But whoever designed the new line for men did so with a new, younger vibe. The names of the products themselves are fun, and the colors and bottles are more modern. Johnny is the perfect person to endorse it, despite his reservations, which I totally understand. I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel as if your parents care more about their company than you.
For the rest of the day, I think of nothing else. I take everything I know about my friend and build a campaign that puts him and his personality front and center. Maybe the endorsement has no merit on whether the Wildcats keep him or send him down to the AHL team, but I work like it might be the difference.
Before I leave, I email Blythe my rough concept and then stop by her office on my way out.
“Come in,” she says. Her feet are kicked up on her desk, and instrumental music plays quietly. She brings her feet to the floor and sits upright. “I was just looking over your ideas. They’re good. Really good.”
“They are?”
She nods enthusiastically. “I especially like your idea for the photo shoot. It’s perfect for Johnny. Your knowledge of him really comes through. I could practically hear him in your summary.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment, channeling my inner Maverick, but I had fun coming up with it.”
“It shows.”
“It’s a little different than their other campaigns. Do you think it’s too far?”
One of her shoulders lifts slightly. “No, I think it’s exactly what they need to sell this new line, but we should run it by them before you do the photo shoot.”
“Okay. Yeah, I was planning on doing that after I had it all detailed out.”
“The tricky part will be scheduling and finding locations for the shoot. The Wildcats have agreed to let us do it here, but it can’t look like it was shot here. Nothing that seems like the Wildcats themselves are endorsing the products. That sort of endorsement costs a lot more than what they’re paying.”
“While we’re on the topic, I want you to know that I appreciate what you and Johnny did to get me here.”
“You didn’t know,” she says, and I shake my head. “I pieced that together yesterday.”
“I wouldn’t have taken the job if I had,” I admit. “But I am going to do my best to prove I’m the right person to be here regardless.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Dakota. I suspect Johnny had ulterior motives, but I think his career is going to benefit.” She points to her laptop. “You’ve already proven it, at least to me.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I can talk to Coach Miller about letting us use the locker room for the photo shoot. It’s probably going to be a hard no the week of camp.”
“What about next week?”
Her brows lift. “You think you can get it ready that quickly?”
“Absolutely. I’m so excited to work on this.”
“Okay, then. I think he’ll be okay with that, but I’ll double-check.” She cocks her head to the side and studies me. “You and Johnny Maverick…”
Heat floods my face. “We’re just friends.”
“I don’t like telling people what to do with their personal time, but unfortunately, relationships between players and interns have caused issues in the past.”
My heart flutters in my chest. “I understand. You don’t have anything to worry about with me.”
“Good. See you tomorrow, Dakota.”
16
Dakota
When I get back to my apartment, Maverick and Charli are still here. Maverick’s hurt leg is stretched out along the couch, and his laptop is in front of him. He’s wearing a headset and playing some video game.
“Hey,” I call, dropping my purse and laptop bag on the counter.
“Die, Rauthruss,” he says and tips his head up to me. “Ah fuck, fuck. Dammit.” The screen goes red. “You win again, fucker. I’m going to get you. I gotta go. Dakota just got home. I’ll catch you guys later.”
“Hey,” he says with a sheepish grin. “How was work?”
“It was good. How’s the knee?” I pick up a warm ice pack from the floor in front of him.
“Fine.” He runs a hand over his messy hair. “I didn’t realize it got so late while I was fucking around with the guys. I hope you don’t mind Charli and I stayed here all day.”
“I don’t. I told you it was fine, but it looks like you went up to the eleventh floor.” I point to his laptop.
“Yeah, I got really bored. You need a TV.”
I don’t point out the obvious that he could have stayed in his apartment instead of schlepping his laptop back down here. I’m glad to see him.
“Let me help. I can grab whatever you need.”
“You’ve done enough. It was easier taking Charli in and out only going up and down the one flight of stairs.” He stands and grabs his crutches. “We’ll get out of your hair. Hand me that.”
He juts his chin to the laptop.
“How are you going to carry it?”
“Stick it in the back of my jeans.”
“Mav, this is stupid. Just hang out here.” I resist reminding him that it’s technically his place since he paid for it.
“Really? You don’t mind?”
“No. I think I’d like the company. I’m not used to living alone. I’m starving, though.”
I go to the kitchen and look for something to eat. We bought so much food the other night, but I don’t feel like cooking. I grab mini rice cakes and take the bag to the living room.
“You really need a TV,” he says.
“I could show you my plan for your endorsement?”
“I read over your email. It looked good.”
“Well, today, I expanded all of it to give it more Maverick personality.” I pull it up on my laptop, and I talk him through it while we devour the bag of rice cakes.
“I was thinking it would be cool if they named one of the scents after you.”
“I don’t think they’re looking to redo anything.”
“Then one of the scents they’ve already named. You could be Starry Night.”
He chuckles. I go to my purse and bring out a few of the samples. I hold the one in question under his nose.
