Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

W ho knew people cared so much about hockey?

The way security at the arena gave me the third degree alerted me to the fact that people—strangers, actually, tried to get into a closed practice. I thought only celebrities had that kind of following. Frankly, I was getting sick of being mistaken for a crazed fan.

“I’m here to see Liam,” I explained for the tenth time. “I’m his—” Roommate? Friend? Sister’s friend?

Which one would get me closest to lowering the security guy’s scarily high defenses? I mean, really, what did he think I was going to do, even if I was a crazed fan? Any of those hockey players could throw me over their shoulder and toss me out the side door. And I really needed that key.

“You’re his what?” he dared me to continue, causing me to blush all over.

“!” Liam’s voice broke through the awkwardness like an angel descending down to earth.

“Liam! Thank God,” I said, watching him jog over to me.

He looked good. His hair was slick with sweat, and his cheeks flushed with exertion in a way that was undeniably masculine.

“Look, see.” I took the liberty of reaching over to Liam when he got close enough and dragging his arm over as if he were my physical proof. “I’m here for this guy.” I pointed up toward him. “I’m not crazy.”

He smelled minty and somehow fresh despite the fact that he’d clearly been working out pretty intensely.

“Debatable.” Liam snickered, peering down at me.

“Hey!” I said, shoving him away, if only because the smell of him combined with the flushed look on his face left me feeling jittery.

“What?” He laughed. “I’m just saying that you standing here convincing someone that you aren’t crazy looks a little crazy. I heard you from all the way over there.”

“It’s not my fault,” I pouted. “This guy didn’t believe me when I told him why I was here.”

“Mr. Brynn?” The security guard looked toward Liam for confirmation of my story.

“She’s with me.” He nodded, lips twitching in amusement.

The security guy gave Liam a clipped nod, and then I was being led away by Liam.

“Locked out, huh?” he said, bringing us deeper into the arena.

“Yeah,” I admitted, shoulders dropping shamefully. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine.” He chuffed out a laugh before leading me toward the bleachers beside the rink. “It happens.”

“Woah,” I said, my jaw dropping as I watched gigantic men skate around with more grace than I ever thought capable. “They’re so fast!”

“They are.” He grinned in agreement. “I think that’s why the NHL signed them.”

“Ah!” I embarrassed myself by squealing but couldn’t contain the utter amazement I felt at seeing the way they moved with such ease. “Did you see that? He just…He moves like he was born on blades—fast, smooth, and just cocky enough to make it look easy.”

“Haven’t you ever watched hockey?”

“Well, yeah. In passing.” I nodded. “But this is way different up close. I didn’t think people could actually move like this on ice!”

“I’m sure they’ll be honored by the high praise,” he said, bending over to reach into a duffel bag.

Suddenly, my attention was all on him, taking in the way his broad stature filled out his gear. He really was something, and I was finding it less and less difficult to see why everyone thought I was here to stalk him.

Did I actually just think that? About Maggie’s brother?

“What?” Liam turned in concern, fingers working to pull a key loose from its ring.

“What?” I asked back.

“You groaned.”

“I did?” My eyes widened.

Crap. I definitely did not mean to do that out loud.

“Yeah.” He laughed. “You did. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” I nodded. Besides the fact that I seriously need to get my thoughts under control. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Oh,” I said, shifting my weight. “For asking if I was okay?”

He stared at me strangely for a moment before holding out the key for me. I reached up to take it, but he pulled it away.

“You have to promise you won’t lose this one because then neither of us will be able to get in, okay?” He looked down at me, feigning sternness.

“Right. No leaving the key on the counter and locking myself out. Got it. I’ll only make that mistake once.”

He lowered his hand enough for me to grab it, our fingers grazing each other as I took it from him. I snatched it back faster than normal, my heartbeat racing slightly.

He was intimidating. Especially here, in his element, while I was so wildly out of place.

“You sure you’re okay?”

I nodded. “It’s cold in here.” As if that was enough to explain the awkwardness I could feel radiating off of me.

The corner of his lip turned. “It is an ice rink, after all. Didn’t you bring a jacket?”

“Locked myself out, remember,” I explained. “Didn’t exactly think to bring one on my big trip into the hallway.”

“Well, here.” He reached into his duffel bag once more, this time pulling out a hoodie.

“Oh, that’s okay.” I shook my head in refusal. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Stop doing that,” he said, putting the sweatshirt in my arms. “Stop saying no to everything I try to give you.”

