Chapter 6
MATT
Damn, her lips on mine felt good. Forgetting this was a ruse, I slid my hands through her silky dark locks and deepened the kiss. She let me taste inside her mouth and pressed up against me like she yearned for it. It was the kind of kiss that had my body tingling and desperate for more.
I had only walked over and ambushed her with this kiss because I saw that guy bothering her. I might not have noticed her if it wasn’t for her friend’s bright purple hair. Once my buddy Ty pointed it out, I stilled at the sight of the gorgeous brunette, salivating at her painted-on jeans and sun-kissed skin peeking out from her off-the-shoulder top.
Then I saw that guy put his hands on her, and my resolve buckled. I forgot why I needed to stay away, but instead, I needed to mark her as mine. Forgetting that her brother would kill me if he ever found out about this.
The thought of Noah was the blood-chilling reminder that forced me to tear my mouth from hers. Her eyes fluttered open, and once the shock wore off, her mouth turned into a hard line. Yeah, she was pissed at me.
Her eyes scorched across me, putting distance between us and silently telling me where to shove it.
Despite Local Hangout being a college bar, I hadn’t expected to run into her tonight. It surprised me when Ty said he wanted to go to the bar rather than join the rager his teammates were throwing. But he knew I preferred it here because it was more chill, and I rarely got recognized. Now if Noah or TJ walked through the door, it would be a different story. Not for a rookie like me struggling to get ice time.
I looked over Maddie’s shoulder, and that creepy guy had moved on to another girl already. “He’s gone.”
“Good. You can go,” she said, dismissing me as she took a sip of her beer and turned back to her friend.
“Hey, asshole, you gonna introduce me, or what?” Ty asked me.
Maddie’s friend laughed, her colorful hair bouncing with her motions. Now that I looked at her, her hair wasn’t exactly purple. It was a collage of blue, pink, and purple. I think chicks called that ‘mermaid hair’ or some shit. She was tiny next to Maddie’s statuesque figure, but she was cute in that art school kind of way.
“I’m Ari,” she introduced herself.
“Matt. This is Ty,” I told both girls and gestured to my friend. Ty was a pale guy with short king energy and the life of the party.
Maddie squinted at Ty. “Aren’t you dating my captain?”
Captain?
Ty hung his head. “Who Elsa? Nah, she dumped my ass.”
Oh. Right. Ty’s ex was the captain of the women’s hockey team here. I had no idea Maddie played hockey.
Maddie’s eyebrows rose at Ty’s downtrodden expression. “Umm.”
Ty bellowed out a laugh. “Don’t worry about it, dude! E’s great, but she’s too serious to keep this player tied down.”
I rolled my eyes.
Ty could be such a douche, but he was my best friend, so I let him slide. Also, it was one hundred percent a front.
“I got dumped, too,” Ari said with a frown.
“Let me buy you a beer in solidarity,” Ty said and gave her his signature grin. Ari smiled back at him, leaving Maddie and me standing there, pretending not to notice the tension surrounding us.
Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. “Sweet pea? Really?”
I grinned. “Sorry, that slipped out. It worked to get that asshole to leave you alone, right?”
She tipped her head down in agreement.
“Maddie, can we…” I trailed off.
I couldn’t blame her for hating me. I had zero regrets about hooking up with her, but there was no way in hell I was going behind Noah’s back. I had an excuse at the wedding since I didn’t know she was his sister, but not now. That would be a betrayal.
“What, Matt?” she barked out, anger laced in her tone.
“Can you two grab a drink and resolve whatever this is?” Ty asked.
Ari’s mouth dropped open. “Oh! You’re him.”
I felt my brow crease, and I looked between the two women.
Maddie shrugged. “Yeah, the douche who ran away. Literally.”
I turned to her. “Can we start over?”
She ground her teeth together. “Fine.”
I held out my hand. “Hi. I’m Matt Callahan.”
She stared down at my hand, and her friend nudged her. She rolled her eyes but gripped my hand in hers. “Madison Kennedy. Call me Maddie.”
“Buy you a drink?” I asked, giving her my winning smile.
“Fine.”
