Page 45

FORTY-FIVE

HUDSON

Puck Kings

Mavvy

Did you all see Amelia Green out in Denver got promoted from assistant head coach to associate head coach? First woman in the NHL to hold that position.

Me

Whoa. That’s awesome.

Mitchy

Took them long enough. She knows her shit.

Sully

I always liked her coaching style.

Connor

Same.

G-Money

Where are you seeing that?

It’s not on ESPN.

What’s your source? Are you making shit up??

I can’t find anything on Instagram either.

MAVERICK!!!!

Mavvy

Why are you yelling at me?

G-Money

Because you said something and then didn’t answer!!!!

Mavvy

Sorry for not getting to your 18 messages while I was taking a piss.

I have a buddy who plays for the Goldminers, and it was just announced at practice. My sources are good, asshole, and it hasn’t been leaked yet. Probably will make headlines in an hour.

G-Money

Holy shit.

HOKY SHIIT

Sully

Why are you freaking out?

G-Money

I’m not freaking out.

Me

You’re freaking out.

G-Money

I think it’s cool the league is becoming more inclusive. First Emmy, now Lia? Fucking amazing.

Mitchy

Why are you calling her Lia?

G-Money

Sry. IDK why my phone autocorrected. Typing too fast.

Easy E

LOL. iPhones are dumb. No one ever wants to say ducking. It’s always fucking.

Me

We play Denver soon, right?

G-Money

March 14th

I think?

Me

Speaking of women in action doing cool things, don’t forget we have Pilates scheduled with Lexi. We said we’d be there, and attendance is mandatory.

Sully

Still holding out for that trade.

February bleeds into the beginning of March.

The weather gets warmer, the sun stays up longer, and that sad winter glow that likes to hang around disappears.

We’re winning games and sitting pretty at the top of the league standings as we move through the second half of the season. Maverick was one of the NHL’s Three Stars for February. I’m getting more comfortable with signing, and our book club is thriving.

Things are good .

I’m taking my dad’s advice to heart: I’m letting myself be happy, and it’s a nice change of pace.

And Madeline? She makes me really fucking happy.

We spend every night I’m home together, falling into each other’s beds before one of us sneaks out in the morning. I feel like I’m back in my early twenties when she sends me a photo of her in one of my T-shirts while I’m away, always sending one back of my hotel room bed and writing wish you were here.

I’m falling for her.

Hard.

It was bound to happen, something I couldn’t have stopped even if I tried, and every minute I spend with her and Lucy is the best minute of my fucking life.

“Are you going to do that knife thing?” I ask Madeline, watching her chop up a tomato and drop it in a glass container. She uses her elbow to turn down the anthem blaring from her phone, and I grin when I hear David Bowie crooning from the speakers. “It’s been a while.”

“Doesn’t it lose its shock value if I do it a hundred times?” she asks.

“Nope.”

“Fine,” she relents, spinning the knife in her hand. “Happy, hockey guy?”

I grin. “Very, knife girl. You’re prepping dinner already?”

“Just the veggies. This part of the process always takes so long. Since Lucy is at school and I have nothing on the agenda, I figured I’d get a head start.”

“What if you put something on the agenda?” I grab a water bottle from the fridge, setting it on the counter. “I’m doing Pilates with the team, Piper, and Emmy. Lexi teaches a at a studio downtown, and we’re going to support her. Want to come?”

“The last time I tried to do a split, I pulled a hamstring.” Madeline adds a dash of salt to the tomatoes and covers them with a lid. “I should sit this one out.”

“Come on. None of us are good. Liam complains the whole time, and Ethan is afraid of ripping his shorts. He did that once, and it was the funniest fucking thing. We’re worse than beginners, I promise. There are going to be tears,” I assure her.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. I’m not going to name names, but Grant’s face turns bright red when he’s sobbing.”

“You know what?” Her grin is lethal. “I’m in the mood to watch Lexi make a grown man cry. Are you heading out soon?”

“In ten minutes, but I’ll wait for you. Leggings are fine. At least that’s what Lexi wears when she puts us in our place.”

“Good thing that’s half my wardrobe. How long of a class is this? Please don’t say more than an hour.”

“It’s only an hour, and half of it might be spent with my head between my legs while I catch my breath.”

“Really?” She wraps her arms around my neck, and I give her ass a squeeze. “You’re really selling this workout. I’m excited.”

