27. Liam
TWENTY-SEVEN
LIAM
I can’t stop staring at Piper from across the club.
Haven’t been able to take my eyes off her since she walked in here with her short skirt and high boots. I swear the music stopped when she came through that door with her hair down her back and glitter on her chest and cheeks. The makeup catches in the strobe lights every few minutes and pulls my attention away from the conversations I’m trying to have.
“You good?” Hudson snaps his fingers in my face and I blink. I cut my gaze away from watching her on the dance floor, her arms above her head and her hips swaying to the music next to Lexi. “You’re staring off into space.”
“Sorry. Thought I recognized someone.” I sip my beer and wipe my mouth. “You’re not drinking?”
“Someone needs to get us to the wedding chapel and back to the hotel safely later,” he says over the thumping music, and I nod in agreement. “Sure as shit not going to rely on Everett or Richardson to find the way.”
“Would be a fun game, though. How’s it going with that girl from the gala? Alisha? Eliza?”
“Alyssa, but close. We broke up. She said I was being too clingy. When I backed off and gave her some space, she stopped returning my calls. Stopped wanting to hang out.” He shrugs, but I can tell he’s bummed and trying not to show it. “Wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
I lean in close so he can hear me when I say, “You’ll find her.”
“Thanks, man. I’m going to grab a water. You need anything?”
“Nah. I’m going to finish this then make a round.”
Hudson nods and turns for the bar, stopping briefly to apologize to a woman with long brown hair for running into her before disappearing in the throng of bodies. I don’t even get a second of reprieve, because Grant replaces him at my side.
“GK,” he slurs, way drunker than anyone else here. “Take a shot with meeee.”
“Can you even stand on two feet?”
“Pshhhhh. Who needs to stand when someone can carry me?” Grant holds up the handle of vodka he’s carrying and taps my chin. “Open up, big guy.”
I know the only way to get rid of him is to appease him, so I squat down. I pop open my mouth and swallow the absurdly generous pour Grant tips in my mouth. “This isn’t even the good stuff.”
“Maverick bought all the good stuff,” he yells before moving away to annoy another teammate. “Find him.”
I roll my eyes and scan the crowd, trying to locate my captain. I spot him at a table in the VIP section, Emmy and Piper flanking him on either side. She must be worn out from dancing. Finishing off my beer, I leave it on the end of the bar with a stack of other empties and head for them.
“There he is.” Maverick crawls over Emmy so he can hug me. “Get your ass over here. We’re doing a shot flight.”
“The fuck is a shot flight?”
“Shots of different kinds of alcohol.” Emmy lines up five glasses in a line. “You can’t say no. I’m the bride, and I want you to join.”
“Damn you, Emerson Hartwell.” I glance down at Piper. “Want to share the bench, Pipsqueak?”
“Sure.” She pats the spot next to her and I sit. My thigh presses against hers, but she doesn’t pull away. “Been wondering where you were.”
“Looking for me?” I ask in her ear over the noise, and she shrugs.
“Maybe.” Her eyes sparkle and she grabs two glasses, handing one to me. “To Liam. The NHL’s record holder for most saves in a game.”
I grumble at the toast and attention but knock the drink back with ease. “That’s the good shit.”
“Fantastic, right? Top of the line tequila. Smooth going down.” Maverick gestures for us to pick up the next drink like some alcohol-pushing salesman. “Now the vodka.”
“This one is for Maverick and Emmy,” Piper toasts. “To a lifetime of happiness.”
We go through the flight until I’ve had more shots in ten minutes than I’ve had in the last five years. I set the last glass down and lean back, the alcohol already settling in. I feel it in my blood. In the back of my head. At the edges of my vision where things just start to turn fuzzy.
It’s been ages since I’ve got drunk.
When I drink, I know when to stop. I know my limits and when I’m getting close to pushing past them. I can tell I’m already teetering into buzzed territory. Moving slowly to intoxicated, but tonight, I think I’m going to enjoy it.
“Didn’t know you were a lightweight.” Piper taps my knee. “Your cheeks are red.”
“You want to have a drinking contest, Mitchell?”
“What does the winner get?”
“What do you want?”
“You.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and grins. “How can we make that happen?”
I’m tempted to kiss her right here, right now.
Fuck a dark corner or my hotel room.
Emmy and Maverick are in their own world. I could tell them I was on fire and they wouldn’t even look at me, but Piper is.
I like having her attention on me.
I like knowing she’s watching.
I like that she scoots closer to me and drums her fingers on my thigh.
Fuck . She’s so pretty.
Has she always been this pretty?
I think she has. It’s why I’ve been looking at her for four years.
Because she’s so pretty.
Hell.
I’m drunker than I thought.
“Do you want to dance?”
“Do you know how to dance?” she asks.
I glance at the dance floor. There are hundreds of people, all moving in their own way. Some are jumping up and down. Some have their arms in the air. Some are swaying their hips.
Off the ice, I’m uncoordinated as hell. Can’t find a rhythm to save my life, but I’m not going to let that be the reason I don’t get to put my hands on her tonight.
“I’m sure I can figure it out,” I say, and I grab the bottle of tequila sitting in the middle of the table. “Want something else to drink before we head out there and I embarrass the shit out of us?”
