I WAS STANDING outside the bus in one of the groups, listening to my teammates talk about their long weekend. Some players were spending their last moments saying goodbye to their partners before we left for a long stretch away from home.
I was about to get on the bus when I caught sight of shiny auburn curls across the parking lot. My eyes tracked that hair until all of Krista stepped out from behind a car. She looked hot as fuck with her short dress and high-heeled boots. Those boots went past her knee and made me imagine a potential wild fuck session up against some wall. I moved towards her like a beacon tracking a signal.
“I was worried I’d miss you,” she said brightly. She was pretending everything was good between us even though we had ended the long weekend almost not speaking.
I rubbed my bottom lip with my hand as my eyes dropped to that expanse of leg between the end of her skirt and those boots. “Nice boots.”
She took a deep breath. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t expect you to come say goodbye.”
She stepped a bit closer. “I’ve made some mistakes this weekend that I’m not proud of.”
“Is that an apology?”
“Yes.” She flushed. “I was trying not to lean on you.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like to rely on anyone.”
I appreciated her honesty. “Even when I’m offering?”
She lifted those blue eyes up to mine. She was searching in my gaze for something. I felt myself completely soften.
Her voice was hesitant. “I don’t want to fight.”
“Who did you wear those boots for?”
Her eyes widened. “No one.”
I leaned forward and spoke in her ear. “Remember my rule.”
She flushed. “I’m not dating anyone.”
I pulled back to look at her face. Something had shifted with her. Something flirty was lurking, teasing me.
“Levi! Levi!” a female voice called from my right. Out of my peripheral, I saw Dee come bouncing towards us.
Not now. For the love of god, not now.
I held Krista’s eyes. “Are you wearing those boots for me?”
Dee rushed to throw her arms around me in a breathless hug. “I thought I would miss you.”
“Uh.” I worked to disentangle her arms from around my neck. “What’s up?”
“Don’t be silly.” She smiled up at me. “Remember when I was talking about my baking?”
Not really. “Uh, remind me again?”
She laughed as she looked at Krista. “I told you I’d make you my vegan protein balls, the ones with kale and fennel seed.” She dug through her bag and pulled out a tin. It had a card on the front and a pink bow.
Oh geez.
I looked at Krista, but she was already backing away from me. She spoke softly. “Have a good trip.”
I reached for her wrist but missed capturing her. “Wait.”
She turned and walked away with a flippant, “You can text me.”
Dee watched her walk away and then gave me a sunny smile. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting.” She droned on about something, but all I could focus on was the sound of those heels getting further and further away.
“Thanks for the baking, Dee, but aren’t you traveling with the team?”
She gave me a huge smile. “Of course, I’m going to be there, but I have to fly commercial, and I wanted you to have the baking for the flight.”
I backed away. “Thanks for that. Hey, I’ll see you there.”
The three-minute whistle sounded. When those bus doors closed, they didn’t open again, even if you were knocking on them. I scanned the parked cars and swore under my breath when I saw that Krista was already halfway across the lot. I ran hard and estimated it took me twenty seconds to catch up with her. She gave a little scream when I yanked her behind an SUV.
“What are you doing?” She stared up at me.
“I forgot to tell you something,” I said, but my brain got tripped up when my eyes landed on those damn boots again, and the soft skin of her upper thighs.
She gave me an exasperated look. “You’re going to miss your ride. What couldn’t you tell me on text?”
I had, at best, thirty-five seconds left. I ducked my head and put my mouth on hers. I felt her whole body react with surprise, but then she moaned and opened her mouth beneath mine. I had forgotten how sweet she tasted, how soft her mouth was, the sound of her moans as her body arched against mine. I grabbed that ass and lifted her against me, crudely grinding her against my arousal. She tightened her grip around my neck and pushed her body against mine. My fingers grazed the soft skin on the back of those thighs, right where her boots ended and her short skirt began. She groaned hard into my mouth.
I heard the one-minute whistle.
I lifted my head and stared down at her dazed expression. “I gotta go.”
“Levi,” she said breathlessly.
I gave her another hard, short kiss, but it turned into a deeper kiss that ran long. I was pushing my luck.
