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CHAPTER ONE

MASON

“ L ook at this guy. He’s got a body you just want to fuck, right?” I shoved my phone into Archer’s face. We were having a pre-training camp lunch at Five Guys on Mill Avenue, down the street from my new, fancy apartment, and I was about to get very lucky.

Sucking on the straw poking out of a cup he held in his hand, he peeked down. “Yeah, uh, interesting birthmark.” As he flashed his brown eyes at me, surrounded by thick lashes and blond curls, he pointed his pinky at the phone and then tilted his head. “Looks sort of like a hockey stick. Doesn’t it?”

With my brows lowering, I whipped the phone in front of me, my light-blue eyes, brown bangs, and new facial scruff reflecting back at me as the screen went black. “Dammit.” I opened the hookup app again and stared at the washboard abs and V-cut hips of @nailmegood. There it was, the birthmark. I’d been too busy looking at the rest of his awesome body to notice. “Yeah, sort of does.”

“When are you supposed to hook up with him?” Archer picked up his burger from his white paper bag, bit into it and let out a soft moan. “Oh my God, I’m going to miss these burgers after we start our nutrition regimen. ”

“That’s why we’re here now.” With a quick grin, I stuffed a fry into my mouth. “The next couple of weeks are going to be brutal.” We’d both made it through development camp and were on to the next stage of our NHL career.

“Yeah. It’s going to be weird not playing with Jonah this year.” With a sigh, he ate a bite of burger.

“But he’s in a great place in Toronto, living with Coach Hot Stuff and playing for the Maple Leafs. What more could the guy ask for?” Setting my phone next to my paper bag, I flicked my gaze out the window next to our table, students shuffling down the sidewalk with their backpacks under the intense noonday sun. It was September, but still hot as fuck during the day. “You know what’s weird?”

“What?” He licked burger juice off his thumb.

“We’re out of college.” I ticked my head at the window. “We’re not running around out there trying to figure out where our next class is and having to go home and study on top of practices and…fuck, how’d we get through the last four years?” Why the hell was I being nostalgic? That wasn’t like me.

“Yeah, now you have time for even more hookups than before.” With a chortle, he rolled his eyes.

“Damn right.” I let a wide grin curl my lips and bit into my burger, the juicy meat practically melting in my mouth. “The squad is growing up and moving on.”

I sipped my iced tea. Yeah, it wasn’t the same. We were no longer all living in the same house. But at least Archer and I had landed with the Coyotes, so our home base was still in Arizona, and Ace, Tyler, and Myles were close by.

“We should visit the guys this weekend and see how they’re getting along without us.” He gave me a sly grin. “Beat them at some video games.”

“Hell yeah.” I held up my fist and he bumped it with his own. “I haven’t seen how they set up the new house yet. Last time I saw it was when we helped them move all their shit in, and it was a mess. ”

“I’m sure Tyler will have it all organized and cleaned up by now.” He sipped his diet soda and ticked his chin at me. “When are you supposed to hook up with this guy? You never answered me.”

“Oh, tonight. He’s coming over around seven.” I dipped some fries in ketchup and slid them into my mouth. My cock woke. It couldn’t wait for this new hot dude.

“Do you know anything about him?” Leaning back in his chair, he set the last of his burger down.

“Not really, except it sounds like he just moved here. He didn’t know how far Tempe was from Scottsdale. I mean, duh, they’re right next to each other.” I tsked. Maybe the guy was an out-of-towner on vacation or business looking to get laid.

“Be careful, man.” He squeezed my forearm resting on the table, his gaze meeting mine.

“I will.” I shrugged. “It’s not like he could take me in a fight. I mean, come on.” I lifted the edge of my lips. “And you know I like a good fight.”

Huffing a chuckle, he shook his head. “Yeah, which will make this an interesting year. You weren’t allowed to fight on the ice all through college?—”

“It’s like the world is my oyster, Carlson. I can finally let loose.” My heart soared. I was exactly where I wanted to be and doing what I’d worked so hard for. I ate the last of my burger as he did the same. “I can’t wait to see you drop some mitts.” I chuckled. Archer had always been levelheaded in the game. Pretty much the opposite of me. But that’s what was needed on defense. Being a center? I was expected to be explosive.

