Slapped Into Love

by Rochelle Paige

  It wasn’t the last time we barely made it to the rink in time because we could barely tear ourselves away from each other. This morning was no different.

  “Judging by that shit eating grin on your face, things are still going well for you and Tamara,” Jason murmured as he joined me where I leaned with my elbows on the low wall in front of the bench.

  “They sure as hell are,” I admitted, my grin only getting bigger.

  “A whole month,” he chuckled. “I never thought I’d see the day where you’d be with the same woman for more than a night or two.”

  “Look at her out there.” We both turned and watched Tamara move on the ice. She was almost a blur as she skated past us, bending so low her hand brushed the ice as she took a turn around the short track I’d helped her set up a month earlier.

  “I still can’t believe they let you mark the ice up.” Jason shook his head.

  I glanced down at the dark purple spots in the ice which were already barely visible. “You should have seen the look on the facilities manager’s face when I told him we’d need to drill the ice and pour colored water into it.”

  “It probably matched most of ours as we watched you desecrate the ice for a woman.”

  “Like you wouldn’t have done the same damn thing if Cee-Cee asked you,” I grumbled as I bumped my elbow against his.

  “There’s no denying that I’d do just about anything my woman asked of me,” he agreed. “But you’d only been with her for a night before you started acting as crazy as me. That’s got to be a record of some kind.”

  “Ahem,” I coughed.

  “Dude. I was right there”—he pointed to the far end of the ice—“when you met her. I saw it with my own damn eyes when you shoved that big foot of yours in your mouth and almost lost any chance in hell of getting in there with her. Are you telling me it was all an act and you guys already knew each other?”

  “No, that was real. I was too damn close to fucking it all up with her.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure nobody was behind us listening in. “It just wasn’t the first time we met.”

  “What the hell? When did you meet her? What happened? And why didn’t you ever say anything about her?” he fired off his questions.

  “About four months ago, when we were in Anaheim for a game. I met her in a club, one thing led to another, but she disappeared in the morning and I didn’t know how to track her down,” I rattled off before punching him in the shoulder. “And it’s not like you can give me shit for keeping my mouth shut about my mystery woman when you did the same damn thing with Cee-Cee.”

  “Yeah, and you guys ran your mouths off about it for-fucking-ever once you found out about her,” he reminded me.

  “Exactly,” I chuckled. “Why do you think I never planned to say anything? I learned from your example.”

  “Only you did better than me and channeled your frustration into the game. We’ll owe it to her in more ways than one if we win the cup.”

  I dragged my attention away from Tamara and turned to look at Jason. “You think so?”

  “Yeah, she’s made all of us better players.”

  “She sure as fuck has,” I agreed, my gaze sliding back to her on the ice. “And with the help of Cee-Cee’s magic, Tamara has brought more fans to the games, too.”

  Jason stepped back and dropped down onto the bench. “I don’t think even Cee-Cee guessed the national media was going to be so fascinated by the story.”

  “I don’t know; I wouldn’t put much past your woman. She’s damn good at her job.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” he hummed, his attention on the ice. “We’re lucky men when it comes to our women. Only we’re not the only ones who know it.”

  My gaze scanned the ice and landed on the guy holding a stopwatch in the center. He was tall, with wavy, sandy-blond hair and green eyes. His dark-blue athletic pants were just snug enough to show how muscular his legs were, and his light-blue Cavaliers shirt with matching, unzipped hoodie were stretched taut across his biceps.

  “Fucking Mike,” I growled. I normally got along well with the team’s trainer but ever since he’d volunteered to lend Tamara a hand with timing her laps, he’d been on my last nerve. I didn’t begrudge her the help; not when I knew she needed it. I just wished it didn’t come from a guy who checked out her ass every opportunity he got.

  “He’s persistent; you’ve got to give him that,” Alec chuckled as he stepped into the bench area.

  “And fearless,” Jason added. “Since he knows how much it pisses Ryan off when he flirts with Tamara right in front of him.”

  “You’ve got to give props to a guy who’s seen Ryan demolish players on the ice and still isn’t intimidated enough to back off his woman.”

  I glared at Alec over my shoulder. “You might want to watch your ass during practice or else I might decide to work out some of my anger on you.”

  “Cut Alec some slack,” Jason suggested. “He doesn’t get it because he doesn’t have a woman of his own.”

  “The day I get that riled up over some chick is the day hell freezes over.”

  Jason and I burst out in laughter at Alec’s declaration, and we were still at it when Tamara skated over to us with Mike following right behind her.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “Just Alec being totally clueless,” I responded, pulling her close and dropping a quick, hard kiss on her lips. When I lifted my head, I locked gazes with Mike and flashed him a satisfied grin as I reached down to palm the ass he’d been eyeing all morning when she stepped into the bench area. He just shook his head and scooted past us with a head nod to the guys.

  “We’d better finish getting ready.” Jason tugged on Alec’s arm, and they left us alone on the bench.

  “I’m going to miss hanging out with you guys while the Zamboni clears the ice between my training session and your practice,” Tamara sighed.

