A Game Of Love (A Forbidden Game #2)

Chapter 8

Bishop

“You have to go.” Lilly giggles. I brush my lips against the curve of her jaw, making her shiver.

My hands grip her waist, pulling her closer, tightening my grip. I don’t want to go. I want to stay here, with her in my arms. The sweet smell of her coconut shampoo, the taste of her minty lips... I’d much rather be with my girlfriend than out on the ice with a bunch of sweaty men.

“Five more minutes,” I grumble, pressing soft kisses to her throat.

She sighs, leaning into my touch and I grin. She doesn’t want me to leave. So, I’m staying.

“Tell that to the coach when you miss practice,” she protests. I don’t like how she tries to push herself out of my hold.

“It’s just one practice; they will survive without me.” I bring my lips down to hers, needing more of her taste.

She moans, kissing me back for a moment before finding the willpower I don’t seem to possess when it comes to her.

“You have a game this weekend. You can not afford to lose any practice time. I’ll be right in the stands watching—perks of being the coach's daughter.”

Normally, practices are closed to the public, but with Lilly’s dad being the coach, she and Bee have always been the exception.

I wonder if that’s still gonna be the case, seeing how three players from the team will very much be distracted by their presence.

I’m not going to bring attention to it by asking. I want my girl there with me.

“Well, you're the coach's daughter, so you can ask him pretty please for forgiveness if I miss practice." I grin down at her as I brush my thumb against her kiss-swollen lips.

Her lids lower, throat bobbing as she swallows. She’s considering it. I grin wider, knowing I just might be getting my way.

“Not happening, Grant!” a voice causes me to jump. “Move your ass.”

Next thing I know, I’m being dragged away towards the locker room by none other than the coach himself.

“Hey! I need to say goodbye to my girl,” I protest, shooting him a glare.

“Fuck’s sake,” Jax mutters. “You're gonna see her in a few hours. You're acting like a love-sick fool.”

Lilly’s giggle has my attention turning back to her. She watches, a big grin on her face that she tries to hide as she waves goodbye.

I sigh dreamily. “So what?” I tell him. “I am a love-sick fool. Have you seen her?”

“My daughter?” Jax shoots me a cocked brow. “Yes. I have. And as adorable as your love for her is, put a pin in it, or I’ll ban her from practices."

That shuts me up.

“Thought so.” He chuckles as he pushes me towards the door. “Now, go suit up. Be on the ice in ten with the rest of the team, or I’m going to make you stay and do fifty laps around the rink.”

“Damn, Coach. I thought you liked me,” I grumble, shooting him a look over my shoulder as I push the locker room door open.

“I’d like you better if you got your ass on the damn ice,” he shoots back, taking off down the hall.

My gaze flicks back over to Lilly. She’s still standing there, an amused look on her gorgeous face. Fuck, she’s beautiful. I can’t believe she’s mine.

Grinning, I wink at her before blowing her a kiss.

She surprises me by laughing, reaching out, and grabbing at the air.

Why have I never had a girlfriend before? It’s amazing. It’s the best.

Probably because none of them would have been Lilly. I don’t want to experience any of it without her.

I almost fall over when the door gets yanked fully open. “Are you done?” I’m met with a very unamused Toby.

“Well, someone looks all chipper on this fine day,” I chuckle. He just continues to glare at me. “Look, I wanted a kiss from my girl, sue me.”

“I would if I had grounds to,” Toby mutters, his eyes drifting over to Lilly.

There’s this look of longing on his grumpy face. It’s kind of pathetic if you ask me. The man is clearly consumed by her, just like I am.

Looking over at Lilly, I wave my hand in a beckoning gesture. Her brows pinch as she hesitates for a moment before making her way over.

“What are you doing?” Toby asks before I grab his arm and yank him out of the locker room.

Grabbing Lilly’s wrist, I pull her and Toby into a dark corner.

“There,” I say, pushing the two of them together. “Have your moment like I know you're both dying to. I’ll see you on the ice,” I tell Toby before turning around and heading into the locker room.

They’re both so damn cute, acting like nervous love-struck teenagers. Is it weird that I’m helping my girlfriend have alone time with another man?

Maybe it would be if it was anyone else but Toby. But he’s my best friend, and he was in her heart first. The sooner we can get over this weird bump between us, mostly between Toby and me, the better.

Not going to lie, I miss my best friend. I hate that he’s pissed off at me. But I’m not going to let it get to me. I’m gonna show him why we’re best friends in the first place.

And hopefully show him that this relationship between the three of us doesn’t have to be weird or complicated. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things work. I just hope he is, too, for Lilly’s sake.

The room is filled with laughs and banter as I make my way over to my locker.

“Hey,” Tony shouts. “It’s Grant.”

“Hey.” I nod, shooting him a grin before going back to changing.

“Is it true?” he asks, coming to stand next to me.

