik because he had texted me on the ride from the arena to the hotel and asked me to do so. He sat near the back of the bus so it will take a few minutes for him to make it out. I’m sure he probably wants a good night kiss before we head to our respective rooms—me with Sadie and him with Legend—so I’m not going to say no to that.

  Several players disembark as I wait. Legend and Dax who both wink at me. Tacker Hall, the captain, gets off next. Notoriously quiet and withdrawn, he gives me a soft, “G’night, Blue,” as he walks passed me.

  I’m so surprised he said something, I start to answer, but then Erik is standing in front of me and Tacker in all his melancholic glory is forgotten. Damn the man looks good in a suit and he smells fantastic too.

  I notice immediately that he’s empty-handed. “Where’s your duffel bag?”

  “Legend’s taking it to the room for me,” he says and I can’t say that I noticed Legend carrying two bags when he walked by but that’s irrelevant. “Wanted to see if you’d like to go for a walk before we headed to bed.”

  It was a beautiful night and the temperature was crisp. I’d worn a Vengeance sweatshirt to the game so I was more than comfortable. We looked very odd together, Erik in his designer suit of steel blue and me in jeans and a sweatshirt.

  But I guess that really doesn’t matter. I hold my hand out to him and he takes it. “Where to?” I ask.

  “Let’s just walk for a few blocks,” he suggests and we start away from the hotel at a leisurely pace. The hotel is smack in the middle of downtown and is surrounded by restaurants, upscale bars, and retail stores. Even closing in on midnight, the area is still well lit and bustling with pedestrian traffic.

  “You played amazing tonight,” I tell him.

  He squeezes my hand as he looks down at me. “We need to get you a Dalhbeck jersey.”

  “I’ll get one this weekend,” I assure him.

  “Let me correct myself,” he admonishes. “I need to get you a jersey. I’ll get Billy one too.”

  “That’s way too much—”

  “Blue,” Erik cuts in as he brings us both to a stop. He turns me to face him, oblivious to other pedestrians who have to walk around us. “I get what we have going on here is new and we’ve only been on two dates, with our third tomorrow, but what we do have is definitely not thin.”

  “Not thin?” I repeat with confusion.

  “We have substance. Put the insane sexual chemistry and attraction aside, we’re two people that have found out that we really like each other on a deeper level. We’re two people that weren’t right for each other five years ago, but we’re finding real joy in spending time together now. It’s certainly not too much to buy you and Billy a jersey.”

  “But it’s a little weird for you to buy me things when you hardly know me,” I point out. “I mean…for Pete’s sake…you don’t even know my middle name.”

  “I watched you ride my leg until you made yourself come,” he returns with a flash of teeth set in a wicked grin. “I know you well enough.”

  “Fair point,” I concede with a dull ache forming between my legs at that wicked reminder, then incline my head. “Then by all means…I’ll take a medium and Billy probably a large.”

  Erik throws his head back and laughs, but it only lasts a moment before he’s jerking me into him with his hands at my face. His mouth touches mine even as he’s still chuckling but when I slip my tongue inside to touch his, it’s not funny anymore. Erik wraps himself around me and deepens the kiss, right there in the middle of a Houston sidewalk as people walk by.

  With a growl of frustration, Erik moves his mouth along my cheek to whisper in my ear. “You do know how much I want you, right, Blue?”

  “Yeah,” I murmur back. Erik hugs me tighter to him and I can feel the ridge of his cock pressing into my stomach.

  “Soon,” he promises and kisses me on my cheek. “Let’s head back.”

  When we step inside, there’s a few of the younger players hanging out in the bar that sits just off the lobby. They beckon Erik and me in but we decline. I know other players probably hit up some of the bars around the area for a few hours of shenanigans. The plane doesn’t leave until 8:00 A.M. and they have a full day tomorrow to rest and recuperate outside of the practice skate which usually goes no longer than forty-five minutes. I had been shocked when I first started working for the team by how hard some of these men party after games and into the wee hours of the morning.

  “What floor are you on?” Erik asks as we enter the elevator.

