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She smiled contentedly. “I guess I’d make a good hockey player, wouldn’t I?” she said, then walked past him toward the bedrooms, grabbing her suitcase along the way. Instead of taking the door to the guest room, however, she pushed open the one to his own bedroom.

“Oh. I’ve never been in here before,” she announced, setting down the suitcase and entering.

He quickly followed. That was his room. He slept in it and…did other things.

“Nice photo,” she said, nodding at the large print of mountains and a gray stone mansion that hung over his huge, unmade bed. “Is this your parents’ winery?”

“Yep,” he said curtly, nervously pushing the sleeves of his shirt down his arms.

It was strange to see her standing so close to his bed.

It created a strange knot in his stomach that he couldn’t quite place.

Maddie wasn’t a woman he associated with his bedroom and certainly not with his bed.

At most, he associated her with…her own bed.

No, actually, no bed at all . Maddie and bed were two words that had no connection whatsoever.

“It seems much cozier in here than in the living room,” she stated, nodding at the bookshelves on the walls, the large brown armchair in one corner, and the red carpet on the floor.

“And now I know for sure you have handcuffs just lying around.” Grinning, she pointed to the pair of pink fur handcuffs lying on the shelf next to the Game of Thrones books.

Okay, it was getting uncomfortably warm in here. “They’re merely decorative,” he replied hastily, his mouth suddenly far too dry, and stepped forward to guide Maddie out of the room by her shoulders. Those were two more words that didn’t belong in the same sentence: Maddie and handcuffs .

Maddie chuckled loudly. “Decorative…”

“I’ve never used them. Nell gave them to me for my eighteenth birthday. As a joke.” It was the truth, but he could tell from Maddie’s expression that she didn’t believe him.

“Yeah, sure,” she said lightly, and then her gaze briefly slid to the ceiling.

Matt chuckled loudly and pushed her back into the living room. She hadn’t really done that, had she?

“What?” she asked, uncertain, a slight blush working its way up her neck.

“You looked to see if I had a mirror on the ceiling!”

“You told me you did once!” she defended herself loudly.

She still remembered that, even though it was a year ago! “It was a joke!”

“Well, I wasn’t certain,” she replied, offended, turning her back on him abruptly. “I’ll go unpack.”

His laughter grew louder. Her strange mood of defeat from before was broken. She was Maddie again. Everything was okay. “Should I put a mirror on the ceiling so you feel at home?” he suggested innocently.

“No need. I’m fine with the video cameras I always use to film myself,” she replied lightly, then slipped into the guest room next door and closed the door.

He snorted loudly. To his knowledge, Maddie hadn’t done anything lewd with anyone in the last year because she had this rule of only pursuing forever , not one-night stands.

Shaking his head, he walked back into the kitchen, tugged at his shirt collar, which was somehow too tight today, and searched his fridge door for the flyer for the Thai restaurant next door.

Maddie had obviously overcome the biggest crisis. Still, it couldn’t hurt to order her beloved Pad Thai and maybe mix up a tequila sunrise. He had no idea what went into it, but that was what the internet or the delivery service was for.

He heard Maddie rummaging around in the guest room and then turning on some music on her cell phone – pop songs of some sort.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He liked it, that she was here. That meant he wouldn’t be eating alone today and his huge couch wouldn’t be quite so lonely.

Everything about his relationship with Maddie was simple, relaxed.

Maybe it would even be cool if she were here for a few weeks.

He had never shared an apartment; maybe he wanted to experience it.

Nope. It wouldn’t be weird at all.

“She lives with you? But you don’t sleep with her? That’s super weird!” Leon Alvarez said, shaking his head and pulling on his jersey.

“You can live with people without ravishing them, Leon,” Jack replied dryly.

“Yeah, but Maddie is Lucy’s sister. So, she’s hot, right?”

Matt blinked, perplexed. “How the hell do you know Maddie lives with me?” She only moved in last night!

Dax, who was sitting on the bench next to him, tying his skates, raised his head. “Oh, you have me to thank for that. Maddie told Lucy, Lucy told me, and I told pretty much everyone.”

Matt looked at him gloomily. “Well, thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome,” Dax said, grinning. “I thought it would be great entertainment. So far, I’m right.”

