"Oh, come on, Sera," Katella said with a fake pout. "It's so hot when they fight for our honor."
"True," Seraphina said, "but it's also stupid. Stevens is a third line nobody. It's his job to get star players like Zachary Ryan, Kyle Underwood, and James Negan off the ice for five minutes. The fact that he got Brandon Thorpe kicked out of the game is a fucking miracle."
"You better hope they don't realize he has feelings for you," Emma said, leaning forward and clutching her popcorn to her chest. "They could target you in order to get him off the ice."
"I think that was a one-time thing," Seraphina said. "I highly doubt he's going to lose control again the way he did with Stevens. He's not the sort of guy who gets into fights. I mean, he's a goalie."
"True," Harper said, nodding her head. "But you'd be surprised. Our guys fight a lot for skilled players. We have fourth-liners that would defend them, sure, but they defend themselves and the easy target is the significant other."
The game ended with a couple more tiffs on the ice between Negan and Stevens. Katella, of course, was on her feet and cheering for him. Her eyes were dark green and there was a particular smile that slithered onto her face. There was love and affection there, Seraphina noticed, but also lust and desire. Seraphina hid her own smile. She understood now why Katella loved the fighting in hockey. Before she knew The Code, knew that fighting was actually a strategy for the sport, she thought the entire thing was pointless.
But once she inherited the team, she realized fighting was a necessity. The team used it as a way to send a message that they weren't going to tolerate any roughing of their skilled players, the team used it as a way to regulate the game when the refs weren't calling anything, they used it as a strategy to get a skilled player off the ice, to get the fans into the game, and to inspire his team after they'd been scored on. And, after she watched Brandon engage in it as a way to defend her, she realized it was a draw for the females. Sure, some believed fighting took away from the sport and made it seem ridiculous rather than athletic but Seraphina had her mind changed and she was so glad she did.
Seraphina stepped into the locker room before the media and the team, who had just wrapped up a speech given by Cherney, parted ways to make room for her. She took a step on the bench so she could be seen. Her face was beaming with pride. Also, she had some awesome sex where she was standing but nobody else needed to know that.
"Guys," she began, "thank you so much for your hard work and dedication. Shoutout to Jimmy who stepped up when Thorpe decided to get himself kicked out of the game for losing his shit for some reason. I really wanted to win this one for personal reasons and I'm so glad you guys came through. We already have a wild card seed for the playoffs. Nothing is guaranteed obviously but if we play like we did tonight, we could make playoffs, boys!"
Everyone cheered and whistled.
"Alcohol on the plane on me!" she exclaimed.
More cheering.
"All right," she said. "Finish what you're doing here. Media will probably want to question you - even you, Thorpe. You better figure out a good reason why you completely lost it out there." She gave him a wink and he grinned back.
A look passed between them, a secret look that nobody else understood. A look that was just theirs.
Her heart skipped. This could work, she realized. This could work.
Chapter 14
When they left that evening, Seraphina was reminded that they had a mini-roadtrip before they flew back to Newport Beach. The Gulls were scheduled to play the Houston Rangers tomorrow and then the Phoenix Rattlesnakes two nights after that. She had completely forgotten that in all of her scheduling. When she realized if she traveled with the team, she would be expected to make an appearance at both games, Seraphina okayed it. She hadn’t traveled with the team for her entire tenure and decided since she was already with them, it might be fun to watch them play as a visitor than just at home. She asked the girls if they wanted to go home because of some scheduled obligation but nobody took her up on her offer of flying them home. Even Emma, who always seemed to be busy, was able to go on the little getaway.
She sat with Brandon on the plane and the two held hands once again. It calmed Seraphina down just like it did before. Other than that, they did not touch. Seraphina still didn’t know what this was, and just because she was open to seeing where it went didn’t mean she needed to force her team into being around it.
Somehow, she fell asleep and her head hit Brandon’s shoulder. She was out until the plane landed. Then, Brandon gently woke her up. She felt refreshed, safe. Glad she didn’t have to worry about reacting to the plane landing. To her, that was always the worst part of being afraid to fly, that little bump that always occurred right after the plane touched the ground at that speed.
The team was transported over to the hotel by bus and by the time they checked into their rooms, it was well after midnight and the players were due for an eight am skate even though the game wasn’t until the next day.
Seraphina had given Brandon a copy of their room key but didn’t make any plans with him on whether he would come up or not. That was entirely up to him and she wasn’t going to wait around and figure it out. Even when Katella asked whether Thorpe would be here, Seraphina answered honestly: “I don’t know.”
“Negan is,” Katella said. She gave her sister a long look. “I’m here if you need me, Sera.”
Seraphina nodded once. “Thanks,” she said.
Just as she was dozing off, however, Seraphina heard the door to her room click open and the soft, familiar footsteps of Brandon. Through slitted eyes, she could see his tall figure crawl onto the bed, could feel his large hand cup her cheek, and then he gave her a long, slow kiss.
“I didn’t think you would come,” she murmured in a sleepy voice.
“And resist being next to you?” he asked. “I’ve been wanting to do this for over a year and a half. We have a lot of time to make up for.”
