Page 36 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

CASEY

“ G et off me,” I scream as their grip on my upper arms tightens and my ass leaves the lounger.“Freya, help!”

I kick out and attempt to twist out of their hold, but it’s pointless. And all Freya does is laugh. Traitor. I’m battling not one but two professional hockey players. I don’t stand a chance.

I’m still wearing my shorts and my glasses are on my face, but that doesn’t stop either of them. Thank fuck my cell is on the lounger, because I would be pissed if they stopped me from messaging a certain player that I’ve been discreetly eye-fucking behind my tinted lenses all afternoon.

Fuck, he’s hot.

All rippling muscle and inked-up skin.

Delicious. And I want a taste.

“No, please,” I cry as they carry me kicking and screaming toward the pool’s edge.

“Sorry, Watson,” they say in unison before throwing me toward the water.

Sucking in a breath, I squeeze my eyes closed and prepare to go under.

I hit the water with a hard slap and sink beneath the surface.

“You’re both jerks,” I cry when I come back up and wipe my hair from my face.

The pair of them are still standing on the edge, looking far too pleased with themselves.

Lucky for me, Dad has my back—and he and Freya’s dad both silently step up behind them and give them a hard shove.

Shock covers both of their faces before they tumble forward, right toward me.

I attempt to swim away, but I already know I’m not going to be fast enough.

This is going to hurt.

Everything happens so fast. One minute my arms and legs are thrashing as fast as I can manage to get away, and the next, I’m being hauled against a very large, very hot, and very hard body.

Oh god.

Kodie’s arm bands around my waist, keeping me out of the firing line as Killer and Handsy tumble into the pool, covering both of us in water.

“Holy shit,” I cry.

“Pretty sure I just saw your life flash before my eyes,” Kodie whispers in my ear. “And I didn’t like it because I barely featured.”

Oh, holy fuck.

All the air rushes from my lungs as the guys pop back up and begin goofing around with the others in the pool.

Shamelessly, I grind my ass back against him. It’s too tempting not to when I can feel the length of him pressing against me.

“There are kids in this pool, Rivers,” I shoot over my shoulder.

“Yeah,” he grunts. “You’re causing me a real big problem, Trouble.”

I can’t help but snigger.

“Do you want to play with us?” Sutton asks, having swam closer to us.

Her beautifully familiar dark eyes stare up at me, silently begging me to say yes.

Could I say no to this little girl even if I wanted to?

I’m powerless with her, just like I am with her father.

“Of course, I’d love to. ”

Still trapped by Kodie’s strong arm, I reluctantly twist to get free. It takes a second for him to release me, but he does.

“We’re playing volleyball,” Sutton tells us as Fletch and Monroe set up my old net across the pool, dividing us into two teams.

“Ready?” Fletch shouts, holding the ball above the net.

Everyone agrees, and he launches the ball into the pool.

Both sides of the net are a mixture of players and kids, though with the heights of our players, I’m not sure the kids, or me and Parker, are going to stand a chance here.

Thankfully, I soon discover that the guys can be a little less competitive when off the ice, and they allow the kids to get involved.

“I got it,” I call when the ball comes flying in my direction.

I jump as high as I can with my arms in the air, but a beat before I make contact, I’m hit from behind.

“Fuck,” I grunt, my mouth filling with water as I go under.

But my annoyance of missing the shot is soon forgotten when a large hand slides up my stomach and grips my boob.

Desire shoots straight to my core.

It’s a bold move from Kodie. But he isn’t the only player here.

Let the games begin.

By the time we surface, his hands are firmly off my body, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not aching for him.

My blood is simmering, and my need for him is growing by the second.

It’s a dangerous game, but it makes it so much more fun.

I’m fully aware of his every move beside me, and I can only assume the same can be said for him.

Sutton makes a hit and we both celebrate as it goes flying over the net and gets missed by one of the kids at the front.

“Well done, Peanut,” Kodie says, giving her a high five. The move makes my chest constrict. They’re too freaking cute together.

“That’s five to three,” Fletch calls from the sidelines where he’s playing ref.

“Come on, we’ve got this,” Kodie says competitively before getting into position.

Linc hits the ball and it flies toward us. Both Kodie and I move, ready, but this time, I’m not going for the ball. I’ve got something else I want to get my hands on.

Our shoulders collide, and I pray that I’ve done a good enough job to make it look like I wanted the ball before my hands sink under the water, over the waistband of Kodie’s swim shorts, and down the length of his cock.

We’re both submerged, but I feel the deep groan he lets out as I squeeze him, turning his semi into a full-blown erection.

It’s naughty. We’re surrounded by his teammates, my father, his daughter. But I can’t help it.

He makes me wild and rebellious.

I come up with a wide smile playing on my lips, my clit swollen and desperate for more.

He shoots me a look, and it’s nothing but pure fire.

I’m in trouble now, and I can’t fucking wait to take my punishment.

