Page 33 of Desperate Pucker (Denver Bashers #6)

Ryker

This fucking guy.

I’m not sure what drugs Bobby is taking to make him delusional enough to think that a guy like him would ever have a chance with a woman like Maddy. They must be out of this world.

I narrow my gaze. “So you were hitting on her?”

Bobby frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. “Yeah? So what? She’s not your girlfriend. Why do you care?”

I glance at Maddy. Her eyes are big and curious as she looks at me, then Bobby.

“You’re right. She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my coworker though, and I’m here to look out for her.” I turn to Maddy. “Don’t talk to him anymore. He’ll use what you say as an out-of-context quote on his podcast or his show.”

A protective feeling surges through me. When I saw Bobby talking to Maddy at the bar, jealousy fired through me. I had no right to feel that way. Yeah, we’re having fun, but we’re not together. She can talk to whoever she wants.

Technically, she can hook up with whoever she wants too. We’re not exclusive.

My stomach churns at the thought. I’d rather take a puck to the dick than think about Maddy being with anyone other than me.

I silently scold myself. I shouldn’t be thinking that way about her. I can’t have a relationship right now. And if I can’t be a boyfriend to her, then I can’t be acting like one, getting all territorial over her when another guy shows interest.

I take a slow, silent breath in an attempt to ease the tension riddling me right now. It doesn’t help.

He’s still standing too close to her. He’s still looking at her too much. He touched her. Twice. That’s already way too fucking much.

I grab her drinks and head back to our table.

She follows me. “What was that about?”

Thankfully her tone is curious, not upset. I’d hate for her to be mad at me right now, even though she has every right to be. I just shut down her conversation and acted like a possessive caveman.

“He’s a prick.” I sit down next to her. “He posts a lot of shitty takes about me and my playing ability. Mostly pot-shots about how I’m too old to play.

One time on his show, he took bets on what kind of injury would finally force me to quit playing for good.

Concussion, fucked up knee, shattered shoulder. ”

Maddy’s face twists in disgust. “Are you serious?”

I nod. “Sometimes he finesses the press credentials after the game and goads me during post-game press about how old I am.”

Maddy glances back over the bar. “The guy is in his forties, and he has the nerve to call you old?”

I crack a smile at how offended she is on my behalf. “Professional sports is a whole different world. All the players are in their early to mid-twenties. If you’re in your mid-thirties, you’re old.”

She sighs. “I guess I understand. Figure skating is the same way. It’s even worse for women. All the top skaters are in their late teens or early twenties. I was downright geriatric.”

I raise my brow at her. “Not a chance. You’re forever young, princess.”

She grins at me before her smile fades. “I wouldn’t have talked to that guy if I had known he was such an asshole to you.”

“It’s okay. I could tell by the look on your face that you weren’t into him and wanted to get away.”

“Was I that obvious?” She sips her Coke. “You got me hooked on these.”

“Good girl,” I say, quiet enough that only she can hear me.

Her cheeks flush, and her eyes dilate the slightest bit. She does that when she’s turned on too.

I contemplate asking if she wants company when she heads back to her hotel room tonight, but I don’t. This is a work trip for her, and she wants to be taken seriously. Hooking up with me isn’t part of that plan.

We all finish our drinks and head back to the hotel.

“Walk you to your room?” I ask when we head through the entrance of the hotel.

She tilts her head at me. “Are you seriously trying to hook up with me during a work trip?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

She laughs. I follow her to the stairwell. I notice the way she glances at the elevators, then looks away.

“Honestly, I’m just glad you’re not bringing Bobby Baker to your room tonight.”

She shoves my arm and makes a grossed-out face. “Oh my god, never, ever, ever.” She stops at the door to the stairwell. “Aren’t you on the first floor?”

“Yeah, but I wanna make sure you get to your room okay.”

“I’m on the fourth floor.”

“That’s fine.”

“You’d have to walk all the way back down here.”

“That’s also fine.”

Her full cheeks flush as she smiles. “Okay. Thanks.”

I walk up the stairwell with her to the fourth floor and around the corner to her room.

She pulls out her key card, then turns to me.

“Lock the door as soon as you get inside,” I say.

She smiles. “You’re very protective.”