“Wait until you’re doing Hundreds on the reformer. We’ll see how excited you are.”

“Sounds like a torture device.” Madeline grin and heads for her room to grab a chance of clothes. “I’m in.”

“I fucking hate this.” Liam rubs his thighs during a stretching break and glares at Lexi at the front of the studio. If looks could kill, Lexi would be a goner. “My ass hurts. My toes hurt. My fucking calves hurt. This is all your fault, Hayes.”

“Whoa. Don’t blame me.” I wipe my forehead with the small towel next to my water bottle. “Besides, it’s good for us. It’s training muscles we don’t normally use, and we’re getting stronger.”

“Why do we have to train muscles we don’t use?” Grant groans and hangs off his machine. “Isn’t that the point of not using them?”

“Y’all complain too much. Do you know how lucky we are to be here and doing this?” I ask. “It’s only going to make us better athletes.”

“Easy for you to say.” Ethan puts his hands on his knees and dry heaves. “You’ve been looking at Madeline’s ass the last thirty minutes. If I had that kind of motivation, I’d be showing off too. Clark Kent wouldn’t be able to take me down.”

“Fuck you.” I laugh, but my eyes dart over to her.

How could they not?

Ethan’s not totally wrong—her ass really does look amazing in her black leggings.

They’re different from the pairs she wears around the condo. Tighter and more fitted around her hips and thighs, when she did the Elephant exercise on her machine, I had to bite my fist because her curves were so goddamn distracting.

I’ve even caught my teammates glancing her, and I don’t even care.

They can look at her all they want, but she’s coming home with me.

“All right, kids. Back on the machines,” Lexi calls out, and Riley whimpers next to me.

“I can’t do it, man,” he says, dropping his voice low. In the second row, Madeline tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and stretches her arms above her head while she chats with Emmy and Piper. I’m imagining getting her in front of a mirror while I peel her clothes off. Making her watch while I go down on her and asking her to return the favor. “Are you even listening to me complain, Huddy Boy?”

“What?” I shake my head and clear the thoughts away. “No. What’s up?”

“I was saying if I had to spend every day with Lexi and her training plans, I’d probably turn into the fucking Hulk.” Riley grimaces and shoves his glasses up his nose. “How do people enjoy this?”

“It’s not that bad.” I lunge down into a Warrior 2 pose and let out a breath. “You have to center yourself.”

“Fuck your centering, Hayes,” Liam says before he topples over.

“Come on, boys,” Piper teases. I’m not sure she’s even sweating. “Weren’t you saying this should be easy since girls can do it?”

“Father Lord, I repent for my sins.” Grant closes his eyes and clasps his palms together. “I vow to never make a joke like that again if you can take away the pain.”

“Guess the saying is true: anything they can do, we can do better.” Emmy gives us a sharp smirk in the mirror. “Maybe if you all smiled more you’d have more fun.”

Madeline turns to look at me with a wry smile. “I think we can up the intensity, Lexi,” she says, and Grant lets out an honest-to-god wail. “Just a smidge, don’t you think?”

“Game on, Galloway,” I say, grimacing when Lexi comes over and pushes on my shoulders, helping me get deeper. My knees shake and my shirt is drenched with sweat, but watching Madeline excel at something is fun. “Want to see who can hold this position the longest?”

“Sure.” She lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “I gave birth to a child, Hayes. My pain tolerance is a hell of a lot higher than yours.”

“Loser does the dishes tonight.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

I don’t care that I’m openly flirting with her in front of my teammates. I don’t care that Maverick is smirking at me and Ethan is pretending to gag. I don’t care that Emmy is filming us and no doubt going to upload the footage to social media and title it: Hockey player loses to hot mom , because this is fucking fun.

I know I don’t stand a chance of beating her, but I give it my best effort. Piper, Emmy, and Lexi cheer for Madeline while the guys do their best to encourage me. When sweat rolls down my shoulders and tickles my back, I fall out of the position, the rightful loser.

“Hell yeah, Madeline,” Lexi cheers, and Madeline beams.

I jump off my machine and walk over to her. “Nice job, Mads.”

“You gave it your best effort, Bombshell.”

“You have some strong legs,” I point out.

“Maybe I can put them around your head when we get home,” she tosses back nonchalantly, and I blush.

