“Jack called and said a couple of the guys were here.” I lift a shoulder and let it fall. I spent the day unpacking and getting settled into the apartment. Hearing from the captain of my new team was a welcome interruption. “Do you think you can handle yourself meeting a couple more of my teammates?”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course I can.”
We stand, and I lead her over to the guys.
“Johnny Maverick,” Leo Lohan addresses me from his perch on a barstool. “Good to see you again, man.”
“You too.” The last time I was here, I met most of the team, but only a few are still in town during the off-season.
Declan tips his head in greeting. I’m not sure I’ve heard him speak yet, but he has a friendly mug.
“Guys, this is my friend Dakota. She’s interning with the Wildcats this summer.”
“Hey.” Kota smiles and waves to the guys.
“How do you two know each other?” Jack asks her.
I toss an arm around her shoulders. “Oh, we go way back.”
Jack’s brows lift, and he nods slowly. “Magical vagina… I think I’m following now. She’s the reason you got a hat trick in the championship game.”
Dakota groans, and her body wilts under my arm.
“That’s right,” I say. “We didn’t sleep together, but she did wear my number in the final period.”
“So magical boobage.” Jack grins and puts out a fist for Dakota.
She taps her knuckles with his, though not very enthusiastically. “Well, this has been mortifying. It was so nice to meet you guys. Let’s forget this conversation ever happened, yeah?”
“Done,” Leo says and adjusts the Wildcats hat on his head. “Ignore Jack. We do.”
“She should be good at that if she’s friends with Maverick,” the quiet Declan pipes in. I’m rescinding that friendly mug comment.
“If they were handing out degrees for it, I’d have a doctorate,” she confirms and knocks me with her elbow. “Can I steal you? I want to introduce you to someone.”
“Gotta go, guys,” I say. “She wants to show me off.”
I dodge the elbow I know is coming and take a side step to safety. I’ve only been to Wild’s one other time, but it’s busier tonight than it had been then. Dakota weaves through tables and stops by the dartboards. A guy smiles at her in that way guys do with Dakota that she never seems to notice, and then his gaze slides to me, and his eyes bug out of his head.
“Johnny, this is my new friend and fellow intern, Reese. Reese, Jo—”
“Johnny Maverick,” he interjects. “Man, I am so glad you’re here. Could have used some of your points last season.”
“Reese is a fan,” Dakota says, eyes twinkling with amusement like she wasn’t just fangirling over Jack a few minutes ago.
“This is the guy you’re so pumped about?” A chick steps up beside him and gives me a once-over that makes me feel like I should shower. It isn’t sexual so much as it’s invasive.
“I thought you left,” Dakota says, lips pulling into a big, mocking smile. “Johnny, meet Quinn.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shake both their hands.
“I came back after I heard Jack made an appearance,” X-ray vision–Quinn says.
This Quinn chick smells like trouble. Hairspray, perfume, and a variety of other makeup and body products—lots of products. It has a smell, I swear. She’s gorgeous and done up in a way that says she’s down for wherever the night might lead her, but like she’s hoping that’s a six-course meal on a yacht.
When a chick looks like money, it either means she’s rich, or she’s looking to be. I’m polite as Dakota tells me how the three of them are working for Blythe this summer. Reese really is a fan, and he knows some of my stats from last season, which Dakota thinks is amusing and I think is awesome.
“We were about to start a new game.” Reese holds up a dart. “You two want in?”
“Yeah, let’s play doubles!” Quinn’s eyes light up, and she reaches for my arm.
Dakota backs up, eyeing Quinn’s fingers latched onto me. “We probably shouldn’t be seen getting too friendly with you.”
“Why not? Do I smell? I showered today and everything.”
Dakota rolls her eyes. I love it when she does that. Don’t tell her.
“We’re not supposed to fraternize with the players,” she says.
“What? Why not?”
“Long story,” Dakota says at the same time Quinn insists it’s fine.
