Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Abby
Five years ago, I vowed to never watch a hockey game again—ever.
I wanted nothing to do with the sport. I figured it should be easy considering before I met Leila I knew nothing about hockey, except that those warmups they do are a sight for sore eyes.
But if I’m being honest with myself, I missed it.
I missed sitting with Leila while she yelled and screamed about things I didn’t understand, and honestly still don’t.
How excited I got when there were fights—more between Jagger and Levi because Jagger quickly became one of my best friends besides Leila over the years.
And I missed watching Landon and Levi play.
Not that I would ever admit that to their faces.
Maskedsnack
So I was thinking about next week for the first chase? I’ve got some interested parties but need to know your availability
His response comes back almost immediately.
#Notaserialkiller
Next week works. I’m pretty flexible. What did you have in mind?
I bite my lip, thinking about the details. The chase, the masks, the chaos of it all. It excites me in a way I didn’t expect.
Maskedsnack
Tuesday or Wednesday?
#Notaserialkiller
Wednesday works for me after 9pm
Maskedsnack
Looks like it’s a date. I’ll send you the location and time
#Notaserialkiller
Looking forward to it
Shit, I also forgot. Arlo sent me a consent form for him to sign, to cover my ass in case something goes wrong or he changes his mind after I upload the content. Apparently, it’s standard for all View4U content creators who have more than one person on their channel.
Maskedsnack
I will send you a consent form as well. It’s required by the app creator
#Notaserialkiller
Will keep an eye out for it
#Notaserialkiller
Looking forward to being the meat in a masked woman/man sandwich
Maskedsnack
I can confirm being the meat is a lot of fun;)
I’m smiling like an idiot at my phone when the bedroom door flies open, and before I can move, Levi flops down beside me on the bed, pulling me onto his lap. I still have a lot of emotions over what went down between us, but I love how things are slowly going back to the way they were.
Levi is fresh from the gym, still in his tiny shorts, and smelling like sweat and the cologne he’s been wearing lately.
“So,” he says, his chin resting on my shoulder as he peers at my phone. “Have you given any more thought to friends with benefits?”
I can feel heat rising in my cheeks, but I refuse to look at him. “You can fuck me in the masked chases,” I say matter-of-factly, moving my phone away before he can see exactly what I’m doing. “That’s the deal.”
Levi laughs. “That’s not what I meant, but I’ll take it. When are they happening? Hockey is in full swing and my schedule’s going to be tight.”
“Next week, Wednesday night,” I say.
“A week?” He squeezes me tighter. “That’s forever away.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to be patient, Kane.”
He groans dramatically, but before he can say anything more, Landon walks in. He takes one look at me sitting on his brother’s lap and his jaw goes tight, then he forces himself to relax, but I catch the flicker of something in his eyes. Jealousy, maybe, or possessiveness. Either way, it’s hot.
“What’s going on?” Landon asks.
“Abby’s organizing the chase,” Levi says. “Next week, Wednesday night. The guy is on board.”
“Do we get to know who he is yet?”
I hold out my phone and show them the photo he sent me.
“Holy shit,” Levi breathes, his eyes going wide. “Is that Tate?”
My stomach drops. “Who’s Tate?”
“Our assistant coach,” Landon says, his voice strained.
“Landon has a boner for him,” Levi says with a grin.
Landon’s face flushes, color creeping up his neck. “Shut up, Levi.”
I can’t help myself. “Oh my god, you do have a boner for him. This is perfect.”
Levi cackles. “It really is. There are so many boundaries this crosses. I am so here for it.”
“Right?!” I say, laughing with Levi. “Have you ever known Landon to break the rules when it comes to hockey?”
“He would never.” Levi mockingly gasps, then brings his hand up to his chest. “Landon’s just a good boy from a good family.”
He sings it to the tune of the Queen classic, which makes me laugh even more.
“Will you two shut the fuck up?! Okay, you’ve got me. Tate is hot and I want to fuck him. But some evil wench has had my head so messed up since I’ve moved in here, and I haven’t had the mental capacity to even process it.”