“Yeah, we’ll see.” He beamed at me. “We’re going to have a great year, Hopkins, and I’m proud to have you as a teammate.” Reaching over the table, he grabbed my nape and pulled our foreheads together. “Go ’Yotes.”

“Fuck yeah.” My smile widened. “I love you, man.”

He freed me, leaned back in his chair, scanned the room and focused on me. “Hey, did you hear our staff traded Davis for fucking Jett Jarvis of the Stars?”

I stared at him and straightened in my seat. “What?” Davis had been injured last season, but he wasn’t?—

“Yeah, I heard from my dad, you know, Coach Dupont, that it’s a done deal. He’ll be at camp on Monday.” He pursed his lips. “He’s a good right winger, Mason. I wonder if they’ll put him on your line.”

“No fucking way. He’s an asshole.” I arched a brow. “He fights more than I do.” Jarvis was well-known in the league for his fiery playing style, both the good and the bad. I shifted in my seat. But the fucker was also hot as hell. And straight, Mason, remember that .

His gaze dipped and crept to mine as he fingered the edge of his food bag. “No one on the team knows about this yet, so don’t say anything.”

“I won’t.” I drank some iced tea, thinking on it. Did it really matter though? Trades were going to happen. “So, since you’ve got the scoop on this, what’s the real reason the Stars traded him?” There had to be some dirt there.

“He wasn’t getting along with some of his teammates, and they felt he needed a change.” He cocked his head. “He’s a fucking great player, led the league in assists last year and scored more goals than most.”

“Then why would they trade him? Couldn’t they work out whatever bullshit was going down with the team?” I eyed him. How the hell did their captain not put a stop to that shit? I smirked. Maybe Dallas management was falling apart, and the team was going to suck ass this year.

He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. There’s a part of it they’re keeping on the down low.” He drew in a deep inhale. “I suppose we’ll find out more on Monday.”

“Yep, suppose so.” With a sigh, I ate the last of my food.

Later that evening, I’d made a nice steak dinner and puttered around my modern-looking apartment left to me by Coach Hot Stuff. Shit, I needed to start calling him by his name, Ryan. He was practically married to Jonah now, a squad member and one of my best buddies, even if he’d moved to Toronto.

I grabbed a can of beer from my stainless-steel refrigerator and looked over the galley kitchen, all in sleek white, which opened to the main room of the place and a set of patio doors at the far end. The sun was setting behind the glass high-rise buildings and jagged mountains. This place had a great view. No wonder Ryan had liked it so much. I could even see “A” Mountain off in the distance. Oh, the memories of college were all around me. It was all good.

My phone buzzed on the kitchen island, and I picked it up. Lucas scrolled over the screen. My heart bloomed with warmth. I answered it and put the phone on speaker. “Little bro. How are ya?” With a smile, I strolled over the cream carpet to my new couch, a nice little sectional with square edges and soft deep-blue fabric. I dropped into one end.

“Good. How are you? Ready to start training camp on Monday?” he asked.

“Hell yeah. Did you have a game today?” I was pretty certain that was why he was calling. Had to tell big brother about his first win in juniors. My gaze scanned over my white coffee table and the candles centering it in a gold tray. Yeah, I wasn’t half-bad at interior design. But then, I was gay.

“I did, and guess what?” He sucked in a breath.

“Uh, you won? You got, like, six goals?” I snicked my beer can open and sipped it. Damn, it tasted good, even if I hadn’t had a hard day.

“We did, but I got two goals.”

“Way to go, kid.” Okay, he wasn’t a kid at eighteen, but he was still five years younger than me. “I have a feeling you’ll be drafted by his time next year.” I drank more beer. He was about to follow in my footsteps after I’d followed in our dad’s footsteps. Yep, we were the quintessential hockey family.

“You think?” His smile carried through the phone.