“You guys go ahead. I was about to call it a night anyway.” She looks at her new friends. “See you tomorrow.”
Quinn takes a step closer to me, and her nails dig into my bicep. I’m starting to get the feeling she’s hoping to fuck herself into some Louboutins. I don’t like to judge, but she’s a little too eager.
“I think I’ll head back, too. I’m pretty beat.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Dakota insists.
“Nah, I want to.” I untangle myself from Quinn’s grasp. “Ready, babe?”
When we step out onto the sidewalk, Dakota bursts into laughter. “Babe? Did you just babe me to stop a girl from following you home? Or did you get her number, and she’s following in five?” She turns to look back at the bar entrance.
“That chick is dangerous.”
“Quinn? I think she’s all false bravados.”
“Uh-huh.” I don’t buy it.
“Oh, come on. Like you’ve never hooked up with a puck bunny.”
“These are professional puck bunnies, Kota. It’s a whole new league.” We shuffle down the sidewalk. The sun’s setting, and the foot traffic has slowed from earlier.
“Did you eat dinner?”
“No, not yet. You?”
I step ahead of her to open the door, but Larry, one of the doormen, beats me to it and opens the lobby door wide as he greets us.
“Hey, Larry. Did you meet Dakota? She’s interning at the Wildcats this summer.”
“You’re the new second-floor tenant?” he asks her.
“Yes.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
Inside the elevator, she presses the numbers two and eleven.
“What do you feel like eating?” I ask.
“Are we really hanging out? I thought that was an act to get away from Quinn.”
The elevator stops on the second floor, and she steps out. “I don’t feel like going out.”
“Let’s order in.” I place a hand on the door so that it won’t close. “My place or yours?” I shake my head. “Never mind. Mine. I’m not sitting on that pink couch.”
She laughs. “See you in fifteen.”
I order from the first place I find that delivers and take Charli out for a walk. Declan is coming back from the bar at the same time. A few of the guys, including him, live here, but the others are gone for the summer. It’s still weird living somewhere without any friends nearby. Except for Kota, of course.
He kneels and holds out a big hand to my dog. She plods forward happily. Not a lot of people she doesn’t like, but it’s a few extra points for my new teammate.
“Are you getting settled okay?”
“Oh yeah. I dig Minnie-soda.”
He smirks. “Good. Let me know if you need anything. I’m on twelve.”
“Thanks, man.”
I catch the delivery guy coming into the building, grab the food, and head back upstairs.
Dakota’s waiting outside my door with one long leg crossed over the other. She changed out of the dress she was wearing earlier and has on shorts and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Everything about her says comfort and casual, but she’s a rocket no matter what she wears.
“I got food,” I say, holding up the bag.
She takes it, and I let us into the apartment. Once Charli is off the leash, she jogs around the place, still scoping it out. Neither one of us has gotten used to this being our new place yet.
“Tell me all about your first
day, honey,” I say playfully as I grab plates and silverware from a box. I haven’t unpacked much in here yet, but my TV is set up. Priorities.
Dakota’s walking around the apartment, checking it out. She speaks without looking at me. “It was great. Most of the day we sat in a conference room going over the details of our intern rotation and boring human resources stuff, but then they took us around and showed us all the facilities. The arena…” She turns to face me. Her expression is adequately impressed. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I know, right?” I bring the food and utensils out to the living room. I have a dining table, but Kota doesn’t seem bothered by sitting in the living area. In fact, she sits on the floor, crosses her legs, and keeps on talking while I set a plate in front of her and then pull out all the food containers.
“It was my favorite thing we saw today, hands down. I didn’t expect it to be so big.”
“That’s what she said.” It’s out of my mouth before I can stop it.
Dakota crumples up the receipt on the table from the food and tosses it at my face.
“It’s the locker room for me. No matter how many I’ve seen, it’s always something special when you walk into a new place. And the Wildcat’s locker room is pretty epic.”