“But I—”

“. It’s cold out. Wear it for the car ride home, okay?”

Home, I thought. Wish I had one of those.

But I knew what he meant, so I nodded, mumbling a thanks in response. I pulled it over the top of my head because I really was at the point of trembling from the chill in the arena.

As usual, it fell to my mid-thigh. I rolled the sleeves up a few times so I could have use of my hands. I stared up at him, taking in the full extent of his features in the light. He was beautiful. Dark wavy hair and a few freckles across his nose. A strong jaw. And those eyes. Why couldn’t I pull myself away from them? And why was he looking back at me with similar intensity?

Did he think I was creepy? Could he tell that I’d been checking him out? Oh, God. I was going to ruin the only living situation I had because I was drooling over a big, handsome hockey player who’d already made it clear he hated people who did that.

“Hey, Brynn.” We both flinched, breaking eye contact at the sound of someone slamming their glove against the glass. “Get back here, huh? Some of us don’t want to be here all night.”

I looked over at the hockey player, noticing the way he looked at me in puzzlement before Liam’s voice pulled my attention back toward him.

“I’ll be right there,” Liam told him, his voice gruffer than it had been.

“Mhm,” his teammate said distractedly, giving me the once-over.

Liam stepped in front of me, slightly blocking me from view, and I wanted to die of mortification. He was probably embarrassed to be seen with me. Now, he was probably going to hear an earful from his teammates about the girl who showed up at practice, and I knew how much Liam liked his privacy. I was sure he wouldn’t be too thrilled to have to explain who I was or what I was doing there.

But he might because he’d probably set the record straight instead of letting his team think I was his girlfriend or something.

Like anyone would believe that, I mentally chastised myself.

“Sorry about interrupting. I’ll leave,” I scrambled to assure him. “But I have something for you, too.”

I pulled the cash from my back pocket, having made a pit stop at the drive-thru ATM. I didn’t want to show up empty-handed while I was interrupting his practice and asking for something.

“What is this?” he asked.

“I know it’s not a ton,” I said sheepishly, holding the wad of $500 toward him. “This won’t even cover half your rent, probably, but I wondered if I could give the rest to you later?”

“Absolutely not.” He shook his head, causing all the color to drain from my face.

Of course not. I should’ve known better. His place was so nice. His rent was probably in the high 2000s for something like that in the city. Of course he would want more than $500 while I was staying there, using his space, his shower, and his food.

“Right.” I nodded quickly. “Sorry. I’ll go get more now and come back—” I mumbled, mentally thinking of how I could come up with the rest of the money fast.

I wasn’t sure I had much more in my checking account, but money put toward a place to sleep at night was the best use I could think of for what little I had.

“I don’t want your money.” He bristled, looking almost offended. “Put it away.”

“What?” I asked, trying to process what he meant. “Should I give it to you later when I have the full amount?”

“, no,” he said, staring intently. “I don’t want your money, now or ever. I offered you a place to stay, no strings attached. I have the space. It’s no big deal. I would never ask for you to pay me to sleep in a spare room I already have.”

“But I—”

“No buts,” he said, grabbing hold of my outstretched hand and guiding it toward my pocket. “Put your money away and get going before you freeze, okay?”

I frowned up at him, feeling caught in a trap. He laughed, taking hold of my shoulders and shaking slightly.

“Stop making that face. You’re okay.” He looked over his shoulder to where the coach was calling for him. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you at home, okay?”

I forced out a nod, and he smiled, jogging away from me, leaving me there staring after him. I turned to go, feeling the soft weight of his hoodie and the slight press of the key in my pocket like reminders of just how much I owed him.

But maybe, just maybe, Liam Brynn wasn’t keeping score.

Liam

“Oh, to be Liam Brynn and have beautiful women swarm hockey practice for you.” Ryan placed a dramatic gloved hand on his heart and pretended to swoon as I glided back onto the ice.

Choosing to ignore his words rather than feed into the curiosity that was looking at me from nineteen pairs of eyes, I tried to start practice back up.

“Well?” Hudson asked expectantly, “Are you going to leave us hanging?”

“Yes,” I responded dryly, sending the puck flying toward him.

He caught it with a grin but made no move to start our drills back up.

“It’s okay, guys,” Our goalie called out innocently. “Liam’s just being protective over his new girlfriend.”