He gave her a long, lasting kiss, sending shockwaves through her system and making her knees go weak. Thank goodness she was lying down or else she would have fallen off-balance like a clutz.
"Wait," he murmured against her lips. "Wait, wait, wait. We have to talk about this, Seraphina. I want you... I want to be inside you. Fuck, I want you. But I can't just... I won't." He stopped and looked her in the eye. She could tell by the clenched jaw and the hard eyes that it took a lot out of him just to control himself. He wanted her just like she wanted him, and it took everything in her to resist him, to hold back from seducing him - because she knew if she kissed his neck and caressed his body he would succumb and save the talking for later - because she knew this was important to him. And if it was important to him, it should be important to her as well.
"Okay," she agreed with a nod of her head. "What would you like to talk about?"
"Us," he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I want to talk about me and you and what this is. My feelings haven't changed, Sera. If we're going to do this, I want to do this right. I'm not going to half-ass this. I want you completely. I don't want you with anyone else. I don't want you only to have sex with you. I want to be in a relationship with you where we hold hands and have sex and make plans. I can't do anything less."
Seraphina bit her bottom lip and nodded. "I know," she told him. "I've been giving this a lot of thought. And I agree. But we can't go public, Brandon. Not right now. Maybe not for a while. I would need to talk to my lawyer and make sure we’re covered legally. And if we're not, we might have to keep our relationship a secret for a while. For however long I'm owner of the team or you’re on my team."
"But you would be with me?" he asked. "I know it's undercover, we have to hide things for a while, but you would still be with me?"
"Of course, Brandon," she said, looking at him with wonder. "I want to be with you out in public. But would you be willing to wait for that?" She wasn't sure if this was going to work at all but she was willing to try.
"I'd do anything for you," he told her sincerely. "Just as long as we got-"
Now it was her turn to shut him up with a kiss.
–
Brandon Thorpe didn’t have many friends. Truth be told, he didn’t have any friends. Even his own teammates didn’t socialize with him much, and he was their captain. Of course, he didn’t take it personally. He understood that he hadn’t actually put himself out there so it wouldn’t make sense for them to make the effort when it was his responsibility to reach out and contribute in some way as well.
He didn’t particularly care one way or the other. He knew that out on the ice, his team had his back, regardless of how they personally felt about him. It was what you did when you were on a team: you had your team’s back no matter what.
Well, most of his teammates had that mentality. Negan and Matt Peters, Katella’s ex, didn’t get along and Negan hadn’t gone out of his way to pretend he liked the guy. Although, if Brandon was being honest, he couldn’t really blame Negan. Peters had run his mouth – which wasn’t like him – about Katella and Negan protected his girl, regardless of who was doing the talking. Negan wasn’t the sort of man to subscribe to the philosophy of bros before hos, and Brandon had to respect him for it. Brandon was also against that adage because he grew up with women – a mother and a sister. If anyone ran their mouth about them, he would have no problem putting them in their place no matter who said it.
“Hey.” Thorpe picked his head up from the ice, looking over to see Negan standing by his goal post, nodding at him. Because it was a light practice, he wasn’t wearing his helmet.
“Hey,” Brandon acknowledged in return.
“How’re you doing?”
Brandon cut Negan a sideways look. It wasn’t as though he was suspicious of Negan’s motives, per se, but at the same time, Negan wasn’t the sort of guy to talk if he didn’t want to talk. He’d always been cordial and respectful with Brandon – and a lot of that might have had to do with the fact that Brandon was captain – but Negan never skated over during a quick break of morning skate to ask how he was.
“In regards to?” Brandon asked, hoping it didn’t come out like he was being a smartass. Because that definitely wasn’t his intention.
“Your hand,” Negan said, glancing at Brandon’s right hand. “You beat the shit out of Stevens.”
“The guy deserved it,” Brandon said. Technically speaking, he shouldn’t be practicing right now. And he really wasn’t. But he at least wanted to skate with the pads on, keep his legs fresh, practice holding his stick even with the pain.
“They always do,” Negan agreed with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, I’m going to get straight to the point. You don’t really talk that much and you kind of come across like a dick. But you’re my captain and after what happened last night, I want you to know I have your back.”
Brandon glanced over at him. “You didn’t have to tell me that,” he said. “I know you guys do.”
“Look, I’m not really good at this whole talking thing,” he said. Brandon glanced over at him, his lips curled up into a gentle smirk. “But I just want you to know, I really respect what you did out there. Yeah, you fought and we fight in hockey. But I was out on the ice when Stevens was running his mouth, and if you hadn’t jumped in and taken care of him, I would have. He shouldn’t be talking about Seraphina that way. It’s such bullshit.”
“You sound like you understand,” Brandon pointed out.
Negan snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and looked down, shaking his head. There was a wry smile on his face before he picked his eyes up and looking at Brandon. "I don't talk much," he said again, "but I figure you're in the same place as I am. Dating a Hanson sister is not a walk in the park, let me tell you."
Brandon pushed his brows up. "That fight," he said, "when you went off on Guzman."