I pulled my mouth away and sprinted hard across the parking lot. Everyone else was sitting on the bus, watching me run. Gordon stood outside the bus with his stopwatch. A veteran told me he was trying to break last year’s record of leaving players behind because they didn’t make it on the bus before the last whistle.
“You made it with three seconds to spare,” he said with a sour expression. Almost as if he were disappointed I had made it.
“Thanks, Coach.”
As soon as I climbed on the bus, the guys all started harassing me.
“Is that baking from Dee?”
“Hey, how come Dee doesn’t bake for me?”
“She’s hot, rookie.”
“Does Dee kiss as good as she bakes?”
Raucous laughter spilled around me as I sank into my seat beside Mica.
He leaned over and took the baking tin from me. I watched as he opened the lid and sniffed.
“Fennel?”
“And kale.”
He shrugged and picked one up. He took a cautious bite, chewing delicately. “Not bad. I think it could use more cinnamon.” He tossed the rest of his protein ball back into the tin.
I shut my eyes, taking the moment to relive that kiss with Krista. God, those boots. I wanted to fuck her wearing just those boots.
Mica spoke from beside me. “You know who Brody’s in love with, right?”
“You need a heart if you want to love. Pretty sure he doesn’t have one.”
“Dee,” he told me. “Dude’s crazy about her.”
“Shut up.” I frowned and opened my eyes so I could confirm. “Says who?”
He shook his head. “Everyone knows this. How is this news to you?”
Because no one fucking talks to me. “I’m not chasing Dee.”
He looked behind him. “I know that, but he doesn’t. And that’s the problem. This entire bus thinks you were kissing Dee in the parking lot.”
“Serves him right.”
He dumped the tin back in my lap. “You might want to rethink that strategy.”
ME: Hey, Krista, we’re in Detroit. Did you know beneath this city is a massive salt mine?
ME: Detroit is also the potato chip capital of the country. They eat more chips here than anywhere else.
OUR FIRST GAME was in Detroit, and it was rough as hell out there. Even worse, Coach put me on the same defense line as Brody.
I spent the first period passing him the puck, setting him up for shots, coming to his defense against the boards. In return, he refused to pass to me, even when I was open and when I was nailed up against the boards by the opposing team. Instead of coming to assist, he made repeated, failed attempts at breakaways.
When one of their forwards deliberately hooked our goalie, he left me in a two-against-one brawl that could have gotten ugly if Mica hadn’t shown up to help.
When Brody and I both got back on the bench, even Gordon had something to say about that. “Brody, you have an issue watching Levi’s six?”
Brody didn’t react as he watched the game on the ice. “Didn’t see it happen, Coach.”
“That’s complete bullshit,” I told him.
He spit his water in my direction. “You have something to say to my face?”
Gordon stuck his face between us. “This little after-school special about your bromance gone wrong is getting on my fucking nerves. Learn to skate together, or I’m going to bench your line.”
I had so many things I wanted to say back, but instead, I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
When he walked away from us, I spoke to Brody under my breath. “You get three shifts to try to be a team player.”
“Or what?” he spat again.
“Or it becomes each man for himself.” I looked at him directly. “And you don’t want that.”
“Fuck you.”
I stared straight ahead. “You want some baking? Dee made me these cookies, and she put this cute little bow on the tin.”
Our line got called, and we scrambled over the bench. Brody’s stick hooked my blade, and I hit the deck. Mica slapped my ass with his stick as I scrambled to my feet. “Going for the late-night sports bloopers?”
I gave Brody an honest shot. He got his three shifts while I patiently passed him the puck and continued to set him up. I had his back and flattened a couple of guys to the boards so he could get the puck back up the ice, but when his five minutes of ice time were up, I decided that would be the last time he touched the puck during this game.
After that, every time we were on the ice, I played like we were down a player and he didn’t exist. I hustled and chased that puck like it was my job, and I was an asshole about taking control of it. I set up and assisted the offense on the next two goals. And then, one minute into the third period, I left Brody hung up on the boards and took my only breakaway down the ice.
I took a slapshot from the blue line and scored.
