Page 37

TWENTY-SEVEN

Beck

I looked around the private VIP area of Musik, where most of my teammates, coaches, staff, and my family were all hanging out, and I raised my bourbon in the air.

“To the winners!” An eruption of applause came from the room, and once everyone quieted, I added, “And to one hell of a season that’s going to bring us straight to the playoffs and finals.

” I didn’t mention the Cup—we were too superstitious to say that word out loud.

But everything else was free rein. “And to the Jamesons …” I was well aware of where Jolie was sitting—a spot on the couch, mid-room, nestled up next to Ginger.

With a smile already on my face, I connected eyes with her.

“I’m speaking for the whole team when I say you guys are doing a hell of a job and we’re grateful to have you as owners. ”

Jolie gave me a grin and quickly turned toward the rest of the team, holding her glass high in the air. “To an incredible season, and may we end up on the very top.” She laughed.

In response, everyone hollered and clapped and cheered, “To the very top!”

I took a drink and turned toward Walker, who had moved in next to me. “Glad you came, buddy.”

He clinked his glass against mine. “Fuck, that was a good game. You played well. And that assist? Shit, I thought you were going to take that goal all for yourself.”

“I would have if I could, but the goalie was all over me, blocking me hard. I knew if I could fake him out, my right wing could get the puck in the net. Just like he did.” The bourbon was going down easy, the burn a refreshing feel after the beating my muscles had taken tonight.

Practice made me sore, and game play made me ache something fierce.

“Overall, the game was a solid start to the season. We play Florida at home next, and they’re going to be tougher than Montreal. Then we hit the road for ten days.”

“Your first away game will be Vegas?”

I nodded. “And we’ll be there for three nights.”

“Three fucking nights in Sin City?” His head fell back as he laughed. “What the hell are you going to do with all that time off?” He waited for me to respond and then said, “You know, trouble is easily found in Vegas. And if I know you, you’re bound to find some.”

“Nah, man, I’m going to be good.” I glanced toward Jolie. My backup goalie was sitting on the table in front of the two women, talking to them. Far too fucking close for my liking. “Pool time, lots of relaxation. I’m going to eat at Charred. And I’m going to sleep. I’m not going out.”

His brows rose as he smiled. “Isn’t she traveling with the team?”

The emphasis wasn’t missed.

I nodded. “She’ll be at every game, staying in our hotel, attending each team meal.”

“Jesus.”

“I know.”

His green eyes moved in the direction of where Jolie was sitting. “Which one is she? Wait, she’s the redhead, right?”

“You didn’t meet her?”

Eden, Hart, and Colson had come into the locker room before the game, and I introduced them to Jolie, who was in there with her father.

Walker didn’t come until after the game started since Charred had some large parties tonight and it was hard for him to get away.

I just assumed at some point, maybe in the locker room after our win, they’d been introduced.

“I know the others did,” he said. “But we haven’t crossed paths yet.” He stayed looking at her. “You know, she might just be the trouble I was referring to.”

“Tell me something I don’t fucking know.”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “Any breakthrough?”

I huffed, “No. I mean, nothing concrete. There’s no question she wants to fuck me. You should see the way she looks at me.”

His stare left mine for a moment, and when it returned, he said, “Oh, I’m seeing that right now.”

I didn’t glance at her since I didn’t want her to know we were talking about her and continued, “But anything beyond that, there’s been nothing. I have no idea where her head is at. Aside from thinking it’s all a bad idea.”

“She’s right. It probably is.”

I went to take a sip and stopped midair. “What would make you say that?”

“Can you honestly say to me that she’s the one ?

If that’s where your head is at, then it’s the best idea you’ve ever come up with.

If she’s just going to be someone you’re with for a little while and get bored with, then don’t mess with that, brother.

There’s far too much overlap between your professional and personal life, and you don’t need that kind of drama. ”

I finally took a drink. “You do know how long this has been going on for, don’t you?”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“But it should.”

I gazed toward the couch, and she was talking to my right wing, the one who had scored tonight’s final goal. The way he was staring, the way he was so engaged—it was like she was a puck, and he was fucking mesmerized. I didn’t like it. Not at all.

“When have I ever spoken to anyone for any length of time? When have I ever made the effort to reconnect with someone I hooked up with on the road? I invited her to Paris, Walker. And Africa—at least I attempted to. Have you ever known me to do that?”

“You’ve been able to have anyone you ever wanted. Except her. But what happens when you get her—saying you do? Will you still want her? Or will she become something you’ve conquered and you’ll want to move on?”

“Fuck yes, I’ll still want her.”

“And how do you know that?” At some point, his hand had lifted off my shoulder, and his arm was now crossed over his chest, the other holding his drink near his collarbone. “And how are you so sure?”

“That’s easy.” I felt my lips drag into a smile.

“Yeah?”

She was now speaking to Ginger, the two of them whispering about something.

“I think about her as much as I think about hockey.”

Walker let out a mouthful of air, slowly shaking his head back and forth. “Hockey’s your one true love.”

