Page 30 of Game Changer (Wynn Hockey #5)

Molly

“This is the best cinnamon bun in the world.” I pull off another piece and pop it in my mouth.

“I agree. Never had one better.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the family at the table next to us in the small restaurant looking at us and whispering. Then the mom nods and the two boys slide off their chairs to approach us.

“Hi, are you Jackson Wynn?” one ginger-haired boy asks.

Jax smiles at him. “I am.”

I catch the excitement on the mom’s face.

“Could we get your autograph?” the boy asks

“And a picture?” the other adds.

“Sure.”

Jax complies, bringing one boy around to the other side of his chair so Mom can take a picture of them all. By this point everyone in the restaurant is watching us, and I hear “Jackson Wynn!” a few times.

People are apparently thrilled by this, and Jax signs a few more autographs and poses for more pictures.

Some players are awkward around their fans, Steve being one of them.

He was never good at the small talk, but Jax has a way about him that’s so effortless and charming.

He comments on a boy’s Batman shirt and on a little girl’s Frozen dress, and he chats easily with the adults.

“Well, that was interesting,” I say as we walk down the sidewalk leaving the restaurant. “You’re pretty popular around here.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

I elbow him. “You guess.”

“I grew up here. Or not far from here.”

We walked here for brunch, so we leisurely retrace our steps along Tawapit Drive. It’s super hot and muggy today, the air close and heavy, the sky overcast.

“Feels like a thunderstorm coming,” Jax says. “Maybe this is a good night to go to a movie.”

“That would be fun.” We’ve walked past the log cabin theater a few times but I’m curious to see inside.

It starts raining just as we arrive back at the cottage, but the drops feel cool and fresh so I don’t mind. I laugh and turn my face to the sky, my arms extended. “Oh my God, the rain smells so good!”

It’s a great day to sit on the screened in porch, rain pattering gently down onto the trees and grass. I’m reading when Jax gets a call from his agent. He goes inside to talk, and I can hear his voice but not exactly what’s being said.

When Jax returns to the porch, the expression on his face tells me it wasn’t a good conversation.

“Still no contract?” I ask hesitantly.

“No.” He sits next to me and rubs the back of his neck.

“I don’t totally understand what’s so difficult about it. Are you way far apart in what you want compared to what the team is offering?”

“Yeah. It’s complicated as hell. They have to worry about the salary cap and signing the players they for sure want to keep.

Duper and Army’s contracts are up this year, and those guys are looking for huge dollars.

The team is gonna want to sign them for sure, so then guys like me end up waiting.

And we don’t know if they’ll be able to afford to sign me too, for what I want. ”

“Hmmm.”

“Paul says not to panic. There are a lot of players in the league in this situation. It seems like nobody wants to do deals and be the first to sign someone and then set the market for everyone else.”

“Okay, I get that.”

“Yeah.” He makes a face.

“There’s nothing wrong with trying to get the most money you can,” I add. “It’s a business, right?”

“Exactly. We need to make as much as we can while we can, because our careers are short.”

I nod. Jax is young, but he has a point.

“It’ll work out,” I say confidently, rubbing a hand over his chest. “You’re a good player.”

“Thanks.” He smiles and pulls me closer for a kiss. Within minutes, his hands are under my shirt and in my shorts, and we make out for a while in the damp air then move into the bedroom for slow, sweet afternoon nooky.

There’s something so lovely about having endless time, rain falling outside, and silvery daylight that provides enough illumination to see Jax in all his wonder.

He kisses me everywhere, lifting and shifting me as he wants with his powerful muscles, caressing me and licking me and fucking me until I’m weak and boneless and blissed out.

“I found this old game of Trivial Pursuit.” Jax sets the box on the dining room table.

It’s an original edition, the teal blue box worn on the corners. It appears to have been well-used.

“Ooooh!” I clap with excitement. “We can play that tonight.”

“After our ice cream.”

We walk to the little ice cream place downtown. I love how everyone calls it “downtown,” but I guess it is, now that I’ve seen the extent of two different cottage areas and the campground. Wasagaming is a sweet little town. Even the fire station is cute.

Back at the cottage, Jax lights a fire and sets the Trivial Pursuit box on the coffee table. “Prepare to go down, Flynn.”

“In your dreams, Wynn.”

“Pretty confident, huh?”

“I am.”

“Let’s make it more interesting.”

“Okay.” I arch an eyebrow.

“If we don’t get the answer, we have to remove an article of clothing.”

I blink, then laugh. “Strip Trivia? I love it!”

He shoots me an evil grin as he sets up the board.

My first question is from the entertainment category.

“What is the name of Warner Brothers’ romantic pet skunk?” Jax reads.

“Phhhht. Pepe le Pew.”

His mouth twists up as I roll the die again. This time it’s Science and Nature.

Jax frowns. “Shit. What Russian physiologist went to the dogs to write Conditioned Reflexes .”

I laugh. “Pavlov.”

“Yeah, but what’s his first name?”

“Oh, come on!”

He arches an eyebrow, waiting.

I squeeze my eyes shut, thinking. “Ivan. Ivan Pavlov.”

“Crap.”

“I’m still fully clothed.”

“I know.”

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Jax says as he reads the next card. “I’m taking another card.”

