Page 5

Chapter 4

Taylor – A Month Later

“How’s my little squirt feeling?” I ask my sister as I tie my skates up and try to hold my phone to my ear with my shoulder while the men behind me get their head in the game.

Today is our final game. If we win, we will win the Stanley Cup, bringing it back home for the first time in three years.

“Like nothing happened, whereas I am still panicking over every little thing she does, even if it’s just a fricking sneeze,” Hannah says with a sigh, and I smile gently.

“That little sister is what a parent is, a good one anyway. Kids bounce back quickly, whereas the parent, not so much,” I retort as I notice Ezra look my way for the fifth time since I answered my phone to my sister, wishing us luck.

Holding in my smirk is fucking difficult with the longing he has in his eyes. He’s been at my sister's nearly every day since I got the call after practice that Kaylah was rushed to hospital, proving exactly what they both mean to him.

We both ran outta here like our asses were on fire, and by the time we got to the hospital, Kaylah was already out of surgery and talking about how amazing her nurse was, a nurse I apparently even a month later need to marry, something my mother has jumped on the bandwagon as well despite her now knowing about Pen.

I never met the nurse while Kaylah was admitted; apparently, I just missed her each time I was in the room. According to Dylan, she was hot and right up my alley, but I’m not interested. There’s only one girl I want, a girl not even my dad can find.

Fuck, I was hoping whatever I felt would have disappeared by now, especially after not seeing her.

“Speaking of Kaylah,” Hannah says as I sit up straight on the bench, grabbing my phone.

“What, does she want another redo of the game because she can’t come today?” I ask with a smile, remembering when we won our first game of the year, but she couldn’t make it, so the boys redid the game, but the smile soon drops when she says, “Actually, she gave your number to Nurse Vine this morning at her check-up.”

Mother…

I groan and say, “Fuck’s sake Hannah, why didn’t you stop her.” Ezra furrows his brows, and steps closer to me, but I shake my head and snap, “The woman is mostly likely a puck bunny or a fucking jersey chaser. Dyl told me about the one in the ER who got suspended after she left her post one too many times just to get close to him… fuck, the woman nearly got someone killed, so I can guarantee this nurse Vine is the same.”

Ezra grins, the fucker not hiding the humor he finds out of this, while Hannah snorts but coughs to cover it up, pissing me the fuck off, and before I can snap at her yet again, she says, “Dylan actually commented that she had no idea who he was. Yes, she looked at him funny, but only because he reminded her of someone, that is it. She never tried hit on him, didn’t even ask for his number, and focused on Kaylah every time she came into the room.” I shake my head about to refute, not wanting another woman getting my number – it’s bad enough my fucking agent has it – and just as I open my mouth, my sister cuts me off and says, “It’s been over a month, and you haven’t found Penelope. You need to move on Tay.”

Ezra, hearing my sister winces, knowing Pen is a sore subject for me. The longer I go without finding her, the angrier I get. I’m pissed at her for leaving, for not giving me her number, or fuck, even her last name, and I’m angry that my friends and family want me to move on.

Dammit, I didn’t even know her for ten hours, and I’m falling apart, a small part of me, the part that is becoming insecure, is starting to believe she just wanted to lose her virginity to a hockey player even though deep down I know she had no idea who I was.

Fuck, I sound like a chick.

“Look, I don’t need you or my niece trying to set me up with a sweet nurse, and yeah, she probably is right up my alley, but I’m sorry, Han, I only have one girl on my mind, and until I find her and confirm what I felt was just lust then I won’t be getting with anyone, I’m sorry.” I state as Coach walks in, looking serious.

Fuck, here we go…

“I have to go, give Kaylah a kiss from me, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

That said I hang up and stand, placing my phone in my locker harder than necessary.

“You know she’ll be pissed you hung up on her without her wishing you luck again,” Ezra mumbles as we walk over to the huddle, and I snort, replying, “Maybe she needs to stop trying to set me up with Kaylah’s nurse then.”

He hums but doesn’t say anything back, knowing now isn’t the time as we huddle up for Coach’s speech which is full of encouragement that I completely ignore because I’m too fucking busy trying to get my mind into the fucking moment. Trying to forget about the one who got away even as I squeeze her bracelet tied underneath my glove on my left hand, something I wear during every game and practice session fucking hoping and praying I’ll look into the crowd and suddenly see her.

Dammit .

“Evans,” Coach says, getting my attention. I look up, finding everyone staring at me. Ezra looks at me with concern, but I ignore him and look at all the boys, ready to hear from their captain.

Time to get fucking into it .

