Page 51 of Pucking the Team

I laughed. “Goodbye, Trevor, love to William.”

A few hours later, the front door opened and closed with a bang.

“I’m home!”

I smiled even though I wasn’t sure which of the brothers had just arrived. “Hi.”

Quickly, I checked the potatoes, which still had a while to go, and then tossed a few peelings in the rubbish bin.

“Smells awesome in here,” Ben said, wandering in and dropping his kit bag on the floor.

“I hope you’re hungry.”

“Always.” He walked up to me. The scent of his fresh shower gel swirled in the air between us.

The next thing I knew, he’d pressed a kiss to my lips.

My eyes widened—that was not what I’d been expecting.

“I…I’m sorry, I just…it felt right.” He kind of frowned and smiled at the same time. I swear a slight rise of color touched his cheeks.

“I’m not complaining.” Who in their right mind would? A gorgeous hockey player striding into the room with a hello kiss—it was a damn good cure for a broken heart.

I touched a lock of his hair that had fallen beside his right eye. “How was practice?”

“Good. Nice to be back on our home rink. Familiar dimensions and all that.”

I smiled despite not really knowing what he meant.

“Can I do it again?”

“What?”

“Kiss you?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“Hell yeah.” He came closer still, his chest almost touching mine. “But I don’t want to push you into anything. Your breakup, it’s still so fresh and—”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“You can kiss me again.”

The gentle blue of his irises seemed to soften further as he cupped my cheeks and brought our faces together.

And then we were kissing properly. A sexy dance of lips and tongues and exactly how I’d imagined he’d kiss when I’d thought of him earlier. He tasted of mint, and his breath was warm. Heat from his body radiated onto mine, and when I gripped his upper arms I was reminded of the raw power of his honed and toned muscles.

He moaned softly and deepened the kiss, drawing me closer. My mind was full of him and very little else.

“Hey, is this a private party or can I join in?”

Theo was behind me. Close. I hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen. I broke the kiss, but Ben kept me in his embrace, silently telling me it was okay that we were kissing in front of Theo. There was no problem on his end.

“Don’t stop on my behalf,” Theo said, pushing my hair to one side and touching his warm lips to my nape. “You two look great together.”

I fluttered my eyes shut. His lips traced my skin. I’d always been a sucker for neck kisses. My stomach gave a tremble of longing, and I pressed closer to Ben.