Playing To Win

by Stacey Lynn

  But all of that can wait until tomorrow. I plan on starting a new year with an entirely new life and plan. The most important part of all of it is currently sitting next to me, maneuvering through the tree-lined, quiet streets of Charlotte and headed south.

  “I’ve said it a thousand times, but I can’t believe how pretty it is here.” Once we get out of the city, the streets narrow to two-lane roads that wind over hills and around curves and through trees. Most of them don’t have leaves at this time of year and there’s a lot of brown grass covering the lawns, but man… I can only imagine the beauty that will show itself come spring and even more next fall.

  “I know.” Next to me, Jude chuckles low and takes my hand, entwining our fingers and settling them both on his thigh. “I’ll take you to the beach this summer. Mountains next fall. Nothing better than seeing the leaves change from the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s breathtaking.”

  I squeeze his hand. We make future plans as easily as we discuss what we’re having for dinner. My heart has never felt more safe and stable.

  “I put in my notice today on my apartment,” I blurt. Apparently my news can’t wait until tomorrow.

  His hand grips me tighter and he gives me a look. “Yeah?” There’s no hiding the hope and excitement on his face.

  “My lease renews in March. I figured there wasn’t a point in doing that.”

  “No. There’s no point in that.”

  “Which means—”

  I mean to say I need to look for housing while I’m here, too, but he cuts me off, reading my mind like he’s always done so well with me.

  “It means you’re moving in with me.” He says it as fact, not a question.

  “That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.” I lean across the wide armrest console and kiss his cheek. “Happy early New Year, Jude.”

  He brings our connected hands to his mouth and kisses the back of my hand. “To the best year yet.”

  His friends are insanely loud and wild and I am loving every minute of partying with the team. I’ve met Mikah Lutzgo and every time he walks into the room, I burst out in laughter. Mostly because, like happens when he steps onto the ice at every home game, everyone stops whatever they’re doing and shouts, “Let’s go!” at the top of their lungs.

  It’s cute that it makes the younger player from Denmark blush up to the tops of his ears. He’s barely legal to drink and he seems so young as he ducks his head and shakes off the constant embarrassment. It’s all in good fun and I stand next to Jude, drinking a glass of wine that comes from a bottle scripted in French, and I let Jude introduce me to the rest of the players.

  My most exuberant greeting comes from Jason who, as soon as he sees me, rushes through the room, picks me up and spins me in a circle like he’s known me for years and didn’t only spend a day with me on Christmas.

  “Katie!” he shouts while still spinning. He’s moving so fast my feet fly out from behind me and a black high-heeled shoe I’m wearing goes flying. “Have you decided to ditch the dud and run away with the better brother, yet?”

  I laugh against his shoulder, hanging on for dear life. Thank goodness my wineglass was emptied before he charged me or Hendrix and his wife, Madison, would have red wine all over their wood floors.

  “Put me down, you oaf.” I smack his shoulder and as he settles, I cling to him while the room stops spinning and I look around for my shoe. “And no. I quite like my dud.”

  “Hey.” Jude grabs me from me him and I stumble on my uneven step, one foot on tiptoe. “Back off my girl.”

  Jason smirks and shoves his hands to his hips. “I’m older and wiser and sexier. Stronger.”

  “More pathetic,” Jude grumbles, “and you reek of desperation. Go find your own girl. I’m happy with the one I’ve got.”

  They’re teasing, and it feels so good. Needless to say, Christmas with Jude’s family was an absolute blast. His dad didn’t curse zebras or elephants and his niece loved Whiskers so much I was afraid she’d put my cat in a box and I’d never see her again. Whiskers, surprisingly, didn’t mind the overabundance of extreme love from the little girl and since John Junior’s family is staying in Chicago over their school break, I’ve been getting daily texts of Harper loving on Whiskers from Sonya.

  It’s adorable. His whole family is in their own exuberant way.

  But as Jude speaks now, Jason’s face loses his teasing, older brother look, and hardens to the point of seriousness.

  “Good, brother.” He smacks Jude on the shoulder and gives him a little shake. “Happy for you. Happy for you both.”

  “So go find someone else and keep your eyes off mine.”

  Jude easily brushes off the moment and goes back to teasing. I learned at Christmas that’s their way. They’re not afraid to state their feelings and emotions, but they don’t linger on them.

  Jason scans the huge living room full of people and teammates and his eyes settle on someone on the other side of the room. They’re behind me, but I know exactly when he finds his target because something I can only imagine being lustful determination settles in his dark brown eyes, so different than Jude’s blues but so much the same, it’s eery. “You’re right,” he says and runs his hand through his long, hockey-player hair and then scratches his jaw and the beard growing there. He smirks at us and gives Jude another slap on the shoulder. “I think I may do just that.”

  He skirts off and I turn to see the object of his focus when a black heeled shoe is not very politely shoved in my face.

