11. Gideon #2
Had the pointless patio heaters suddenly been cranked on?
Sweat pricked my forehead, and my face burned like my skin was going to melt off.
A balled fist sat on my thigh. I stole another glance at the court, this one less obvious.
Past the kids, past the Myers sisters, Piper and a woman with black hair were on the court opposite a couple of older men.
Piper tossed the ball into the air and, with perfect serving form, smashed it past the two men into the rear fence.
Riley chuckled and spoke under his breath. “She thinks she’s playing tennis.” Then, a little louder, “Maybe I should go show her how to serve.”
The burning sensation intensified. Up until that moment, Piper and I had existed in our own little world.
One where we rescued kittens and got naked in my pool.
Out here, in the wild, the realization that other men were checking her out settled into my guts like a bad egg salad sandwich. I felt… possessive.
“Maybe you should stop objectifying women,” I growled. “You are the reason hockey players have a bad name.” Everyone turned to me, brows furrowed like I’d just spoken a foreign language. “Not you, Jameson,” I clarified.
The big forward shrugged. “Bailey’s right. There’s more to the perfect woman than what you can see with your eyes.”
“Chill out, dude.” Owens held up his hands. “There’s nothing wrong with appreciating a woman who takes care of herself.”
I hated to admit that he had a point. The first time I’d driven up behind Piper, I hadn’t been able to tear my eyes away from her power walking ass. “What Jameson is trying to say is you sound like chauvinistic assholes. Fine, so we all think it, but keep the comments to yourself.”
“Or save ’em for the locker room.” Jameson looked around and lowered his voice. “In this day and age, the last thing the team needs is for someone to hear us objectifying women.”
“Fair enough. What time is pre-game skate tomorrow?” Owens changed the subject.
In the background, a cacophony of giggles erupted from the cougar table.
“Nine.” Jameson finished his beer. “I’ll see you there. I’m going to head out before one of their husbands shows up.” He jutted his chin toward the table of women. As he stood to leave, Sarah rushed to the table.
“Can I get you guys anything else?”
I finished my beer. “I think we’re done.”
Owens reached to put his hand on Sarah’s tanned forearm. “Hold on a second. How about another pitcher, Riles?”
“I’m game.” Riley smiled and cast a glance at the courts. “The scenery is too good to leave right now.”
My fists balled again, but what could I do? Piper wasn’t mine. Sure, I could stop Riles from getting to her, but the dating pool was filled with guys like him. Guys who would lie, use her, ghost her, and talk about her in the dressing room. I couldn’t protect her from all of them.
If I could, I would make sure that no man, especially a hockey player, would ever hurt her.
My stomach dropped. What was happening to me? Piper made damn sure that this wasn’t and never would be my role.
“Are you going to stay, Giddy?” Riley pointed to my empty mug.
My mind raced. I needed to get home to meet Ace and Goldie. But… Piper. Could I stay and make sure that Riles didn’t approach her? I shook my head. Piper was a grown woman, and I wasn’t a stalker.
Tomorrow’s game was important. It needed one hundred percent of my focus. “I’m going to go. I want to be fresh for the morning skate.”
Was I making a mistake? Like me, Piper was free to do whatever she wanted. So why did I feel like the pints of beer were going to make a vomitus exit?
Closing my eyes, I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair and tried to think about something, anything else, other than Piper’s tennis outfit.
The way her perfect nipples pressed against the insanely tight shirt.
That imagery, combined with endless replays of her perfectly executed tennis serve, was totally doing it for me.
Every damn time my eyes blinked shut, the pink top flashed in my mind, and my cock pulsed accordingly.
He had witnessed the perfection that lay underneath that pink shirt and wanted to see it again.
I did too, but unlike the throbbing member between my legs, I had a brain and had promised her that it would be a onetime thing.
That promise didn’t mean I couldn’t think about her while I jerked off.
Thankfully, that was one thing my brain and my dick agreed on.
Water beat down on my face, and I grabbed my veiny cock in my fist. I rested my free hand on the marble tile and adjusted my grip accordingly.
Piper was tight. While I stroked, I tried to remember what she sounded like when she screamed my name.
“Oh fuck.” My voice was guttural. Water dripped into my open mouth as my breathing came harder and faster. When I closed my eyes the next time, Piper was there, looking over her shoulder at me, biting her lip, arching her back… and dinging at me?
I paused, the erection in my grip poised to explode. The dinging was my doorbell.
