Chapter 14
Gavin
Ihate opening my eyes to an empty bed. Especially after a blazing hot night with a woman I’ve been low-key trying not to obsess over for almost a decade.
Turning onto my side, I buried my head in her pillow, inhaling the lingering scent of fresh jasmine as the memories flooded my mind.
I worshipped her body like I’d wanted to do since she flashed me in the hall my first morning here. She’s perfect in every way, from her beautiful mind to her beautiful breasts to her sweet pussy to her red-painted toenails.
My mouth covered every inch of her body, and I was looking forward to doing it again. Instead, she was gone, leaving only her scent and my conflicted emotions.
I tried hating her.
She took one look at me in college and decided my cheating ex was more trustworthy than I was. When did I forget how she stood by Karen?
The minute her trembling fingers touched my bare chest, and she looked at me with those blue eyes so full of wonder and lust. I had to have her, grudges be damned.
To be fair, we didn’t really know each other in college. She was Karen’s roommate. Of course, she believed her friend over me.
What’s worse is I gave Karen the tools she needed to kill my reputation. If I hadn’t gone on an anger-fueled rampage and slept with those Tri-Delts, I might’ve been able to fight back.
But we hadn’t announced our breakup. No one knew except me she was sucking off any guy who wasn’t my friend. Shit, some of them were my friends—or they were supposed to be. That cut the deepest.
Then I discovered she went after Dex. He’s like a brother to me. He’s my dad’s partner’s son, and we basically grew up together. My mom Elaine and his mom Melissa were best friends before they even met our dads.
Of course, he felt like shit telling me, but I wish he’d said something sooner.
Which brings me here, to the most incredible night of my life with Haddy, and she sneaked out of the bed before I even woke up. Then she turned her back on us in the car, and wouldn’t even look at me.
She still believes the story.
She still doesn’t trust me.
She’s still holding onto misplaced loyalty.
It’s been a minute since I’ve slept with anyone, and what we shared was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. I want to talk to her. I need to talk to her and find out where we stand.
A whistle blows, and an arc of ice shavings fans in front of me, snapping me out of my rumination.
“Hey.” It’s Mav, and he’s in my face. “What’s up with you? I’m reading your mind, and it’s not in the game.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Shaking my head, I glance around to see the team watching me with worried eyes.
“TTG?” Mav bumps my helmet with his before heading to formation.
“Yes.” Tic-Tac-Goal.
It’s our winning play, and we’ve done it a hundred times. Hancock brings it down the center, and I’m on the left winger headed straight at him.
The puck goes to Mav, and he “unexpectedly” sends it over to me.
I dig in, taking it around the back of the net before chipping it to Mav as soon as I clear the goal, but it catches the post and flies high into the air.
I raise my stick to bring it down and instead hit the opposing defensemen on the shoulder.
One of his teammates body-checks me into the boards, and a fight breaks out. The guy I clipped punches me straight in the face, and blood fills my mouth. Donovan grabs him, throwing him off me, and we all go to town, throwing punches.
Fighting feels good right now, even if it doesn’t solve anything. I don’t catch another fist, but when the refs finally break it up, I’m headed to the bin on a high sticking penalty.
It was an accident, but I’m out of the game for five minutes. We ended up losing by a point, and to make matters worse, it was my fault. Because I was thinking about a girl.
Hanging my head in the shower, I felt like a total amateur as the hot water washed the blood off my cheek. Needless to say, the drive home with Mav was no picnic.
He was pissed, but he didn’t lay into me. We’ve all had bad days on the ice, but I was completely off my game today.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Mav’s brow was furrowed.
Shifting in my seat, I looked out the window at the growing dark. Flashes of Haddy’s sweaty body flooded my mind, her long, dark waves sticking to her skin, covering her soft breasts with my mouth, the taste of salt on my tongue, the sound of her soft moans in my ears.
“I think I had too much last night.” Too much sweet pussy.
“Nah.” He shook his head, taking the exit. “I’ve seen you play with a worse hangover than that. I think your problem is you need to get laid.”
Shifting in my seat, I cleared my throat. “I don’t know.”
He has no idea.
Finally, I just said, “I’m sorry, Mav. I played like shit, and I let you and the team down. There’s no excuse for it.”
We drove a while with only the radio playing until our driveway was in sight.
Reaching over, he grabbed my shoulder and gave it a firm shake. “Don’t worry about it, bro. We’re still Mav and Gav. We’ll get ‘em next time.”
“I think you mean Gav and Mav.”
“Don’t make me kick your ass.”
Exhaling a chuckle, I climbed out of the Rover ready to face whatever was waiting for me inside.
“I love this movie so much.” Gigi coos from where she’s curled up on the couch beside Maverick.