“Did you hear that, Abs? He called you an evil wench,” Levi says, tickling my sides.
“Don’t do that,” I squeal out between laughter, almost launching out of his lap.
“What’s that? I didn’t forget how ticklish you are.”
“Levi,” I gasp, tears streaming down my face. “Stop it, please, or I will piss on you.”
“I’m not afraid of a little water sports, Abs. You know that.”
Levi’s phone buzzes somewhere under me, but it doesn’t help my cause. He doesn’t stop the onslaught of tickles, just slides his hand to where his phone is tucked into his shorts and holds it out so Landon can see.
“Answer it, but do not let her know we know what she did,” Landon snaps. “We can’t fire her yet—we are locked into our contract. We need these deals to go through first.”
My entire mood sours. They are talking about the devil, or whore-devil more like it.
Landon walks over and squats down, lifting me from his brother’s lap. Levi jumps up, and Landon takes his brother’s place, pulling me into his body. “We will make this right, Abby. I promise you. But we have to do it the right way—our careers are on the line now.”
“I get it, but knowing it’s her pisses me off. I can’t help it.”
“You shouldn’t have to tolerate her, and that’s on us to fix,” he says, pulling me in tighter, and I bury my head in his shoulder. “She will get what’s coming to her. I want to talk to a few of my friends who she represents first and get a bigger picture to use against her.”
“I will be there soon . . . I don’t know—when I get there .
. . I’m not being short with you. I just happen to be looking at the most gorgeous woman in the world right now, and to be totally honest with you, I would much rather be here .
. . It’s not mean, it’s the truth, so take it however you will.
” Levi smiles at me as he ends the call.
“I have a fucking photoshoot for some new brand of drink. I have to go, is that okay?”
I nod my head. “Levi, you don’t have to ask me if it’s okay. This is your job, and I respect you both for how well you have done. Don’t let some money-grabbing whore ruin that as well.”
Levi squats down in front of me, placing a hand on either side of my face.
“I know I don’t have to ask, but it will be a cold day in hell before I let that woman destroy the chance of having you back in my life.
Honestly, I would walk away from hockey before I ever let that happen again.
You are family, Abs, and we shouldn’t have let you go so easily the first time. ”
“Levi Henry Kane, you take that back! You will not give up hockey. It’s the one thing you are fucking amazing at doing.”
Levi smiles and leans in, pressing a warm kiss to my lips. “Fuck, I love you, Abby, but there are things I am way better at doing.”
I chuckle as Landon pushes his brother’s head away from me. “Will you go already? Your stupidity is rubbing off on me.”
“Okay, okay.” Levi laughs, pushing himself up to his full height. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”
With a wink, he turns and walks away, and my eyes are glued to his ass until he is out of my bedroom.
“Sooo,” I say, drawing out the word. “What are your plans today?”
“Besides eating my body weight in food and hitting the gym later? Not a lot.”
I smile up at him. “Feel like taking some photos with me for my page?”
He lifts me from his lap and tosses me back onto my bed, bringing his large body over mine and hovering above me. “Should we do pictures like this? Or . . .” He throws my leg over his shoulder. “Maybe like this.”
I wrap my hands around him and grab a handful off his ass. “We would need to cover this—the entire Landon Kane fandom would know it’s you straight away.”
Landon laughs and uses his elbows to prop himself up. “Is that so, huh?”
“Yup, the underwear spread you did that just released will have the women of the world throwing their underwear on the ice in no time.”
“I knew Levi should have done that one. I won’t ever live it down.”
I snort. “He really should have, seeing as he doesn’t shy away from female attention. We should do these photos while you tell me all about your crush on your coach.”
Landon groans as he pushes himself off me. “I do not have a crush on him. We have some unresolved sexual tension.”
He stands and holds out his hand, so I take it and he pulls me to my feet. “Did I also mention he hated me?”
“Oh, so you were like Levi and Jagger on the ice. Do you think they have unresolved sexual tension?”
Landon laughs so hard that it makes me laugh. “Oh, please ask him when he gets back.”
