Page 21

Chapter Twenty-One

BODE

“H ell yeah!” Marcus jumps on top of me as the horn blares through the arena. The fans are on their feet as we celebrate a goal late in the third.

The grin on my face spreads as I skate by the bench, bumping gloves with my teammates. “Way to go, Adams!” Coach yells as I skate back to my starting position for the puck drop.

Damn. That one really felt good. We’re leading Dallas 4-1 now with only a few minutes left. The home crowd doesn’t sit for the remainder of the game as the energy flows down onto the ice.

Even with Dallas pulling their goalie, they can’t get another goal. Defending our end of the ice, I send the puck flying toward their zone and land it in the center of their net.

The red light flashes across the ice as I skate toward the bench.

“That’s what I like to see.” Coach Andrews claps me on the back as I grab my water bottle and take a swig.

“Maybe next time you’ll go for the hat trick.” Noah laughs, elbowing me in the side.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

By the time the final horn sounds, we’ve put the game away, 5-1. We’ll be heading into the All-Star break soon, and going on a winning streak feels fucking amazing.

Plus, if we keep winning, it’ll make it that much easier to secure a spot in the playoffs. No one is saying it, but we’re all thinking about it.

We don’t want to jinx ourselves just yet.

“You want to grab a quick drink before heading home?” Marcus asks, as I come back to my stall after talking to the press and a quick shower. “Harper is taking the kids over to my mom’s tonight so we can have the evening to ourselves.”

My gut reaction is to say no. I want to go home and hang out with Stevie and Caleb. The idea of going out no longer holds the same appeal that it once did.

But now? I wouldn’t mind going out to celebrate a great win with the guys.

“Sure, why not?”

“Wow. Way to sound excited,” Jasper chides.

I not so subtly flip him off before I grab my suit jacket and toss it over my arm. “Hey, Caleb comes first now.”

Marcus claps me on the back as we all stand and start to head out. “He should. But it doesn’t mean you can’t hang out with your teammates.”

“I guess so.”

The guys give me shit all the way out of the arena. Broadway is packed with people as we make the short walk to The Sin Bin. Seeing as how it’s our usual spot after home games, fans tend to come here. But Chad, the owner, always reserves space in the back room just for us.

We wave at him as we duck into the back room and order a round from the waiting server.

“First round is on me,” I tell the guys.

“Damn. Killer game and buying drinks? Someone’s in a good mood,” Jasper says.

I stretch my legs out, crossing my arms over my chest. “What can I say? It was a fucking great game.”

And after this I get to go home to my kid and Stevie? Yeah, it’s been a good day for sure.

“Sorry for the delay, guys; it’s been a busy night.” Chad drops off our drinks. “But I can’t complain. When you win, they come out in droves.”

“Guess we need to keep winning then,” Graham says, raising his glass in cheers.

“I’ll drink to that.”

I sip on the beer as the guys rehash the game. It’s something we always do together when we go out. We started doing it when we were losing as a way to try and figure out how to improve.

Now? It’s nice to see that we’re doing well.

Graham elbows me in the side as the guys keep talking. “How are things with Caleb going?”

“Great.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. “I love seeing his personality start to come through.”

“Think you’ve got a little hockey player on your hands?”

I shrug a shoulder. “Way too soon to tell. I’m just happy when he’s happy.”

“Such a dad thing to say.”

I point a finger at him. “Hey, just wait until you and Noah have kids. You’ll be just as sappy.”

“Not until we’ve done a few more things together,” Graham tells me.

“Do I even want to know?” I quirk a brow at him, taking another drink of my beer.

“I meant winning a cup together, you dick. Head out of the gutter.”

I throw my hands up. “Hey, you took it there, not me.”

“That’s a change for you,” he says.

“Dick.” I flip him off.

“Aww, are you two being mean to each other?” Noah goads.

“Just talking about when you two have kids,” I tell him.

“Not before we win a cup,” Noah says, rapping his knuckles on the table.

“Sounds good to me.” I laugh, looking around for our server. Based on the noise filtering back here, the bar is packed. “I’m going to go grab a water. Anyone need anything?”

Heads shake as I head into the packed main room of the bar. It’s wall-to-wall bodies. It makes me thankful we have our own space to relax after the game.

Squeezing my way through the people, I flag down one of the bartenders pulling beers.

“What can I get you, Bode?”

“Just a water.” I pull out my wallet and drop a twenty into the tip jar.

“Hey there.”

I drop my eyes to the brunette standing next to me. “Hi.”

“Bode, right?”

“Yeah.”

Based on how she’s looking at me, she knows exactly who I am.

“You want to get out of here? Go somewhere a bit quieter?”

“Can’t. Sorry.”

Had this been before Caleb came into my life, I might have taken her up on her offer. I am a completely different person than who I was before. I like who I am now. I feel more settled. More at peace.

Who would have thought?

“What, so you’re too good for me, but not for her?” she sneers.

“I’m sorry, what?”

What in the world is this woman talking about?

“You can date some rando, but now you have standards? She’s not even pretty. Bet she doesn’t know how to get you off.”

I take a deep breath before I go off on this woman. I’ve interacted with her for all of ten seconds. The last thing I need is to be in the press for being a jackass. Even if she crossed the line into classless conversation.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.”

She calls out after me, but I can’t hear a word she’s saying over the noise.