A chorus of snickering ‘awwws’ reverberated through the rink.

“Shut up.” I bristled. “It’s not like that.”

“No? What’s it like?” Ryan asked.

“None of your business.”

“So, what I’m hearing is, if it’s not like that, then that means she’s single?”

“Hey, leave him alone.” Brody laughed. “He obviously plans to marry her, so she’s off limits.”

“ What? ” My head snapped to Brody so fast I almost pulled the muscle in my neck.

“Well.” Brody shrugged. “You gave her your hoodie. That’s practically a proposal in girl code.”

The resulting laughter from the team pissed me off. Not so much the teasing, but the fact that they’d been watching us at all.

“Don’t you guys have anything better to do than spy on me?” I growled.

“Didn’t you know?” Hudson grinned. “There’s nothing more interesting than Liam Brynn. ”

“So, who’s the girl?” Ryan asked, his persistence pissing me off.

It was a normal question. A valid one to ask even, but I stiffened at his words. I didn’t want to explain. I didn’t want them to even think about her.

“No one,” I said with the tone of closing the conversation down.

But our players apparently had a death wish. They were hockey players, after all.

“Well, if she’s not yours, then you won’t mind passing along her contact info to me,” one of the guys quipped.

Yes, I fucking minded, I thought, surprising myself by the way my entire body thrummed with tension.

“She’s not interested,” I bit out tightly.

Hudson grinned, skating closer. “Come on, Liam. You can’t just bring a girl to practice and expect us not to ask questions.”

“She was here for five minutes,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “And she’s not my girlfriend. She’s—”

“What? Tell us what she is.” Ryan looked at me with a shit-eating grin.

I glared at him. “She’s my sister’s friend. That’s it. Drop it.”

“ That’s Maggie’s friend?” Brody’s shock was evident. “Yeah, good luck with that.” He snorted.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you have an incredibly attractive girl living with you, and for years, you’ve been determined to keep the opposite sex at a thirty-foot radius.”

Brody’s words caused an outburst throughout the team as they all descended like wolves with their questions.

“What the fuck?”

“She’s what?”

“ Living with you? ”

They all exploded with similar sentiments at once.

“Thanks, Brody,” I deadpanned. “That was helpful.”

Brody held his hands up in surrender. “We’re a team. It’s not like they wouldn’t have found out eventually.”

“They wouldn’t have because it’s temporary, ” I emphasized the last word with considerable effort.

“Maybe not.” Brody laughed lightly. “Considering that’s what she looks like.”

“I’m just helping Maggie out. You know, my sister, who asked me for a favor? Sort of how you asked me for a favor recently?” I looked at him pointedly. “I mean, you do want me to put in a good word for you with Maggie, right?”

Brody stilled, looking at me before nodding. “Got it. Right. My lips are tied.”

“Well, if you’re sure she’s not your girlfriend, then that means you’re going to be the most eligible bachelor for the gala.”

“The what?” I asked with furrowed brows.

“The charity event.” Ryan filled in the blanks. “We’re all getting put up for auction.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

“It means we’ll be there for the mass of women to bid on dates with us,” Hudson added. “Kind of creepy, but who am I to deny the women what they want?”

“You already know Liam’s going to get the creepiest old women to buy him.” One of the guys cracked up. “She’s going to bring him somewhere sketchy as hell for their date, and we’ll never hear from him again.”

“I didn’t sign up for that!” I scowled, thinking that there was no way in hell I’d ever participate in something so public.

“You don’t sign up for it. It’s mandatory,” Brody said. “The only guys exempt are the ones with wives or girlfriends.”

Which was about three guys on our whole team. I, of course, wasn’t one of them.

I stared at Brody like he’d grown a second head. “You’re joking.”

“Not joking,” he said with an exaggerated wince. “Coach made the announcement last week. It’s good PR for the team.”

“It’s a nightmare,” I muttered. “I’m not doing it.”

“You don’t have a choice, Brynn,” Ryan chimed in, skating by with an infuriating smirk. “Especially since you just loudly proclaimed to us that you definitely don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Just because I don’t have a girlfriend doesn’t mean I should be forced to give up my privacy for money,” I muttered, knowing that none of the guys held the same sentiment.

A lot of them actually thrived off of the attention from fans, the media, and everything else that came with this lifestyle. Apparently, something was wrong with me because I just couldn’t get behind it.

