6. Connor
6
CONNOR
Y ou’d think someone with that much muscle would be too weighed down to move quickly but Aiden and I don’t catch up to him until he’s pounding on Liv’s door. From the way the door is rattling, it’s only a matter of time before someone calls security, or he ends up knocking it down, pissing her off even worse.
Between the two options, I’m hoping for security, because they’d cause less of an issue than Liv would. She and Dimitri used to go at it constantly when we were kids, and it could get ugly.
Dimitri will argue until he tires himself out, and then he’ll become rational. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Liv anywhere other than on a TV screen. I have no idea how she’ll react and that terrifies me.
Before I can try to talk him down, her door flies open.
Her eyes are bright and glowing like the sun shining through amber. Her cheeks are flushed, and her silk robe, definitely not supplied by the hotel, is half open.
A black lacy bralette barely covers her breasts. Her stomach is toned, and I catch a glimpse of black at her hips just above where the robe closes.
It makes me wish I was here for an entirely different reason.
“What?” she growls.
Dimitri just barges right into her room. Liv shakes her head and waves us in too.
“Good evening.” I greet her.
“It was, until you three showed up.”
“Sorry.”
“I take it you watched the postgame show?” she asks.
“You’re damn right we watched the postgame show,” Dimitri snaps. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
Liv’s face turns a deeper shade of red, and she stomps over to him so that they’re toe-to-toe.
“I was doing my job, Dimitri.”
“So throwing yourself all over that TV host is part of your job?” he scoffs.
“Yes, it is.”
“You didn’t behave like that when you were doing analysis for the Mad Dogs.”
“Well, that’s because that’s not what the viewers responded to there.” She fists her hands on her hips. “Perhaps you’re unaware, but we’re in the pros now. There’s not too much room for error. The fans went feral for Alice. Her persona was aggressive, even elitist at times, and she was vicious in her defense and support of the team. That’s what they were used to. That’s what I would be compared to, no matter what I did. If I tried to do the same thing, no matter how well I did it, I would be found wanting,” she snaps.
She sighs and folds her arms over her breasts, blocking the sight of the sexy bra.
“If I’m going to get people to like me, and they do, by the way, I have to be something completely different from Alice. If you’re bothered by me being flirty and using my assets to do my job, then that’s your problem. Maybe you can contemplate that the next time you get put in the box.”
I guess she hasn’t changed much either.
If they’re anything like they used to be, I should have brought some popcorn, because I know the show is just starting. Even so, I need to make an attempt to stop them, if only for my own peace of mind.
“Why don’t we all step back and handle this like rational adults?”
In perfect sync, they say, “Shut up, Connor.”
I feel like I’m seventeen again because this is exactly how they behaved when we were in high school. Aiden and I share a pointed look before making ourselves comfortable on the couch. We both know there’s nothing to do now other than wait for them to tire each other out.
It really is just like ten years ago but with one exception.
The summer before senior year, Max got an invite to a premiere hockey conditioning camp. Junior league coaches from all over the tri-state area were going to be there. It was an opportunity he couldn’t refuse.
Since Liv and Max were inseparable, we were used to having her around. She was just as important to us as she was to him, and for that entire summer, it was the four of us and Liv.
She was almost like one of the guys. When we went swimming at their house we didn’t have to worry about where our eyes were and how long they lingered there nor did we have to keep our topics G-rated to keep Max from busting a vein. It was nice to be able to relax a bit and be who we were.
Liv was able to let her hair down too, since Max wasn’t constantly hovering over her. She was bold, frustratingly practical, and had a way of knowing exactly what to say and when to say it. She also had a wicked sense of humor. The dirtiest joke I know, I learned from her, and I’ve yet to come across a filthier one to date.
Seeing her now, it’s clear she’s grown into those parts of herself.
The downside was that after that summer, the four of us had a massive secret we had to keep from Max at all costs.
Memories flood my mind as I think back to that confusing yet exciting time.
“I don’t see what the problem is,” she pouts. “You’re hormonal teenage boys. I like to think I’m an attractive girl. What’s the problem?”
“For one thing, if Max finds out, he’ll cut off our dicks and send the rest of us through a woodchipper,” I say.
She leans in close, and I get a heady dose of whatever perfume she’s wearing. “Max isn’t here now.”
“He’ll be back in two months.” Aiden crosses his arms over his chest. “What makes you think he won’t find out then?”
“Are you saying you can’t keep a secret?”
“No but what if we end up with an unpleasant surprise from all of this?”
“Pills.” She points to herself. “Condoms.” She gestures to us. “When you double up on contraceptives the risk of pregnancy is almost zero.”
“Almost zero isn’t zero,” I argue.