Negan nodded. "Guilty," he said. "The guy was running his mouth about Kat to Peters, Peters wasn't doing shit. I'm not talking bad about my team, but Jesus, that's your owner, kind of. You know? Even though you broke up, she's still part of your family. You defend her."
"It doesn't look like Peters needed to defend her," Brandon pointed out. "Not when she had you."
"Like I said," Negan said. "I know what you're going through."
Brandon gave him a look from the corner of his eyes. "Are you here to tell me that you understand but we should still be putting the team first since we're so close to a guaranteed playoff spot?" he asked, furrowing his brow.
Negan tilted his head to the side. "Absolutely not," he said. "If anything, I'm the opposite. That's not to say that I wouldn't put the team first, but if someone talks about my girl in a particular way, where or not he's only trying to get in my head, I'm going to make him realize he can't fucking talk about her that way, you know?"
Brandon nodded once but didn't say anything. He understood where Negan was coming from. He lost it, just like Negan did. The difference was, Negan was known for being an instigator. He was known for running his mouth and trying to get the other team's players off the ice in order to get an advantage. Ironically enough, Guzman hadn't even targeted Negan. Negan just reacted, which meant Guzman must have been saying some pretty bad things about Katella. Brandon couldn't blame him.
"The problem is, you've put a target on your back," Negan continued, looking at him with serious brown eyes. "If other teams know how you feel about her, they're going to try and get you off the ice. We can't have you off the ice. We're a good team but you've kept us in games we should have lost. We need you. So if anyone runs his mouth about Seraphina again, just let me know and I've got him, okay? I'd rather sit for five than lose you for the whole game. I don't want to risk it."
Brandon was surprised by Negan's comments. He nodded his head, trying to cover up that surprise.
"Thanks, man," he said.
Negan nodded. "Sure," he said, sticking out his gloved hand.
Brandon tapped it with his own.
"Just so you know," Brandon said quickly. "The team is better because you're on it."
Negan gave him a wolfish grin. "I think that that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he said. "In fact, I think that that's the only thing you've really said to me."
Brandon chuckled. "I guess I'll have to work on that," he said.
Chapter 15
Houston was hot and sticky, even in late February. Because the team arrived late at night, the majority of them went to bed. A few single guys decided to check out the nightlife, which was fine, just as long as they showed up tomorrow to play. Seraphina got two suites, one for her and Katella, the other for Emma and Harper. Emma researched what they could do in Houston in case their boyfriends wanted rest or time to themselves before the game and managed to find a small fair a few miles south of where the rink was located.
After breakfast that morning with Brandon at her side, kissing her shoulders and placing his hand on her thigh, Seraphina pulled him into the shower with her so he could scrub her down and bend her over and take her from behind as the warm water hit their backs and muffled their moaning. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest decision to have sex without protection but Seraphina was on birth control and she knew Brandon didn’t have any STDs thanks to yearly testing all the players had to submit to.
He carried her to her bed and they fell asleep together for a long nap.
When they woke up, Katella was banging on their door. Brandon grunted and Seraphina groaned. She was ready to throw her pillow at her sister and shout at her to leave her alone.
“We’re going out to dinner,” Katella said through the closed door. “Wanna come?” Seraphina opened her mouth to respond when Katella cut her off. “And don’t be gross.”
Seraphina laughed. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” she teased. She glanced over at Brandon, still dozing, so beautiful in the shadows. There would be plenty of time to come out publicly. Right now, she wanted to keep this to themselves for as long a
s they could. “We’re ordering room service, but thanks.”
“Ah, I remember those days,” Katella murmured from the other side of the door. “Never leaving the room, getting acquainted with each other.”
“You literally started dating Negan a month ago,” Seraphina called causing Brandon to chuckle from behind her.
She turned to stare at him. The lower half of his body was covered with hotel blankets while his chest and arms were completely bare for her to stare at, to take in. He was beautiful, it almost hurt to look at him.
They ordered room service and indulged once more in intimate behavior. When their food came, Brandon met the waiter at the door and wheeled the table in himself so Seraphina didn't have to worry about a stranger seeing her naked. They turned on the television and flipped through the channels until Brandon put it on the NHL network. They were replaying a recap of all the games that had happened for the day, including any tidbits and hockey news that came out.
Seraphina took a rather unladylike bite of her spaghetti before nearly choking on her food. Phil Bambridge was being interviewed after the game the Blackjacks had with the Gulls'.
"I couldn't say why Brandon Thorpe dropped gloves," he pointed out, shrugging his shoulders as he stood at the podium, looking out at a group of reporters. Seraphina scrunched her brow. She hadn't realized she had been expected to say something after the game. But then she realized that this press conference was likely called by Bambridge himself. And her heart started to pound against her chest like a clock chiming out the time in heavy steady beats. "But I can speculate. I mean, you know players, right? They get under your skin anyway they can, right? And if they get you off the ice, it's golden. And that's awesome. And that's what Stevens did. He did his job. I didn't think he would take out Thorpe, though. I mean, he's steely and focused and he's never off his game, you know?"
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