Page 25 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

CASEY

M y heart is racing and my hands are trembling as the server approaches with two fresh drinks for me and Parker, courtesy of Kodie.

I don’t want to read into that action, but I can’t help it.

He’s come over to chat after that intense moment between us at the arena. It has to mean something, right?

As the server steps up to the table, Kodie moves a little closer, until his body is right beside mine.

His warmth burns down my arm, but that has nothing on the way his fingers brush across my back as he rests his hand on the back of my chair.

My thighs clench as heat pools between them, and without thought, my head twists until I’m craning my neck looking up at him.

His eyes drop to mine, and the subtlest of smirks curls his lip.

Oh. He meant to do that.

A million butterflies take flight in my stomach.

Dragging my gaze away, I reach for my drink and hold it up.

“Thank you for this. And congrats on an epic game.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for coming to support us,” Kodie counters.

Parker’s eyes burn into me, but I don’t look up at her. I can’t.

“What about me?” Linc asks like the asshole he is. “I had a great goal and a handful of outstanding assists tonight.”

I smother a laugh at the expectant puppy dog look on his face as he glances between me and Parker, waiting for some praise.

He really is barking up the wrong tree if he’s expecting any nice words to come his way from that direction.

She had a point earlier; why is he standing over here when he could be with a bunny?

Suspicion gnaws at me. I glance up, my eyes jumping between the two of them.

Does Linc know?

Has Kodie sent him over here as some kind of wingman?

But despite my concerns, I don’t see anything untoward in either of their expressions—not that I really know them well enough to read properly.

“You were great,” I offer, aware that Parker won’t humor him.

“Aw, thanks, Casey. So glad you noticed.”

I roll my eyes and laugh at him, but it’s cut off abruptly when Kodie’s thumb brushes my back again.

“I’m calling it a night,” Kodie suddenly blurts, turning all attention on him.

“Dude, it’s still early,” Linc complains with a pout.

“And we’ve got an early flight. I’ve got plans tomorrow.”

“Just one more?”

“No,” Kodie states, leaving no room for argument. “Don’t wake me up when you stumble in later.”

“I can’t make those kinds of promises,” Linc says with a smirk before Kodie grazes his knuckles across my back one final time, sending sparks shooting in all directions.

My skin continues to tingle as I watch him walk away.

I should avert my gaze, but I can’t. They’re glued to him, to his large, powerful body as he marches across the bar as if he owns it.

Linc says something, but I don’t hear anything other than his deep, rumbling voice and then Parker as she cusses him out.

I’m about to force myself to look away when he pauses and glances over his shoulder.

His eyes find mine instantly, and it takes my breath away.

No words are said, but they’re not needed.

My stomach knots and my mouth goes dry

He wants me to follow him.

He’s inviting me up to their room.

It’s over in a heartbeat, and he’s disappearing around the corner.

Turning back to the table, my trembling hand reaches for my drink and I quickly swallow it all.

“Excuse me, ladies. I need to visit the little boys’ room.”

Linc steps back and disappears, leaving me alone with Parker.

“What are you waiting for? Follow him,” she whisper-hisses across the table.

“I can’t,” I say, thinking with my head, not my vagina.

“Casey,” she sighs. “You might never get this chance again. He wants you.”

I shake my head.

“It’s a bad idea.”

“Aren’t all the best ideas concealed as bad ones?” Parker raises a brow and waits impatiently for what I’m going to do. “Go now or you’ll miss him.”

I glance back at the exit and picture him waiting in the elevator for me.

“I need another drink,” I mutter.

“You’re going to regret this,” Parker warns as I slip from my chair and move toward the bar.

“Nothing good can come of it,” I say as she steps up beside me.

“Ladies, are you trying to run away from me?” Linc says from behind us when he returns.

“If only we could,” Parker mutters.

As Linc gestures for the server, Parker leans closer and whispers in my ear. “You’ll forever regret not taking this chance, and I refuse to allow you to live with that.”

“It’s too late now,” I argue, my chest constricting. She’s right.

“It’s never too late. ”

Before I have a chance to say anything, Parker turns to Linc and smiles up at him like he’s the best thing to ever grace the planet.

My brows furrow, because that is far from what she thinks of her brother’s best friend.

She’s up to something.

A drunken laugh erupts as I walk down the hallway almost twenty minutes later, counting the numbers on the doors until I find the one I want.

Eight-three-two.

I should have known the second Parker smiled at Linc instead of sneering at him. But it worked because he told her their room number without little thought.

“Fuck,” I hiss, shaking my arms at my sides as I begin to second-guess this decision.

I thought I made the right one earlier when I didn’t follow him.

But Parker is right.

If I don’t make the most of this opportunity, it may never happen again.

This might be my one and only shot for a repeat.

He knows who I am, and it seems that he still wants me regardless of the consequences.