  “Tenth,” I tell him, pulling my room key out of my purse.

  Erik taps the appropriate button. “I’ll walk you to your room first. I’m on the fifteenth.”

  There’s no stopping the dopey grin on my face as I realize, I’m experiencing real “boyfriend” stuff for the first time ever. I never dated in high school and my days in LA were filled with partying and meaningless relationships. When I returned to Phoenix to take care of Billy, I didn’t even have time to think about dating as I got him settled into the Cresson, moved into my new home, and started a new job.

  But now I’ve got a handsome, successful man gallantly walking me to my room that sits five floors below his own and which it would be perfectly safe for me to go to on my own. A man that wants to bring my brother—wheelchair and all—to see a hockey game. A man that wants to walk a few blocks with me just so we can hang for a little bit.

  A man who I feel like I could fall hard for.

  I know I should have some reservations about letting myself get involved with Erik, who really did me wrong in the past, but as we exit off the elevator and our hands naturally find each others, I don’t have a single damn qualm.

  “Want to catch an early breakfast with me tomorrow?” Erik asks as we approach my room.

  “Sure. What time?”

  “Bus is leaving at 7:30 so we should have plenty of time to eat if we meet down there at 7.”

  “Sounds good,” I agree as we reach my door.

  There’s a handwritten note stuck in between the door and the jamb. I put my key in the card slot, open the door slightly, and snag the piece of paper.

  I open it up and see Sadie’s elegant penmanship. Erik looks over my shoulder at the note as we read it silently together.

  Blue,

  Valerie and Legend are hooking up and they’re in his room which means Erik has been kicked out. I’m going to go sleep with Lyla and thus you and Erik can have this room. Unless you want Erik to go sleep with Lyla?

  No? Didn’t think so.

  Have fun you two.

  Sadie

  “This is Legend’s doing,” Erik says with a grim smile as I twist my neck to look at him. “I’m sure he thought he was doing me a solid or something. I’ll go down there and tell him to send Valerie back to her room.”

  I laugh. “No, it’s okay. We’re adults.”

  I start to push the door open, wondering what it will be like to sleep in the same bed all night as Erik. His hand on my upper arm stops me and I turn to face him.

  His eyes are dark and intense as they capture mine. �
�If I go in that room with you, you know I’m not going to be able to help myself. I’m going to touch you.”

  A shiver runs straight up my spine over the ambiguity of his words. Touch me how? Where? To what end? He did say he was going to take things slowly but what does that even mean?

  “I know that,” I reply without hesitation, choosing to go ahead and give him the all clear that he most certainly can touch me if he wants.

  “And is that what you want?” His words are strained, his jaw locked tight with anticipation. “For me to touch you?”

  My legs turn rubbery over the intensity of his stare and my panties dampen. “Yes.”

  “Christ,” he mutters before pushing me through the door and backing me right into the room. His mouth hits mine only moments before my legs hit the edge of a bed and we both go tumbling onto it.

  Erik’s hands are all over me. In my hair, on my breasts, in between my legs where he immediately cups me through the denim fabric.

  I don’t hesitate to reciprocate. I’ve been dying to touch his body again. I remember every detail of it from our night five years ago. My hand goes right to his groin where I palm his erection, causing Erik to hiss into my mouth. He rears back from me, bolting off the bed. I watch as he tears at his clothes in a frenzy, all the while staring at me with so much heat in his eyes, a tiny trickle of fear slithers through me.

  Not fear that I’ll get physically hurt but that I’ll be destroyed for anyone else.

  Erik merely ditches his suit coat and tie, loosening the top two buttons of his shirt. His attention then comes to me and he mutters. “I need you naked, Blue.”

  This I can do but he doesn’t even give me the opportunity. He hauls me off the bed as if I’m a rag doll and swiftly divests me of all of my clothing. He turns me this way and that until I’m in nothing but my bra and panties standing before him.

  Erik goes still and lets his gaze roam down my body ever so slowly. His eyes stop on my pelvis and he traces the waistband of my panties with his finger. I shudder from the touch.