Her gaze falls to my mouth. My cock twitches in anticipation of her kissing me. But she looks up and steps back. “Goodnight, Ryker.”

“Goodnight, princess.”

I watch her walk inside her room and close the door. I listen for the locking sound, then head back to the first floor to my room, wishing I could have kissed her.

“Holy shit, that’s a lot of snow,” Xander says.

I’m standing next to him at the Montreal airport, watching a wall of snowflakes blanket the runway. The whole team is gathered at the private plane section of the airport, waiting to board our flight, but it’s already been delayed due to the heavy snowfall that started late this morning.

Coach Porter huffs out a breath. He crosses his arms as he gazes out at the white-out conditions in front of us. “Gentlemen, I’m not sure we’ll be able to fly out of here tonight.”

I turn to Sam. “Did Bella, Maya, and Dakota make it out okay on their morning flight?”

“Yeah, they landed a couple of hours ago. They’re fine. They missed the bad weather.”

I scrub a hand over my face. “That’s good, at least.”

Just then, there’s an announcement overhead. All flights have been cancelled. The guys groan.

I turn around and see Maddy standing behind us. She looks at me, a sympathetic look on her face. I shrug.

Coach Porter sighs. “Looks like we’re back at the hotel for tonight. We’ll try to get out of here in the morning.”

“One good thing about getting stuck in Montreal. The poutine here is way better than in Toronto,” Xander says as he digs into a plate of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy.

Since we’re stranded in Montreal for the night and the roads are trash, the guys, Maddy, Sophie, Ingrid, and I decided to grab dinner at the hotel restaurant.

I wrinkle my nose at his plate. “How can you eat that and not feel like shit?”

He flashes a smug smile. “I’m young.”

I roll my eyes even though I’m laughing. “You asshole.”

He laughs harder and pats my shoulder. His fiancée Sophie shakes her head as she looks at him, then slides over a plate of salad.

“Get some veggies in too,” she says. He kisses her cheek and digs into the salad.

I turn to Maddy, who’s sitting next to me and watching the snow fall outside the restaurant window.

“At least it’s pretty,” she says.

Ingrid snaps a photo of the snow falling outside on her phone, then takes a photo of us at the table.

“For social media,” she says. “Your fans are blowing up the comment sections on your Instagram and TikTok, wondering where you guys are. Gotta let them know you’re alive.”

“You think we’ll make it to Toronto in time for our game tomorrow?” Camden asks.

“Yeah, the snow is supposed to stop this evening,” Sophie says, then glances out the window.

“Oh hey, you know what we should do?” Camden says through a smirk. “Snowball fight.”

Del rolls his eyes. “Brilliant idea. Let’s all get injured right before we play Toronto.”

“Oh, come on. We won’t go hard,” Camden says. “We’ll take it easy on each other.”

Del raises an eyebrow at him. “Do you really think this group of ultra-competitive hockey players will be able to tone it down in a snowball fight?”

Camden shrugs, grinning. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Ten minutes later, we’re standing around the hotel courtyard, gently tossing snowballs at each other.

“This is kinda lame,” Del says.

“It’s fun.” Ingrid tosses a snowball at Del’s shoulder. He cracks a smile.

Theo tosses a snowball at Blomdahl, who catches it. Sam throws one at him, but Blomdahl catches that one too.

“Okay, snowball fights are a lot less fun with a goalie,” Sam says. Everyone laughs.

Snow lands on my shoulder. I twist to the side and see Maddy grinning at me.

“Got you,” she teases.

I brush the snow off my coat. “You’re gonna regret that.”

I take off after her. She squeals as she runs off. I smile at how giddy her laugh sounds.

She’s pretty fast, so it takes a second for me to catch up to her. When I do, we both lose our balance and fall into a snowbank.

She lands on top of me with a squeal.

She giggles. “Are you okay?”

“Never better.”

She turns around to look at me. She’s on top of me now, her face just inches from mine. Her cheeks are bright red from the cold, her gray-blue eyes are bright, and her breath is hot as she exhales.

My gaze falls to her plush lips. My mouth waters, aching to kiss her. I can’t, though. My teammates are around us. We agreed to no PDA while we’re around the team.

“Ryker? Is that you?”

I freeze at that familiar voice. I lean up and see my ex-fiancée standing over me.