Blowing out a shaky breath, I smooth my hands down my jeans, fluff up my hair, and give the girls a jiggle. I’m wearing his jersey, there isn’t exactly anything on show, but still. I feel better about myself once I’m sorted.

“Just do it, Casey. Worry about the consequences tomorrow.”

Rolling my shoulders, I hold my head high and lift my knuckles to the door.

My knock sounds like a gunshot in the silent hallway.

When nothing happens and there’s no movement inside the room, I begin to panic.

What if I read that entire situation wrong ?

What if he didn’t want me to follow, after all?

“Fuck.”

I take a step back, ready to run away and pretend that this didn’t happen, when there is a shuffling noise from the other side of the door.

My heart jumps into my throat, and I’m pretty sure I stop breathing.

“I swear to God, Storm, if you’ve lost your fucking key agai—” Kodie’s words are cut off the second the door opens a few inches and he finds me, not his roommate, standing on the other side. “Casey?” His brows pinch in confusion and his hand lifts to rub the back of his neck.

He’s shirtless, and his pants are open.

He looks hot.

Unbelievably hot.

“I-I’m sorry,” I blurt, clearly having got the wrong end of the stick.

Shame and embarrassment burn up my up my neck and to my face, no doubt turning it a mortifying shade of red.

“I’ll just…” I take a step back. “I’ll just go and?—”

“No,” he barks before reaching out and twisting his fingers in the front of my jersey.

I shriek as I’m dragged forward.

One second I’m getting ready to run and hide, and then next, Kodie has me pinned against the closed hotel room door.

I stare up at him in disbelief as my chest heaves and my body burns with need.

His eyes search mine. It’s almost as if he’s trying to convince himself that it’s really me. That I’m really in front of him.

“I didn’t think you were going to come,” he says, his voice low and raspy. It hits me right between my legs, making me even more desperate for him.

“I-I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the invite,” I whisper as he nudges his knee between my thighs.

“Can’t stop fucking thinking about you,” he confesses, leaning closer.

His lips are so close to mine, the heat of them burns.

Tilting my chin up, I search them out, desperate for him to touch me. But he doesn’t allow it.

“Tell me not to do this, Casey,” he begs.

His eyes bounce between mine, his expression tight and tortured.

He’s riding the fine edge of wanting to do the right thing but needing to do the other, just like I am.

“I-I—” I stutter before swallowing and licking my lips. “I can’t. I want you.”

Not a second after the confession falls from my lips does he claim them.

A loud moan erupts before he sucks the bottom one into his mouth, gently sucking.

Heat blooms in my core as he pushes his thigh farther between mine.

His fingers wrap around the back of my neck, his thumb pressing against the underside of my jaw, tilting my head exactly where he wants it before his tongue pushes past my lips.

I sag against the wall, against his thigh, as we collide, his taste filling my mouth.

I didn’t think I’d get to experience this again.

My hands slide up his thick arms before I loop them around his shoulders.

His other hand drops to my waist, and he drags me from the wall and into his hot and hard body.

The groan that rumbles up my throat is nothing but pure filth as his hand slips under my jersey in search of bare skin.

I shamelessly dry hump his leg, desperate to get as much of this man as I can.

“You taste even better than I remember.”

Oh my god.

I cry out in disappointment when I’m suddenly lifted off his thigh.

“Oh god,” I moan when he wraps my legs around his waist and walks me through the room, his lips still on mine.

“Kodie,” I cry as he drops me, letting me crash to the bed.

I stare up at him in disbelief.

Already this is so much better than our first time.

I can see him. All of him. Well, almost.

He watches me closely, his heated eyes flitting around my body as if he doesn’t know where to look first.

I’m still fully dressed; I’m not sure what he really wants to look at—maybe aside from the fact I’m wearing his number. That’s a big deal to many players. It’s a mark of ownership.

I did consider that it could be a step too far. But I couldn’t stop myself.

“I always knew you were trouble,” he muses as he reaches up and combs his fingers through his curls.

My chest heaves and my thighs clench.

Having him standing there looming over me might be things dreams are made of, but I need more. So much more.

“Please,” I whimper, forcing him into action.

He tugs both of my sneakers off, letting them crash to the floor before peeling my socks from my feet and then curling his fingers under the waistband of my jeans and dragging them over my hips and off my legs.

“The fuck are you doing to me?” he mutters as he stands to his full height again.

My eyes run down his exposed chest, taking in all his ink until I get to his open waistband. I swallow thickly as I take in the way his slacks are straining against the thickness of his erection.

“I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be fantasizing about the things I have been. It’s wrong. So fucking wrong.”

I hate the torn expression on his face.

Hell, I more than hate it. I feel it. Right down in the depths of my gut. But there is no other option.

Anything else would be…it would be unfair on us.

This chemistry…we need this.

We deserve this.