Page 34 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

CASEY

“ O h my god,” I squeal the second I pull up at Dad’s the next morning and see a very familiar face walking out of the driveway next door.

Jumping out of my car, I race toward Freya and throw my arms around her.

Freya and her parents have lived next door for as long as I can remember. She’s a few years older and used to babysit me when I was younger.

“I didn’t know you were back,” I cry as she returns my embrace.

“Surprise,” she says, although there isn’t as much pep as I would expect to be in that word.

Pulling back, I study her.

“Frey?” I question, concerned.

“I’m sorry. I’m okay, really.” She blows out a long breath as she fights to get it together. She’s far from okay.

“Come on,” I say, taking her hand and leading her to the swing seat on Dad’s porch.

The second we sit down, words begin tumbling free.

“It’s over, Case. He sent me home.’

“Oh shit,” I gasp, retaking her hand and squeezing for support.

Freya had been working in Las Vegas, something her parents hated with a passion, but she was adamant that she wanted to experience more.

Well, she got more in the form of a famous rock star who swept her off her feet and whisked her off on a world tour.

I should have known something was up. The photos stopped coming.

At the beginning, she’d send me one from every place she went. Then it dropped to once a week, then every now and then. And then nothing.

I assumed she was just busy.

She had the world at her feet, literally—one of the planet’s hottest men in her bed at night.

How wrong was I?

“I’ve been in London for a couple of months trying to figure out what I’m going to do next.”

I nod, aware that she’s got family there now.

“I’ve just…I’ve got nothing without him.”

I have no idea what to say to that.

“You’ll figure it out. There are so many opportunities here, Frey,” I say, hoping to sound supportive and not condescending.

“I know,” she breathes, looking down at her feet. “I’m heading toward thirty, and I’ve just gone from flying around the world, spending nights in some of the most luxurious hotels and bars, to living back at my parents’. It’s…a lot to process.”

“And you had no idea?” I regret the question as soon as it falls from my lips. She clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.

She shakes her head, her watery eyes meeting mine again.

“I’m such an idiot, Casey.”

“No. No, you’re not. He’s an asshole for not seeing how incredible you are.”

She sucks in a shaky breath before wiping her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m okay. I’ve made some dishes for your dad’s party, and said I’d help today in the hope of a distraction.”

I can’t help but smile at her. “Freya, an entire roster of hockey players is about to descend. There is no better distraction in the world. ”

A laugh bubbles out of her before she confesses, “There may have been an ulterior motive. My ego could do with a boost.”

“Girl, you don’t have to worry. My boys will fix you right up with one look at you in a bikini.”

“Here’s hoping,” she says with a weak smile.

“I think it’s time for a mimosa, don’t you?”

Together, we walk into Dad’s kitchen. “Oh wow,” I gasp when I find the island covered in dishes full of food.”

“I may have gotten a little carried away,” Freya confesses. “I didn’t get to cook much when we were travelling, or at all really. It felt so good.”

When I glance over, she has a little twinkle back in her eyes.

She’s going to be okay. It’s just going to take a little time.

We don’t really need to do anything else.

Everyone who’s coming today will bring food with them.

By the time all the players and their families are here, we’ll have more meat for the grill than we know what to do with, so instead of food, we embark on organising drinks. After having our mimosas, of course.

I love hosting. I have since I was a little girl.

Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if I was overcompensating for the fact Mom was no longer here to do it.

But I genuinely loved it. And it only got better when Dad would tell his teammates and other staff that I did it all.

They’d look at me with awe and pride in their eyes and it would light me up.

I desperately wanted to be accepted by the team—hell, the entire organization. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be them.

I smile to myself as I remember how floored I always was when player after player used to walk into our house as relaxed as if it was their own home.

Those men were my idols. I was in awe of all of them. Their strength, power, determination, their resilience—it still blows me away all these years later. It doesn’t matter that the men turning up today are the next generation of players from those I grew up with; they’re still just as incredible.

Most of them bloody well know it, too.

“I needed this,” Freya says as she takes her first sip of mimosa as heavy footsteps rumble down the stairs.

“Ah, you found her,” Dad says, looking between the two of us with a smile.

“Ugh, put it away, old man,” I tease.

“Enough of that,” he chastises as he grabs a t-shirt from the back of a dining chair and pulls it on. “Sorry about that.” He shoots a look at Freya, letting me know that he’s apologizing—and dressing—for her benefit.

I glance over at Freya and unsurprisingly find her ogling him. Not in a blatant puck bunny kind of way—more a “wow, he’s cut for an old man” one. I’m weirdly proud that my dad can cause that kind of reaction still.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me she was back,” I chastise lightly.

“Thought it would be a nice surprise. This all looks incredible. I’ve missed your cooking, Freya.”

Freya’s cheeks brighten at the praise.

“Is it too much?” Freya asks nervously.

“Nothing a team of professional hockey players can’t demolish,” I say with a laugh.

“True that. Right, I’m going to double-check the grill. They should be here soon.”

A bolt of nervous energy races through me, and my gaze darts to the window that showcases the driveway.

No one yet. But there will be. And as much as I teased Kodie last night about keeping a straight face this morning, the closer it gets to seeing him, the more I’m worried about how I’ll react.

Will everyone look at me and know I had a Kodie Rivers–induced orgasm last night?

Oh my god.

I spin away from Freya as my cheeks burn red.

They’re all going to know, and Dad is going to find out and?—

“Casey?” Freya’s concerned voice cuts through my panic.

“I’m okay. Just feeling a little lightheaded. I think I celebrated too hard last night.”

“It was a good game. Dad was going wild for it.” Her father is a massive Vipers fan. He couldn’t believe his luck when we moved next door. He fanboyed for quite a while over Dad.