“Fuck it.” Ace would have to wait. I closed my eyes, and this time, the pink shirt was in a pile on the floor, and Piper was kneeling in front of me, her hands squeezing my ass as she…
Ding dong, ding dong. Ding… My eyes snapped open. “Goddamn you, Ace.” I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist. The doorbell continued to ring nonstop. There was only one annoying asshole in the world who would jab at the button to the tune of “Dirty Deeds.”
C.C. was already at the door, his ears pressed back in annoyance. “I’m coming,” I shouted and whipped the door open.
“Nice outfit.” Ace grinned. Goldie averted her eyes. “Are we interrupting something?” He stood on his toes to peer over my shoulder.
In an attempt to conceal the tent pole action in the terry cloth south of my waist, I stepped behind the door. “I was in the shower. Come in and make yourself at home. I’m going to get dressed.”
The second she stepped inside, Goldie squealed and dropped to a squat. “Is this your kitten?”
Biting my lip, I cast a glance at my smart-aleck brother, knowing that a wisecrack was coming. “No, that’s his new alligator.”
“Stop it.” Goldie swatted at Ace but missed. “What’s his name again?”
“CC.” I was halfway up the stairs, my hard-on fading but still bulging out of the towel. “I’ll be down in a minute. Help yourself to drinks in the fridge.”
“Take your time, Romeo.” Ace pumped his eyebrows and made a jerk-off motion with his hand. Luckily, Goldie was occupied with CC. I responded by giving him the finger. We were in our twenties but, like most brothers, reverted to the teenage versions of ourselves when we got together.
When I came down, dressed and completely decent, Goldie and Ace were sitting in the lanai. A blast of cold water in the shower had taken care of the dick situation, and as long as I didn’t think about Piper in pink, I was going to be okay.
“Nice to see you, sis.” I opened my arms and gave Goldie a huge hug.
“It’s been too long.” She squeezed me back.
“It’s only been a few months.” Goldie was a lot more sentimental than me.
“Yeah, like I said, too long.” She smiled. “You should buy a cottage in Laketown. Miami is way too far from Toronto.”
The two of them had been trying to get me to buy a place on Lake Casper, in Laketown.
The area had too much of a Hamptons vibe for me.
Celebrities and sports stars flocked there for the fancy restaurants, exclusive golf courses, and overpriced boutiques.
It wasn’t exactly my “scene.” “Maybe,” I replied.
“But why would I buy a place there when I can just stay in your boathouse?”
“Still the same cheap bastard.” Ace leaned back in his chair, took off his Tigers hat, and wiped his brow. “How do you handle this heat?”
“See that hole in the ground filled with water? I usually just jump in there.”
“Good call.” Ace leaped to his feet, took off his shirt, and did a front flip into the pool. Both Goldie and CC hopped back to avoid the splash. “Come on, babe, hop in.” Ace tried to splash Goldie, but she scooped CC into her arms and stepped out of the danger zone.
She stroked the top of the cat’s head. “I’m not finished cuddling this guy yet.”
“Don’t get any ideas.” Ace got out of the pool and kissed Goldie on the cheek. “You know I’m not a cat guy.”
Goldie rubbed CC’s ears between her fingers and set him on the ground. He bounded to me and wound between my legs, purring loudly as he rubbed his face on my ankles.
“That’s what I said too.” I picked up CC and took a seat next to Goldie. “I hate cats, but I like this one.”
“One day, we will live in the country and have a whole pack of Mortons and maybe a few cats?” Goldie took a sip of her sparkling water.
“In the barn,” Ace said. He turned his attention to me. “Do you remember that gray barn cat we had that was missing an ear?”
“Vannie.” I smiled. “He was a tough old guy. Great mouser.”
“As in Van Gogh?” Goldie asked.
“Most people don’t pick up on that.” Goldie was smart. She had a master’s degree and for some reason was still interested in my dumbass brother. It was a phenomenon I chalked up to yin and yang.
I passed CC to Goldie and grabbed a sparkling water from the bar fridge for myself.
“What?” Ace twisted off the cap of his beer. “That’s why his name was Vannie? I thought it was because we found him in that rusted-out Volkswagen in the field.”
“Case in point,” I laughed.
Ace pretended to be offended and flicked his bottle cap at me. It deflected off my forearm into the flower garden. “Better watch what you start, little brother.” I rubbed the slightly red spot on my arm.
Ace gulped down his beer and grabbed another from the fridge. He held up two bottles. “Beer?”