Coach didn’t say a damn word about my non-team behavior, but Brody looked pissed. When we ended the game, I was called second star player for the night.
As I stepped off the ice, the coach pulled me aside. “Good job, Ziegler.”
I think this was the first conversation we’d had alone since I had met him. I made the most of my opportunity. “I don’t want to be on Brody’s line anymore.”
A good coach would have asked me why. He shook his head. “You’ll play where I tell you.”
“You’re wasting me with him.”
He pointed his hand in my face. “Let it go.”
ME: Hey—how’s my favorite agent? Tried calling you. Give me a call.
MICA and I walked down the hallway towards our hotel room after dinner.
“Ryan and I are going for an early-morning run. You up for it?”
I opened my door. “Yeah, sounds good.”
All the lights were on in my room. Holy shit. It looked like a tornado had struck. The blankets were ripped off my bed, my clothes were crumpled and trampled on. Something appeared to be dripping on the walls.
I didn’t step into the room. I just stood there, looking.
“You okay, rookie?” Mica asked from his doorway.
“My room got tossed.” I had no idea if this had been done by Brody, if the team was hazing me or if I had been robbed. All I knew was that I was tired of dealing with this shit.
“Jesus,” Mica breathed as he stepped in. “What the hell?”
My deodorant was ground into the carpet. One of my suits had been shredded and pulled into pieces. Toothpaste was smeared over the bed.
I looked at Mica. “This hazing stuff is escalating.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t normal hazing. Is anything missing?”
I looked around and immediately thought of the video. “My phone is missing.”
He walked into the bathroom. “It’s in here.”
I stopped when I walked into the bathroom. It was lying on a stack of white towels in the center of the floor. “I left that charging beside my bed.”
I scrolled through my phone, but it was password protected, and it looked completely untouched.
Mica shook his head. “This is fucked up. I think we should call someone from the coaching team.”
“No,” I said sharply. “Gordon already hates me.”
Mica stepped in and started taking photos with his phone. “Then call hotel security. They should have security footage of whoever came into your room.”
The manager was appalled, promised to review the security footage, and immediately moved me to a new room. He also took all my clothes away to be immediately dry-cleaned.
Someone was messing with me, I just didn’t know who. I wanted to talk to Krista. Her number rang four times before kicking to voice mail. I tossed my phone on the nightstand without leaving a message.
Me: You around?
Two minutes later, I checked my phone. I was becoming that guy. I powered off my phone for the night. There was a knock on my door. It was Mica. He had a bag full of toiletries and a suitcase lock.
The gesture was small, but it meant the world to me. “This is above and beyond.”
“I’m going to find a solution,” he promised.
“Are you going to tell the coach?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Thanks.”
He gave me a regretful look. “Just hang tight.”
THE NEXT DAY we flew to New York. We had a team breakfast before we were bused to the arena for a noon practice. I watched Brody, but nothing was out of the ordinary. He seemed like his normal asshole self. After practice, we were bused back to the hotel, where most of the players went to their room for a pregame nap. Up in my room, I peeled off my shirt and shut the blinds. I decided I would watch a movie and then try to sleep.
I was flipping through the channels when I heard someone pounding on my door.
“Who is it?”
“Mica.”
I swung open the door and was stunned to see Krista standing next to Mica. She wore a navy polka-dot dress and a furious expression. I wasn’t sure if it was the dress or her attitude, but my dick got instantly hard. I stepped aside as she pushed her way into my room.
I looked back at Mica. “This is your solution?”
“I called to give her a heads-up. She’s the one who showed up here.”
I looked over my shoulder. She was walking around the room. “Are you coming in, bro?”
“No way.”
“Traitor.” I shut the door on his laughter.
I leaned against the wall and watched. She paced around the small room and seemed intent on taking in every detail. Finally, her focus turned to me.
She put one hand on her hip. “Are you trying to make me look bad?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Why don’t you tell me things? Why am I always the last to know?”
“What should I have done differently?”
She stared blankly at me, like I was a complete idiot. “Last night, you should have called or texted me.”
“I did call you last night. And I did text you.”
She flushed and checked her phone. “Why didn’t you leave a message?”
