Page 19

It was worse than before.

Dax hadn’t believed that was possible, but he’d been wrong. For the next few days, Lucy ignored him as much as she could—and God, it was getting on Dax’s nerves! Even more than the fact that he got hard whenever he thought about her.

He’d been longing for Lucy for five days—for her hands on his body, her lips on his neck and around his cock. It didn’t matter where. And it didn’t matter how many times he relieved the pressure in the shower, or how many times he told himself he couldn’t have her.

He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted any woman. He wanted her with an intensity that surpassed his desire to win the Cup this year. And fuck, that had never happened before. Hockey always came first, without exception. But now that he knew what it sounded like when she moaned against his mouth, how it felt when her hot hands were on his neck, how she contracted around him when she came, he couldn’t think of anything else.

He felt like he’d opened Pandora’s box. An infuriatingly sweet, hot, irresistible Pandora’s box—and now there was no turning back. He was lost.

He didn’t need the distraction, because he damn well needed to concentrate on his lousy game.

But, shit, Lucy pissed him off! She was acting as if he was bragging about getting laid, as if he was an asshole who’d walk up to his teammates and shout about how he’d fucked the obstinate Lucy, who wouldn’t date hockey players, on a stranger’s desk. What the fuck did she think of him? He’d been confident they had passed that point, that she knew him better. She should know him better. He knew how important the job and her professionalism were to her. However, she was the one who had acquiesced! When he’d said she looked like she enjoyed it when he kissed her, she’d stared at him with glassy eyes and open lips and pressed herself against him as if she wanted to build a vacation home on his body. She had made sweet, breathless sounds when he kissed her behind the ear, ran his thumb over her nipples…

If he weren’t careful, he would be on the ice with a boner for the next hour.

It didn’t matter.

The bottom line was that she was as guilty as he was when it came to why she had ended up naked on the desk.

And now she was standing by the ice, not 30 feet away from him, talking to Leslie—probably about him!—her back purposefully turned to him.

As if he didn’t exist, as if none of it had ever happened. As if she were trying to change the past through sheer willpower.

With narrowed eyes, he stared at her as he glided across the ice. He noticed how her hair curled at the ends, how the tip of her ponytail brushed her shoulders…

He hit the boards so hard with his shoulder that he almost fell backward.

“What are you doing back there, Temple?” Gray barked from the bench. The Hawks coach hadn’t been happy with him at all in recent weeks, and his annoyed expression now confirmed that. “You’re supposed to be warming up for the game, not practicing body checks, which I don’t want to see from you today, anyway!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered and turned his back on both Gray and Lucy. Ridiculous. He was being downright ridiculous.

“So, will today be the first game where we both manage not to play like shit?” someone next to him asked a second later and he turned.

Jack was skating by his side.

Great. Just what he needed.

“It’s about time, isn’t it?” Jack continued. “I mean, now that we’ve been photographed as best friends, it shouldn’t be that hard to pretend to be best friends on the ice, right? Man, you looked so cute in those horns…”

“Would you like me to practice body checking on you instead of the boards, Jack?” he suggested kindly. “Keep it up.”

His brother chuckled softly. “What’s wrong, Dax? You seem a bit grumpy.”

That wasn’t true. Grumpy didn’t even come close. “Mind your own business, Jack,” he said tonelessly, picking up the pace. But the bastard followed close behind.

“Lucy disappeared rather suddenly after the shoot,” he remarked. “Any idea why?”

“Nope,” he replied darkly.

Jack snorted before glancing over his shoulder and adding in a lowered voice, “You know, our teammates may be blind, but I’m not.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not. I just wanted you to know…well, I’m sorry,” he murmured urgently. “For flirting with Lucy. I wanted to annoy you, but I…” Hesitantly, he bowed his head. “…obviously underestimated how important she is to you. And that you can’t take a joke when it comes to her.”

Dax twisted around to face his brother. “She’s not important to me,” he clarified, his voice barely louder than the sound his blades made on the ice.

Jack raised his eyebrows, amused. “Right. Of course not. It doesn’t matter. I’ll stop. She was never interested in me, Dax. She’s all yours.”

And that was the problem. She wasn’t his. No matter how much he wanted her. “Very kind of you, Jack,” he remarked dryly. “But I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not interested in Lucy. She’s the most annoying woman in the Northern Hemisphere, and we’d be better off without her.”

