8. Liam
LIAM
Sweat drips down my face as I make my way off the ice.
I don’t usually feel this exhausted after a morning of ice drills, especially before the season officially starts, but my late night with Chloe is coming to bite me in the ass.
Spending the night with her is definitely worth the body exhaustion, though.
And no matter how tired I will be on the ice, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Grabbing from one of the equipment assistants, I wipe my face and head down the tunnel to the locker room.
It’s been a day so far, and right now all I want to do is grab a shower and head home for a long ass nap.
Also check my phone to see if a certain ballerina actually did use my number like I told her to.
I walk into the locker room and head straight to my small section of the room.
The second I sit down, my whole body groans like it has been waiting to sit down for days.
Damn.
Either my body is giving up on me at twenty-nine or my night with Chloe put me through the ringer more than I thought.
It was all the sexual gymnastics.
The image of Chloe’s flexible body and the positions we were in before falling asleep, invade my mind.
Her body was beautifully fluid and mine tried to do its best to keep up. I can move but there is only so much that a man size can go.
But damn, now the only thing I want to do is a repeat and thinking about that right now is definitely not a good idea.
Especially when I’m about to get naked in a room filled with men to hope in the shower.
“Hey, Cap?” A voice comes from in front of me as I’m untying my skates.
I don’t have to look up to see that it’s our newest rookie standing in front of me.
Blake Jacobi was drafted by the Knights at the age of eighteen, fresh out of high school. He went to college, graduated early and officially signed and reported to the Knights last summer.
The kid is good and with time I know that he will be great. And that doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that he has a Super Bowl winning older brother.
I can’t think of anything bad to say about him, the only thing that might be a little off putting is that he has the personality of a golden retriever.
“What’s up, Jacobi?” I ask, sliding my skate off.
“Think I can get an invite to your next early morning workout session?” He asks, his nervous tone makes me look up at him.
“Why do you look terrified?” I ask him, feeling my eyebrows bunch up.
Blake looks down at me like I caught him off guard with my question. He takes a few seconds to compose himself.
After what feels like forever he finally answers. “Because even though this is my second year here, I’m still a rookie and there is a high chance you don’t want me in your space.”
I first met black back when he was drafted.
The captain at the time thought it would be good to show this amateur hockey player that we would hopefully share the ice with a warm welcome. We invited him to the arena and took him out to dinner a week or two after he got drafted.
I personally didn’t keep in touch with him while he was in college, but since he was signed last year I did try to make him feel welcomed.
At least I thought I did.
Jacobi shouldn’t be fucking terrified to ask if he can join a workout session.
I don’t know if that makes me a bad person or a bad captain.
I’m going with both.
“You don’t invite, Jacobi. You can join whenever you want,” I say to him. I’m not going to isolate the kid. “The only thing is, you will have to deal with that asshole at five in the morning.” I say, nodding towards Christian, who’s in front of me looking pissed off as always.
“He can’t be any worse than Volkov. We worked out two mornings ago and dude only said one word the whole time.”
We both turn to look over at our teammate, Logan Volkov.
He’s our top enforcer and he can be just as scary off the ice as he is on it, but from what I've seen through the years, he’s a good guy.
He just keeps to himself a lot, and can be off putting at times but if he’s working out with Blake it’s a good thing.
Logan doesn’t do that with a whole lot of people. There must be something about Blake that he likes.
“Logan is Logan. But if you can handle a work out with him, you can handle the moody bastard. Just don’t let him get his hands on your phone.
Blake gives me a confused look. “Why?”
I slide my other skate off and stand up to start getting rid of all the sweaty gear that is covering my body.
A shower is desperately calling my name.
“Because the man knows boundaries when it comes to switching your ringtone.”
The rookie looks at me like I’m pulling his leg, but I just give him a shrug and head for the shower. The sooner I get out of this locker room, the closer I am to heading home and taking that nap.
Right before I check my phone of course.
* * *
No text message.
When I finally got a chance to check my phone after leaving the arena, I was a bit disappointed that there hadn’t been a text from Chloe waiting for me.
Had I wished that she used my number like I told her to? Yeah, of course, but whether she used it or not wasn’t up to me. Us seeing each other again was her choice and if she doesn’t want that to happen, I will respect it.
I’m a grown ass man, I can handle women not texting me back.
So I tried to forget about my night with Chloe as best as I could and went about the rest of my day. A few thoughts of Chloe slip through, but I’m able to push them aside, for the most part, and get things done.
Grocery run, a dry cleaner pick and a take out order later I’m back at my place watching the football game I missed yesterday.
I don’t usually have the time to watch other sports live or even on TV, so when I do get a chance it’s a good night.
The next hour and some change is spent watching Hunter, Blake’s older brother and his team go into half time with a twenty point lead.
From the looks of things, it looks like the Super Bowl reigning champs are going to fight hard to stay on top.
Maybe I can ask Blake if his brother can come talk to our team and give us some words of encouragement.
We’re good, but we are going to need all the help we can get if we want to make it past round one in the playoffs.
A captain will gladly accept help from another captain.
Liking my idea way too much to not wait until morning practice to ask him, I reach for my phone and pull up his message thread.
I’m about to hit send on what I just typed out, when a message notification pops up at the top of the screen.
Usually receiving messages don’t cause me to freeze, but this one does.
Why?
Because an unknown sent a message with three simple words that put me back into that high I was feeling this morning.
