Page 63 of Branded (Breakers Hockey)

Twenty-Nine

Raph

“You need to get a better picker,” Smitty said as we all got dressed after the game. We were in the away locker room at the arena, since we were on the road, and while our equipment and support staff did their best to give us everything we might need…

It wasn’t home.

Or maybe it was just that Beth was in my bed, waiting for me to join her there.

It would be late, so I wouldn’t wake her, but I was damn sure going to wake her as early as was reasonable…and if that ended up after I’d gotten just a couple of hours of sleep, then so be it.

I had a list of sexual fantasies to get through.

And I was finding that Beth was just as creative in bed as I was.

Meanwhile, though, I was trying to play it cool.

Mostly because Smitty hadn’t spilled the beans yet.

Something I knew was coming because I’d asked Pru and Hazel for insider information and they’d only given it when they knew what the date was…

and hell, who was I kidding? Everyone was being real cool, but my and Beth’s time not being a conversation topic in the locker room would only last so long, and then all eyes would be on me and Beth and our relationship?—

“My picker isn’t broken,” Cas protested.

Thankfully, Cas’s inability to date a normal woman was still the hot subject matter up for discussion rather than me and my pursuit of Beth.

Theo snorted. “That’s what you said about bringing that girl to CeCe’s.” He shook his head. “Now you and I have had to dodge her the last three times we visited.”

“Carrie was an exception,” Cas protested. “Normally my picker is on point.”

Smitty began ticking off on his giant ass fingers. “Carrie. Margaret. Rosa. Becky. Lisa.” A shrug. “And those are just the ones I remember from this season.”

Cas yanked up his pants. “I’m not into commitment unless it’s the right person.”

“Which is just my point,” Smitty said, sitting—still naked because the man would walk through life buck ass naked if he could and not get arrested—on the bench, rubbing his hair with a towel.

“You need a better picker.” A beat, his gaze dipping toward mine before heading back to Cas’s. “To find the right person.”

“Why are you up my ass about a picker—which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever said, by the way,” Cas muttered.

“Definitely not the dumbest ,” Theo said with a smirk. “You forget that I’ve spent time around you when you’re drunk.”

Cas glared at Theo but didn’t comment. “I’m not the only single fucker on this team. Just because you and Marcel are settled doesn’t mean the rest of us?—”

“One,” Smitty boomed, “you’ve said multiple times you want to be settled like Marcel and me. Two, your picker sucks.” A wave of his hand. “Hence my list from before.”

“And I’m just saying that I’m not the only one who’s single,” Cas grumbled.

“Theo is free and loose. Raph is probably ready to get back in the saddle. Bug him, or Walker, or—” He froze, probably because Smitty and Marcel had both deliberately glanced away from Cas and me and miracle of all miracles, Smitty began getting dressed (Marcel was just finishing buttoning his shirt) without adding further comment.

The avoidance gave me a whole new appreciation for Pru and Hazel and their relationships with their men.

I also had to add Kailey—Smitty’s other half—to the list, because the quiet woman, who occasionally hung with Pru, Hazel, and Beth (though she was closer to Oliver, Hazel’s husband, since they bonded over nerdy things like spreadsheets and video games) was somehow keeping Smitty in check.

He’d clocked my interest.

He could be letting the gossip flow.

But Kailey was quiet, very quiet, and preferred to keep her business to herself.

So that and Hazel and Pru clearly getting how big a step last night was for me and Beth must have convinced their men to keep it under wraps.

I was going to buy them flowers.

Or maybe Hazel flowers and Pru that new hockey stick she was lusting after and Kailey, who I suspected had managed the biggest feat of all—getting Smitty to shut it—I was stocking her up with gift cards for her dragon game.

I watched Cas’s brows pull together, probably mentally recounting what he’d just said that had Marcel and Smitty avoiding his gaze. “Walker?”

“Not interested in settling down,” Walker chimed in, teeth flashing as he ran his hand through his hair, leaving the locks in a haphazard arrangement that I had heard more than one female fan sigh over.

A beat as Cas processed that.

Then Cas’s eyes found mine, surprise in the forest green depths. “Raph?”

Smitty— somehow —didn’t say a word.

It was Theo that let the gossip loose, the fucker.

“It’s Beth.”

I glared at my teammate.

Cas blinked—once, twice, and then his mouth curved. “I knew it.”

“Oh yeah, brother,” Smitty said, seemingly deciding that since Theo had let the cat out of the bag that he was going to chime right in. “Totally perfect for him.”

“Christ,” I muttered, shoving my feet into my shoes. “Is this really what passes for locker room talk nowadays?”

“Fuck yeah, it is,” Cas said, probably just relieved the attention had turned from him.

I sighed but didn’t engage. That was the best-case scenario when it came to Smitty.

“You know it is,” Marcel said quietly, though he was smiling widely, the fucker.

“I’m more interested in hearing who Smitty thinks Cas should date,” Theo said.

That worked for me and it pulled my friend out of the dog house. Marginally, anyway, considering he’d spilled the beans in the first place.

Apparently Smitty talking about Cas and his picker was more interesting too—either that or he was afraid of fallout with Kailey—because he grabbed onto that conversational gambit, detailing who he, if he played matchmaker, would set Cas up with—a woman with a great laugh, a hard worker who was smart, and tall with great tits and a nice ass wouldn’t go amiss.

I agreed with most of the list.

Tall wasn’t necessary.

Beth was small and curvy, and that made for all sorts of interesting creativity to get our bodies to connect in all the right ways.

“Good list,” Theo muttered, thankfully jerking me out of my head before I could be caught daydreaming about Beth. The guys might be acting semi-cool about the news of my relationship with her, but if I was caught mooning over my woman, the shit-giving would be relentless.

And yeah, maybe they were being cool because I’d been fucked up by Monica, so they were treading cautiously. But, also yeah , I was going to take advantage of the kindness.

It wouldn’t last long.

The teasing would eventually commence, and I’d need to buck up, dish out, and deal.

For now, I’d enjoy the break.

And for the record, Cas didn’t seem to disagree with Smitty’s list, but…he also wasn’t about to let our teammate play matchmaker either, saying, “Let’s talk about Raph and?—”

“Ready to move out, boys,” Roger—our equipment manager—called, popping his head into the room, letting us know the bus was out front, ready to take us to the airport.

The man really did have perfect timing.

I shrugged into my jacket, picked up my bag, and tossed it over my shoulder, the locker room fading, the gossip and teasing less of a concern.

Because the bus being ready meant we’ be on a plane soon.

Which meant we’d be home soon.

Which meant I’d be with Beth soon.

Which meant?—

Smitty caught my arm as I moved past him.

Then the second miracle of the night happened—Smitty spoke quietly. “I know I asked you if you were sure before.” A breath. “But I see it now.”

“See what?”

“See what you can both give each other.”

Oddly touched, I sucked in a breath.

A smirk. “And really, I’m just glad you got your head out of your ass.”

Now that was a typical Smitty compliment.

But it was still one of the best I had ever received.