His brother sighed heavily and looked at him with pity. “You still haven’t learned that the asshole doesn’t win, have you? That only happens in movies and books. In real life, women don’t want a man who’s mean to them. At least not for life. If you keep talking about her like that, you’ll never convince her that you’re not an idiot.”

Dax’s hands took on a life of their own. “I honestly don’t need dating advice from you, Jack,” he growled. “And I’m mean to Lucy because she annoys me! Because she never does what I want her to do.”

“I don’t think so,” he replied lightly. “I think you’re mean to her because you like her and that way you get more attention from her.”

Dax snorted and rolled his eyes. “We’re not in high school anymore, Jack.”

“I know. So quit the bullshit! She’s too smart to fall for a stupid come-on like that.”

“It’s not a come-on!”

“Yes, it is,” he said, amused. “I know you, Dax. I know how you used to flirt and how you do it now.”

“I’m not flirting with Lucy!” He was merely having sex with her. “And if you truly want me to stop hating you, you should stop saying crap like that!”

Jack stopped and Dax did too. For a few seconds, his brother just looked at him thoughtfully. Then he muttered, “You’re right. I wish you would stop hating me. Right now, though, I’m just doing the right thing. Besides…” The corners of his mouth twitched. “Do you know, Dax, what made you so good at hockey? The desire to be better than me. And do you know what made me so good? The desire not to have you succeed. So maybe a little competitiveness isn’t such a bad thing. Either way, I’m planning to win the Stanley Cup this season—and if you could stop pining after Lucy for a moment, if you could just forget who I am…we’d probably be amazing on the ice together. We used to be.” He shrugged meaningfully before speeding up and continuing his laps alone.

Dax watched him go, lips pursed.

Pining after Lucy… S hit, that was exactly what he was doing! He couldn’t think of a better way to put it. It was pathetic, but his life was currently all hockey and Lucy fantasies.

And Lucy had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in anything more than the desk episode…

He frowned.

Had she? He hadn’t asked, had he?

Then again, what exactly was he supposed to ask?! Would she like to do it again in a bed with whipped cream?

Maybe even a restaurant visit first. No, eating with her would be like a date, and he wasn’t dating…was he?

Wait, was he dating? Did he do that?

Fuck, he had no idea! Lucy had messed with his brain.

Your loft looks like you’re all grown up—but you act like an angry teenager .

He gritted his teeth.

She thought he was immature, thought he was not nice . That was why she’d been given the silly job of fixing his image in the first place. He was probably both those things. Normally he wouldn’t give a damn if a reporter wrote that about him or his sister told him that with an amused twinkle in her eye. But Lucy would only stop being his personal PR consultant if he started getting good headlines again. She’d only stop playing the leading role in every one of his dreams if she stopped following him everywhere.

The solution was simple: He had to start playing well again so that the torment would end, so there could finally be some distance between them and he’d stop crashing into barriers like a complete idiot whenever she was nearby. And he could only do that if he played nice with Jack; if he forgot he was angry with him.

So, either he gave up his pride or continued losing his mind. And he might just need his mind for the rest of his life.

He shifted his jaw from side to side and sped up to catch Jack.

“Okay, Jack,” he muttered dryly, grabbing his arm. “Remember my game against Northcliff High?”

His brother frowned, looked at the hand on his arm, and then at Dax’s face. “A game from over ten years ago? When you were still in school and scored your first hat trick by telling the center the plays I whispered in your ear at intermission?”

“Yep.”

Jack raised one corner of his mouth. “Yeah, I vaguely remember.”

“Good. Then you know what to do,” he said tersely, skating to the edge of the ice.

He could be a grown-up. He could be nice. He could forget. He could be normal .

And he could win.

“Man, those two are good together!” Maddie shouted, impressed, cheering with the other fans as Dax scored his second goal of the night. “As if they had been playing together for ages.”

Lucy nodded slowly, unable to take her eyes off the ice, or listen to her sister any longer.

It was as if Jack and Dax had flipped a switch, as if they had been born on the ice together. Which, for all she knew, could be the truth! They had grown up together, so they had probably been on the ice together since they were little. But…

Why were they suddenly so in sync? Things hadn’t gone well over the last few weeks. So what had changed?

That seemed to be the question occupying her mind these past few days. And she had no answers.