“No!” I sit forward, grinning. “You can’t do that. We have to play by the rules.”

“Babe. When it comes to getting you naked, I’m not gonna play fair.”

“Yes, you are. What’s the question?”

He sighs. “Who declared ‘As long as I am mayor, there will be law and order in Chicago?’ ”

I laugh delightedly. “I see why you’re annoyed. Richard Daley.”

“Yes.” He tosses the card down with disgust.

My luck runs out, however, with the next question. “What two cities usually mark the extremes of English Channel swims?”

“Dover and…um…” I rack my brain for a French coastal city. Damn. “Uh…” I’m coming up blank, but finally say, “Bordeaux.”

“Wrong. Calais.”

“Shit! I knew that!”

He gestures at me, reminding me to take something off. I look down at myself. I’m not wearing a lot of clothes. I stand up and step out of my shorts.

Jax’s smile turns carnal and he nods approvingly.

Now it’s his turn. “You’re going down,” I say, pulling a card from the box.

He lands on Arts & Literature, which I happen to know is not his strongest category.

“Who’s the clown in Shakespeare’s Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor? ”

“Fuck.” His lips curve down in disgust. “I have no clue.” He peels his shirt off.

My mouth drops open. “You didn’t even try.” Then I smirk. “You just want to get naked.”

He smirks back at me. “True. But remember, I’m very competitive.”

“You could have at least guessed.”

“I couldn’t even come up with a guess.”

“Hmmm.”

“Why are you complaining?” He sticks out his chest.

“Solid point. I like your abs. Okay. My turn.”

“What metal makes up to ten percent of yellow gold?” he reads.

“Copper.”

He nods. “Yes.”

Then it’s, “What’s the only U.S. state that borders a Canadian territory?”

“Maine.”

“Wrong.”

“What?”

“Territory.” He taps the card on my nose. “It’s Alaska. It borders the Yukon, which is a territory.”

“Ohhhh.” I’m annoyed at my careless mistake. “Shit, I answered too fast. If it was a province, it would be a lot of states.” I sigh and pull off my T-shirt. I am now sitting on the couch in my pink lace demi bra and matching thong.

“This is getting good.” Jax rubs his hands together.

“Sports and Leisure. Okay. What makes a Black Russian black?” I pause. “Wait, this is a sports question?”

“I guess booze is leisure. Too easy. Kahlua.”

“Yes.”

He keeps getting questions right, and I’m tempted to cheat and make up something I know he can’t answer. But that would be unsportsmanlike. Finally, I get him with, “What’s a California long white?”

He gazes blankly at me. Finally, he says, “A coffee.”

“Ha! It’s a potato. Finally, those jeans are coming off.”

“Nope.” He toes off one sandal.

“What!” I stare at him. “That’s not fair! I was barefoot.”

He smiles. “You should have thought of that.”

I narrow my eyes at him and pick up the die. I keep my underwear on a little longer, then have to decide whether it’s the bra or thong that goes. I decide on the bra.

“Good choice.” Jax leers at my boobs.

My nipples have tightened, not only due to being exposed to the air but responding to Jax’s lascivious stare. I’ve never been an exhibitionist, but this is turning me on. And Jax too, judging from the bulge in his jeans. I squeeze my thighs together.

“Are we going to finish this game?” I ask breathlessly.

“Hell yeah. I have to beat you.”

I suck briefly on my bottom lip, and his eyes darken. “Okay.” I pluck a card from the box. “What is the rain’s name in ‘They Call the Wind Mariah’?”

“Whut?”

I smile. “It’s a song.”

“The rain’s name,” he repeats.

“Right.”

“Rain…Rachel.”

“Wrong. The rain’s name is Tess.”

“Did you know that?” he demands.

“Nope.” I beam at him. “Wasn’t my question though.” I gesture at him, and he takes off his other sandal.

I’m losing badly at the strip aspect of this game, although I do have more game pies than him. “I have to keep my panties on.”

“That’s what she said.”

I laugh.

“Why?” he challenges. “Can’t you think when you’re naked?”

“I can think, but it’s about…sex.”

“Is there a sex edition of Trivial Pursuit?”

“I have no idea.”

“There should be. You were a star that night at the bar in California for Carnal Knowledge.”

Well, I have to lose my panties for the game to continue far enough for him to get naked, and soon he’s sitting there in his boxer briefs, me naked, and I ask, “Who won the 1942 Nobel Peace Price?”

His forehead creases up and his eyes narrow. “Hmm. 1942…I’d say…Albert Schweitzer.”

“Wrong. Nobody won it that year.”

“Huh?”

“It was during World War II. I think they didn’t give any peace prizes during the war.”

“Shit.”

I wave my hand for him to stand up and strip.

With a grin, he does so, although looking at him wearing nothing but boxer briefs is not a hardship.

I actually lick my lips at seeing him nearly naked now.

He’s hard and it’s beautiful. His whole body is beautiful—all those sleek muscles now lying under tanned skin after our two trips.

I’ve seen him naked and I’ve seen him in board shorts, so this isn’t a surprise, but it’s unexpectedly erotic, sitting in the living room in front of the fire, both of us unclothed.

“Are you sure we’re going to finish this game?” I ask, my voice husky.

“Forget the game.” He drops to his knees in front of me and hauls my ass forward.