Page 4 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER TWO

L uc

My head has been spinning since yesterday.

I love Izzy with my whole heart, but that girl doesn’t know the hold she has on me.

I’ve crushed on her for as long as I can remember.

I’ve leaned on her and shared my darkest secrets with her.

There isn’t much she doesn’t know about me, except for the minor detail that I’ve had it bad for her since we were kids.

My feelings don’t mean anything though because I’m not cut out for relationships, and Izzy deserves the best. I wasn’t lying when I said that to her.

Now that we’ve spoken about sex, and I know she’s never experienced pleasure, well.

. . it’s changed the rules of the game. She has me so hot and bothered I could barely sleep last night, and it wasn’t because I’m deprived of sex.

Hell, sex became so monotonous for me I keep searching for something more to keep me intrigued.

Hence my preference for threesomes. Unfortunately, Izzy just blew my simple pleasure of enjoying threesomes into oblivion after her small confession.

Now I can’t stop picturing her naked or giving her pleasure.

I’ve obviously had these thoughts over the years.

Izzy is the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, with the best heart and best personality.

It’s a lethal combination for a guy like me.

It’s why I made a promise to myself to never let things between us become more than friendship.

The lines have blurred more times than I care to count.

When we were fifteen and her father was dating a woman who wasn’t very nice, Izzy was upset and asked me to sleep over.

She had pushed her ass into my cock and made me hard.

She turned around and looked into my eyes, her chocolate-brown eyes reeling me in like a fish out of water.

I still remember the way she swallowed hard and watched me, her breathing fast. She licked her lips.

I knew then all I had to do was lean in and taste the forbidden fruit and it’d be mine.

But I was never going to settle down. Love always ran its course.

I don’t know when my parents’ marriage went to shit, but I don’t remember a time they were happy.

Mom always took Elyna and me places without Dad, and it was better that way.

Izzy’s dad, Mr. Thorne, is the director of the police force in our small town.

Her mom and my mom had been best friends from when they were younger.

When Mom died in a car wreck, it didn’t take long for Helen to walk away from her family and leave town.

No one was expecting that kind of response from her.

Mr. Thorne was a good man. I remember Helen always smiling and taking care of her five kids.

When she took off, it hit everyone hard.

Not only were we grieving Mom’s death but now we were also grieving Helen’s absence, who was like a second mom to Elyna and me.

Izzy’s dad was busy taking care of police business and her four brothers and Izzy, who is the youngest of the five.

Her brothers always made sure to tell her she was too good for just any man and, truth is, they were right.

They watched out for her like it was nobody’s business.

Luckily they trusted me enough to let me into her bedroom, probably because they knew I’d never touch her.

A cold chill runs through my body as my past hits me like a Ford pickup truck.

My drive to the arena is short. I pull into a spot and head inside earlier than the rest of the guys for morning skate. If I can’t sleep, I might as well get some extra stretching in. As a goalie, I ensure my muscles are warmed up properly to avoid injury.

I walk into the Sports Complex picturing Izzy’s plump lips. The way she stared into my eyes yesterday. I hate to see her hurting more than anything.

I bump into Coach Bailey on the way to the locker room. “Bonjour.”

“That French charm isn’t going to work this morning, Chabot. I’m surprised to see you early, considering the shitstorm you’ve created.”

“Huh, what do you mean?” I’m confused.

“Your sexual escapades are your own business, until you share them on social media,” she snarls. She looks so angry; I fear steam might leave her ears soon.

“Excuse me?” Has she lost her mind?

She must read the confusion on my face. “You posted a sex tape on your Instagram account yesterday that’s gone viral. Why are you acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Oh shit.

The balls start rolling in my mind. I realize the girls from yesterday must have somehow used my phone to tape our interlude. They probably posted the video when I got up to go to the bathroom after our first round of sex.

I take my phone out of my pocket and search my internet account.

My heart rate kicks up when I see the reel and the views.

This looks bad. It looks like I posted this shit myself.

The first thing I do is delete the video, but I’m no idiot.

There’s a digital footprint out there and this makes me look bad.

Really, really bad. I check my phone, backtracking to understand how the girls pulled it off.

When I check my text messages, I see a video sent from Jane’s phone to me.

“Erasing that video isn’t going to solve this,” Coach Bailey states. “Come, let’s go to Coach Heaton’s office. He’s been briefed on the situation. I don’t know how he wants to handle this.”

So much for my early morning stretches and quiet time on the ice by myself. Instead, I’m probably walking into a fucking shitstorm. Coach Heaton is going to ream my ass.

We walk up to Coach Heaton’s office door. “Come in and close the door.”

Yup, this is bad. He looks like a fire-breathing dragon.

“Are you on drugs, Chabot? Have you lost your mind? What were you trying to prove?” He stands behind his desk. His fists at his waist and his face cherry red. It takes a lot to fluster this man, and it seems I’ve done a bang-up job.

“Coach, it wasn’t me who posted the video. I’m not looking to sabotage my career. One of the girls must have gotten hold of my phone when I went to the bathroom,” I say innocently, even though there is nothing innocent about this.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “This is sabotage. Did one of those girls date a player from another team? Do you have any enemies?”

His questions make my head spin.

“Not that I know of,” I answer, feeling like a flailing duck.

“We’re a month out of the Frozen Four. Recruiters will be there. You’re a senior next year. How the hell are you going to land an early contract now?”

“There must be some way to fix this. I’m sorry, Coach,” I stutter. My future and career are screwed seven ways to Sunday.

He sighs and takes a seat at his desk. Coach Bailey is standing beside me.

“The best he can do is work hard to clean up his image. No more hookups. Maybe get yourself a girlfriend. You damn well know that NHL teams like to see a well-rounded player who will be a good example. As a goalie, you’re already at a disadvantage,” she says as if I didn’t know.

“I can’t just snap my fingers and get a girlfriend,” I bring to their attention.

“Lay low for now,” Coach Heaton warns. “I honestly wanted to put your ass on probation, but you’re the best goalie we have. I can’t put you out this close to the Frozen Four. It wouldn’t be fair to the team.”

“I’m sorry, Coach.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Just keep your dick in your pants for the next four weeks. I’ll ask one of the reporters to set up an interview, so at least you can tell your side of the story. It’s really fucked up that the post came from your account. It makes you look like a sex-crazed asshole.”

I wince at his words, but he isn’t wrong. This is some next level shit. Those girls played me. That’s really fucking sick of them to do.

“I’ll keep a low profile. I won’t jeopardize the team,” I assure Coach.

“You better not let us down, Chabot,” Coach Heaton says.

His words hit me hard. I don’t like letting people down. I know all too well what it feels like.

“I won’t,” I assure.

“Okay, get out of here.” He waves me out of his office. I duck out of his office and head to morning skate. It’s already too late to get my extra stretches in, so I go suit up and start my usual routine on the ice.

By the time morning skate is over, I have the perfect idea. I can ask Izzy to help me out.