I eyed Ty and Ari, and he was already putting on the charm, twirling a strand of Ari’s colorful hair while she laughed at a joke that probably wasn’t funny.
I sighed.
“Problem?” Maddie asked.
I gestured to Ty. “He’s laying it on thick already.”
Maddie peered at her friend and shrugged. “Maybe she needs a good rebound to get over her ex. I didn’t like him. At least someone’s getting laid.” She mumbled that last part under her breath, hoping I wouldn’t hear it.
“D said you transferred to Franklin,” I said, trying to change the subject.
“Yup. I needed to get out of Winnipeg. This is a good school.”
She was right about that. It impressed me she got in because Franklin was an Ivy League school. That must have meant her grades were killer. That was the only reason Ty went here. He was pre-med, and Franklin had an amazing medical program. He wouldn’t be playing club hockey if the school wasn’t so good.
“Don’t sell yourself short. This is an awesome school.”
She beamed at that, and maybe I softened her a little with the compliment. “I didn’t know you lived with my brother. I get that it’s complicated.”
“Your brother’s a good friend. I…”
“I know. I get it,” she finished for me.
If I didn’t live with her brother, maybe I’d be more inclined to break the code. Hell, Benny did it with Rox. Although Rox was scary, and I don’t think there was anything her twin brother could have said to her to make her back down.
Maddie finished her beer, and I flagged the bartender down to grab her another one. She gave me a small smile in thanks, and we looked amused as Ty pointed to a curvy blonde. “What about that one?” he asked Ari.
“What are you doing, asshole?” I asked.
Ari laughed. “He’s trying to guess which women are my type.”
“Oh.”
Ari laughed it off and shook her head back and forth, which made Ty laugh.
“You don’t put enough power in your shot,” Maddie said to me, pulling me away from our friends’ conversation.
I nearly choked. Her brother said the same thing last week. “Excuse me?”
“Well, if we’re gonna be friends, you’ll take my friendly hockey advice, right?” she asked, giving me an evil grin.
“That’s what Noah said,” I grumbled.
“He’s right. But he always says that to me too, so don’t feel special,” she said and made a face.
I grinned.
Noah was the most talented hockey player I’d ever met. That was why it was so great he took me under his wing when I got the call up to the big leagues.
“You gonna come to the game tomorrow and give me more pointers later?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I got practice and a night class.”
“Saturday?”
“I’ve got a game.”
“Well, shit sweet pea, how’s this friendship gonna work?”
She laughed, and when the smile spread across her face, I knew I was wearing down her walls. Yeah, it was a dick move to run away, but holy shit, I couldn’t date Noah’s sister. He would kill me. Dinah seemed on board, though, but that didn’t matter. As much as it pained me, I couldn’t start anything with Maddie.
But fuck me, did she smell good—and look good too.
Get your shit together, Callahan.
“Again with the sweet pea?” she asked, but her eyes twinkled.
I took a pull off my beer and winked at her. “So, you play hockey too?”
She nodded.
“What position?”
“Center.”
“Like me. And your brother.”
Her chin jutted up in agreement. “Taught me everything I know.”
My gaze roamed down her body. Her lean, long legs looked powerful from skating, and she had small but defined muscles in her arms. She was lean but athletic, and I hadn’t recognized that the night we met. It all made sense now.
“Matt,” she warned.
I snapped my head up, realizing I got caught staring. “Hmm?”
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
She sucked her bottom lip into her teeth. God, she looked sexy like that.
NO! Get your shit together, Callahan. She is off-limits. Very much so.
But she couldn’t answer because she turned to Ari, and I mirrored her movement, only to find Ty with his tongue down Ari’s throat.
I rubbed a hand down my face. Goddamnit, Ty. “Bro, come on!”
Ty pulled away and gave me a grin. “Come on, Cally, you know what they say. ‘The best way to get over someone is to get underneath someone else!’ Right, Ari?”
Ari gave him a flirty laugh.
“Must be nice,” Maddie muttered into her beer.
I frowned and gave Ty a look, but he shrugged and went back to kissing Ari.
I blew out an annoyed breath. “I’m sorry.”
