Page 2 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

KODIE

“ A w, you look handsome, Daddy,” Sutton says as I enter the living room.

Hearing her sweet voice might make me feel better about myself, but it does little to enthuse me about the night ahead.

I didn’t go last year. Sutton was sick and I had little choice but to cancel. I’m not going to be so lucky tonight.

If there were any way to get out of it, I would have. But it’s expected that every player on the Vipers’ roster attends the event.

I don’t mind a charity event on the whole. I’m more than happy to support any good cause and to give back. But a masquerade ball is the thing of my nightmares.

A shiver runs through me.

I fucking hate masks.

I know they’re not real masks. Not like the kind that kids run around wearing at Halloween. But I still can’t see people’s faces, read their expressions, understand what they’re thinking, and that unnerves me.

“Thanks, Peanut,” I say, trying to summon up a little excitement.

“I wish I could come. I could have a pretty, glittery dress.”

“One day,” I promise.

Sutton, my daughter, is seven going on seventeen. I love her something fierce, but man, she is a challenge I never thought I’d have to deal with. Especially alone.

“Doesn’t my boy scrub up well,” Mom sings, stepping into the living room with smoothies for both her and Sutton.

I shake my head, wanting their focus off me and my dinner suit.

I don’t do smart. I spend my life in sweats or my practice uniform. This is…this is too much.

“Do you have a date?” Sutton asks, making this situation even worse.

“Ohh,” Mom coos. “I want to know this too.”

Excitement sparkles in her eyes.

For years, she’s been trying to encourage me to get back on the market.

I get it. She wants me to meet a nice woman who’ll become a stepmom for Sutton and allow her to enjoy some of her free time instead of being my permanent nanny.

But it’s not that easy.

Nice women aren’t the ones I’m usually surrounded by.

I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve got the scars to prove it.

My eyes shift to Sutton.

Her mom was one of those who left their mark and forever made me skeptical about the female population. The women some of my teammates hook up with also don’t help the situation.

“No, I don’t have a date. I’ve already got enough beautiful ladies in my life.”

Mom shakes her head while Sutton blushes.

“Come and wave me off?” I ask before spinning around and stalking toward the front door, where I have a car waiting.

“Can you bring me back any chocolates?” Sutton asks as she rushes after me.

“You got it.”

“And don’t eat them like you did after that other event you went to.”

I gasp, spinning around and glaring at her.

“I didn’t eat them. They didn’t have any.”

She raises one eyebrow as if she doesn’t believe me.

Chuckling, I pull her in for a hug.

“Be good for Gran,” I whisper.

“When aren’t I?” she asks, looking up at me with wide eyes and an innocent grin on her lips.

“Hmm…I’ll be here when you wake up. Pancakes before training, yeah?”

Her smile only grows.

“Love you, Peanut.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

She gives me a big squeeze that makes my heart skip a beat.

I may not have expected my life to turn out like this, but I also couldn’t imagine anything else.

“Go and wave from the living room,” Mom says, ushering Sutton away.

I cringe, aware that she’s about to say something I don’t want to hear.

She stares at me with a warm, loving expression as Sutton’s footsteps fade.

“Spit it out then,” I say, needing to get this over with.

“It’s okay to enjoy yourself tonight.”

“I’m aware of that, Mom,” I mutter, feeling like a child who doesn’t know what’s good for me.

“Do you?” she asks, her eyes widening to emphasize that she doesn’t think so. “We’ve been here eighteen months and you haven’t once done something for yourself.”

“I don’t need anything,” I argue. My life is Sutton and hockey. That’s it. Everything else is… inconsequential.

There will come a time when my focus will have to shift, but it’s not now.

“Kodie,” she whispers. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am. I play for a fantastic team, and I have my family around me. I promise, I have everything I need.”

She sighs, thankfully letting it go. For now, at least. I know she won’t drop it forever.

“Try to look like you’re enjoying yourself,” she urges as I pull the front door open and wave to my driver.

“I don’t need to bother; I’ll be hiding behind this thing,” I say, holding up my mask.

Mom laughs, shaking her head in both amusement and disappointment.

“Make sure she goes to bed at a decent time,” I call, attempting to regain control and remind her that I’m a thirty-year-old man with a successful career and a mostly well-behaved daughter.

Mom waves me off. “We’d better not see you until sunrise.”

She closes the door before I have a chance to comment.