I make a point to never search for myself online. I don’t want to know what the outside world is saying about me.

But this? This I have to know. Especially if it affects Stevie.

I pull up the browser on the phone and type my name in the search bar.

There’s a grainy photo of Stevie and me at the laser tag place. Thank God it’s not from when we were apple picking. I don’t know what I would do if Caleb’s face was out there for the world to see.

Looking at the website—hockeybunnies.com—I can at least rest easy that it’s not on the main news channels. Only some blog.

“You okay?” Marcus asks when I walk back into the room.

“I’m good.” I drop some money onto the table for our drinks. “Listen, Gran called and Caleb is getting fussy, so I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

The lie slips out easily as I wave goodbye. After the encounter with that woman, I’m out of sorts, and now, all I want to do is get home to Stevie.

Thankfully, most of the game traffic has cleared out and it makes for a quick drive. It gives me just enough time to sort through my thoughts before I get home. I don’t want to worry Stevie about this when there’s nothing to worry about.

“Oh, well, if it isn’t Mr. Playmaker himself.” Stevie is waiting for me on the couch. I breathe a sigh of relief. Who knew one look at someone would settle all the intrusive thoughts going on inside?

“Where’s Gran? I thought she was watching Caleb tonight?” I ignore her comment. Fucking nickname.

“She went to bed. I told her I’d wait up for the player of the game.”

The house is quiet. It’s just her waiting to greet me. I flop down onto the couch next to her. She’s wearing an oversized Knights hoodie—mine—and a pair of skin-tight biking shorts.

“They didn’t pull out that ridiculous nickname again, did they?” I groan.

She nods, resting her hand on my chest and giving me a kiss. “I’m not going to lie, I like it. Mr. Playmaker.”

“Stop it.” I fist a hand in her shirt and pull her over onto my lap.

“Oh, I’d like to see these plays you’ve got.” She waggles her eyebrows at me. Her hair flows down over her shoulders. I want to wrap my fist around it and pound into her.

“Would you now?” I fire back at her. “I didn’t think you’d be impressed with them.”

She drags a finger down my chest. “You don’t need to do anything more to impress me. But…”

“Yes?” I drag my nose along her neck, inhaling that sweet scent of hers. One that I’ve found I’ve quickly become addicted to.

“Remember my secret talent?” Stevie asks. Her knees shift, brushing against the outside of my thigh.

“Secret talent?” I ask.

“You remember. I always win at board games.”

“That’s not a secret talent,” I tell her, bursting out into laughter. “It’s all luck.”

“Hey. It is. I’m great at board games.” She pokes at my chest. “And tonight, I am going to prove it to you.”

“Oh yeah?”

She nods. “We’re going to play a game of Sorry. No bets, because I don’t want you to lose after winning your game tonight.”

“Wow.” I shift her off my lap and we both stand. “You are really feeling yourself, aren’t you?”

Stevie walks backward, grabbing the game off the coffee table and heading toward the kitchen table.

“Yes. And I am going to prove to you just how good I am.”

Grabbing two waters from the fridge, I take a seat at the table and adjust the board so my four yellow pieces are in front of me. “Remind me how to play?”

Stevie gives me a cocky smile as she explains the rules. I could listen to her talk all day. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have this woman land on my doorstep, but I’m glad it was her and not anyone else.

“Think you got it?” Stevie asks.

“I got it.”

We start, and Stevie lets me go first. No luck getting out, but she does on her first draw.

Taking turns, she moves around the board, all of her pieces getting out while I have only one out.

“I don’t understand how you’re so good at this.”

Stevie sips her water. “Because I’m amazing at board games.”

“It’s all luck!” I tell her, throwing down a card that doesn’t let me move. “How are you so lucky?”

She waggles her eyebrows at me as she pulls her card to get another piece into the safe zone.

“Sorry. I’m just good.”

I give her a playful glare as I take my next turn, finally getting another piece out. Not that it’s going to do me any good at this point. Unless she draws every terrible card in the deck, I’m going to lose.

In Sorry.

A board game that Caleb could probably play. Well, maybe not Caleb…but still.

She moves another piece home and I move a few places up.

“It’s unfair that you’re almost home and I still have two pieces waiting to get out.”

She smirks at me and before she can tell me how good she is, I plant a kiss on her lips. Hopefully one to distract her.

Not good enough.

She shoves me away. “Nice try. I’m not losing.”

“Okay, Miss Playmaker.”

She winks at me. “I’ll take that nickname happily.”

“Of course you would.”

Stevie grabs another card and her last piece moves into home.

“Fuck. Are you serious?” I stare at the board. “I really don’t get how you’re so good.”

Leaning across the board, a big smile is spread across her face. “Do you want to play again?”

“Hell no.”

“Want to do something else?” The way she says it, that slight teasing, has my cock thickening in my sweats. Especially when she sips her water with a knowing look on her face.

“Like?” I lean over the board, dropping my hands on either side of her. Up close, I can see the tiny dark blue flecks in her eyes. The way they widen slightly at my nearness.

“I can make you feel better after losing.” Her breath ghosts my mouth.

“You can?” I hold her chin between my fingers.

She breaks the contact, standing up and kneeling between my legs.

“I can. Now, hands behind the chair.”

Holy fuck. I don’t know where this Stevie came from, but I do as commanded.

Because I can’t wait to see what she does.