  “I believe this is yours.” Madison, Hendrix’s wife, is beautiful with fiery red hair and a body like a model. She’s also the only one I haven’t seen smile all night, like the thought of ringing in a new year and partying with her husband’s team brings her emotional and physical pain. Which is weird considering the party is at her house.

  “Thank you,” I mumble and take my shoe from her. “Sorry about that. Jason was excited to see me.”

  “Happy New Year, Madison,” Jude says next to me, but his voice doesn’t seem all that kind either.

  “Jude.” She nods without returning a smile or a greeting and disappears back into the kitchen area where I believe she’s spent most of the evening.

  “She’s…”

  “Not nice,” Jude finishes for me and thank goodness. I don’t know how to describe that. “And rude. But Hendrix freaking loves her. Has since they were teens, so we tolerate her as much as possible.”

  Since I don’t know either but have met Sebastian and talked with him a little, I offer nothing. I slide my shoe back onto my heel and lift my glass. “I need more wine. Want anything?”

  He tilts his beer in the air. “Water, please, and you. Want you in my arms at midnight.”

  A quick glance at an enormous clock on the wall hanging above a fireplace tells me I have an hour. “I’ll be back then.”

  I head toward the kitchen and it takes me almost a half hour to grab my wine, get a water for Jude, and return to him after another refill of wine because I’m stopped by everyone. Girlfriends, a couple of wives, even one of the assistant coaches introduces himself and asks how Jude’s doing. It’s clear he’s loved here and it’s more clear he’s surrounded by crazy good people.

  And not that I’ve been doubting my decision, but by the time I find Jude again, it’s cemented in my mind I’ve definitely made the right decision.

  Jude has a beautiful life here. He’s also in an area which holds a lot of promise for me, not just career-wise, but personally, too. And I can’t wait to begin it all.

  I find Jude with only a few minutes to go before midnight where he’s talking to a few teammates he introduces me to, one who’s their back-up goalie. I’ve met so many people tonight all the names become an instant blur when I tell them it’s nice to meet them.

  Then the room is full of raucous noise, whoops and hollers as the television screen cuts to the massive ball in New York Times Square dropping.

  When the clock changes to midnight and
the ball has dropped, Jude spins me in his arms and kisses me until we’re both breathless and my body is craving time alone with him as soon as we can find it.

  “Happy New Year, Katie.”

  I parrot back what he said in the car. “To the best year yet.”

  I roll to my toes and kiss him, sliding my mouth over his as he replies, “To forever.”

  I’m not given a chance to comment because he steals my breath and all thoughts from my lungs with a kiss, but that’s okay. It’s exactly what I want and see for us as well.

  Epilogue

  Katie

  * * *

  I’m seated right in the middle of madness. Literally. I have center ice tickets, ten rows up behind the team giving me the perfect few of the entire ice rink and the ability to keep an eye on Jude when he’s on the bench. On my right are Hannah, the goalie Byron Maddox’s wife, and Debbie, Carolina’s defenseman, Chauncy’s girlfriend. They’re almost as loud and wild as the people to my left who treat me like I’m already their own daughter. Sonya and John came down to watch Jude’s return to the game and I’m so damn happy that his first game back to the ice is also a home game.

  Against Boston, and I know that’s messing with his head a bit because he’s not playing great. Whether it’s nerves or anger because Selkin has already shoved him into the boards, I’m not sure.

  Sonya has her hands clasped together almost as tightly as mine are.

  Jude has no reason to be nervous and if he is, it’s all in his head, and I’m certain he’ll shake it off. He was released from therapy following his surgery in May and he’s been working his butt off long before then to ensure he’s strong enough to play again. And even though he doesn’t look nearly as comfortable as he did in the pre-season games where he returned to the ice with a standing ovation and cheers so loud I thought the roof of the arena would collapse, he’s still the most impressive man I’ve ever seen.

  The only thing maybe more impressive than Jude Taylor is the size of the diamond he slid onto my finger months ago in the off-season when we took a trip to Fiji for a week. He rented out a private island for us and we did nothing except relax in bed and on the beach and in the ocean water and our own private pool. I swear I spent half the vacation naked and the other half in a bikini. We had private chefs hired to deliver us meals every day. The only time we wandered too far from our small oasis that even had a glass floor where we could look directly into the water was when housekeeping came, so we explored the island then. We went deep sea fishing one afternoon and came home carrying fish that weighed almost as much as me. Then the chefs cooked what we caught for our evening meal.

  The last night there, with a fire blazing in a pit outside, the ocean stretched in front of us, Jude got down on one knee in the sand and asked me to give him forever.

  Which is silly, considering I’ve already done that and didn’t need the ring to do so. But now, it’s official.

  I’m marrying Jude as soon as this season ends and I’m hoping it’s a long time because I want nothing more than to see him win another Stanley Cup with his team. Carolina didn’t hesitate to renew his contract and as long as everything goes well, we’re looking at another five years down here. It didn’t take me long to find a job, mostly because Jude helped. He contacted the team’s trainers and physiotherapists as soon as I sat and passed the licensing test for North Carolina and they put out feelers.