“No, but statistics are on our side. Look, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I’m sure there are plenty of other guys who would be more than willing to do this. It’s just that you three are the only ones Max ever lets near me. Besides, there isn’t anyone else I’d trust more to not only keep this quiet, but also to treat me like I’m more than just some conquest.”
“Not that I’m saying yes, but why all three of us?”
“You’re the hottest guys in school. How could you possibly expect me to choose?”
We must be looking at her in some kind of way because she throws her head back and laughs until she wheezes.
“Your faces. I can’t…” She laughs again. “I’m sorry. You all just look so shocked and confused. It’s comical.”
Then she turns quiet, and we all anxiously step closer as a thought appears to hit her.
In a small voice, she asks, “Is me finding the three of you attractive really that much of a shock to you? Do none of you realize… oh, wow. This is…” Her breath catches in her throat, “This is so embarrassing. I thought at least one of you might… never mind. Please forget I said anything, and please, please, don’t tell Max about any of this.”
“Your math is wrong,” Dimitri grumbles.
Her head snaps up. “What?”
“You calculated that at least one of us would be attracted to you and be willing to help you out. That math is wrong.”
“You arrogant jerk. My conclusions were perfectly logical. Are you saying you’re not interested? Fine but don’t kick me while I’m down by trying to argue the math.”
“Is your nose that far in the air that you can’t even see when you’ve made a mistake? Wow.”
“Fine, Genius, what mistake could I have possibly made?” Liv scowls.
“Your mistake was assuming only one of us would be interested. What happens if we all are?”
I’m jarred from the memory by Liv’s voice reaching an octave I thought only trained singers could hit.
“Ruining my career? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“As soon as you badmouth the team, you lose your job. That’s basic business.”
“I didn’t badmouth the team, did I?”
“You badmouthed me . That’s the same thing. You really think they’re going to let that slide?” he demands.
“Not only did they let it slide they sanctioned it,” Liv says smugly.
“What?”
“I gave them three fun facts about three different players to look over and they greenlit all three. Told me I could do any one of them that I wanted.”
“So you picked me? Out of what, spite?”
“I picked you because I thought you could take it. Apparently, your ego has gotten too fragile to handle me.”
I can’t tell if it was the tone of her voice, her posture, or some other unquantifiable thing, but the entire atmosphere of the room changed the second the words left her mouth.
I don’t know when I started to hold my breath but my lungs are burning from doing it.
“I can handle damn well anything,” Dimitri growls.
“Really? Because from where I stand, you seem to come up a little… short,” she says, boldly looking him up and down.
He grabs her hand roughly and places it on his dick. “That feel short to you?”
When she answers that question by kissing him hard on the mouth, I start feeling too many things at once.
Jealousy, why him and not me?
Extreme discomfort, this has clearly turned into a private moment for the two of them. Aiden and I really should have left when they told me to shut up. So why are we sitting here like professional voyeurs?
Desire, the sight of her flushed with pleasure as that silk robe slips closer and closer to the floor makes my cock ache.
It all churns in my mind until it melts together into a single word—familiarity.
That’s when it all makes sense.
She taunted Dimitri on purpose. She was goading him. He never goes and picks fights with women. Liv is the only woman he’s ever argued with. Ever.
And it always ended with sex.
I should have known by the way he was walking down to her room. There was a decided bounce in his step that I didn’t consciously register at the time. Maybe that’s what compelled me to follow him, compelled both of us.
In hindsight, there were so many subtle things that dragged us all back onto this path, most, if not all of them, inevitable.
So when Liv beckons me over with a crook of her finger, I find myself unable to resist the compulsion to comply.
My hands find her hips at the same time that my mouth brushes against the back of her neck.
The cool silk of her robe sends shivers along my forearms as I undo the knot at her waist. Once I manage it, she drops her arms from Dimitri’s shoulders to allow it to slide away.
When it’s pooled at her feet, all I can do is stare.
The last time I saw her like this, the two of us were inexperienced teenagers, and I knew then she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen or ever would see.
Looking at her now with the changes to her form that only time and maturity can make, only solidifies that thought.
As a man who’s had more than his share of women, I can say with good authority that Olivia Winters is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Her head drops back against my chest as Dimitri drops to his knees in front of her, and that’s when we both freeze.
I’d been so focused on Liv that I didn’t even notice where Aiden was at. He’s rooted to the carpet, looking completely at war with himself.
Dimitri looks up at us, confused. “What is it?”
I jerk my chin at Aiden.
“Oh.”
The three of us staring at him must have been enough to break whatever spell he was under, because he clears his throat and asks, “Are you sure we should be doing this again?”