“Some of us, we’ve been here before, more than once,” I state, “some of us know the pressure of the game we’re about to play; some of us know how much it hurts to lose that cup, and some of us know exactly how it feels to hold that fucking cup after sixty minutes with the home crowd screaming in the background, confetti covering you,” the boys all nod in agreement, grinning.

I look around the room again, making eye contact with each player, and say, “The adrenaline that you feel right now, don’t let it consume you, instead, let it guide you on the ice. Use it and not by getting yourself in the sin bin,” I eye Ezra, who smirks. I continue, “Use it to drive you on the ice, to keep hold of that fucking puck, to win the game,” the men all nod, looking serious, “For the men who have never held that cup, who never got the chance, to the rookies, trust your team, trust the men skating beside you,” I look around the men and say, “Let’s make our coaches, our family, our friends, our fucking fans proud and bring that cup back where it belongs.”

They all bang their sticks on the floor, and I roar like a lion, energizing the team and causing them to follow suit before we all barge out of the locker room, ready to defeat the Seals.

“To the Red Lions ,” Ezra shouts from on top of the bar holding the Stanley Cup up high, everyone around me cheers, deafening me, and yet I can’t help but fucking grin.

We won, we fucking won!

Ezra throws the cup my way, and I catch it before handing it off to our goalie, Liam, his mop of curly ginger hair bouncing as he jumps up and down with it, taking it through the cheering crowd. I chuckle, take a sip of my beer as I make my way to exit, wanting to call my dad to see if he’s had any leeway with finding Pen when a hand grabs my arm and squeezes tight, nails digging into the skin. I look sharply, ready to tell whoever it is to let the fuck go, but her voice rings out, blocking my words.

“Hey Taylor, it’s been a while, baby,” the busty blonde says, and I recognize her instantly, knowing I’ve fucked her before, but her name escapes me.

“Hi, uh…” I raise a brow, and she sighs while smiling and reminds me, “It’s Sonia.”

I nod, “Right, Sonia. What can I do for you?”

She smirks and steps forward, her tight red dress barely holding her fake tits inside, she grips my shirt and moans, yes fucking moans as she says, “Maybe you can take me to the back and do that thing with your fingers again?”

She pushes her tits against my chest, anger hits not only because my cock doesn’t even twitch but this woman who knows I don’t do seconds is fucking marking me with her nails.

Fuck’s sake, I really need to find Penelope. I can’t go the rest of my fucking life without sex. I need it, it helps calm me after a rough fucking game or a win.

“ Yo Cap, tap that,” I hear someone shout, the crowd cheers, but as I go to take a step back, Sonia pushes on her tiptoes and presses her lips against mine, shocking the shit outta me as flashes go off.

“What the fuck?!” I demand as I push her away, shock still running through me.

She smirks, “Come on, Taylor, you didn’t complain last year.”

I grit my teeth as Ezra comes to my side, knowing I’m about to create a scene. He grips my arm in warning, knowing we can’t have bad press straight after winning the Stanley Cup, not after last year.

“Are you kidding me, Taylor?” I hear snapped from the other side of me and I turn to see a pissed off Elena, her bleach blonde hair straight down covering her bare back, her light green eyes blazing with anger.

“ Fuck me ,” I mumble, and Ezra squeezes my arm again, also seeing the raging jealousy surrounding the bitch.

“Last year the team went under a fuck load of bad press, you know this. Shane and Andy were both put on probation after videos and photos were leaked of them having a threesome with some guy!” she growls, and Ezra mutters, “Videos she fucking released because Shane wouldn’t fuck her a second time,” then takes a sip of his beer and I smirk.

“Now, you and blondie here will have to date for a while. We don’t need a front-page title stating, ‘Captain the whore’!” That said, she turns on her heels and storms away, fury fills me.

“She’s done that because she’s fucking jealous. It was just a kiss, a fucking kiss most people saw caught you off fucking guard,” Ezra growls, and I nod.

I confirm, “She’s hoping it will mean my no-sex streak will fucking continue, not realizing I have a girl I want.”

“Pretty much,” he states, “and as soon as she realizes you want Pen, she’s going to flip.”

I shake my head, “How in the fuck has she not lost her job yet with how much drama she causes with the team?”

He scoffs before replying, “Because she fucked the owner.”

I sigh, not surprised, before I grunt as Sonia throws her body at me and squeals, “My boyfriend,” really fucking loudly, causing more flashes to go off, and I look at Ezra, who winces, already knowing what is going through my mind.

If Penelope reads the newspaper or watches the news, I’m fucking screwed, and I’ll never find her.

Fuck’s sake.