Maddie laughed. “For what? They’re both single and can do what they want.”
I shook my head at my best friend’s antics, annoyance clawing its way up my chest. Maddie picked at the label on her beer and avoided my gaze. The awkward silence between us felt like it could stretch on forever.
“What were you helping Dinah with today?” I asked.
I needed to change the subject to anything that would get me to stop thinking about her lips on mine again.
Maddie brightened. “Oh! I’m helping market her books. She’s awful at it.”
“Oh? You know anything about doing sponsored content? My agent set me up with an athleisure brand. I’m supposed to post stuff, but I keep forgetting to do it.”
“MATT!” she chastised. “I can help. Did they give you photos or ad copy to use in your posts? What are the guidelines?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Uhhh.”
I was pretty sure that was in an email my agent sent me that I was ignoring. He kept yelling at me about it. I wasn’t even sure why this company reached out to me. I wasn’t big like Noah or TJ. Or even Riley. My agents said some buzzwords about breakout younger players. Whatever that meant.
She pulled out her phone and began typing away. “I can help. I’ll come over tomorrow before you leave for the game and set something up.”
I blinked back at her. “Really?”
She nodded. “I’d love to work for a PR firm or do social media. I work with a lot of them for books, but this could be great practice for my future career.”
I had no clue what she was talking about, but it was cute to see her face light up when she talked about it. The sexiest thing of all was when someone was passionate about their work.
“Hey,” Ty interrupted. “We’re getting out of here.”
I gave him a warning look, but he gave me that goofy grin of his.
Maddie had a perplexed look on her face, and I saw her mouth, ‘are you okay?’ to her friend, who nodded back at her in confirmation. Ty and Ari left hand in hand, leaving Maddie and I at the crowded bar with matching confused looks on our faces.
“Did we just get ditched?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Good for her. Her ex was a dick. He broke up with her because she came out as bisexual.”
“Fuck that guy. One of my teammates is bi. Who gives a shit?”
“Right, Blaise. And so is Rox,” she reminded me.
“And Rox,” I agreed, and I downed the rest of my beer.
Maddie set her empty beer on the bar. “I better get going.”
“Let me walk you home.”
She shook her head. “That’s okay.”
“Maddie, your brother wouldn’t forgive me if something happened to you.’
She groaned. “I’m fine.”
“It wasn’t an offer. I’m walking you home,” I said firmly.
Noah might not like me hanging with his sister, but he’d freak out if I let her walk home alone at night. No fucking way.
“Fine,” she said but stomped away.
I cashed out, shaking my head that Ty left me to pay for his drinks. I’d give him that one since he just got dumped. Not a shock he jumped onto the first woman he met.
Maddie was waiting outside for me, and as soon as she saw me, she walked on. I had to jog to catch up to her. She had legs for days, and I found my eyes lingering on the sway of her hips. I chastised myself before catching up to walk beside her, weaving through the busy streets of West Philadelphia. It wasn’t a far walk until we came upon a high rise with a lot of people wearing Franklin U apparel coming in and out.
“Well, this is me,” she said. “I’m coming over to help D tomorrow anyway, so we can work on the stuff you need to do.”
“You’d really do that?”
“Sure! I love doing that.”
“That’s awesome. I don’t know how to thank you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “There’s one thing you can do for me.”
The color drained from my face. “Maddie, I’m not taking your virginity.”
She scowled. “That’s not what I was going to say!”
“Then what?”
“I need a wingman.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Why me?”
“I want a guy’s perspective. I know you’re super busy with hockey, but maybe one night you could help me pick out someone decent.”
“Maddie, it should be with someone you love. You should want it to be special.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care who it’s with. I want it to be done so I’m not this virgin loser anymore.”
“You’re not a loser. But if that’s what you want, I’ll help you. Find a nice guy who will treat you right.”
She beamed and reached out to squeeze my arm. Shock went through me at her touch, and if she felt it too, she ignored it. “Thanks, Matt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I watched her walk away, making sure she got into her dorm okay. Definitely wasn’t watching her ass. Not at all. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but I had a feeling this was a terrible idea.