  “I’m sorry you have to switch rinks.”

  She waved off my concern. “I was lucky to be able to stay here as long as I did. But with the playoffs starting this weekend, I totally get it. The ice needs to be pristine for those games so nobody can complain when you kick their ass and knock them out of the running.”

  “Damn straight.” I tugged her close. “There’s one good thing about you switching to another rink.”

  “What?” Shocked brown eyes flew up to search my face.

  “I won’t have to watch that asshole try to flirt with you right in front of me.”

  “Mike isn’t that bad,” she laughed. “He mostly does it to get a rise out of you.”

  “Mostly isn’t good enough,” I growled, claiming her lips again. “The guy needs to get it through his thick skull that you’re mine. No flirting allowed. Not for any reason.”

  Concerned brown eyes scanned my face. “You know you don’t have anything to be worried about, right? There’s only one guy I’m interested in, and that’s you.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “It’s the only reason I haven’t settled the matter with my fists.”

  “If I can refrain from getting into a cat fight with any of the puck bunnies, you can keep your hands in your hockey gloves where they belong, slugger,” she laughed.

  “A cat fight, huh?” I waggled my brows at her.

  She brushed her lips against mine, and whispered, “Cat fights are out of the question. But if you score me some goals during the playoffs, I might let you have just about anything else you can think of.”

  I hadn’t needed the extra motivation to play my best during playoffs, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to turn down Tamara’s offer.

  Chapter Ten

  Tamara

  Although I’d trained plenty of players, I’d never been one to watch hockey games. Not unless I was pulling tapes to analyze how the players skated so I could use the information during power skating drills. It had always been too difficult for me to turn off that part of my brain and just enjoy the game for what it was.

  Having
my boyfriend on the ice had changed that for me, though. Especially during the last month of playoff games, when I was too nervous to do anything but sit in the edge of my seat and pray that they pulled off another win so they didn’t get knocked out of the running for the championship.

  “C’mon, get the puck out of there, Ryan. C’mon,” I chanted.

  The opposing team was cycling the puck in our defensive end, and I had a bad feeling it wasn’t going to go well for us. The longer the puck stayed on our end of the ice, the more likely it was that they’d be able to score a goal against us.

  “Shit.” I winced when Ryan slammed a player into the boards. I thought for sure that the ref was going to call him for a penalty, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t hear a whistle. But that feeling was short-lived when the other team got a shot off and the puck went flying past the goalie and into the net.

  “Dammit,” I groaned.

  Cee-Cee reached out and grabbed my hand, both of us looking up at the score board. With that goal, the Cavaliers were down by two with only three minutes left on the clock. Ryan and Jason skated back to the bench, while Alec and his line mate took their place in the defensive positions for the puck drop.

  “Jason’s going to be so pissed at himself for not clearing the zone on that one,” Cee-Cee grumbled.

  “Ryan isn’t going to be any happier.”

  Cee-Cee and I had gotten to know each other well over the past couple of months, both professionally and personally. Some of the press she’d gotten for the team had bled over to me, and she’d also managed to snag me a sponsor for the Olympics next year. Between the money they’d committed to, what I’d earned with my win at the World Single Distance Championships, and the money I was earning from the Cavaliers, I was in a position where I didn’t have to worry about earning enough to make it to South Korea in February.

  “I should have grabbed an extra beer when I had the chance,” I groaned. “I swear the game clock is running in slow motion.”

  Cee-Cee’s hand clenched mine harder. “You don’t have room to complain too much. At least you had a few, right? This was not the night to stick to ginger ale. Alcohol would have helped with the stress.”

  I gulped down the last of my beer. “It hasn’t done me much good.”

  She released my hand to rub her belly. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

  I tore my gaze away from the ice to look at her. “Wait a second. Why aren’t you drinking?”

  “Umm,” she stuttered.

  “They’ve been in close games before, and you’ve never mentioned anything about feeling sick to your stomach.”

  “Well,” she drawled, her gaze sliding to the ice and back to me. “Can we pretend like you didn’t notice?”

  “Pretend? Ohhhh,” I breathed as realization dawned. “Yes, that’s totally fine.”

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, letting her know I got what she was saying and I was excited for her even though she hadn’t confirmed my suspicion.

  “Win or lose, I can’t wait any longer,” she mumbled. “I put it off as long as I could because I didn’t want to do anything to mess with Jason’s head when it needs to be in the game. But I really want it to be something for just the two of us to share for a little while.”

  I nodded. “I think you made the right call. If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about”—I tilted my head in her direction and offered her a gentle smile—“then it will be wonderful news to help ease the sting of what’s almost definitely going to be a loss.”

  “I’m not confirming or denying anything, but I hope so,” she whispered.

  “I know so,” I assured her. “It’s obvious to anyone who sees the two of you together for even a minute; that man loves you.”

  Her lips tilted up in a dreamy smile, and she twisted her engagement ring around her finger. “I love him, too.”

  “Trust me, your love for him is also obvious.”

