Page 27 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

CASEY

I practically run down the hallway on unsteady legs with tears in my eyes and my heart in my throat.

That was…

That was everything…until it wasn’t.

Everything I thought I’d made up in my head about last time...the connection...the chemistry...it was all there. Hell, it was even better than the last time, because we weren’t hiding.

We both knew who the other was, and it made it so much more intense.

I knew last time that I shouldn't have been with him. But this time, he knew it too, and I swear it made our desire burn even hotter.

As I round the corner, spotting our hotel room and my escape, I reach into my pocket for the keycard. But it’s not there.

My heart plummets as I frantically check my other pockets.

I have my cell, but there is no sign of the keycard.

“Fuck,” I hiss, spinning around to look down the hallway as if I just dropped it.

Unsurprisingly, there is nothing there.

Lifting my hand, I comb my fingers through my knotty sex hair and groan.

I have two options.

Go back and ask for it.

Or call Parker.

A bitter laugh erupts. There really is only one option.

There is no way I can face him again so soon.

“Hellooo,” Parker sings after picking up on the third ring.

I squeeze my eyes closed, embarrassed by this entire situation.

“Please can you let me into our room? I’ve lost my key.” My voice is quiet and cracked with emotion.

Voices float down to me, and I cringe at the thought of any Vipers staff seeing me. I don’t doubt I look thoroughly fucked, and I’m not wearing any panties.

The asshole stole them.

Or worse. It could be my father.

My stomach turns over. He’ll take one look at me and know I’ve been up to no good.

“Can you hurry, please?” I whisper as I move closer to the wall in an attempt to make myself disappear.

“I’m coming. I’m coming right now. Don’t move.”

A laugh spills free.

Where the hell am I going to go?

Thankfully, whoever the voices belonged to disappear in the opposite direction, leaving me anxiously hopping from foot to foot as I wait for Parker to rescue me.

The handprint on my ass burns, and my pussy is deliciously tender. At least she’s happy she got another round.

I attempt to detangle my hair with my fingers, reliving one moment over and over.

Something in his eyes…changed.

He flipped me and shoved my face into the pillow.

And it wasn’t just dominance this time.

It was like he suddenly couldn’t bear to look at me.

I'm chewing my nail when Parker finally rounds the corner.

“Oh shit,” she gasps the moment our eyes connect, and her pace picks up.

The second she’s in front of me, she opens her arms to hug me.

“Please, just let me in,” I beg.

The longer I’m out here, the more chance I have of being seen, and I refuse for them to see me falling apart.

Parker nods and quickly taps her key to the pad before pushing the door open and allowing me to rush inside.

She doesn’t say anything until the door slams closed, but as soon as it does, she demands to know what’s happened.

My tears burn hotter, but I fight to keep them from falling.

He doesn’t deserve my tears.

It was a hookup.

No. It wasn’t. It was closure.

I laugh, and Parker frowns in concern. “Casey?”

I shake my head and look up at the ceiling, willing my tears to disappear.

“It was nothing,” I lie.

“Yeah, I’m not buying that. Try again.”

When I look at her, she’s staring at me with one brow lifted and her hands on her hips.

I sigh. “We hooked up. I left. But I must have left my key behind.”

She studies me closely, silently urging the words from my lips.

“Fine, he sent me away when he was finished with me like I was nothing more than a bunny he’d never think of again.”

Anger radiates from Parker in waves, her lips pursing and her fists clenching.

The thought of her stepping up to him and throwing a punch is almost enough to make me laugh.

She’s so small, and he’s so…not.

“That’s bullshit, Casey,” she spits. “You’re not a bunny. You’re so much more than a bunny. You’re his coach’s daughter, for fuck’s sake.”

And that right there is exactly the problem.

Reaching up, I swipe the few tears that escaped from my cheeks.

“Yeah, exactly. I’m his coach’s d-daughter.” I try to keep the emotion out of my voice but fall at the last hurdle.

“Oh, sweetie. ”

Parker steps closer and pulls me in for a hug.

I don’t respond. I don’t need to. Kodie Rivers has always been my dream man. Since the very first time I saw him online, I was borderline obsessed. And nothing has changed.

No. That’s a lie. Everything has changed.

I’ve shared the same air as him, I’ve tasted him. And now…I want him more than ever.

Even if he is a massive asshole.

I allow myself a few seconds to absorb my best friend’s support before dragging in a few shaky breaths and pulling back.

“I’m going to shower. All I can smell is him.”

Emotion burns up my throat as I walk to the bathroom.

“You need to talk to him,” Parker says before I disappear from her sight.

I shake my head and close my eyes.

“Kodie and I have never talked,” I confess. “It’s probably for the best if I just slip back into the shadows and watch him from afar.”

The words cause a physical ache in my chest, making it hard to breathe. But it’s the right thing to do.

