I’d always had an issue with the lawlessness around me. I knew my dad dealt in more than repairing motorcycles. I didn’t know the details, but I’d seen bikes come into the shop in the dead of night and be dismantled for parts or altered and sold. I’d only worked in the legit side of the business, but Dad had his irons in multiple fires. For some reason, I held myself to a higher moral standard than my mother or father. After my wake-up call with Weasel, I changed, and I’d like to think I changed for the better. Doing an honest day’s work for decent wages appealed to me.
Did I want to pursue a career in equipment management? I didn’t know. Too early to tell. This was a temporary job with an end date. I’d wait and see how I felt when that date came.
I’d originally thought I might have a hard time keeping my hands off these hot hockey players. I did love hot, raunchy, no-strings sex as much as the next former biker chick, but I’d managed to keep hands-off. I had a job to do and didn’t want to mess it up by fucking some of the players.
I was learning to sharpen skates, but my boss and his backup did most of the sharpening while I did the majority of the washing and folding.
I was lucky to work with a good bunch of guys. They didn’t treat me differently because I was a woman. They expected me to do the same work they did, such as lugging big duffels and loading and unloading the truck. This job built muscles, but I’d always been in good shape. I was a runner, and I weight lifted. Now the job gave me all the weight lifting I needed.
Along with my boss, Roy, the other two guys were Steve Lafonnier and Herm Lattimer. Steve and Roy had moved with the team from Florida five years ago. Herm had been hired three years ago after a stint in Vancouver. They were all older and experienced. I called them my uncles.
I boarded the team plane already exhausted. We were leaving a day early for a two-game back-to-back road trip to Chicago then St. Louis, the most brutal kind for staff and players alike.
I settled into one of the plush seats on the specially designed team plane, once again grateful Ethan Parker spared no expense when it came to our comfort. I pulled out my e-reader and settled in for the four-hour flight. The equipment squad usually sat together in a set of four seats that faced each other with a table in the middle. Sometimes I joined them in a game of cards; other times, I read or napped.
The players were boarding, and I immediately became aware of a change in the atmosphere in the plane. Axel’s hearty laughter reverberated through my hyperaware body. My heart started pounding in my chest, and I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. My lady parts went on high alert. What the fuck was up with that? This didn’t go over well with me at all. I hadn’t even laid eyes on the guy before I felt his presence.
I glanced up to see him making his way down the aisle, followed by Kaden and Steele. Axel wore a navy suit with a moss-green shirt and blue tie. The color brought out the vivid green in his eyes. The suit fit him like it was custom-made, which it probably was to fit his broad shoulders and muscled ass. I had a thing for his ass. I’d always been a woman who looked at chests, but that fricking ass was beyond extraordinary. He was hot in that suit, but he’d be hotter naked. Even better, Axel in a tie and nothing else would be a sight to see with all those ripped hard muscles and his laser-sharp intensity.
He glanced my way and caught me ogling him. A slow, sexy smile spread across his scruffy face, made all the sexier because of his head of unruly dark hair. I ducked my head, pretty sure what I was thinking was written all over my face. Judging by his knowing smirk, he’d read me pretty accurately.
Axel and his buddies sat not too far from where I was seated. If I craned my neck slightly, I’d be able to see him, but I forced my gaze to my book. Unfortunately, I’d chosen the wrong book to read on this trip, as the sex scenes were graphic and heated up my already-boiling-hot libido. His deep voice reached my ears as he sparred with his buddies over who was the best center in hockey, and I swallowed hard. This might be a long flight, after all. I pulled a blanket from the overhead bin and wrapped it around me, faking sleep. No one bothered the equipment staff when they were dozing as we got very little sleep as it was.
As soon as we were airborne, I reclined my chair and buried my face in a pillow, but I couldn’t drown out Axel’s voice or the images in my head of a naked Axel and me doing all things done when one was naked with a hot guy.
Chapter 9—Busted
~~Axel~~
Following an afternoon skate and group dinner buffet in one of the banquet rooms, I went out with the other Puck Bros for drinks. Only my heart wasn’t in getting shit-faced, but I didn’t like my other option either. Jock and I were sharing a room, and the team didn’t call him Papa just because he was the oldest guy on the team. We also called him that because he tended to be on the straight and narrow. He took setting a good example for the rookies to the next level. Since I wasn’t on good terms with the guy, I didn’t want to look worse in his eyes than I already did by staggering into our room and spending the evening praying to the porcelain god.
I nursed one whiskey all night, left the bros about eleven p.m., and crossed the street to the lobby. Walking toward the elevators, I passed the hotel bar. There were only a few patrons inside. One of them caused me to do a double take. My body tingled at the sight of long, dark, glossy hair and a Sockeyes-issued lime-green polo shirt.
Geneva.
I hesitated, waging an internal war between the smart thing to do versus what I wanted to do. I should walk away, but my feet were on strike, and my body was leading the picket line. Not even my head had any interest in crossing that picket line. Instead, it was more interested in crossing another line I dared not cross. I started to take a step toward the elevator while still drooling over her.