“Is what true?” I ask.

“That you're dating the coach’s daughter?” Ricky asks.

“Yeah. So?” I raise a brow before turning back to my locker. Grabbing the hem of my shirt, I pull it off over my head and toss it into the locker.

“No fucking way,” Travis laughs in amusement. “How the hell did that happen?”

“You're all acting like it’s a big deal. Lilly and I have been friends since we were kids. I’ve always had a thing for her.”

“Because it is a big deal. Dude, it’s the coach's daughter,” Tony stresses. “He’s going to kill you.”

“No, he's not. Because they already know. I’m a friend of the family. They’re fine with it. Relax,” I mutter.

“Damn,” Ricky huffs. “If it was any of us, he would have kicked our asses.”

“Yeah.” I snort out a laugh, shucking my pants. “Because you’re all dogs, that's why. I wouldn't want you dating my daughter either.”

Travis snorts. “Like you're one to talk. You're the biggest manwhore of us all,” he laughs.

I shoot him a glare, anger rising within me. I know my past. I’m not proud of it, and I don’t need to be consistently reminded of it. Especially in front of Lilly.

I saw the look in her eyes this morning. While the idea of my girl being jealous is hot, I don’t want her to have any concerns when it comes to us. Those girls are my past. She’s my present and future. My everything.

I don’t want her to have any doubt when it comes to my feelings and loyalty to her.

“That's in the past,” I snap, angrily shoving my uniform on.

“The girls aren’t going to be happy about this,” Tony points out.

“Feral, pissed off, and jealous puck bunnies are what nightmares are made of.” Travis shivers. “Your girl should be worried.”

That has me pausing. “Why?”

Ricky chuckles. “Are you for real? Dude, those girls have been pawing at you and Toby for years now. They want you bad.”

“They knew that it was just sex,” I grunt, taking a seat on the bench.

“Yeah, sure, they agree to that because they will say anything to get us into bed. But what they really want is to be our girlfriends, for something more. Remember when Lucas made things official with Rachel last year? That poor girl was hounded for months until they moved on and focused on someone else.”

Lucas was the team captain last year and graduated. I do remember what they were talking about. I also remember telling Toby the girls were fucking crazy. Rachel was a sweet girl, nothing like the puck bunnies. They saw her as a threat because she got something they wanted and made sure she knew it. It’s not like they physically touched her or anything, but I do remember one time Lucas came into practice pissed because Rachel was crying over some things the girls were saying about her. It pissed him off, and even though he tried saying something, he was too nice about it.

If it was me—woman or not—I’d tell them to fuck off. I might not put my hands on a woman, but I have no issues in using some choice words if they fuck with my girl.

“They would be stupid to fuck with her. Because if they do, they have to deal with me, her dads, and my sister,” I snort. “Bee isn’t afraid to hold back on anything.”

“And me,” Jonas pipes up, coming around the corner. “And you're right, Bee would kick their asses.” He chuckles. “She scares me.”

“She scares all of us,” Travis snorts. “But damn, that girl is fine. Is she single?”

Both Jonas and I growl out, “No.”

“Keep your eyes off Bee,” Jonas snarls. “If you want to keep them in your head.”

“Damn, Walker. You're acting like she’s yours,” Travis mutters.

“She is.” Again, Jonas and I answer at the same time. I’m surprised by my words. Jonas’ brows raise as he shoots me a grin.

“Fuck off,” I mutter. “You hurt her, you're dead.”

“I’d rather be dead than hurt her,” he says honestly, and damn it, I don’t think I can keep up this asshole big brother thing much longer. I’m going to have to accept that my baby sister has a boyfriend.

At least it’s a good man. I like Jonas. He has a good head on his shoulders. He’s loyal to both Lilly and Bee. He’s never been seen messing around with women. If anything, I think the guy is a virgin and hasn’t actually dated anyone other than Lilly. Even then, from what Lilly said, it wasn’t really dating.

“This is weird,” Travis comments. “He’s dating your sister; how are you not murdering him right now? You practically ripped Danny’s head off a few weeks ago for thinking of asking her out. But he gets a free pass?”

“He’s been Bee’s friend since they were in elementary school. And he’s a good guy. Danny has fucked half the school. Men and women. So yeah, there’s no way in hell I want him anywhere near my sister.”

The door to the locker room opens and in walks Toby. He looks to be in a good mood.

See, I’m a good friend. Seeing his woman helped.

That is until everyone turns to look at him, and his face morphs into a frown.

“Does Toby know?” Travis asks, sounding amused.

“Know what?” Toby frowns, looking between the two of us.

“No way he knows. Toby would kick his ass. He’s so damn protective over Lilly, it’s not even funny. Highly doubt even his best friend would get a pass.”

“What are you going on about?”

“Nothing,” I mutter, shooting the guys a glare, silently telling them to keep their mouths shut.