Both Goldie and I shook our heads. “I’m good,” I said. Condensation pooled on the table beneath my can of water. “I’m done for the day. We have a game tomorrow, remember?”
Ace laughed. “I could drink a suitcase of these, have a hangover from hell, and still outskate you—and that left winger, what’s his name?” Ace snapped his fingers.
“Mitch Jameson.”
“That’s it.” He pointed at me. “What’s he like? He seems like kind of a d-bag.”
“He’s a strong player.” My desire to defend Jameson was strong; the camaraderie plan must have been working. “He’s also a really good dude. Dedicated to the game and his wife.”
“I hate him already.” Ace stretched his arms over his head and let one drop over Goldie’s shoulder. “I can see why you like him though. He sounds as dull as pond hockey skates.”
Goldie elbowed Ace. “Enough hockey talk. Gideon. You look great. You’ve got a beautiful house.
You live in a place where you can drive with the top down year-round and have the cutest roommate ever.
” I had the feeling I knew where the conversation was going.
“Now…” Her eyes sparkled. “Tell us about the girl.”
I was right.
Sighing, I wiped the condensation off my can with my thumb. “She’s smart, beautiful, and likes the same books that I do. She’s everything I would look for in a woman, if I was looking for one. But, it’s… complicated.”
“Complicated?” Goldie’s brow knitted, her eyes boring into me. That look was unnerving. My sister-in-law has an uncanny knack for knowing things that she shouldn’t know, and I wasn’t ready for her to “read” me. “What do you mean?”
“I can tell you.” A wry smile cut across Ace’s face as he rubbed Goldie’s freckled shoulder. “You met some smart, nerdy girl—”
“Hey.” Goldie smacked his hand. “What’s wrong with that?”
Ace planted a kiss on Goldie’s cheek. “Nothing, but this girl scared you. Let me guess. You gave her the old ‘ I’m going to focus on hockey ’ speech.”
“I am focused on hockey.” He was spot-on. Had Goldie’s intuition rubbed off on my brother? “So what if I told her that I have to focus on my game? It doesn’t matter.” I held up my finger. “She’s not looking for anything either.”
The shake of Goldie’s head was slight, but I caught it. “Did she say she didn’t want a relationship before or after you told her about your focus on hockey?”
I paused. What was Goldie getting at? “I can’t remember. I think it was at the same time.”
“You know that you can do both, right?” The empty bottle clinked as Ace set it on the table.
“My game improved when Goldie and I got together.” Goldie smiled at Ace.
If there was a “look of love,” she had just given it to him—and it warmed my heart.
“Maybe you should try it.” Ace winked. “What are we doing for dinner? Pizza?” He reached for his phone.
“Hold on a minute.” Goldie rested her hand on Ace’s hand. “Gideon, do you like this woman?”
“I do.” It felt weird to admit it out loud. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter. I promised her it would be a one-night thing. I can’t break my word.”
Ace whistled. “Gentleman Giddy had a one-night stand? Say it isn’t so.”
We both cut our eyes at him, but Goldie spoke first. “Don’t be an idiot.
Gideon. If you like her, go for it. It doesn’t matter if you ‘agreed.’” She used air quotes.
“She’s probably trying to protect herself, just like you’re trying to protect your game.
” She stroked CC. “Your life is coming together; wouldn’t it be nice to share it with someone? ”
It would. “Dammit, Goldie.”
Goldie nudged my phone toward me. “A gentleman wouldn’t have made that ridiculous promise in the first place. Text her.”
I almost reached for the phone but stopped. “I don’t have her number.”
Her puzzled look returned. “How do you not have her number?”
“She’s my neighbor. I haven’t needed it.”
“Oh Lord.” Ace shook his head. “A one-night stand with the neighbor. Giddy. There are puck bunnies hopping all over this town, and you picked the one over there?” He pointed to the backyard, which was the wrong direction.
“First of all,” I growled, “she’s not a puck bunny.”
Ace’s face blanched. He knew when he’d crossed the line. “You know what I mean.”
“And secondly, she lives over there.” I pointed west. The sun had set, leaving cotton candy streaks in the sky.
“I have an idea.” Goldie tented her fingers in front of her scheming eyes.
“Something tells me I’m not going like this.”
Goldie pumped her eyebrows. “Maybe not, but we’re going to do it anyway.” She set CC on the ground and pulled me out of my chair. “Come on, Romeo. We’re going to go call on the neighbor the old-fashioned way.”