At that very instant, she glanced up, and our eyes met. She plastered a fake smile on her face and gave me a little wave. Now I had a dilemma, keep on walking and be considered rude, or take my chances by going inside to say hello.
Strike over because their demands had been met, my feet answered the question for me, and within seconds I stood near her table, fidgeting like some fucking pimply-faced eighth-grader. She took a sip of her beer and glanced at the menu open on the table in front of her. I recalled the equipment staff hadn’t been present for dinner. They rarely were on these road trips as they were usually too busy unloading the truck and getting stuff ready at the away arena.
“Mind if I join you?” I heard the words as if someone else had said them, but no one else did, just me.
“If I did, would that stop you?” She lifted her head defiantly. God, she was gorgeous when she was all badass like that. Her unwelcome behavior didn’t discourage me, quite the opposite.
I grinned as I pondered her question. “Probably not.” I slid into the booth seat across from her. The waitress hurried to our table and gave me a once-over. I got that a lot, and I was used to it. Most of the time, I either smiled politely back or, prior to a week ago, I might give an especially interesting woman my number for a rendezvous later. Now I wasn’t interested in her or any of the women who’d hung around the bros’ table earlier this evening. Geneva was the only woman I was interested in. I knew this madness had to stop, but tonight wasn’t the night.
With a sultry smile on her face, the waitress leaned toward me, making sure I got an eyeful of ample cleavage. I wasn’t ashamed, I had to look. After all, I was a guy. Huh? Well, they were nice, but they didn’t do a thing for me.
“What’ll you have, handsome?” she purred. She was pretty and curvy. Any other time, I’d have probably suggested she slip up to my room as soon as she was off shift. Tonight and for the near future, that wouldn’t be an option, not with Jock in the room, and certainly not with his hot sister casting judgment from across the table.
“Whatever IPA you have on tap.”
She frowned at my disinterested tone and gave Geneva a brief but critical appraisal. Maybe to another woman, Geneva didn’t appear to be much competition, but to me, she was hot as hell,
even dressed in her Sockeyes polo and khakis, with her dark hair in a ponytail and very little makeup. Geneva didn’t need makeup. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, even without all that crap women caked on their faces.
I’d always been a player on and off the field, but Coach had effectively clipped my wings. Even if he hadn’t, my attraction to Geneva made it hard to be interested in anyone else. This was new territory for me. While out with the guys, I’d single out certain women to take home that night, but I’d never had a problem selecting a backup if my first choice didn’t pan out—which seldom happened. Not to sound conceited, but the ladies really dug my tall, dark looks and green eyes. Having a ripped body didn’t hurt.
But Geneva… She was an anomaly. She was hot for me, but she refused to do anything about it. I understood the issue with her brother and her inherent mistrust of me and my actions, but we were only talking sex. No one else needed to know about it but us.
Entertaining the notion of having sex with Geneva was a departure from my earlier pledge to steer clear of my teammate’s sister, but watching her napping on the plane had gotten me harder than watching exotic dancers at a Vegas strip club. I’d never been good at walking away from something I wanted, and I wanted this woman in the worst way, perhaps because she was the one woman I shouldn’t want.
The waitress returned with my beer, and I noticed with amusement her blouse had been unbuttoned another button. “Could I get you anything else?” She reached out and ran a fingernail down my arm.
“Did you want to order something to eat?” I asked Geneva, forcing the waitress’s attention to her.
“Uh, yeah.” She blinked at me as if she’d just woken from a trance. “I’ll just have a burger and fries.”
The waitress nodded and sauntered off, ass swinging to and fro for my benefit. I sighed, oddly tired of this game.
“Do women always behave like that around you?”
“Yeah, it goes with the territory of being a hockey player.”
“Did my sister-in-law come on to you like that?”
I contemplated the correct answer to such a question and decided on honesty. “It was mutual. The team wasn’t returning from their road trip until early the next day, so I was on my own. I didn’t see any harm in a little fun. What a fucking mistake that was.”
“You’re not her first, you know.”
“I’ve heard the rumors.”
“My brother’s been in denial for years, but I doubt that woman was faithful on her wedding night. This past year, they had an agreement. He knew she was messing around, but he didn’t want the kids to be raised without a mother like we were. He felt even a bad mother was better than no mother.”
I held back what I really wanted to say about bad mothers. “That’s sad for Jock and his kids.”
“It is.”
“So, you believe that I didn’t know she was married?”
“Not sure why, but I might.” She’d thrown me a bone, and like the horndog I was, I grabbed it and gnawed on it.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t get excited yet. I said I might.”
“I’ll take that as a positive.” I lowered my voice and leaned across the table. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you.”
“About Bria?”
I nodded. “She’s been—” I racked my brain for the right word, but any words were hard to come by with her so close I could smell the fresh scent of her soap.
“She’s been what?” She met my gaze and leaned closer as if hypnotized by the same anomaly currently stealing my sanity. Our faces were several inches apart, and my eyes were drawn to her kissable lips. Just a few more inches and I’d be able to kiss her. God, I could almost feel those soft lips on mine, taste the sweetness uniquely hers, breathe in her scent—
“What the fuck is going on here?”
