CHAPTER NINE
That asshole, Luke fumed. That fucking asshole. Of course he’d showed up here. He was constantly pushing shit. Just like he had with the shop being open when they’d hooked up last week.
There was nothing Luke liked less than mixing his personal life and his private one and Sebastian had just torn through all that.
Luke wanted to turn around and unleash his rage on the dude but there was a little girl tightly holding two of his fingers and chattering away about how much she loved hockey. He tried to listen carefully and answer her questions, because it wasn’t her fault her uncle was a jackass.
When Harper’s hand tightened on his fingers and she fell silent, he glanced down to see her biting her lip as they approached the doors to the locker room. The doors were open, and he could see the team dressing in their uniforms for practice, laughing and talking loudly.
“Hey,” he said. “You want me to pick you up?”
She nodded.
He reached down and lifted her onto his hip. “You ready to meet the team now?”
“Yeah.”
The room erupted with noise as the guys came over and a moment later, Harper’s face was buried against his neck. Luke glanced over at Brie, who winced.
She stepped over and rubbed her daughter’s back. “She gets a little shy, sometimes.”
“Hey! Quiet down, you, uh, hooligans!” Luke called out. Shit, he’d almost sworn in front of the kid. He was out of practice. Connor’s kids were used to swearing so he never really worried about it with them.
To his surprise, everyone on the team went silent, retreating to sit in their stalls.
Harper lifted her head and wrinkled her nose. “They’re loud,” she whispered to him.
“They sure are,” Luke agreed with a sigh.
Willie, the Make a Wish Coordinator, had briefed the team about Harper and told them about her health condition. She had a large purplish-red mark that stretched across her cheek.
He hadn’t seen it when she’d worn a mask at the game but it was hard to miss now. He wondered if kids made fun of her for it, and winced. Hopefully not.
At least he knew the team wouldn’t be assholes about it.
“How about we meet them one at a time? Does that sound okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Luke started with Connor. “This is my captain. Connor O’Shea. He has two girls who are a little bit older than you, and a son who plays hockey. Connor, this is Harper Ross.”
Connor smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”
“What are their names?”
“My kids?” Connor’s smile widened.
“Yeah.”
“Well, the oldest is Nolan. He’s fifteen, then there’s Evie, who’s seven, and Maura who’s five. Do you wanna see pictures?”
“Uh-huh.”
Connor pulled out his phone and pulled up a few pictures.
“They’re so pretty,” Harper said, reaching out to touch the screen.
Connor smiled. “I think so. But I know Evie always wanted curly hair like yours.”
They talked for a few more moments before Luke moved onto the next guy. Luke carried her around the room, introducing her to the guys one by one. She especially liked when the guys showed off pictures of their families. Tom had a couple of kids around her age and so did two of the AHL guys.
Her face lit up when they got to Jesse. “Dancing goalie!”
“That’s me!” Jesse grinned at her and held out his hands. “Will you dance with me later?”
“Yes!” She took his hands and wriggled in Luke’s arms like she was ready to get started.
“Awesome!” Jesse seemed as happy about it as she did. “I can’t wait!”
Crawford moved onto the D-corps. Tanner looked ready to vibrate out his stall by the time they got to him.
“Hi, Harper! I’m Tanner. We’re gonna have so much fun today!” He was almost bouncing in his seat like it was physically hard to stay still.
She grinned. “You’re a D-man with Mr. Luke!”
“I sure am,” he said.
“He’s my favorite.” She leaned her head against Luke’s shoulder and let out a sigh.
Tanner made a face. “Oh no. You can do better than that. Like me!”
“I like him. He’s all big and growly like a bear.”
Luke tried to hide a smile.
Tanner shook his head and planted his hands on his hips. “Did he bribe you with candy to say that?”
Harper giggled. “Noooo.”
“Oh, well I’ll totally bribe you to say nice things about me if that’s cool with your mom.” He glanced over at Brie, who nodded. “Wanna go see our candy stash?”
Her eyes lit up. “Yes, please. Put me down, Mr. Luke.”
Luke chuckled and set her down while she trotted after Tanner to see the little drawered cubby by the door that held basic things like breath mints, gum, and candy for the players or coaches to grab.
The cameras followed.
Brie came over to Luke, looking up at him earnestly. “I just want to say thank you so much. You were great with her. She’s been through so much and she’s so friendly, but she has these shy moments occasionally and …”
“It’s no problem.”
“Well, I appreciate it.”
Brie was pretty. She looked … well, she and Sebastian looked a lot alike, actually. She had the same dark curls, dark eyes, and full lips, though she was at least a foot shorter than him.
Luke scowled, then felt bad when she shot him a weak smile and walked away, shoulders hunched and looking like she thought she’d done something wrong.
Shit. He wasn’t trying to be rude to her. He was just really fucking pissed her brother had shown up like this.
Speaking of …
He glanced over to see that Sebastian stood alone on the far side of the room, looking uncomfortable. Good. He fucking should.
Candy in hand, Harper was being shown to the stall they’d set up for her.
She didn’t have skates, because there had been medical concerns about her balance or something, but they had grippy winter boots in Harriers colors and hockey gloves and a custom helmet for her to wear.
Connor was showing her a stick and talking about how they were going to cut it down to just her size, and the cameras were all trained on them, so Luke took the opportunity to walk over to Sebastian.