“How hot would a hockey orgy be between rivals? I mean bending them over the side of the rink, pulling the back of their pants down, and fucking them hard and fast. Now I would pay double to watch that, and I already only watch for one reason.”
Landon snorts. “Bend them over the boards, Abby? You have no idea how hard it would be to take everything off, all just to get the bottom half naked. It’s not only pants you yank down.
There are layers. Tight shorts first, the cup locked in, then leggings and shin guards.
Plus our socks are pulled up over those and taped so nothing moves, and then the hockey pants go on top.
By the time we’re dressed, our bottom half is basically armor.
Getting out of all that isn’t quick, and it’s definitely not subtle.
” His mouth quirks. “So yeah, while hot in theory, in reality you’d need patience. ”
“I have a lot of patience.”
“And what is the reason you watch hockey?” he asks as we walk out of my room.
“I lied, there are two reasons,” I answer, and he looks over at me with a smirk, so I slap his arm. “Not you and your brother, if that is what you’re thinking. The warmups, those are good foreplay, and the violence—it turns me on.”
“Glad to see nothing has changed with your experience at the boy aquarium.”
“Stop deflecting—I want to know more about Tate.”
“Okay, but first let’s eat before I get hangry and wither away into nothing. Then we’ll take your photos.”
When we reach the kitchen, I pull a stool up to the kitchen counter while Landon grabs meat and salad out of the fridge.
“So what do you want to know about Tate?” he asks while chopping a tomato.
“Everything you want to share,” I answer with a shrug.
He tells me about when they would play against each other in college, about Tate’s injury and how he’s now playing for the team Tate should have represented.
Now I can understand the hate part of the equation; Landon is living the life Tate wanted.
He also tells me about what happened in the locker room and at the bar, all while maintaining eye contact.
“So,” he asks when he is done. “Was that TMI?”
“No. But I’m just imagining how hot it would have been to be a fly on the wall before I give you a reply.”
Landon flicks a loose piece of lettuce at me.
“So, I definitely think you need to fuck him to see if all this has just been built up over the years, and to make sure you’re not holding on to the past. Doing it as a masked man would be ideal.
Think about it: if you do this and feel nothing after, at least you’ll know without risking your place on the team.
There is no way his family wouldn’t take his side if things between you fell out. ”
“You’re not just a pretty face after all.”
I scoff—I hate being called pretty. It took me a long time to come to terms with two hot hockey players like the Kane brothers wanting me. I might seem confident on the outside, but deep down I am self-conscious about the way I look.
“Abby,” he growls, knowing exactly where my brain went, and a tiny piece of me hates how much he still remembers.
“What? I’m not classically pretty. My nose has a slight curve from being broken, my bottom teeth are not straight, and let’s not even start about my lop-sided tits.”
Landon pushes a plate with my sandwich on it toward me, and he even cut it into four small triangles. Nothing says “I don’t like you” like giving someone a sandwich that is not cut into four triangles. Everyone knows that.
“I happen to remember loving saggy sally thank you very much.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Oh god, I can’t believe you remember that. I much prefer perky patsy, thank you.”
“You are beautiful inside and out, Abby, and I feel like shit that I haven’t been around to remind you. You don’t need to be perfect to be beautiful—you need to be yourself.”
A lump forms in my throat. Landon always had the right words to make me feel beautiful, and Levi always worshipped my body in a way that made me feel worthy. They are two sides of the same coin, and I didn’t realize how much I missed them.
“Do you think Levi will let me peg him?” I blurt out in true Abby style, using my words to deflect how I feel.
Landon’s mouth falls open, and then he snaps it shut, pausing a moment before he speaks.
“Please add that to the list of questions that you need to ask him, and pretty please do it while I’m in the room.
But seriously, I think the idiot would do anything if you asked.
And Abby, I know what you just did then, and I mean it when I say I think you are absolutely stunning.
Anytime you are in a room, I can’t take my eyes off you. ”
Damn him and his beautiful words. I take a bite of my sandwich so I don’t have to say anything. Taking a compliment is something only drunk Abby can handle. Sober Abby, not so much.