Page 80 of Daring the Hockey Player

Amber glances at her watch as I open the car door for her, and she climbs in. “Are you sure the party isn’t over?”

I’ve gotten a dozen texts from Kyler demanding to know where the hell I am and what’s taking us so damn long. I hurry around to let myself into the driver’s side.

“It’s still happening, but my brother has quite a lot to say.” I toss her my phone and let her read the full list of messages.

She glances through the texts while I focus on the road, pulling out into traffic as I head for the party at Noah’s house. It started at the bar nearby, but Kyler texted me that they walked back to Noah’s to hang out since the puck bunnies had shown up and had gotten handsy with Asher, who is married.

Amber reads through the dozen or so messages that Kyler left, and a few pop up while she’s on the phone. “Asher just texted, asking if we’re coming.”

I try not to snicker like a high schooler. “Yeah, just text him back. Our ETA is fifteen.”

“Okay,” she says, tapping away at the screen and hitting send. “Listen, um, is Emerson at the party?”

“She is,” I say and can sense hesitation from Amber. She’s not the only one wondering what we’re doing. We’re roommates, and I swore that I wouldn’t cross this boundary, but hell, it was worth every second of it.

"Can we, maybe, not tell her about tonight?"

"Which part?" I ask, glancing briefly at her before returning my attention to the road. I make a hard right as we veer away from the main rush of New York City traffic as I try and maneuver through a few side roads.

It's still crowded, even at this late hour. The city never sleeps.

"The part where you had your fingers shoved up inside me," Amber says.

I can't help but chuckle. "I don't think that will come up in conversation, but if it does, I'll make sure not to mention it."

"You know what I mean," she says, exasperated.

"It'll stay between us." I reach for her hand and intertwine our fingers together. "We can keep our little romance a secret if you want."

She doesn't need to know that the guys on the team warned me to stay away from her.

"You don't mind?" she asks, and her eyes widen. "Charlotte might find out, but I'd rather not mention it to my sister."

I don't mention that I'd rather Kyler not know, either. "We may need to come up with an excuse for why it took us so long to get back to the party," I say.

"I'll think of something."

Amber follows me inside the condominium when we arrive at Noah's house. He's got a swanky penthouse suite and plenty of room for hosting guests in his two-bedroom.

I'm accosted by Kyler the minute that I step inside the penthouse. "Keys?"

I hand over the keys to the Porsche.

"Everything okay?" he asks, glancing me over, like he's trying to figure out why the hell I was late, and I don't think that banging his fiancée's sister is on that list of reasons for our delay.

The guys are all still hanging out in the kitchen and living room. Emerson, Kate, and Ava are sitting at the dining room table with a bottle of red.

"I guess I should mingle?" Amber says and glances at me. "I'll be over there," She points at her sister, and I nod as she heads in the opposite direction.

Kyler smacks me on the back. I'd like to think it's a warm greeting, but he wraps an arm around me and walks me down the hallway of the house, away from the guys.

"Do you want to tell me why you're fashionably late, brother?" Kyler is pressing me for information. From his tone, I'd figure that he was worried, but I'm not sure that he isn't suspicious, either.

"I told you when I left, I had to pick up Amber from a party on campus. I drove back to our place, and she took a few minutes to get dressed and get her head cleared."

"Is she okay?" Kyler asks, glancing past me toward Amber. "Did someone do something to her?"

I can hear the rage stewing.