“What the fuck?” he hissed. “If you think this is some kind of sick joke—”
“No,” Sebastian argued under his breath. “Fuck, no. Harper asked me to come.”
“I swear to God, if you’re lying …”
“I’m not.” Sebastian’s jaw clenched, even though he looked straight ahead. “And I fucking messaged you on the app to warn you—”
“We’re not talking about that here.”
“You fucking started it—”
“Yeah, no problem,” Luke said in a much louder tone. “I can show you where the restrooms are.”
He elbowed Sebastian in the ribs and turned on his heel.
Sebastian followed, but Luke was uncomfortably aware of his team, the staff, and cameras still behind them. He passed a few people in the hall who gave him a vaguely confused look but none of them said anything.
When they reached the small single-stall bathroom, Luke opened the door, glanced around to be sure the coast was clear, then shoved Sebastian inside. He clicked the dead bolt shut just as Sebastian opened his mouth. “What the fuck are you—”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked furiously, stalking toward Sebastian.
Frowning, he backed up until the backs of his thighs bumped the sink but he crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you. Harper invited me.”
“I thought kids usually took their parents. Where the fuck is her dad?”
“For one, you’re assuming a lot of shit. Women do have female partners and children without a man involved, you know?”
Luke glared.
“Second, Harper would have taken her dad, except he’s a fucking asshole who bailed on my sister and her kid because her illness was too much for him to handle,” Sebastian whispered furiously.
“Fuck!” Luke swore. What a scumbag. “Gimme his address. I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Believe me,” Sebastian said drily. “I’ve thought about it plenty of times.”
“So that’s the only reason you’re here?” Luke glared at him, stepping closer.
“I am here because Brie and Harper need more support than they’re getting. That’s it. No ulterior motive. This isn’t about you, so fuck off.”
Luke dragged in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
Anger still simmered in his gut, but he wasn’t sure if it was aimed at Sebastian or Harper’s dad. Because fuck that guy.
“Because if you showed up to get under my skin, or rile me up for—for other reasons …”
“Other reasons?” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Like sex? You can say it aloud, you know. You can admit you’re attracted to dudes. It doesn’t take away your tough-guy hockey cred.”
“I fucking know that,” Luke snapped, leaning forward to brace his hands on the sink and get in Sebastian’s face.
“This has nothing to do with that. This is my work. I don’t fucking mix personal shit with it.
Ever. Not with women either, okay? It’s not me being ashamed of who I hook up with.
I just don’t fucking mix them together. Not anymore. ”
The last part slipped out before he could stop it, and he clenched his teeth together. He didn’t talk about his past either. Getting involved with his WHL coach’s daughter had been a bad fucking choice.
“What does that mean?” Sebastian asked.
“Nothing.” Luke glanced down.
He’d nearly fucked up his career when his coach blamed him for his daughter leaving the state with his granddaughter in tow.
And maybe Luke hadn’t been as heartbroken about the breakup as he’d expected to be, but it wasn’t his fault that Autumn had decided they were done and she was off to find the next dude to play baby daddy.
But his coach didn’t want to hear that about his precious daughter and, well, Luke had been left holding the bag.
“You sure about that?” Sebastian asked softly.
Their gazes met and Luke looked away again, his gaze uneasily sliding across his own reflection in the mirror and noticing the way their bodies were pressed together.
Luke was suddenly aware of Sebastian’s cologne and the heat of his body. It fucked with his head, made his body react like it did when they were alone in Sebastian’s apartment.
His head suddenly whirled with memories of his cum clinging to Sebastian’s dark lashes, then sliding down his cheek.
He glanced at Sebastian before he could stop himself and saw Sebastian’s tongue dart out, licking his lips.
Luke was hit in the gut with another memory of him doing the same thing the last time they’d been together, only then, he’d been wanting to taste Luke’s cum. Luke had swiped it off his cheek and fed it to him, Sebastian sucking it from his fingers to get the last drop.
Now, Luke’s body churned with a dizzying mix of heat and need, adrenaline and fear.
“Stop staring at my mouth,” Sebastian whispered, but his hands were warm against Luke’s ribs.
Luke gripped the cold porcelain of the sink tighter, the rim of it digging into his fingers. “I’m not staring.”
Sebastian leaned in, his breath warm on Luke’s cheek, his voice a low, rough whisper. “Well, you fucking look like you want to kiss me.”
“No, I don’t,” Luke protested, though he wasn’t sure if that was true right now.
He didn’t kiss people he hooked up with anymore but … fuck. That mouth …
“You don’t like me,” Sebastian murmured. “But you want me. If I dropped to my knees right now and took out your cock, I bet you’d be hard. I bet you’d be aching for me. You’d fuck my face, and you’d come down my throat, and when you finished, you’d be tempted to taste yourself on my tongue.”
Luke shuddered but the sound of voices in the hallway outside the door made him back up and look away.
“It’s not happening,” he said shortly. “None of it is.”
“No, it’s not,” Sebastian agreed, still leaning against the sink, looking weirdly calm about the whole thing. “Because you don’t mix business with pleasure and I need to get back to my niece and my sister. But you’re going to think about it. And the next time we hook up …”
“What if there isn’t a next time?” Luke asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Sebastian smiled. “Nice try. But you can’t stay away, and we both know it.”