Page 3 of Shots Fired

“Will I see you again before you move here?”

She rolls her lips together. “Yeah, probably. I have a lot to figure out before I make the move here in February.”

The need to bend down and plant a kiss on her forehead sends me dizzy, but even I know that would be a step too far.

Picking up her bag from the bar, she loops the strap over her wrist and then pulls her coat from the back of the stool. A part ofme wonders if she’s buying a few more seconds as she hesitates to move.

A part of me also concludes that’s wishful thinking.

When she does finally step away, panic curdles low in my stomach. I had a chance to say something more, and I didn’t take it.

“Darcy,” I rush out as Jack, Kendra, and Sawyer push through the exit and into the night.

She spins on her heel, hair whipping around her.

“Just … remember what I said. He isn’t worth it.”

Warmth floods her features as she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “See you when I’m next stateside, Archer.”

CHAPTER ONE

Late August, ten months later

ARCHER

One more inch, and I swear to God, I’ll cut it off.

His hand, I mean. The one that’s attached to a disrespectful, dark-haired prick as it hovers just above my girl’s perfectly round ass.

She isn’t your girl, Archer.

Yet.

The dude’s hand drops another millimeter, but Darcy doesn’t react. Instead, she continues her conversation with him at the bar.

Go home and jerk off in the shower to thoughts of her. That’s the safe and sensible option. It’s what you’ve been doing since she moved here six months ago.

“Would you like a side order of wings to go with your stare session, or are you good?” Grinning, Darcy’s new sister-in-law, Kendra, leans closer to me.

“Ha-fucking-ha,” I drawl, trying to tear my eyes away from Darcy and the prick.

“You’re still staring,” Kendra sings at me under her breath.

“I fucking know I am,” I sing back.

“And what are you two whispering about?” Jack pulls Kendra into his body, setting a quick kiss on top of his wife’s head.

She waves a casual hand in front of her, not giving anything away and doing me a solid in the process. My obsession is getting more obvious by the second, and it’s only a matter of time before I’m no longer able to pass off my infatuation as a ruse to wind up my center.

“Oh, nothing. I was just asking your goalie if he planned on drinking that beer in front of him or reading it a bedtime story.”

I twist my full pint glass around on the coaster. Apparently, every time I’m out with Darcy, I can never finish a beer. “Preseason starts soon, and I’m thinking, this time, I’ll cut the alcohol out early.”

Kendra’s hand shoots out, resting on my arm. “Okay, who are you, and what have you done with party-boy Archer?”

I deadpan and look at Jack, our team’s new assistant captain. Compared to my seventh, this will be his third season with the New York Blades. I’m twenty-seven. I should be pulling up trees in the NHL like him. Instead, I’m still chasing the shutout record I set fucking years ago.

And that isn’t all my best friend’s surpassed me on. Recently marrying the girl he pined after for years, he now gets to call her his for the rest of time. He’s living his life at a casual seventy miles per hour, chewing up the freeway at a steady pace. Whereas I’m barely off the ramp.