“Oh, you respond to messages now?”
She flushed again. “I do when it pertains to hockey.”
“You would have told me to report this to either management or the police, both of which I didn’t want to do. I told you—I have this handled.”
She pointed in some random direction. “That is not being handled. That is the opposite of being handled.”
“The more you react to this individual, the worse it’s going to get.”
“Give me one good reason why I don’t take this to Mark Ashford immediately.”
“Because I’m asking you not to.”
She made a little noise and moved around the room to investigate. I watched as she opened the desk drawer and looked inside.
I crossed my arms. “Why didn’t you text me back?”
“You’re making this situation between us personal when I’m trying to keep it strictly professional.”
“I think we crossed that line when I married you.”
She looked at me before shutting the drawer. “Don’t use that word.”
“What word? Marriage?”
She made another little noise in her throat. “Things are complicated enough.”
“Why can’t it be both professional and personal?”
“You’re getting off-topic. I’m here to talk about what happened to your room.”
I didn’t want to talk about that. I wanted another kiss like the one against the SUV, but I didn’t think she was here for that. She was here as my agent.
“I’m supposed to be getting some rest before the game tonight. So you either join me for my nap, or you need to leave.”
She made an exasperated sound. “Levi. We have to talk about this.”
“Not four hours before a game, we don’t.”
She gave me another look, but she knew I was right. She turned and headed for the door.
She had it halfway open before I moved up behind her and pushed it back shut. I decided I wanted her to join me for a nap.
“What are you doing?”
She shivered when I pressed my body against hers. She jolted when I pushed aside her hair so I could kiss the soft skin on the back of her neck. I reached down and put my hand on her inner knee. Her skin felt so soft and smooth. I dragged my fingers up her inner thigh as I continued to kiss her neck.
She moaned, and her legs moved slightly apart, giving me better access. I ran a fingertip along the edge of her thong, and her entire body responded with another shiver.
I spun her around, picked her up, and pinned her against the door so I could kiss her properly. Her legs wrapped tightly around my waist, and her fingers grasped my neck as my mouth assaulted hers. I kissed her like it was my job while my hard cock strained through my sweats.
I pulled back to look at her. Both of us were breathing hard.
Her hands roughly grabbed my face. “Why can’t I resist you?”
“Maybe because you know how dirty and hot it’s going to be with me.”
I used a little force when my mouth recaptured hers. She moaned and dug her fingers deep into my hair, pulling my mouth harder against hers.
If I didn’t get a taste of her, I might die. I unwrapped her legs from around my waist and set her onto her feet. Before she could protest, I dropped to my knees. I pushed her skirt up and pulled her thong down.
“Wait,” she protested, when she realized my intentions.
I threw her off-balance when I lifted one of her legs over my shoulder. Her fingers instinctively dug into my hair as I buried my face between her legs. Normally I was a gentleman when it came to giving oral sex, and I knew how to keep pace with my partner’s comfort level, but this was something different. The scent of her body, the taste of her on my tongue, made me feel like some sort of starved animal, unable to contain my insatiable hunger.
I could not get enough of her. I moved my mouth over her with unbridled passion. The noises she made were encouraging enough that I decided to push two fingers into her.
“No-ohmygod-yes-no-yes-more.” Her entire body reacted to my fingers. Her hips began to thrust in earnest, riding my hand. I positioned my mouth so my tongue could slide over her clit with each thrust.
“Levi, fuck, I’m coming,” she cried out. My savagery wasn’t over. I sucked harder, moved my fingers with speed, and then looked up and watched as her entire body convulsed. I kept on touching and tasting as her body shuddered and twitched. And then her hands were on my face, fighting to push me away.
I leaned back and stared up at her. I had never seen anyone more beautiful in my life. She was breathing harshly, and her entire face was flushed.
I stood and picked her up, wrapping her naked legs around my waist. I would take my time slowly stripping off her clothes and tasting each inch of her skin before sinking my body into hers.
“Do you know what comes next?” I warned as I turned towards the bed.
Someone pounded on the other side of the door.
We both froze and looked at each other.
“Who is it?” I called.
“It’s Mica.”