I jerked my head around at the sound of that familiar grumpy voice and hunkered down over my drink. Guilt raced through me, and I hung my head in shame. My beer became the most interesting thing in the room. Not only had I broken the bro code by sleeping with a teammate’s wife but I’d been ready to break it again with his sister. What was wrong with me? There were plenty of females around; why did I have to have the hots for her?
Jock slid onto the bench next to his sister, forcing her to move over to make room. “Shouldn’t you be out partying with the rest of the Puck Brothers? Then you can go screw someone else’s wife.” His glare was pointed, and he said Puck Brothers as if the term left a sour taste in his mouth. I flinched, feeling the sting of his insult deep in my bones.
“Jock.” His sister punched him in the arm. “Don’t be rude.”
He stared at her incredulously. “Rude? Whose side are you on?”
“Yours, of course, but you know what the coach said.”
“I don’t see the coach anywhere around, do you?” He narrowed his eyes and swung his gaze back to me. “What are you doing here with my sister?”
“Just talking,” she said quickly before I could form a good response.
“Right. My wife wasn’t enough; now you’re going after my sister? You don’t understand the true meaning of the bro code, do you?”
“I’m not after your sister.” Yet I was, and the guilt was probably written all over my face. “I think I’d better go.”
“Good idea.” Jock glowered at me.
“Good night, Jock, Geneva.” I dropped a ten on the table to pay for my drink and got the hell out of there. Rooming with this guy was going to be virtually impossible, but I refused to admit defeat, not that I had any choice in the matter. If I was lucky, I’d be asleep before he returned to the room.
I’d been about to tell Geneva about Bria’s appearance. Perhaps Jock’s timely appearance was a warning not to stir the pot.
I should’ve stayed out with the bros. After all, I was the guy who’d come up with the idea in the first place. I’d miscalculated. I was better off being seen as a partier than with Jock’s sister.
I’d rectify the situation next time.
Chapter 10—Nothing Going On
~~Geneva~~
“What’s going on between the two of you?” Jock hissed as soon as Axel was out of earshot.
“Absolutely nothing.” I was the picture of innocence, or so I thought, but my brother wasn’t buying it. I guess I didn’t wear innocence well.
The waitress delivered my hamburger and glanced around with a sigh, clearly disappointed Axel had left. I dug into my late dinner, ignoring my brother’s harsh stare. He reminded me of my father when he behaved like this.
“Bullshit. You have it bad for him.”
I chewed another bite of burger and met his gaze. “Let’s make something clear. You do not control me. You do not have a right to tell me who I sleep with and who I don’t. You’re my brother, and I love you, but my life is mine. If I want to hook up with Axel, it’ll be none of your business. I’ll do as I please with who I please. Got it?”
Our stare down lasted several seconds before Jock looked away. I saw him swallow, then he buried his head in his hands. Everything went still inside me. Jock was stoic and strong like my dad. He did not cry, but was he crying right now?
“Jock?” I touched his arm, and he stiffened. “Are you okay?”
He refused to look at me, but a shudder went through his body. Of course he wasn’t okay. His wife of sixteen years, the mother of his five children, fooled around on him, with a teammate, no less. In fact, if Axel was telling the truth, she’d gone to the hotel bar in hopes of finding a guy to pick up. Confronted by her infidelity, my brother could no longer deny what she’d been doing while he was on road trips. I was certain she’d been messing around for several years with very little consideration for his feelings or for her children’s well-being.
“I loved her once,” he said huskily. “She’d been my life.”
The woman didn’t deserve the love of a man like my brother.
“Hockey is your life.
So are your children.” She’s merely a pain in your ass, I wanted to say but didn’t.
He looked up at me. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and sadness was written all over his face. He swiped a napkin across mouth. “I’m lonely, Geneva. I want a partner for life, someone to share the joys and sorrows, someone to be my rock at times, and I’ll be theirs.”
“Was Bria ever that person?” I said carefully, not wanting to stomp all over his damaged ego.
“At first, I thought she was, or I fooled myself into believing what I wanted to believe. We talked about our future, about the kids, stuff like that. But it didn’t take long for me to see I’d made a colossal mistake. By then, we had two kids and two on the way. I wouldn’t deny them their mother. I tolerated her for my kids’ sake.”
“You suffered in silence.”
He nodded sadly. “Yeah, I did. For them, because they are my world, but I fucking feel so alone sometimes.”
“You aren’t alone. I’m here. Your kids are here for you. Your team is here. You have this large support group. Lean on us when you need to. Even Axel.”
He snorted at the mention of Axel. “I appreciate that. Not going to lean on the kids. They have their own issues to deal with.”
“You and I know all about mommy issues. But I am truly here for you.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s not the same. I spent my adult life trying to please this woman, giving her everything she ever wanted, and making sure she was happy, only to find out it was all a bad novel. God, I never thought it would hurt this badly. I feel like a piece of me has been torn off, and now there’s this huge, gaping hole left in my heart. It’s not that I loved her anymore, but that I finally have to give up this fantasy family, which only existed in my own mind.”
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