“They didn’t let us in there,” she says with a frown. “They kept us very far away from anywhere players might be.”
I scoop a big bite of noodles into my mouth and chew.
Dakota takes a much smaller bite, and her face twists up in disgust. “Uh-uh. What is this?”
“I thought you liked Thai,” I say, mouth still mostly full. I’m so hungry. I can’t even taste it. I skipped lunch while trying to get the living room setup.
“I do, but something is funky with that.”
I offer her some off my plate, and she takes another bite and runs to the kitchen. She holds a hand over her mouth and mumbles something as she searches around.
“Trash can is under the sink.” I think. I hope because I hear her spit it out, and then she pops back into view. “That is not edible.”
“A spitter, huh? I am so disappointed.”
Before she can roll her eyes—oh, well, almost before, I put my fork down. “Do you want me to order something else?”
“No, I’ll find something.” She opens a cabinet, then another before hitting me with one of her no-nonsense glares. “Johnny Maverick, did you buy me groceries and not yourself?”
“How do you…”
“Oh, please. You’re the only person I know here.”
I smile. “I was planning on doing it tonight.”
“Okay. Let me come with you. I need to get a few more things anyway.”
“Can I finish this first?”
“Do you really want to?”
My stomach rumbles. Yeah, maybe it’s not the best plan. Something is definitely funky, or she’s appropriately psyched me out anyway.
“Thank you, by the way.” Dakota grabs a cart for us inside the grocery store.
“For what?”
“The groceries.”
“Oh, that was nothing.”
She drives the cart over to the produce section and stops at the bananas. “It wasn’t nothing. It was really nice.”
This is the part I hate about gifting things. I don’t know what to do with the thanks. It was fifty dollars’ worth of food, not a Rolls Royce.
“Welcome,” I say and set a bunch of bananas in the cart. Oranges too.
“What do you need?”
“Everything,” I say. “And healthy shit. I start working out with the guys tomorrow.” My contract is a two-way, so if I want to stay in Minnie-soda and not be sent down to Iowa to the AHL team, then I have to step it up.
“Okay. Me too. Good, healthy food for a hot girl summer.” She walks ahead of the cart, putting things in the front. “I’m going to put my stuff here so we can keep it separate.”
That lasts all of ten minutes when I’ve forgotten and filled the cart with so much stuff I have to encroach her space. And I don’t even know what’s mine or hers.
We stare at the overflowing cart.
“Did you get everything?” she asks.
“Yeah, I think so.” I look over the veggies and meat piled up and then glance toward the chip aisle that we purposely didn’t go down because we both decided against it.
“You know,” she starts. “We could get a couple of bags of chips and candy.”
“Maybe some ice cream,” I add.
She nods enthusiastically. “And start fresh tomorrow.”
“Hell yes.” I jog the cart down the aisle, stepping on the bottom rung and riding it until I get to the ones I want. Sour cream and onion potato chips. What was I thinking not indulging one last time?
The shelves are ransacked like before a winter storm or holiday weekend. I spot the ones I want on the top shelf, but even those have been picked over, and I can’t reach them.
I step back on the cart, but even then, it’s not happening.
“Fuck. I had my heart set on those.”
Dakota clutches a bag of pretzels in one hand and Cheetos in the other. “Which one?”
I pluck them both from her hands and toss them into the cart. “Hop on my shoulders.”
“What?” She laughs.
“I need that bag of chips, Kota. It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Can’t we just ask someone for help?”
“Time is wasting. We still have to get to the ice cream aisle.”
Laughing, she shakes her head but walks behind me.
I squat down, and she lifts one leg over my shoulder while holding on to my head for balance. “This feels like a terrible idea.”
“I won’t drop you. Promise.”
She groans but links her other leg over, and slowly I stand with her sitting on my shoulders. I grasp her thighs. They’re silky and smooth under my touch. I try not to concentrate on that because dropping her would really kill the moment. Also, I probably wouldn’t get my chips.