  “And I’m totally fine with that.” She grinned at me, shaking her head. “Because only love has the power to keep me in a relationship with a professional athlete. It’s so damn difficult sometimes, between the grueling schedule, road trips, and puck bunnies.”

  “Tell me about it,” I snorted. “Just imagine how much harder it is when you’re both athletes with conflicting schedules.”

  She slumped back in her seat. “I don’t know how you two manage to juggle all that you do.”

  “Very carefully,” I murmured.

  “Will you be able to stay in Chicago after the season is over?”

  “The sponsor you lined up for me makes it a possibility, but Ryan and I haven’t had the chance to talk about it yet.” There was a big gap between dating exclusively and changing your entire life for a relationship, and I wasn’t sure if we’d reached the point where it made sense for me to make my move to Chicago permanent. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn’t excited by the idea of a long distance relationship.

  “Well, if I get a vote, mine is for you to move here.”

  A buzzer went off, and we both turned our attention back to the ice. The clock had only run down another minute, and the score was still the same. We’d missed a penalty against the other team while we chatted, and our guys were back on the ice again for a power play.

  We were quickly pulled into the action as the seconds ticked down. The Cavaliers moved the puck from their defensive zone, past both of the blue lines, and cycled it around the net. One of the opposing team’s defenders got lucky and intercepted a pass between the forwards, but Jason stepped up and stole the puck back. He sent it across the ice to Ryan with a hard pass, and I jumped to my feet.

  “C’mon, Ryan!” I screamed. “Use that slap shot of yours and score a goal!”

  As though he’d heard what I’d yelled, his stick went up and then he pivoted forward and nailed the hell out of the puck. It went flying towards the net, sailing just over the goalie’s outstretched glove to crash into the back of the net. Cee-Cee and I jumped to our feet and hugged each other.

  “He really is the slap shot king!” Cee-Cee cried.

  “Hell yeah, he is.”

  We stayed on our feet, along with the rest of the crowd, and watched as the ref dropped the puck. Our center got his stick on it first, and sent it back to Ryan. He cycled it to Jason, who sent it up to the right wing. The forward got a shot off, but the goalie deflected it and as it bounced towards our center’s stick the buzzer sounded.

  “Damn,” I groaned.

  “I’m not sure if it’s better or worse to lose in such a close game.”

  I thought about how it felt when I raced. “In some ways, it’s worse because you know you were so close to that win.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” Cee-Cee sighed as she dropped back down in her seat, tugging on my hand until I sat down too. “Okay, now that we talked about all my shit and have plenty of time to wait for the guys, how’re things going for you and Ryan?”

  I fanned myself with my hand, my cheeks heating. “Considering what I promised him if he scored during the playoffs...things are about to get wild.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ryan

  Losing in the regular season sucked. Getting knocked out of the playoffs during our division finals at an away game by only one goal was even worse. The only positive thing to come from tonight’s game was the goal I managed to score at the end of it—and the offer Tamara had made me a month earlier. One I was looking forward to cashing in on tonight.

  “Tamara?” I called, walking into our room. We’d gotten the girls an Uber to the hotel since we had to ride back with the team. Cee-Cee was waiting for Jason in the lobby, but Tamara was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t answering my texts, and Cee-Cee’s answer when I asked had been to burst into a fit of giggles and tell me to look for her in our room.

  Since I could see the bathroom light from under the door, I headed that way. I made it about halfway across the room when it swung open, and I froze i
n my spot. Tamara was standing in the doorway, wearing a Cavaliers home game jersey and a pair of white thigh-high stockings. My cock was rock hard at the sight.

  “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I growled as I stalked towards her.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your jersey.” She pivoted on a heel and my gaze locked on my name spread across her back. My cock hardened further at the sight.

  “I don’t mind at all,” I promised. “In fact, you look so damn sexy I think we need a rule that you walk around wearing my name on some part of your body every single day.”

  She spun back around laughing, and I pulled her against my chest. “Hmm, that’d be hard to do without starting a whole line of Forrester gear. Jackets, shirts, shorts...underwear.”

  My hand slid between us to reach under the jersey and cup her pussy. “I like the sound of my name right over this, marking it as mine.”

  “Except nobody but you would ever see them,” she pointed out.

  “But I’d know they were there,” I rasped as I lifted the jersey over her head, giving me an eyeful of all the beauty she was hiding underneath it. Those high, slightly rounded tits that fit perfectly in my hands. Her pink, pebbled nipples were practically begging for my touch, so I lowered my head and sucked one of them into my mouth.

  “Ryan,” she gasped. Her hands clenched my shoulders, and her head fell back while she thrust her tits higher.

  Releasing her nipple with a pop, I wrapped my arms around her lower back and lifted her off the floor. She circled her legs around my hips and held on tight as she lowered her head to brush her lips over mine. I felt the heat of her pussy was hot as it pressed against my abs. I was beyond grateful that we were only steps away from a bed, or else I would have been searching for the nearest hard surface instead of dropping her down on the edge of the mattress.