“Uh-uh,” he says. “That one burns my nose.”
“Okay, what about this one?” I uncap another deodorant and let him sniff.
“I like that one.” He inhales a second time.
“It’s my favorite too.”
“Yeah. What’s it called?”
“Hailstone.”
“That one, but I can’t ask them to rename it. That’d cost money, and they’ve already given me enough.”
“No problem. It was just an idea, but let’s use this scent in all the pictures. It will create a believable and cohesive campaign. Johnny Maverick wears Hailstone.”
“Done. Now can we talk about the TV situation? Specifically, the lack of one in your apartment. I found a steal online. It can be here in an hour.”
“I can’t afford a TV. Besides, this is nice.”
“Be nicer with the glow of a seventy-inch flat screen. I’ll never beat Rauthruss playing him on this tiny screen.” He lifts the laptop and lets it drop back to the couch cushion.
“How is he? How’s Sienna?”
“They’re good. Really good. Sienna’s teaching figure skating and yoga, and he’s running hockey camps. I’m hoping they’ll come down sometime next month if they get a break.”
“It would be good to see them before I go back to Valley. Who knows how long it will be before we’re all back together.”
“I’m not worried. You girls can’t go very long without seeing one another, and the guys won’t want to leave their girlfriends.”
“True.”
“I think if you carry the laptop and Charli, I can stand to crutch up the stairs one last time tonight. Then we’ll have TV. Charli likes TV.”
“Oh my god, you’re hopeless. Surely we can find something to do.”
&nbs
p; We sit silently for a few seconds.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Definitely.” He follows me into the kitchen.
“All I have is wine or vodka, but I didn’t get a mixer.”
“We’ll chase the vodka with the wine.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“Or a really great, fun idea. Come on, what else do you have going on?”
The answer to that is nothing, and two hours later, I’m drunk and back in the kitchen dancing and looking for food that doesn’t require microwave or oven usage. Somewhere in my inebriated brain, I’m aware that I can’t be trusted with either.
I grab the Cheetos and take them to the living room. Maverick is kicked back, shirt off, staring at me with hazy eyes.
“It’s almost gone.” He hands me the wine.
I tip it back and finish it off straight from the bottle. A little drips on my shirt, and I wipe at it, then say fuck it and pull my shirt over my head.
“I spilled,” I say as if that’s a good reason to be in my bra around my friend.
“It’s cool. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“We match now.” I point between us.
“You look better shirtless than I do.”
I look down at my cleavage and then at him. His chest is defined, abs chiseled, plus all that ink. “I don’t know. Tie?”
He smirks. “You think I look good shirtless?”
“Of course you do. You’re hot, Johnny Maverick.” And he is, but I don’t think I’ve ever said that out loud before.
“You too. Like, fuck hot.”
“What does that even mean?” I ask through laughter.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory. Fuck hot.”
“Yes, but you say it like it’s an exclusive list, not half the population.”
He snorts. “Learn to take a compliment, woman.”
“Thank you.” I set down the bottle and squeeze my boobs together. “They’re not fake.”
“No? Let me feel.”
I drop my hands, not really expecting he’ll do it. Although this is Johnny Maverick we’re talking about so of course, he does. His big palms cover the lacy material of my bra, and he squeezes lightly.
“Damn, Kota. These are good.”
“Thank you. I grew them myself.”
He keeps squeezing, and the longer his big hands manhandle me, the tighter my nipples become.
He notices and glides a thumb over the peak through my bra.
“Okay, that’s enough show and tell,” I say through a shaky breath. I find my shirt on the floor and cover myself.
“Sorry. Been thinking about your boobs for so long, I wanted to make sure I copped a real good feel to last me the rest of my life.”
I snort-laugh. “You’ve been thinking about my boobs?”
“I think about lots of people’s boobs,” he says with a grin.
“Right. Of course.” I’m suddenly really aware of how drunk I am. “I should sleep, or I’m going to be a wreck for work in the morning.”
He’s quiet, and now I’m all flustered. I don’t know how he’s always so cool and casual.
“You can crash here if that’s easier, or I can help you upstairs.”
“This is fine. Awful couch is growing on me.”
I grab him a pillow and blanket. He’s taken off his jeans and is just in his boxer briefs. He’s hard, and I don’t want to notice, but I do, and my body warms everywhere.
“Here you go.”
He takes one end of the pillow and uses it to tug me onto the couch next to him. “Running away?”
“Being the sane one,” I say.
His gaze drops to my lips, and I wet them with my tongue instinctively.
“Sane is boring. Let’s be wild. Take off your shirt again.”
Chuckling, I shake my head slowly from side to side. “I’m going to bed.”
“Fine,” he calls, lying back and crooking an arm behind his neck.
I walk across the apartment to my bedroom, pause, and look back at him. “And locking my door.”