Kodie and I aren’t and never have been friends. Hell, until the night of the masquerade ball, I’m not sure he even knew I existed. We’ve had two nights together. One where he had no idea it was me, and another…

A sob bubbles up, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to stop it from erupting.

“Casey, I think?—”

“It’s fine, Parker. I got what I wanted, and now it’s over.” I just need to figure out a way to be okay with that.

I sleep like shit. While Parker lightly snores beside me, I toss and turn, getting more and more pissed off and agitated.

His dismissal repeats over and over in my head until I want to scream.

The sad thing is, I get it. I really fucking do.

We shouldn’t have been together again.

We shouldn’t have been together in the first place.

I did all of this. I instigated it all. I put him in this awful position. I deserve his anger, his frustration.

But despite knowing that, it doesn’t stop it from stinging.

Being with Kodie…it was so much more than anyone else I’ve ever been with.

It’s probably just because I’ve fantasized about him for so long. Maybe because he’s forbidden.

But whatever it is, I already know that no one is going to compare to him.

Kodie Rivers has ruined me for anyone else.

Was it worth it?

Yes. One million times, yes.

“Good morning, Care Bear,” Dad says as Parker and I approach the table he booked us for breakfast. “Oh,” he adds when I get closer, his eyes darting over my face before settling on the dark shadows under my eyes. “Late night?”

“Something like that,” I mutter as I lower my ass to the chair and search for the server with the coffee pot. I am in need like never before.

“We’re not all old and sensible like you, Coach,” Parker teases as she sits beside me.

“Less of the old, thank you,” he mutters.

Thankfully, Parker is happy to keep the conversation flowing, and the second she congratulates Dad on an epic game last night, the two of them get into it in the same way that Dad and I usually do. Any other morning, I’d feel left out, but right now, I don’t feel anything but broken and exhausted.

What Kodie did last night shouldn’t matter.

It was a bit of fun. Something we both needed to get out of our systems.

It’s not like I expected him to make some big declaration of love and that we’d run off into the sunset together.

I just wasn’t expecting him to be so...cold. So harsh.

I drink three cups of coffee before our breakfast is delivered, and despite my stomach growling in hunger, I struggle to swallow any of it.

Instead, I poke the eggs and bacon around my plate while keeping one eye on the entrance.

There is a massive table on the other side of the restaurant with a number of team staff sitting at it. It’s where Dad would usually be, but he excused himself to spend time with me. Guilt twists my insides. He’s abandoned his team, and I can barely string two words together.

The rest of the team will appear at some point, and I have no idea how I’m going to react to seeing him again.

I have no doubt that he won’t even look over, let alone spare me a second of his time.

He said everything he needed to last night.

We’re done. Over.

Not that we were ever a thing.

I let out a pained sigh as my fork clatters to my plate.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dad asks with a deep frown marring his brow.

“It was the shots,” I mumble, hoping it’s enough to pacify him.

“It’s easy to forget that we’re not eighteen anymore.”

Dad’s eyes open wide at Parker’s comment. “You were both underage at eighteen,” he points out.

Parker coughs. “I meant twenty-one, obviously.”

Dad rolls his eyes and shakes his head at her.

“Sure, you did.”

“Ah, come on, old man. I know it was a long time ago, but you must remember what it was like.

Dad’s lips part to say something, but he doesn’t get a chance, because there is a loud ruckus at the entrance.

Without instruction from my brain, my head snaps around just in time to see the majority of the team spill into the restaurant.

My stomach twists, and my chest compresses as I scan the faces.

For a few seconds, I don’t think he’s with them. But then Linc and Cole, our goalie, part.

All the air rushes from my lungs as I study him.

The asshole looks as perfect as ever.

I don’t know why I’m surprised. I wasn’t expecting him to lose any sleep over what happened last night.

Under the table, Parker grips my hand and squeezes in support.

I tell myself to look away, not to look bothered by his presence. I almost manage it, but then he looks up.

I swear, it’s like being slammed into the boards by a giant D man.

Needing to look like the bigger, uninterested person, I rip my eyes away and focus back on Dad, who’s also watching his team, probably looking for signs of hangovers from the night before.

A few of them make a detour our way to say good morning, but most head straight to their table and begin ordering endless amounts of food.

“We should probably get going,” Parker says. “We need to be at the airport soon.”

I nod in agreement.

“You’re coming to the game tomorrow?” Dad asks.

“Of course.” Just because one member of his team is an asshole, it’s not going to stop me from watching a sport I love.

“And let me know if you hear anything,” he reminds me.

“I will, but it’s the weekend. I’m not expecting?—”

“You could get the call anytime,” Dad says. He wants me to get this coaching job so bad. I appreciate his support, I really do, but as excited as I am, the reality of coaching Kodie’s daughter is beginning to hit me a little too hard.

Maybe it isn’t my time, after all.