They don’t need to know Toby knows, and I don’t want them hounding him about it, getting him going, and giving him a reason to actually kick my ass.

Turning away, they all head back to their own lockers.

Letting out a breath, I finish tying up my skates. Toby goes to his locker that's next to mine.

“Everything okay?” I ask him over my shoulder.

He says nothing as he gets dressed.

“You can’t stay mad at me forever,” I sigh.

This morning, when we ran into one another, he didn’t tell me to get fucked the moment he saw me, but he didn’t talk to me.

Didn’t stop me from trying to act like nothing has happened. I might feel bad about how everything went down, but being with Lilly isn’t wrong. I won’t feel bad about my feelings for her or my relationship with her. Best friend or not.

He’s acting like I stole his girlfriend, and he damn well knows that’s not true.

I hate it. I miss my best friend. I just hope it doesn’t take him long to get over all of this. I understand his mind works differently than most. I’ve known that since we were kids.

You would think someone who grew up in a polyamorous home would be more open to Lilly wanting more than one partner. But then again, this is Toby. He’s an overbearing, overprotective, jealous man when it comes to her. I’m not surprised by how he’s handling this at all.

Scratch that, I am. I thought he would have taken it way worse, so I do have to give it to him for not flying off the handle like we all thought he would.

Coming out of the locker room and onto the rink, my eyes immediately search for Lilly. She grins at me, waving from her spot in the bleachers, sitting next to my sister.

I grin and wave back before the coach blows the whistle, gaining all of our attention.

“Listen up!” he shouts. “I got an announcement. Some good and bad news.”

That has my ears perking up.

“Good news is, after a lot of talking with the committee, I’m happy to say... we are back on the roster for Friday.”

The team starts cheering; a few shout fuck yes as laughter and happiness fill the air around us.

“What's the bad news coach?” Jonas asks.

Jax lets out a heavy sigh, turning his attention to Toby. “They agreed, only if you were to sit out for the next three games.”

Toby’s eyes grow dark, jaw tight. He’s got his gloves on, but I don’t doubt that his fists are clenched.

“I’m sorry. I tried, but they wouldn’t budge. They think you need longer punishment for acting the way you did.”

“It’s fine,” he grinds out, sounding anything but.

“That means, Walker.” Jax turns to look at Jonas. “You're filling in.”

Jonas’ head snaps over to Toby, pure panic on his face. He doesn’t want to upset Toby, but Jonas is our backup goalie, and he’s going to be taking Toby’s place next year. This is literally his job.

“It’s fine,” Toby mutters, even though the scowl on his face says it’s not.

Coach blows his whistle, letting us know it’s time to start our warm-up exercises.

Practice is brutal. And even though we’ve been keeping up with our normal practice schedule when we weren't allowed to play any games, today was a lot more intense.

Coach worked us extra hard to whip us back into shape before the weekend.

“I can’t feel my legs,” Travis whines as we strip down after practice.

“Same.” Jonas groans. “I’m not used to that.”

Ignoring them, I quickly get changed and shower before rushing out to see the one person who’s been on my mind throughout practice.

When I see Lilly waiting outside the locker room, a massive grin takes over my face.

“Hey, il mio cuore ,” I murmur, pulling her into my arms.

“Hi,” she whispers softly, a smile on her lips as she lets me press mine against them.

She sighs, leaning into me, and my body is on fire. “Come over for supper tomorrow,” I tell her when I break the kiss.

“Over where?” she asks, sounding confused.

“To my mom’s place.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?”

“She’s been hounding me to come home. It’s been a while since I’ve visited," I admit sheepishly. “And I know she would love to see you. She asks about you all the time.”

“Okay.” She laughs. “Yeah, I’ll come over.”

“Really?” I grin. “Can I cook for you?”

Her cheeks grow red. “You want to?”

“More than anything.” I laugh. “Okay, you’re right. I’d much rather do a few other things for you.” I lower my voice, bringing my face closer to hers. “Like make you moan my name as you cum around my tongue like you did the other day.”

“Bishop!” she hisses.

Chuckling, I pull back to look at her now-beat-red face. “Sorry, baby, but it’s true."

“You're a dog,” she grumbles, rolling her eyes

“Woof.” I raise a brow.

She bursts into laughter, and God, I love that sound.

“What's so funny?” Bee asks, coming to join us, Jonas trailing behind her like the love sick puppy he is. “You're laughing at my brother's face? It’s okay; I would, too.”

“Oh, fuck off,” I retort, flipping my sister off. She just laughs.

“No,” Lilly laughs. “He invited me to supper at your mom’s place tomorrow.”

Bee swings a shit-eating grin my way. “Oh, I’m so coming too.”

“No, you're not,” I growl, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Fuck yeah, I am. I’m not missing this.”

“Should I be worried?" Lilly asks slowly, looking between the two of us.