“No worries there, Kota. You’re safe. I’m waiting for the day you beg me to kiss you.”
He’s out of his mind. “You’re going to be waiting a very long time.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Night, Dakota. You know where to find me.”
The next night, I come home to an empty apartment. Reagan calls as I’m sitting down in the living room.
“Hey.” I hold my phone out and smile at my bestie. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to The Hideout tonight. You?”
“No plans.” I run a hand along the pink fabric of the couch. I swear I can smell Maverick and Hailstone.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m tired. Maverick and I drank wine and vodka last night. Two out of ten stars. Do not recommend.”
She laughs, and something shifts in my chest. I miss her something fierce.
“I wish you were here.”
“Ditto. It isn’t the same not waking up to the roaring noise of a blender every morning.” She plays music in the background and sets her phone down. “Ready?”
“For?”
“Dance party. Come on.” She motions for me to get up.
Reluctantly, I do. I place my phone on the arm of the couch and dance.
“Any more hockey hottie run-ins I should know about?”
“No,” I say. “Well, unless you count Maverick. I, uh, may have let him feel me up.”
Her brows raise, but she continues dancing. “I need more information.”
“We were drinking. I spilled on my shirt and thought it was a good idea to take it off. Then I told him to feel my boobs to prove they weren’t fake.”
“You do have great boobs,” she says. “Then what happened?”
“I went to bed. I cannot hook up with Maverick. He’s… Maverick.”
“Do you want to hook up with him?”
“My boobs were certainly into the idea.” My body tingles, just like it did last night. “There is no way. Not happening.”
“Okay. Well, then you need to go out with someone else and let them feel you up before your boobs start calling the shots. You’ve deprived them for too long.”
I snort. She might not be wrong. “Who would I possibly go out with? I work all day. The hockey guys are off-limits and I’m not hooking up with another intern—that’d be a weird work environment.”
“Dating app?”
“I deleted it. The options weren’t great.”
“So reinstall it.” She smiles at me. “You are in a new zip code. New options. Better options, maybe.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Talking to Reagan loosens me up. We sing and dance through two more songs, smiling and laughing at each other as we show off our moves.
“Kota?” Mav calls. The door is open a crack, and Charli pushes through.
“I’m here. Come in.”
Maverick walks in on his crutches. Reagan turns down the music.
“I gotta go,” she says, out of breath. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I end the call as Maverick takes a seat on the couch. “Were you at the arena?”
He nods. “Yeah, I had to talk to Coach.”
“How’d that go?”
“He’s pissed I hurt myself.”
“Will you be ready for camp?”
“Hope so.” He rests an arm along the back of the couch. “What are you doing tonight? Do you want to go out? Dinner? Drinks?” He grins. “Dancing?”
“You can’t dance right now.”
“I can sit in a chair and let you dance for me like you were just doing. In fact, maybe we should just do that here so you can take off your shirt again.”
I roll my eyes. “About last night. I shouldn’t have let that happen. We’re friends.”
“Could also be friends that bang.”
“Even if that weren’t explicitly against the rules o
f my internship, it isn’t a good idea.”
“Why not? You said you think I’m hot. I think you’re hot. There’s no TV.” He waves to the empty wall in front of us. “What the fuck else are we going to do?”
I chuckle lightly. “I love how it’s just that simple for you.”
“It’s as simple as we make it.” He shrugs. “I’m not going to suddenly stop being your friend just because we have hot, freaky sex.”
“Hot, freaky…” I give my head a shake to stop the images flashing in my head. “Not happening.”
“All right. Well, next best thing… dinner?”
17
Johnny
Dakota insists we order in so I can rest my knee. She’s probably right. Coach Miller was not happy that I’d managed to injure myself so close to camp. But I’m already tired of sitting around all day long.
Kota is sitting in the chair with her laptop while I scroll through my phone.
“The food should be here by now,” she says and narrows her gaze at the door as if she thinks that’s going to help speed up the delivery person.
“Maybe they left it at the door.”
“Without knocking?”
I stand and hop toward the door without my crutches.
“Mav!” she yells after me, but she laughs. There’s a knock at the door when I’m one hop away.
“Perfect timing,” I say, pulling open the door.
“Uhh… hi.” A woman stands in the hallway holding a brown take-out bag. “I think this is yours. I ordered from there too, and they dropped both at my place. I didn’t realize until after I ate one of your egg rolls. Sorry.”
I smile. “Seems like a fair trade. Thank you.”
She hands over the bag and then lingers. “You’re Johnny Maverick, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Have we met?” I’m giving her a discreet once-over to decide if she’s one of the hundreds of people I’ve met this week at the arena.
“No.” She places a hand on her forehead and laughs lightly. She’s pretty, late twenties, maybe, and has thick black-framed glasses that make her look a little like a librarian. “This is embarrassing, but I’m a fan. I was so glad when the Wildcats signed you.”
Wild Love (Campus Nights Book 4) Page 11