She didn’t know how she had ended up naked on that desk. She didn’t know why Jack and Dax were playing as if their lives depended on it. And she didn’t know what the hell she was supposed to do. She had tried to ignore Dax. But she felt every one of his intense glances. She found herself listening for his voice whenever he was nearby…and her body began to tingle whenever he was anywhere within a hundred feet away.

God, it had been the stupidest idea of her life to get into bed with Dax—or rather, to get onto the desk. Then why were stupid ideas always so fantastic?

“How are things going between you two?” Maddie asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“What?” Her head shot up. “Nothing is going on between us.” Her sister smiled knowingly and tilted her head curiously. “I asked how things are going between you two. With improving his image. Now I’m wondering what’s going on between you.”

“Nothing,” she replied a bit too quickly and turned back to the game. She automatically searched for number 14…

“Oh my God, you guys did it!" Maddie said, shocked.

She glared at her sister. “How do you get that from me saying nothing ?”

“I run a dating agency, Lucy! I have an eye for it,” she said with a grin and put an arm around her. “I can’t believe you kept it from me. That Matt kept it from me!”

“He doesn’t know,” she whispered, shifting in her seat. “I would have told you at some point. But you would have—”

“So, you and Dax? I thought you hated him? How could that happen?”

“—just asked stupid questions,” Lucy concluded with a sigh. “Yeah, I thought I hated him too.” But could you truly hate a man who had given you the orgasm of your life?

“Oh.” Her sister’s eyes lit up and she looked dreamily over the crowd. “So now you don’t. It’s so sweet and romantic! From enemies to lovers…”

“No, stop writing a romance novel in your head! It’s nothing, Maddie!” she insisted vehemently. If she said it often enough, maybe it would come true. “He’s still an idiot who makes my life miserable. Him with his stupid muscles and his stupid words and…”

Maddie laughed. “Oh my God, you really like him.”

Angry, she furrowed her brow. “No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do.”

“No. I don’t date players.”

“Yes, but the rule doesn’t preclude you from liking one,” Maddie replied with a grin. “I’m all for jumping into bed with him, having the best weeks of your life—then marrying him and being happy.”

Lucy had to laugh. “All your stories end with someone getting married and everyone being happy.”

Her sister shrugged. “I repeat—I set people up for a living. Hey, have you convinced Matt to sign up with us yet? He won’t listen to me. And, eh, if things don’t work out, Dax can always let me find him the woman of his dreams.”

Lucy made a face. She didn’t like the idea. Plus, she was certain that Dax wasn’t even searching for a life partner. History suggested that he was basically just looking for one-night stands.

“Maddie, you’re not taking this at all seriously,” she complained. “Dax is…a problem. A big problem.”

“Yes, but hasn’t he always been?” her sister noted, frowning.

“Yes, he has. But…it’s taken on new, catastrophic proportions.”

“I see. What’s changed?”

Everything .

“Nothing,” she whispered and swallowed. “I’m exaggerating.”

But she wasn’t.

Because her job was to find solutions—but what if there simply weren’t any solutions to the Dax problem?

“Let’s just focus on the game,” she said out loud.

Maddie was still looking at her, but then a Hawks player scored a goal—was it Dax again?—and the crowd around them jumped up cheering. For a few blissful minutes, the fans’ euphoria washed over them, bringing back their smiles and their sense of lightness. Maddie hugged her happily and they jumped up and down in their oversized Hawks jerseys just like they used to do as kids.

The crowd settled down and, to Lucy's surprise, she saw tears in Maddie’s eyes as they returned to their seats.

“It’s not the same without him,” she finally said softly, gazing at the empty seat to the left.

“I know,” Lucy replied quietly and patted Maddie’s knee. “Maybe Dad will come next time.”

“He wouldn’t have missed this in the past.”

She was right. Attending hockey games together had always been a family event. Rachel was the only one not enthusiastic about the sport, but the rest of the family—their mom, dad, both of them—had loved spending the evening at the arena.

However, things changed, people passed away, and traditions were broken.

“But Mom would be happy that we’re still going together,” Maddie suddenly stated firmly, as if she had spent the last two minutes searching for the silver lining. In fact, Lucy was pretty sure that was what she was doing: looking for the good while Lucy rued the bad.

Lucy smiled broadly as she reached for Maddie’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “She would have.”

At the same time, Lucy couldn’t help but wonder: What would their mother have said if she knew Lucy had slept with one of the players?