“So, is she hot? Have I seen her before?” Leon asked. The young defender was known for his precise elbow strikes and his lack of sensitivity.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s hot,” Matt replied angrily.

“It always matters if someone is hot,” Leon immediately contradicted. “You saying that means she’s ugly.”

“Maddie isn’t ugly.” Dax clicked his tongue. “She’s pretty. In an unremarkable way.”

Matt blinked. Unremarkable? Maddie? Did Dax have eyes in his head?

Anyway, that wasn’t the point! He needed to concentrate on the important thing. “Just stop running your mouths,” he said, annoyed. “The whole thing is incredibly uninteresting. We’re just friends. We…don’t think of each other that way. She needed help. That’s it.”

Leon flipped him the bird. “You can’t just be friends with women.”

“Of course you can!”

“No, you can’t. Not if they’re single,” Leon insisted.

“I think it’s possible,” Jack said. “But only if you aren’t sexually attracted to her. You don’t have chemistry with every single woman you meet.”

“Speak for yourself,” Leon replied harshly. “I’ve been able to set off fireworks with every woman.”

“Oh, God,” Dax groaned, reaching for his helmet. “Stop saying things like that. You’re fucking twenty-three. Every woman isn’t that many, in your brief lifespan! Besides, if you talk to women like you talk to us, you’ll smother any initial flame.”

“Guys,” Matt said, annoyed, “not that I don’t appreciate a nice fire metaphor, but like I said, we’re just friends. It’s not like…”

“Not at all?” Jack asked, raising his eyebrows. “So, you’ve never thought for a second during your friendship about what it would be like to sleep with her?”

Matt’s mouth went dry and he cleared his throat. “No,” he lied.

Although, actually, it wasn’t really a lie.

He’d never thought about sex with Maddie during their friendship.

Only once, at the beginning, when he met her.

When they weren’t friends yet. When he’d believed Maddie was hitting on him, when it turned out all she wanted was for him to carry a bench for her.

That didn’t really count. It wasn’t his fault that his thoughts had wandered into naked territory when Lucy had introduced her to him.

Maddie had been funny. And kind. And she hadn’t said yes and amen to everything he said and did, like the groupies.

Plus, she’d saved him from a few overly zealous fans and allowed him to have a normal life.

Those were attractive qualities. And it didn’t hurt that she had big, brown Bambi eyes and the broadest, most liberating smile he’d ever seen. Unremarkable my ass. And her skin was soft and her whole charisma…

Well, it didn’t matter. He’d thought at the time that Maddie felt similarly attracted to him — apparently, he’d been wrong.

That happened when his radar wasn’t working properly.

It had actually been a rather embarrassing experience for him, except that Maddie had never made him feel ashamed of trying to kiss her.

She’d drawn the line quickly and in the end, it was a good thing that she hadn’t been interested, because she’d become his damn best friend and he didn’t want to miss out on that.

There was no sexual tension between them; he never even thought that something could happen.

So, the sex component wasn’t even up for debate.

If it had been, then… Oh, it wasn’t worth worrying about, because it wasn’t.

“She’s a friend, nothing more,” he repeated calmly. “She doesn’t think of me in that way and I don’t think that way about her. That’s why there isn’t a problem.”

“Famous last words,” Leon muttered.

Oh, the kid had no idea. “Yeah, that reminds me,” Matt said slowly, “Maddie wanted me to ask you guys if anyone was looking for a long-term relationship and wanted to be her client. She runs a dating agency down at the Santa Monica Pier and could use the publicity. So, if anyone is seeking true love…”

One by one, the players made a face as if Matt had suggested they use their favorite puck as a bookmark.

“Yeah, I thought so. But make sure if you see her, tell her I asked!”

The others grumbled their agreement as the door flew open and Coach Parker Gray entered. “What the hell are you still doing in here? The game is about to start. You need to warm up! The others are already on the ice.”

“Sorry. Had something to talk about with Matt,” Dax said, straightening up. “We’re ready now.”

Gray frowned and looked at Matt. “Is this about Maddie moving in with you? Seriously, Payne, do you think that’s a good idea?”

Matt groaned. Yep. Dax had told everyone .