T he second I stepped out of the car, the cameras began flashing, but I didn’t miss the paparazzi’s audible sigh of disappointment when it became clear I wouldn’t have a woman on my arm tonight.

I did what I had to do and smiled for the cameras with my stupid mask in place.

The event itself is just like I expected. Elegant, exclusive, expensive.

It’s not my idea of a good night out, and certainly not any of the reasons why I wanted to become a professional hockey player.

But apparently, it’s a part of the job.

The second I’m inside, I make a beeline for the bar.

The season is starting soon, so I need to be sensible. But that doesn’t mean I don’t start the night with a little Dutch courage.

The scotch is burning down my throat when I sense someone step up beside me.

I glance over at a woman in a black fitted dress.

Of course.

“Hey,” she purrs, looking up at me through her intricate mask.

“Hi,” I reply politely before pushing my empty glass across the bar and taking a step back.

“Are you here by yourself?” she asks shamelessly while her eyes drop down the length of my body, probably trying to weigh up whether I’m a player or not.

Just as my lips part, Linc, Fletcher, our captain, and his wife, Reese, walk across the room.

“I’m meeting someone. Enjoy your night,” I say before darting away.

“Evening, Big D.” Linc uses the nickname the team has given me with a wide grin as I approach.

“Evening,” I mutter.

“Did we just watch you turn down a drink with a hot woman?” he asks as if he’s just witnessed the crime of the century.

I glance back at her, now latched onto another victim.

“Wasn’t my type.”

“Funny, we hear you say that a lot,” Linc teases while Fletch and Reese watch on curiously.

“Well, it’s true. If you had a bit more taste, maybe you wouldn’t end up at the clinic every other week.”

“Oh, burn,” Fletch mocks.

“Once,” Linc argues. “I had to go once. Will you let it go?”

“Sure thing.” I wink before turning to Reese.

“This is incredible,” I praise.

She’s the Vipers Foundation senior coordinator and responsible for all of this.

“Thank you, Kodie. And thank you for your support.”

I’m about to respond when a harassed-looking kid with a clipboard and an earpiece comes rushing over to her.

“I’m sorry, please excuse me.”

“Shall we check out the auction?” Fletch asks.

“Sure. I could really do with a vacation on a yacht right now,” Linc says, earning himself a slap on the head from our captain.

“You should be so lucky.”

We walk around everything that’s up for auction, balking at the figures that have already been written down.

I’m not sure this will ever become normal.

Growing up, things were hard. Dad was a mechanic and Mom worked at our local grocery store. They always ensured that I had everything I needed, but there was never any spare money. Especially once I started playing hockey.

My hobby was a huge drain on my parents’ finances, and it was something that, even as a young teenager, I never took for granted.

If it weren’t for them working their asses off and putting me and my dream first, I would not have gotten here.

I just wish Dad got to see where I ended up.

We get stopped by a handful of people to talk about the upcoming season, but everyone is polite and they don’t take up too much of our time.

It’s one of the things about events like these.

Only a certain type of person is invited, and they understand the desire for a degree of privacy, so they mostly leave us to our evening.

“They’re going to be serving dinner shortly,” Fletch says after checking his watch.

“I’ll meet you there,” I say, excusing myself to use the bathroom.

I do what I need to do before standing at the sink to wash my hands and staring at myself in the mirror. I look ridiculous, but then, so does everyone else here.

I take a little longer than necessary, preparing for the small talk that’s sure to fill the next few hours of my life before I leave the safety of the bathroom.

Pulling my cell from my pocket, I find a photo message from Mom of her and Sutton snuggled on the couch, ready to watch a movie.

I’m too busy wishing that I was at home with them to bother looking up, and two seconds later, I collide with someone.

“Oh shit, I’m so sor—” My words are cut off when I find a petite woman in a stunning emerald green dress wobbling on her heels before me.

Without thinking, I reach out and wrap my arm around her waist, steadying her before she hits the floor.

It’s not until she’s back on her feet that my eyes collide with hers.

My breath catches. They’re so green .

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. Please,” I say, gesturing for her to continue toward the ladies’ room.

Holding her head high, a sexy smile pulls at her lips before she muses, “It was nice bumping into you,” and walks away.

I blink, watching her go.

“Enjoy your night,” I call before she gets too far away.

She shoots a coy glance back over her shoulder before she disappears.