“And now it has competition.”

His head went from shaking to nodding. “That’s some deep shit right there.”

“Does that answer all your questions?”

“Sure does.”

Since the filming in the team’s gym, the teasing between us had been amplified.

We seemed to arrive at the arena at the same time every morning, and I had to endure the torture of sharing an elevator with her.

Every time I met with her father, I was somehow passing her in the executive hallway.

Whenever I left practice, she and her team were always needing something from me—an interview, a photo, an extra skate around the ice for the team’s social media channels.

And every time, I wanted more—more of her attention, more of her eyes on me, more of her words—and I couldn’t get any of it.

But I was going to change that right now.

Jolie was leaving the couch area and walking to the hallway that led to the restrooms.

I handed Walker my drink and gripped his shoulder, leaning in to whisper, “I’ve got something I need to do. I’ll be back.”

“It’d better be her.”

“Do you think I’d give up my cocktail for just anyone?”

He laughed. “That’s my man.”

The ladies’ restroom in the VIP area had two stalls, which meant there was a good chance Jolie wasn’t in there alone.

With the men’s restroom directly next door, it didn’t look suspicious for me to be headed there.

But rather than going all the way down the hallway, I stopped halfway where the manager’s office was located and hit the numbers on the pad to unlock the door.

I went inside, keeping the light off, and I held the door open just wide enough to see who was coming down the hallway.

The sound of Jolie’s heels was the first sign of her; the scent of her was the second.

Once I made sure she was alone, that no one else had entered the hallway from either side, I waited until she was within reach, and I slipped my arm around her.

She gasped, “What the fuck?” as I pulled her into the office.

I immediately flicked on the light so she knew it was me.

“What in the hell?!” She banged her fist against my chest.

I laughed.

“It’s not funny, Beck. You just scared the shit out of me. I swear, I just lost ten years of my life.”

My hand went to the door, directly above her head, where she stood. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just need to be alone with you.”

She scanned my eyes. “What are you doing?”

I had her right where I wanted her. And, fuck me, she looked gorgeous, wearing a tight black skirt that went all the way to her ankles and a shirt that ended above her waist, giving just the tiniest peek of her navel.

“In here, there’s no phone that can ring and interrupt us.

There’s no camera crew that’s about to walk in.

We’re alone, unlike most of the elevator rides we’ve recently taken together.

” My hand moved higher on the door, and I leaned toward her.

“So, the only person who can stop this from happening is you.”

She looked so small and petite against the entrance, her hair spread out like she was lying on my pillow. “Stop what from happening?”

“What I’ve been dreaming about doing for fucking weeks.” My other hand went to her side, and my face dipped into her neck. I hesitated for just a second, listening to her breathe before I kissed the soft skin below her ear. “I fucking need you, Jolie?—”

“I can’t.” Her hand went to my chest again. It didn’t push—it was flat—but there was strength in her fingers.

“Can’t?” I kissed lower, toward the base of her neck.

“Yes, can’t. You … have to stop.”

I pulled my face out and looked at her, my hand dropping into the air. “You want me to … stop?”

She said nothing.

“Jolie, what the fuck is going on? We’ve been at this game for weeks. You want me to flirt with you, and you flirt back. You never stop looking at me. I feel your eyes on me at practice, in the gym, anytime I’m around you—even tonight at this club. And suddenly, you don’t want me?”

There was emotion in her eyes. She was fighting it. I could see it.

“It’s my dad.”

“He knows?”

Her head shook against the door. “No. But he said something to me while we were watching the game in our box.”

“What the hell did he say?”

She rubbed her lips together, the whites of her eyes turning red. “He said, ‘I want you to always maintain a professional front, especially with the position you have.’”

“And you think that applied to us?”

“I think that applies to everything, including us.”

My fucking blood pressure was skyrocketing.

“Are you telling me your father is the only thing that’s stopping you from being with me?” My hand, pressed against the wooden door, balled into a fist. “That if your father knew about us and he approved, you would be mine?”

“Yes.”

The anger was wrapping its way around my fucking throat, and I turned around and went deeper into the office.

I couldn’t believe this.

I couldn’t fucking understand it.

I didn’t care if?—

“I want to be yours.”

My feet halted at the sound of her words. My heart stopped throbbing.

I backtracked and faced her. “What?”

“I care about you, Beck. I think about you nonstop. God, I even dream about you.” She held her chest, her fingers shaking.

“The whole reason you brought me in here is because you know I’m positively wild about the wildest one.

” She gave me a soft smile. “But my entire life, I’ve wanted nothing more than to work for my father and make him proud.

To one day take over his company.” She banged her head against the door, and when she did it again, I realized it was on purpose.

“How can I do this to him? How can I disappoint him this way?”

I gripped both sides of my head. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing right now.”

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The hardest thing I’ll ever do.”

“What is?”

Her eyes were completely filled, and the first tear dripped. I went to step closer so I could wipe it from her face, and she said, “Walking away from you.”

Then the door opened, and she was gone.