Even when the guys moved onto the topic of going out for the night, all I could think about was how much I looked forward to going home.

The image popped into my head of on the couch the night before, and suddenly, I had a newfound urgency to finish drills so we could wrap it up for the night.

We trained hard for another few hours, and the time passed by quicker once we stopped chatting and got in the zone. I pushed my body to its limit, straining hard enough so I couldn’t be distracted by any other thoughts.

When we finally finished up, I found myself moving a little faster as I showered and packed my gear up, filled with an urgent rush I didn’t understand.

“So that’s a no to going out with us tonight?” Brody asked, still taking his time drying off from the shower.

“Definitely no,” I responded.

“Figured.” He shrugged. “Just thought I’d ask. But hey, you’ll talk to your sister for me?”

I rolled my eyes, thinking that the last person in the world my sister would go for was someone associated with hockey. But to throw him a bone, I nodded.

“Sure. I’ll talk to her. Next time I see her.”

Brody’s eyes lit up, and he clapped me on the back. “Thanks, man. And hey, you know we were all just messing with you earlier, right? I know you’re not into the whole relationship thing.”

I frowned, not sure what he meant. It was true I hadn’t had a girlfriend the whole time I’d been in the NHL, but did people really think I was entirely opposed to the idea?

Was I? Now that I thought about it, I realized I sort of had been. There was no one I’d even entertained the idea of in the last few years. No one interested me enough to think about them that way.

“I’m not against relationships,” I said, picking my bag up and slinging it over my shoulder.

“Right, like, for other people.”

“No. For me,” I corrected.

Brody laughed. “Yeah, okay, Mr. I-Reject-Anyone-Who-Comes-Near-Me. ”

“I just hadn’t met the right person,” I said before realizing my word choice.

Brody’s eyes widened, but I rushed to correct myself.

“I haven’t yet, but that doesn’t mean I never want it.”

“So, do you?”

I thought about it. The idea of one person by my side, doing life with me, sharing private moments with just the two of us.

I could never imagine it before because everyone had always wanted something from me. They’d never liked me in any real way.

wasn’t like that… and with her, I got to feel what it would be like to have someone at home, to sit on the couch with, or have coffee in the morning with…

What the fuck is wrong with you? I scolded myself when I realized where my train of thought had landed. You don’t even know her, and she’s reeling from a serious breakup.

It wasn’t that I was fantasizing about, I realized. It was just because she was the first normal girl I’d met who wasn’t after me because I was a hockey player. And she was sweet and shy and kind.

I couldn’t lie to myself and say she was nothing to me. I did enjoy being in her presence. And I liked the way she blushed or stammered when she was embarrassed. It was cute.

Friends, I thought suddenly. This must be what it’s like to have a girl for a friend.

That explained why I felt a warm fondness at the sight or even the thought of her. It wasn’t anything else but that. And there was nothing wrong with being a friend to someone who had been through a lot.

“Liam?” Brody’s voice interrupted my inner monologue.

“What?”

“I asked if you wanted that because I have plenty of girls I could set you up with.” He beamed, his face animated as he schemed. “Are you just secretly shy? Do you need a wingman? Because I could be a great wingman.”

“No, Brody.” I sighed. “I don’t need a wingman.”

“But you just said—”

“I meant that I’m not opposed to it if it happens. But I’m never going to be hanging around bars trying to pick up women.”

“But that’s the beauty of being you!” Brody exclaimed. “You don’t have to try to pick up women. They’ll be throwing themselves at you.”

The very thought of it made me cringe.

“Hard pass,” I said, itching to get out of this conversation and, more importantly, this whole arena.

“You’re killing me, Brynn.” He groaned. “Sending me out all on my own.”

“You mean all on your own with half the guys on the team?”

“But no one gets me the way you do,” he feigned protest. “Man, you having a girlfriend now sucks.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Girl roommate. Potential girlfriend. Whatever.” He swatted away the air. “Point is, look at you rushing off to get home instead of talking with your best friend. Is this what it comes down to? Have we finally reached the point where I have to share you with some woman?”

“All I’m doing is going home. Like I do every night after practice,” I said, edging toward the door.

“Whatever,” he called out. “But when the wedding comes around, I’ll be rightfully pissed if I’m not the best man, okay?”

And because I knew it was the only way to appease him and close the conversation so I could just get out of there, I told him, “Okay. You’ll be the best man.”