  I’m now working in an office fifteen minutes from our home south of Charlotte, where we live in the same neighborhood with a few other players and their families. I don’t think I could have ever imagined my life turning out this completely beautifully.

  “Oh come on!” John is on his feet, angrily pumping his fist as Jude is called for a penalty. He skates into the sin bin and shoves his helmet onto the bench before scraping his hand through his hair.

  “He’ll be fine,” Sonya says, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “Just nervous jitters.”

  “Yeah, but I’m the only one who has to deal with his rotten attitude if they lose or he doesn’t do well.”

  “I have no doubt you’ll be able to take his mind off it.”

  I choke and cover my mouth with my hand. I’ve learned Sonya lacks a filter as equally as her husband does. While his comes in random cursing of animals and inanimate objects, hers comes in sex talk. Which is… awkward.

  “She’s not wrong,” Debbie says from my other side. “Win or lose… man… I love home game nights.”

  “Away nights aren’t all that boring either,” Hannah chimes in. She wiggles her brows at me and I shake my head.

  “There’s no need for that look.” I point my finger at her and circle it around her expression. “I get what you mean without you looking like a fool.”

  “Just you wait. I agree with Debbie. Game nights are the best nights. They come home with all this adrenaline. Tired but revved and, man… Luka is an expert at revving my engine.”

  Oh dear Lord, save me from the exuberant players’ wives and girlfriends who have welcomed me into the fold as the newest girlfriend slash fiancee. I don’t know if I’ve ever had so many friends. But being with Jude means having this entire strange and weird and loud and wild family built-in and it’s more, so much more, than anything I imagined when all I craved was stability and normal.

  Our life isn’t normal. It’s thrilling and exciting and it’s so beyond incredible, I fight the urge to pinch myself every morning.

  The buzzer goes and even though Jude ends the game in the penalty box, Carolina still skates away with the win. Thankfully. We stand and cheer while the team skates in a line toward Luka, slapping him on the helmet before doing their victory circle around the ice with their sticks raised.

  When Jude passes us, knowing exactly where we are because he bought the tickets, he bangs his stick on the glass in front of us and blows me a kiss. He doesn’t even appear to notice the crowd of fans banging on the glass as he goes by.

  His eyes and look and kisses are solely for me.

  And better than that, I know that his heart and soul and entire being beat solely for me because he makes it clear every day with how easily and passionately he loves me.

  Yeah. Life is good.

  Thank you for reading Playing To Win! Scoring Off The Ice, book two in the Ice Kings series releases in April! Want to be notified as soon as it releases? Subscribe to my newsletter by visiting my website: www.staceylynnbooks.com

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  Thank You

  HUGE thank you to Hilary and all of Social Butterfly PR for throwing your full enthusiasm and support behind each and every book I write. I have loved working with all of you and can’t wait to see what’s ahead! Hilary, I miss you most of all. ;-)

  Ellie and Virginia, as always, thanks for putting up with my mess and spit-shining each manuscript until it sparkles.

  Shannon, you’re the best. Always. Forever. Your talent is astounding and I’m thankful I can call you a friend.

  Special, enormous thank you to my family who is always here, cheering me on and being so patient when I’m in my office. Your support is everything to me and I love you all with all of my heart.

  To my Sweeties! I love you ladies and your excitement for my books! Special thanks to you this time for coming up with Brenna’s name for me. It fits her perfectly.

  To all the bloggers who devote their time and passion into reading books, book tours, release events, leaving reviews, promoting and pimping – you are all rockstars! Thank you for all the love over the years.

  And last but definitely not least – to you the reader. I’m blown away with every release how much you adore my books. You have made my dream a reality and I hope I can cheer you on with yours.

  Other Books by Stacey Lynn

  The Luminous Series

  Dominate Me

  Crave Me

  Long For Me

  * * *

  The Rough Riders Series
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  Dirty Player

  Filthy Player

  Wicked Player

  Cocky Player

  * * *

  Love In The Heartland

  Captivated By You

  This Time Around

  Long Road Home

  Before We Fell

  * * *

  Crazy Love Series

  Fake Wife

  Knocked Up

  28 Dates

  Weekend Fling

  * * *

  The Fireside Series

  His to Love

  His to Protect

  His to Cherish

  His to Seduce

  * * *

  Tangled Love Series

  Entice

  Embrace

  Enflame

  * * *

  Just One Series

  Just One Song

  Just One Week

  Just One Regret

  Just One Moment

  * * *

  The Nordic Lords Series

  Point of Return

  Point of Redemption

  Point of Freedom

  Point of Surrender

  * * *

  Standalones

  Remembering Us

  Don’t Lie To Me

  Try Me – A Don’t Lie To Me Novella