Chapter 8 Ben
Ben
Ben breathed heavily as the whistle blew, signaling the end to a grueling practice.
He bent at the waist and rested his forearms against his thighs before pushing off from the inside edge of one of his blades and skating off the ice.
The muscles in his legs burned as he made his way to the changing room alongside the rest of his teammates.
“Man,” Richie groused, “I knew Dodds would be on a rampage after that last game against the Blue Jackets, but I didn’t think he would be this much of a sadist.”
“Me neither,” Volkov seconded. “If sore muscles do not keep me up tonight, I will be having nightmares about that last puck-handling drill.” He punctuated his statement with a shudder.
“I don’t know about you boys,” Richie said as they made their way through the tunnel and into the locker room, “but I could use a nice, cold beer to wash away the taste of that practice.”
A few of the guys grunted their agreement.
“Are you finally going to come out with us, Phillips,” Richie egged their captain, “or does the wife have you on too tight a leash?”
Phillips took the ribbing in stride. “As it happens,” he declared, “I have a date with three beautiful little ladies tonight. Pam is taking a night off to go out for drinks with the girls, so I’m on Papa Patrol.”
Richie’s mouth gaped open. “And that doesn’t bother you? It doesn’t freak you out to imagine other dudes hitting on your wife?”
Phillips crossed his arms over his chest and smiled confidently. “My Pam is a beautiful woman. A man would have to be blind not to see that.”
“Or miss the large diamond you put on her finger,” Volkov remarked.
“That, too,” Phillips added with the possessive gleam of a man who is confident in the strength of his marriage.
“My girl is still a stunner after blessing me with three beautiful babies. If she wants to go out and knock back a few cocktails with some friends, I can’t fault her for that. She needs a break and the opportunity to let loose as much as anyone.”
“But does she have to drag Mel along with her?” Cassidy griped.
One of Ben’s brows drew up in surprise.
“Why would Melody going out with Phillips’ wife bother you?” he inquired as casually as he could.
Melody had assured him there was nothing romantic going on between her and Cassidy, but that didn’t mean that his teammate didn’t want there to be. Damn. He’d conveniently overlooked that possibility.
Cassidy rolled his shoulders backward as if trying to dispel their sudden tension.
“Mel is sweet and kind and entirely too trusting for my own good. That’s why,” Cassidy groused.
“Too trusting for your own good?” Ben sought to clarify.
“Yeah,” Cassidy affirmed as he raked his fingers through his hair. “For my own good. Since I’d have to wipe the floor with anyone who treated her wrong.”
Ben’s second eyebrow drew up to join the first. Cassidy’s comment could be no more than the remark of a protective friend, but was it? Of that, Ben wasn’t sure.
Cassidy sighed heavily and shifted his weight from one foot to the next before starting to pace.
“Mel isn’t nearly suspicious enough of people’s bad intentions.
She’s such a good person that she just assumes other people will be, too.
And yet, few are. Especially at nightclubs and places like that. ”
Ben’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Is Cellars a nightclub?” he queried.
“Well, no,” Cassidy admitted as he tore off his shoulder pads. “But who knows where they’ll end up.”
“Don’t worry.” Phillips clapped Cassidy on the back. “Pam may be one seriously sexy woman, but she’s also a protective mama bear. My wife might not be much older than Melody, but she’ll make sure she doesn’t get too sauced to look out for her girls.”
“If that weren’t enough,” Phillips continued, “Pam’s sister, Annie, is going to be with them. So, Pam will kick back and relax, but this will hardly be a case of girls gone wild.”
“Well, okay,” Cassidy grumbled, temporarily mollified. Not, Ben suspected, that he had any real say in how Melody chose to spend her time—or with whom.
Ben couldn’t help but wonder how Cassidy would take his own interest in Melody.
Would he go to as much effort to cockblock him as he was these potential unknowns he pictured hitting on her?
Did Cassidy object to anyone getting romantically involved with Melody, or just the guys only out for a good time?
Since Ben had every intention of pursuing Melody, he supposed he would soon find out.
Now, to plan his strategy. Operation: Get the Girl was about to commence.