I chuckle before moving toward the door. “I’m just going to get some air.” But instead of moving toward the backyard, I dart toward the stairs.

I take them two at a time and in less than a minute, I’m in my childhood bedroom.

Walking over to the Juliette balcony, I throw the doors open and suck in a deep breath, staring out at the perfect blue sky.

Instantly, I feel a little better.

Curling my fingers around the railing, I tip my head back and close my eyes. I force myself to breathe and relax.

I can’t influence the people making the decisions about the coaching job. I can’t control Kodie’s reaction to me when he turns up. All I can do is focus on the here and now.

What I can do is catch up with an old friend and hopefully make her see that she can still have some fun while we get Dad’s place ready for his guests. Then I can kick back and enjoy spending time with some of the world’s most incredible people.

With the warm fall breeze flowing around me, I let myself get lost in my thoughts. I don’t hear movement downstairs, and it’s not until there’s a knock behind me that I come crashing back to Earth.

“Oh my god,” I gasp, spinning around to see my best friend striding into the room. “Jesus, you scared the crap out of me.”

Parker studies me closely before muttering an apology. “What’s going on?” she asks, her eyes bouncing between mine. “Why are you up here hiding? Freya said…yay for her being back by the way.”

“I-I’m not hiding,” I stutter, sounding like that’s exactly what I’m doing.

“Did something happen?”

“Damn it, Parker. Can you stop reading me so well?”

She smirks. “It’s not hard, Case. You’re not a hider, and yet here you are shut away in your childhood bedroom as if you’re scared to face something…someone?” she guesses, her brow lifting.

“I’m not—I was just?—”

Her eyes open wider, silently willing me to tell the truth.

“Okay, fine. Something may have happened with Kodie last night,” I confess.

A wicked smile twitches at her lips.

“I hope it was him getting on his knees and groveling after what happened in Utah,” she says firmly.

“Uh…”

“Casey,” she whines. “Do not let him get away with that.”

I wave her off. I get it. What he said was awful, but I refuse to forget what I’ve done to him and be the kind of woman who gets hung up on a man’s mistakes while ignoring her own.

I played him, and quite frankly, he played me right back. Touché.

“It’s not that simple,” I argue.

“It really is.” Silence falls between us as her glare gets more intense. But eventually, I win, and her need to know the details gets the better of her. “So, what happened? Did he turn up at your door like a stalker in need of a celebratory blowy?”

“I wish,” I mutter, conjuring up the image of him standing at my front door looking all hot and desperate.

“So?”

“He messaged me last week to apologize,” I say, filling her in on the details I’ve held back recently. “I didn’t reply. But last night he messaged again and…well…one thing led to another and?—”

“Explains why your eyes are so glazed,” she points out with a smirk. “Even at a distance, he can make you cum that hard, huh?”

“Jealous?” I tease.

“Yes and no,” she hedges. “So you’re hiding up here, abandoning Freya, because he’s coming with his daughter and you’re freaking out.”

“Yes and no,” I echo.

“I think you mean yes, Casey.”

I throw my hands up and groan.

“What if everyone can see it?” I ask, voicing my concerns. “What if I can’t keep my eyes off him and others start to notice?”

“Casey,” she says softly, moving a little closer. “Are you really worried about your reaction to him, or is this about how he’s going to react to you?”

I hold her eyes, waiting for her to explain, but my heart is already racing, telling me that she’s nailed it.

“You’ve been living with his mega crush on him for years. No one has noticed yet, so I don’t think you have a problem, even if things have escalated. I think you’re worried about him?—”

“He can control himself. You’ve met hockey players, right?”

“Yeah, babe. I know them,” she states. “But that’s the thing.

Deep down, you don’t want him to control himself.

You want him to walk in here and be obsessed with you.

You don’t want him to be able to take his eyes off you.

You want him to be jealous if another player—hell, another person—talks to you.

You want to be his everything, and you want every fucker to know it. ”

Do I?

Is that what I’m really afraid of?

“It’s okay to feel that way, Casey. It’s okay to want to be the center of his world.”

“But I can’t be,” I counter. Even with all the reasons why we can’t be together. “He’s got a daughter. She is, and always should be, the center of his world.”

“I wasn’t putting you up against her. Completely different categories, babe.” She drops her voice to a whisper, but despite the volume, the words smack me upside the head. “He can have you both.”

All the air comes rushing out of my lungs and noise erupts from downstairs. My heart jumps into my throat, fear surging through my veins.

“They’re here.”

“You’re going to need to come to terms with the fact that today, Kodie is likely to ignore you.

” Her statement hurts, but I understand it.

“He stands to lose a hell of a lot more than you do if this comes out. Your dad could trade him in a heartbeat and uproot his entire life. His daughter’s entire life. That won’t happen to you.”

“You also need to figure out what you want and where this is going, because the longer it goes on, the worse it’s going to get.”

“I know,” I whisper weakly.

A door slams and deep, booming voices filter up to us.

“Are you ready to put on your game face?” she asks.

Blowing out a calming breath, I move toward the mirror and check myself over.

I might be wearing a tank and shorts now, but beneath it is the bikini I teased Kodie with last night. Let’s see if I’m going to be brave enough to show him.

“Come on,” Parker says, taking my hand and tugging me away. “You look gorgeous. He’s going to be walking around with a semi all day.”

I snort a laugh as we descend the stairs.

“So when did Freya get back?” she asks.

“I have no idea. She surprised me earlier.”

“Yeah, well. Fuck her ex. It’s his loss. Today, the three of us are going to have some fun.”

Despite her words, and my agreement, my nerves are at an all-time high as we turn into the kitchen where the voices stem from.

Parker squeezes my hand in support, and it’s needed—because no sooner have we stepped into the room do a dark and hungry set of eyes turn on me.