None of my teammates heard her comment, and that makes it even hotter. It’s a secret only for me, and suddenly, I don’t care about the workout.

“Is that right?” I tilt my head to the side, smirking when her gaze bounces to the front of my shorts. “Then what are we still doing here?”

“Supporting a friend and contributing to the economy by visiting a small business.” Madeline steps toward me. There’s still space between us, but I wish there wasn’t. “Why? Is there a reason you want to leave?”

“I can think of a few things,” I tell her, dipping my neck so I can whisper in her ear, and she answers me with a grin.

“We have the condo to ourselves for a few hours before Lucy gets home from school. Want to get out of here?”

I make quick work of wiping down my machine and thanking Lexi for a nice class. I ignore my teammates chanting my name when Madeline and I leave, making small talk on the drive home.

When we get to the foyer, I lock the door behind us. Madeline kicks off her sneakers, and I push her against the wall.

“ Oh ,” she breathes out, a devilish grin behind the word. “Someone’s feisty.”

“Because I spent an hour staring at your ass.” I curl my fingers in the waistband of her leggings, shoving them down her thighs. “And you have a mighty fine ass.”

“It was fun to taunt you.” Madeline wraps her arms around my neck, smiling when I drop to my knees and yank the black nylon all the way off. “I like getting you worked up.”

“That’s not fair, is it?” I kiss the inside of her thigh and lift her foot, putting it on my shoulder. “Especially when you go places without any underwear on. Goddamn, Mads. Are you trying to kill me?”

She hisses when I run a knuckle across her entrance. A sigh escapes her when I push my finger inside her pussy, and she moans when I lean forward to drag my tongue up her stomach.

“No bedroom?” Her head drops against the wall. “I’m starting to think you have an aversion to beds, Hayes.”

“It’s because I can’t keep my hands off of you.” I kiss her hipbone before moving my mouth to her pussy. I swirl my tongue over her clit, glad to find her wet. “We’ll get there after I taste you.”

“What if— fuck —I wanted to taste you too?” Madeline holds the back of my neck, burying my face between her legs. I grin, licking her like she’s my last source of oxygen. “I want to suck your cock, Hudson.”

That makes my dick twitch, and I groan when she rolls her hips and doesn’t let me come up for air.

“Did you see how my teammates were looking at you? How they were fucking drooling over you?” I part her pussy with my thumbs, spitting on it. “I can’t believe I’m the one you want to come home with.”

“Because you’re my favorite.” Her voice hitches, a gasp taking over her words when I put my palm low on her stomach to stop her from moving. “You’re the only one who knows what I like. Inside the bedroom, but outside of it, too.”

I’ve never been the possessive or jealous type. I’ve never cared if the woman I was dating wore my jersey or showed up to games.

But hearing Madeline say I’m the only one who knows her unlocks a new wave of determination in me. I push two fingers inside her, stretching her out. She whimpers my name and knocks a stack of mail off the table next to her when she tries to hold on to something sturdy.

“Are you going to come, Madeline? You’ve been teasing me for the last hour.” She clenches around me, almost losing her footing, and I hum. “You are, aren’t you?”

I pluck her apart piece by piece until she’s grinding against my face, chanting my name like I’m some merciful god, and begging for release.

“I’m almost there. That’s perfect, Hudson,” she whispers, and it’s nearly impossible not to come from her praise. “ Please .”

Almost isn’t the word I’m looking for, so I curl my fingers, and that’s all it takes for her to fall apart.

I hold her steady as I ease her down, letting her ride the wave until her panting turns to gentle sighs and a satisfied smile.

With one last kiss to her knee, I gently put her foot on the ground, glancing up at her. Her eyes flutter open, and when I stand, I hold out my fingers.

“Suck,” I say, watching her eyes dance with glee. Her tongue sneaks out, and she tips her head to the side so she can take my fingers in her mouth. I imagine it’s my cock instead of fingers between her lips, and I have to pull my hand away. I lift her off the ground in one swoop and put her over my shoulder, smiling when her exhausted laugh echoes down the hall.

“Where are you taking me?” she asks.

“Where do you think?” I reach up and run my hand along the curve of her ass. I kick the door to my room open with my foot. “You said you wanted to suck my cock.” I drop her on my bed and shove my shorts and briefs off my legs. I step out of them and leave my shirt on, one hand around my shaft. “Open up, Madeline.”