“Oh, hell yes. You’re a Hopkins. As soon as Dad unleashes you, you’ll have teams fighting all over you.” I let my smile wane. “How are Mom and Dad doing, anyway?”

“They’re good. They were both at my game.” He snickered. “Dad was loud .”

I huffed a laugh. Dad should have gone into coaching after his career with the Flyers, but no, he went into team management. “Yeah, he gets like that. Try to focus on the game and what your coaches are telling you and don’t let it bother you.”

“Yeah, I will,” he said. “Hey, have you seen your schedule yet? When do you think you’ll be back in Connecticut?”

“I don’t know.” I twisted my lips. Too bad I lived on the other side of the country from him. “If we play on the East Coast, I’ll see what I can do about stopping in.” I set my phone on my thigh. “Maybe I can catch one of your games?” But I shouldn’t be promising things I couldn’t deliver on, and I wasn’t positive what the rules were going to be yet. Shit.

“Yeah, that would be great.” He sighed. “Anyway, you all moved in and ready for the season?”

“I am.” I thought for a minute. Should I tell him? Why not. “So, Jett Jarvis got traded and will be playing with me.” I smirked at my phone.

“Are you kidding? Isn’t he chippy?”

“Hell yeah, he might even be more aggressive than I am.” I gazed out the window and sipped my drink. “Should be interesting though. I heard there was some shit going on between him and a few of his teammates.”

“Yeah? I wonder if Dad’s heard anything through the grapevine.”

Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. My lips quirked. “Yeah, I wonder. Why don’t you ask him for me and let me know what you find out?” He loved doing shit for me .

“Sure.” He chuckled and huffed. “I almost had to take a guy out myself at my game.”

“What? Why?” I lowered my brows. He wasn’t normally like me in that way.

“Mom.” He scowled. “I’m so sick of dudes telling me Mom’s a MILF.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I choked out a laugh. “Dude, I know. I’ve heard it too. Guess it’s the price we have to pay for our better-than-average looks. Mom was the biggest puck bunny of them all back in the day.” And how Dad scored her, I still didn’t know. But I was happy as fuck she was my mother. She was awesome.

“Yeah.” He gave a soft snort. “Just wish they’d shut up about it already.”

“I hear ya. Just don’t let it get to you and be proud of her. She’s always been there for us.” I lifted my chin, warmth spreading over my chest.

“Yep. Okay, I better go. I’ve got to get to bed. It’s late here.”

“It is.” And I wasn’t going to tell him about my hookup that’d be over here soon. If he could find his way to Tempe from five whole miles away in Scottsdale. I puffed a breath out through my nose. “Talk to you soon.”

“Yeah, love you, bro.”

“Love you too.” I hung up the phone and smiled.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I held it to my face. “What the fuck?” It was a notification from my hookup app. I opened it and read the message.

@nailmegood

Sorry, but something’s come up and I can’t come over.

“Shit.” I typed back. I was really looking forward to licking all the grooves on this dude’s abs and the nice vein on his dick.

@bigstick12

Rain check? You available tomorrow?

@nailmegood

I’m afraid not.

Knitting my brows, I clenched my jaw. What the fuck was wrong with this guy? Was he chickening out? Maybe he wasn’t really gay and just curious? A smirk hovered on my lips. Maybe he was married. Asshole.

@bigstick12

Okay then, your loss.

@nailmegood

Don’t be so full of yourself.

“What?” I chortled. Oh, dude was asking for it now. I stabbed my fingers over the screen as I typed.

@bigstick12

I don’t even know you. Why you gotta chirp on me?

I hit send and stared at the screen. Shit, that was a hockey term. He probably didn’t have a clue what I meant.

@nailmegood

I only chirp when it’s warranted.

My brows snapped up. Hockey fan, maybe?

@nailmegood

Anyway, have a nice life.

My mouth dropped open. Did I just get dumped on a hookup app by a dude I’d never even gotten a chance to meet in person? I rubbed my fingers over my chin. I had. Damn, who the fuck was this guy? I threw my phone on the cushion next to me and downed my beer.