“I’m just waiting for Fred Willard to ask if he can take a Shih Tzu on his luggage.” Mav chuckles. “Then I’m going to bed.”
“Nooo,” his cousin wails. “You have to watch the whole thing with me. Or at least until Hubert. He’s my favorite.”
“Why didn’t you name Spanky ‘Butch’?”
“Because Butch is a bitch.” Gigi shakes her head like it’s so obvious.
Sitting across from Haddy at dinner had been a torture test. She’s so gorgeous. The few times she glanced at me, I was struck by her sapphire eyes made even more intense by her dark hair and slim dark brows framing them.
Storms raged in those pretty eyes, and I could feel all the words we needed to say to each other radiating at me with each passing glance. I wanted to slide my hand over hers, but I couldn’t in front of Mav and Gigi.
Mav had whipped up a quick black bean dish with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and jalapenos. He served it over pasta and called it “Tex-Mex chili.” It was freaking fantastic, and I have to hand it to him. I never knew my old teammate was such a good cook.
Once everything’s cleaned up, Gina puts on her favorite movie, the Christopher Guest mockumentary Best in Show, about a fictional dog show (no surprises there).
We all make our way into the living room, where she and Mav take their spots on the couch and get it rolling. Haddy hesitates behind them, holding her little dog, until she makes a quiet excuse about having a headache before leaning down to kiss the tops of their heads.
I let a few minutes pass, watching the zany dog owners with their pedigreed pets get ready for a national show, then I head upstairs as well.
I don’t feel the need to kiss any heads or make excuses. Mav knows how I performed in today’s game, so he can come up with his own reason for my early retirement.
When I make it to the second floor, she’s stepping out of the bathroom, her face freshly washed, and her hair up in a messy bun.
She stops with a little stumble, like she’s startled by my presence. “Gavin…”
It’s a soft exhale that makes my dick twitch. It hasn’t even been twelve hours since I had her moaning my name in ecstasy, and my body remembers so well.
“Hey.” I keep my tone gentle. “I thought we should talk. About last night.”
Her back is to the wall, and I can see her pillow breasts rising and falling with her breaths. Her lips are parted, and mine warm remembering her kisses.
We’re so fucking compatible, it hurts, but we have to talk. We have too much history to ignore.
“Okay.” She leads me to her bedroom, where I see Peepee is in her crate.
Once I’m inside, she closes the door, putting her back to it and facing me. Her eyes blink quickly to mine then away again, and she seems so small in her bare feet in front of me.
“I’m surprised you could walk today,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll have to do a better job next time.”
“You did a fine job last night.” She takes a step forward, passing me as she clasps her hands together. “I have a hickey on my inner thigh.”
I lift the hem of my T-shirt, where a large purple hickey is visible on the side of my ribs. “Twins.”
She glances up at me, and I give her a wink, which seems to melt the tension.
She exhales a laugh. “Sorry, not sorry.”
I take a careful step closer. “Talk to me, Hads. What are you feeling right now? Regret?”
“No.” She shakes her head, and relief washes through my chest. “At first I was embarrassed, considering…” She does a little wavey, hand gesture towards my ribs. “Everything we did.”
I can’t help a grin. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. We just did what came naturally.”
“Yeah, but I realized today, I don’t really know you.” Her brow furrows, and her blue eyes meet mine full force this time.
It’s a little breath-taking. “We’re hardly strangers.”
“I know, but we never hung out in college. Then everything happened, and, well…” She seems to be choosing her words. “I’d like to know you better before we… I don’t know. Whatever.”
She presses her lips together like she showed her cards, like she might want to do a little more of what comes naturally.
That little slip is all the encouragement I need. “What do you want to know? I’m an open book.”
“I don’t mean right this minute. I mean, we need to take a step back, take some time to actually talk to each other without all the other stuff clouding the issue.”
I don’t know what brought about this change of heart, why she’s giving me a chance now, but I’m not letting it slip away.
“My schedule is hell right now, and we’re headed to Vegas then Tempe. We’ll be gone more than a week.” My jaw clenches, and I try to think. “Give me your number, and we can text or FaceTime…”
Hell, I’d even email if that made her happy.
We quickly exchange numbers, and I look at my phone a second, seeing her face in the contact photo. Her nose is wrinkled and she’s winking, sticking out her tongue. She’s adorable.
Suddenly a text appears on my screen.
Haddy
I’ll talk to you soon.
Lifting my chin, I meet her eyes, which shine with interest. I want to step forward and pull her to me.
I want to kiss her again. I want to chase her lips with mine, curl our tongues together.
I want to trace my lips down her neck, pulling the skin between my teeth, marking her as mine.
I want to hear that sexy little moan again.
Instead, I tap quickly on my phone.
Gavin
Looking forward to it, Princess.