“Probably for the best.” She takes the bottle from me and unscrews the cap. “But I don’t want to waste a glass.”
I lift an eyebrow. “What’s your plan here?”
“Open your mouth,” Piper says in some husky voice I haven’t heard from her before, and my mouth pops open. My dick twitches in my jeans. She stands and I rest my hand on her hip, steadying her. “Such a good boy, Liam.”
My skin burns as she drags her fingers down my jaw and across my beard. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this turned on outside the bedroom before, and I never knew I was into receiving praise.
I’m so hard, so on edge with wondering what she’s going to do, I can’t do anything but watch her with hungry eyes.
“You’re smart.” She rests the bottle against my lips and tips it up, filling my mouth with tequila. “How can you get the alcohol from your mouth into mine?”
I tug her toward me until she’s sitting in my lap. Until her skirt hikes up her thighs and I can touch bare skin. Keeping my eyes on her, I cup her chin and tilt her head back. She squirms and lets out a soft moan when I lean forward and tug on her bottom lip.
Her lips part and I grip the back of her head as I spit the tequila straight into her mouth.
“Swallow it,” I murmur when I can talk again. “Just like you did my cum.” Piper’s eyes flare with heat, staying on mine as her throat bobs and she sticks out her tongue, showing me an empty mouth. “Thatta girl.”
She slides off my lap and stands. I’m slow with my perusal of her. I look her up and down and notice her hard nipples and the flush on her cheeks. The way her skirt is slightly off center.
So pretty .
Piper holds out her hand and I take it, threading our fingers together and letting her tug me out of the booth. I was right—Maverick and Emmy don’t even look up as we walk away, the ground a little wobbly underneath me.
I expect her to lead me to the dance floor, but instead she heads for a secluded section of the club, away from my teammates and the loud bass. There, she leans against the wall, wraps her arms around my neck, and yanks me toward her.
“What were you saying about a lesson in exhibitionism?” she whispers, and I glance around, checking out our surroundings.
We’re hardly noticeable in the dark lighting, but something tells me she wishes we were front and center, and I’m going to play this out to give her what she wants.
“You still want that?” I run my fingers down her arms and lift them above her head, pinning them in place with one of my hands. “Or is that the alcohol talking?”
“You’re drunker than me,” she says, and I know she’s right.
I feel my inhibitions slipping away. My decision-making skills are going out the window, and I want to do this before I forget. Before I get to the point of no return.
I bend down and kiss her, taking her mouth with mine, and I feel her smile against my lips. She hums when I use my tongue, my teeth, when I run my free hand up her waist and stop on her ribs.
Maybe I’ve been too uptight in the past.
Maybe I should’ve let go a little bit more, but I’m glad I didn’t.
Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to have this, right here, right now, with her.
“Touch me, Liam,” she whispers, turning her head so I can kiss her neck. So I can run my tongue down her throat and get a view of her cleavage. “Please.”
I move my hand to the waistband of her skirt. Lower until I’m on her thigh then working up toward her hips. My fingers dip under the fabric, and when I get an inch higher, I find her bare, wet, and fucking ready for me.
“No underwear? Making out with me in the corner of a club where anyone can see me slip my fingers inside you? I’m starting to think you’re needy for me, Piper.” I nip at her ear and press two fingers inside her. “You are, aren’t you?”
“I am.” She groans and drops her head back. “Why has it never been like this before?”
“Because you weren’t with me. Because you were with someone who didn’t know jack shit about what you liked. How to get you off. I bet he didn’t know that when I do this—” I curl my fingers, smirking when she bites down on her lower lip to keep from yelling out my name. “It makes you want to beg. And when I do this —” I drop her wrists from my hold and move my other fingers to her clit, rubbing in the circle she likes. “You’re going to come all over my hand.”
“Liam,” she whines, eyes closing and chest heaving.
“Come on, Sunshine. You know you want to,” I say, and my words are slurred. I don’t know if it’s from the alcohol or her, but I don’t give a shit. “For me?”
Piper clenches around my fingers. The orgasm races through her so quickly, I barely have time to react. To pull out of her and hold her up so she doesn’t fall to the ground. I tuck her close to my chest, stroking her until a choked sound leaves her throat and tickles my ear.
“You…” she pants. “Are too good at that.”
“What would your exit survey say?” I kiss her forehead and brush the hair out of her face. She lifts her chin and looks at me with bloodshot eyes but a pleased smile. “Decent? Average?”
“Fine. It would say fine.”
“Guess I’ll have to take you to the bathroom and try again.” I fix her skirt. There might be two of her. Maybe I have two hands. “You okay?”
“I think I’m flying.”
“I think you’re drunk.”
“I think you’re pretty.” She touches my nose. “And I think I need another drink.”
“Who needs another drink?” Grant appears out of nowhere with a fresh handle of alcohol. “Don’t you worry, Lil P. I have the hookup. But drink fast. It’s almost wedding time!”
I groan and shove him away. “Fucking menace.”
Piper giggles and sways in place. “This is fun. Let’s go have some more fun, Sully. Do you want to have fun with me?”
Fuck being responsible.
It’s hard to want to do anything smart when she’s looking at me like that .
Satisfied. Happy. Really fucking beautiful.
My chest aches and I rub my hand over it.
“Lead the way,” I say, not knowing how the fuck the night can get any better.