The game continues for another ten minutes, giving me more than a few opportunities to cop a feel and ensure Kodie remains deliciously hard and ready for more.

We’re announced the winners, and after a round of high fives to celebrate, I swim toward the edge and pull myself out so I’m sitting on the tiles.

“I’m going to get a drink. Join me?” I shamelessly ask Kodie, knowing full well he can’t leave the water yet.

His smile is pure malice, and it hits me right between the legs.

“No, don’t go yet,” Sutton cries.

I quirk a brow.

Saved by his daughter.

Parker climbs out on the other side of the pool, looking like a glamor model in her red bikini with water running over her curvy body. More than a few of the guys drool after her as she moves around the pool toward me.

“Cocktail?” she asks, holding a hand out.

She makes it look like she’s oblivious to the guys’ attention. But she’s not. She’s eating it up and showing them exactly what they can’t have.

She gets off on the power. It’s about the only time hockey players aren’t the ones with all the control.

“Absolutely,” I agree, climbing to my feet and walking away with an extra sway in my hips.My soaked shorts cling to me, but I make it work.

“He’s so fucking gone for you, Case,” she whispers as we approach Dad’s makeshift bar and grab a couple of solo cups.

“Parker,” I hiss.

“What? No one is listening. They’re all too busy playing, and your dad is bossing the grill.”

She begins grabbing bottles of alcohol and sloshing a random concoction into the cups.

“What the hell are you making?” I ask.

“It’s inspired by sex on the beach. It’s called, grope in a pool.”

“Parker,” I whisper-hiss.

“What?” she asks innocently. “You cannot tell me there wasn’t a little fondling going on back there.”

I drop my head to my hands. “Fucking hell.”

“It’s okay. It was totally discreet. No one would have known.”

“You know,” I cry.

“Yes, but I also know you’re already bumping uglies. No one else does.”

I groan. “What am I going to do, Parker?”

“Talk to him instead of fucking him? Talk to your dad?”

Both are incredibly sensible suggestions that I really don’t have the bandwidth for right now.

Of course, I could talk to Kodie. But I’m pretty sure I already know how that’ll end.

And as for Dad, what exactly would I say?

“Hey, Dad, you know how you’ve always told me to stay away from your hockey players?

Well, I’m currently fucking one who probably doesn’t want any kind of future and is going to break my heart, but I’m doing it anyway.

” I’m sure that would go down like a lead fucking balloon.

“I need?— ”

There are several screams and a loud splash behind us.

“I get it if you don’t talk to your dad, but you at least need to talk to Kodie, find out where his head is at.”

“Parker,” I sigh. “He’s a professional athlete and a single dad. There isn’t any space in his life for me. This is just a bit of fun while it lasts.”

“But what if it’s not?” she urges.

I raise a brow. “When did you become such a romantic?”

“I’m not. I just know that if there is one man on this planet that you want a happily ever after with, it’s Kodie freaking Rivers.”

“It’s a dream, Parker. A dream that I know will never come true.”

T he strength of Parker’s cocktail helped me process those painfully truthful words a little better. But the reality is that they’re a bitter pill to swallow.

No matter how much I want Kodie, no matter how much fun we have, I’ll never be important enough. And I shouldn’t be.

I wasn’t that much older than Sutton is now when we lost Mom. It was awful, heartbreaking, confusing, and all I wanted was to have Dad around me twenty-four-seven.

As far as I know, Sutton hasn’t lost her mom. She’s just…absent. It’s not the same. But despite the differences, we’re both kids of single fathers and professional athletes. That’s hard. Really fucking hard.

I can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like if Dad had met someone. If he’d allowed someone else into our little family unit.

As much as I want Kodie, there is no way I want to be the woman who comes between him and Sutton. Their bond is so special, unbreakable. I would hate for either of them to feel like I was threatening that.

“You’ve got man problems, haven’t you?” Freya asks after we’ve been sitting silently for a little over ten minutes.

Parker is on the other side of the yard with Reese and a couple of the other women. Every now and then, their laughter floats over to us, but I’m nowhere near intrigued enough to go and find out what they’re laughing about.

Kodie is now out of the pool and drinking beer with Linc and Fletch while Sutton plays with Monroe, Killer, and Handsy, along with some of the other kids.

Dragging my eyes to the quiet girl beside me, I contemplate lying. But what’s the point? She knows.

“Isn’t it always,” I mutter, lifting my drink to my lips.

It’s just soda. After the cocktails Parker made earlier, I need it.

“Yeah,” she muses, sadly.

“You want to talk about it?” I offer.

She shakes her head.

It’s been quite a few years since Freya and I spent any real time together. I don’t know all that much about the man who’s recently broken her heart other than what I’ve read online, but I see just how much he’s hurt her.

“Men are jerks,” I offer up, making her laugh.

“Amen to that,” she agrees, holding her cup up for me to tap mine against. “Who needs one, anyway?”

My eyes automatically drift back to Kodie.

Me.

But I don’t need just any man.

I need him.