I step up close to the shelving, and she leans forward, one hand in my hair and the other reaching for the chips. I glance up, and her T-shirt gaps giving me a view straight up. Oh fuck, I’m going to hell. All the sensations—her perky tits covered by some sort of lacy black bra, the feel of her sexy, silky legs, and the way she’s fisting my goddamn hair. It’s my new favorite porno situation. You know, the innocent encounters that you wish ended with the pizza delivery girl ripping off her shirt. Or, in this instance, Dakota climbing off my shoulders with my chips and feeding them to me naked.
“Got them!” she shouts.
I step back, and she tosses them in the cart.
“Now, put me down.”
“I don’t know. I got a pretty good view when you leaned forward. Maybe I want you to grab a few more things for me.”
She smacks my forehead. “Oh my god. I was doing you a favor.”
“I didn’t mean to see. They were just there.”
“They.” She covers her face. “Oh my god.”
I crouch down so she can get down. “Relax. Not the first time I’ve seen them.”
Ah shit.
“I knew you saw them that night!”
“I didn’t see much.” I saw everything.
Her eyes narrow, but she’s still smiling at me. I know she was flashing me behind that construction plastic back in Valley. When the light flickered, I could make out just enough to get a semi. To be fair, looking at Dakota fully clothed could do that to a guy. Okay, fine, it does it to me. I’m the guy.
She’s a rocket. I dig her red hair and fair complexion and the way she rolls her eyes but smiles when I flirt with her, which is often. She thinks I’m joking. I’m not serious about much. But I’ve never said anything to her that I wasn’t prepared to follow through on.
12
Johnny
Tuesday late morning, I head over to the arena. Jack mentioned the guys still in town are working out, and truth be told
, I need an excuse to get out. I don’t like being alone. In Valley, it was the best of both worlds. I had my own apartment, but I was only a flight of stairs from Heath, Adam, and Rhett. Fuck, I miss those guys.
I pause in front of the arena doors and take a selfie, then send it to the group. Heath is the first to respond as I walk down the hall toward the weight room.
Payne: Sweet new digs, bro. Ice isn’t the same without you.
He attached a picture of the Valley rink, and I have to admit, even being in this fancy-ass arena, I’m hit with a bittersweet feeling that I won’t ever play there again.
Scott: You left a giant box of glow-in-the-dark condoms in the apartment. Want me to mail them?
Rauthruss: We’re in the same state again! Let me know when you’re free, and me and Sienna will come down for dinner.
Maverick: That was a parting gift, Scott. Enjoy. Payne, love you, bro. FaceTime later? Rauthruss, yeah, man, let’s make plans as soon as camp is over.
Damn, this is weird. I was only at Valley for two years, but it was more my home than any other place I’ve lived. I glance around. This isn’t too bad, though. Not bad at all.
Jack, Declan, and Leo are lifting weights, music blasting. I stop in the doorway and take it all in. Goosebumps climb my arms as I glance around the weight room. It’s fucking huge. So many machines, top-of-the-line shit. No expense was spared in here.
“Johnny Maverick.” Jack checks the clock on the wall. “Nice of you to finally join us.”
“Your text said you’d be here from nine to two.”
The captain of the Wildcats drops the dumbbells in his hands and steps forward. “Just messing with you. You’re in time for weights.”
“Nice of you to conveniently miss the five-mile run.” Leo smirks as he mops the sweat off his forehead with a towel.
Dec finishes guzzling from his water bottle and uses the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. “And the hour mobility session.”
Five miles? Mobility? Already? Fuuuck. I ate a bowl of Lucky Charms and chased it with a dozen donuts while I watched The Price is Right. I know. I know. The healthy food was supposed to start today, but I couldn’t let the junk food go to waste.
Wild Love (Campus Nights Book 4) Page 8