Unknown : Hi, it’s Chloe.
She texted.
Forgetting all about Blake, I tap on her message and don’t bother texting her back. I hit call right away.
The high that this woman brings to me, is causing me to do stupid shit but I don’t care. All I want is to hear her voice and feel her body in my hands again.
The phone rings for a while. My guess is that my call surprised her and she has no idea whether to answer or to send me to voicemail. After what feels like the hundredth ring, more like six or seven, she finally answers.
“Hello?” Her voice comes through and it's as if my cock remembers all the sweet moans that she let out not even twenty-four hours ago.
“And here I thought that you wouldn’t use the number.” I say instead of a greeting.
“You told me to,” She answers, a small laugh following it.
“I did, but you don’t seem like the kind of woman that takes orders very well.” I say, a smile spreading across my face.
“If I remember correctly, I followed orders pretty well last night. I even got praised for it.”
Her tone has turned breathy and my cock picks up on it right away.
“That you did.” I say, remembering everything we did last night for the tenth time today. I need to get myself together. “Why did you text, Chloe?”
I’ve spent time around enough women to know that a large majority of the time, they overthink things.
A big one is what they are going to say, followed by when they are going to say it.
Chloe not using my number right away tells me that she probably spent all day thinking about it. Her messaging me most likely came after she had talked herself into it.
“I told you, because you said to,” she answers a little too quickly.
“There’s more to it.” I say, leaning my head back against the sofa cushion.
There’s a long pause on Chloe’s side and as much as I want to break the silence, I don’t.
It’s after sixty-three seconds, I counted in my head, that she finally speaks.
“Because I want to see you again.” Her answer causes my smile to grow even more.
“I want to see you again too, sweetheart, but why do I hear a but at the end of that sentence?” The fact that I can read this woman after just one day is surprising and impressive.
Chloe lets out a sigh, one that I can’t really decipher. “Your season is about to start, right?”
I nod even though she can’t see it. “It is.”
“In a way, so is mine. Rehearsals for the winter shows start up next week. Usually from first rehearsal to the last performance, all I think of is dance. I become like a dancing zombie.”
“You’re committed.” I state, not questioning her devotion to her craft.
“I am. But before I get into that head space, I want to see you and maybe get to know you more, in some capacity. I have a whole week of free time before the craziness hits. .”
If she’s suggesting what I think she is suggesting, I’m here for it.
“And what do you have planned to do during this free time?” I ask, my smile turning into a smirk.
“Well, I texted to see if maybe you wanted to help me with said planning,” her voice gets low and I bet anything that she is biting her bottom lip right now holding back a smile.
“You have one whole week?” I ask.
“I do.”
“I might have a few ideas as to what you can do with that time.” I throw out, my mind already filling with ideas.
“Why don’t you come over and share those ideas with me. That is if you have time tonight of course,” she says in that same sexy voice that my cock loved so much last night.
I’m already getting up from the couch before she even finishes her sentence.
“I’m free. I can be there in twenty minutes.” I slide on my shoes and grab my keys all while Chloe’s laugh sings in my ears.
No time is wasted as I make my way over to Chloe’s and head up the four flights of stairs up to her apartment.
The second that she opens the door for me, I walk in and take her face between my hands and kiss the ever living shit out of her.
My attraction and my thought process when it comes to this woman is probably not the healthiest thing, especially after only knowing her for one day. But I don’t give a damn.
Chloe can drive me crazy as long as she fucking wants. I’m not going to say no.
My tongue slides against hers and she lets out a moan. A moan that tells me that she doesn’t want me to stop but I do anyways.
“I didn’t mean to attack you like that.” I say, leaning my forehead against hers.
A lazy smile forms on her lips as she looks up at me and wraps her arms around my neck.
“It’s okay, it’s all part of the Liam Crawford experience, right?” She asks, her eyes shining through her eyelashes.
“Yes it is. Now the question is, do you want to experience it for a whole week?” I ask, moving my hands from her face and slide them down her delicious body.
“And if I say yes?” She gives me a teasing smile.
“Then you will get it.”
She looks up at me for a few seconds smiling, inching her body closer to mine.
“Okay then Mr. Crawford. You have one week to give me the Liam Crawford experience, you better not disappoint.”
“Sweetheart, you weren’t disappointed last night, and you sure as well won’t be disappointed seven days from now.”
She lets out a laugh. “Alright then. One last question.”
“And what is that?”
A hand slides through my hair and gives me a good pull. “Is that hockey game still on the table?”
“Damn right it is.”
“Okay then, give me everything you got. I need something to keep me at bay until the game.” Chloe leans up and gives me a kiss.
It’s slow at first but then it’s as hungry as mine was.
“You’re going to have to beg, sweetheart.” I say against her lips, lifting her up into my arms and walking us to her bedroom.
A sweet laugh filling the room.
A laugh that I hear for the next four out of the seven days.
For four glorious days, I get to hear Chloe laugh in my ear every single night and get to feel the softness of her body against mine.
Every single time my fingers, my tongue, or my cock slide through her lips, both sets of them, I’m in fucking heaven. Every minute and late night I spent with her was worth getting my ass kicked the next morning.
One night wasn’t enough for either of us and I doubt four more days will be either.
For now I will take everything I can get from this woman.
On the bright side of things, I got her tickets to the first home game of the season. I will be experiencing her again in no time.
Something that I know we both will be counting the days to.