Chapter 11
Eleven
MALAKI
I walk inside the locker room for our annual charity event, and it’s buzzing. The sounds of shuttering cameras ride a wave in between all the quiet murmurs, and young kids step forward while staying close to their parents who look at us with admiration and gratitude. I scan the crowd and–ah, shit.
I pause in the doorway and stare. Reese is hard to overlook, even standing beside Daisy all dolled up in her Blue Devil mascot costume. I have no idea what she’s doing here, but I’m not necessarily unhappy about it.
Days have passed since I’ve last seen her, our night ending on less-than-ideal terms. Yet I still can’t seem to get her out of my head.
It isn’t often that a woman lingers for this long.
Is it because we were interrupted? Or is it because my attraction to her is unmatched?
Maybe it’s because I was metaphorically left on unread when I asked her who Charlie was.
Her sassy response to my unintentional jab is on repeat: “I am single!”
Even during practice, it circled around my head like it has any business being there while I’m working gap control or battling behind the net.
I pull my eyes away from Reese when there’s a tug on my pant leg. Two wide eyes stare up at me, suddenly reminding me why I’m here.
I get down on the little tyke’s level. “Hey, bud. What’s your name?”
He looks down with the slip of his name. “Jackson.”
“Jackson,” I repeat. “Give me some knuckles.” I throw my fist out, and he eagerly pounds it with his own. “Should we get a picture?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
No?
I try again. “Do you want an autograph?”
He pauses and seemingly looks around for something to sign. He disappears for a moment and runs over to his parents to tug on their pant legs like he did to me. I watch him for a second before shifting my attention to the prettiest girl in the room.
Reese is staring directly at me.
Pride fills my chest. I grin, my lip hitching on one side.
Knowing she was caught, she turns away quickly, but not quite quick enough, because I spotted the blush rush to her cheeks.
I get back on Jackson’s level and sign the puck he brought me, but before I hand it to him, another grand idea comes to mind.
“Hey, want to be my partner in crime?” I ask him.
This time, there is no hesitation. He nods his head eagerly, more than willing to partner up with me.
There’s a nearby bin of pucks for signing. I sneakily grab one and write, Who is Charlie? on it with a permanent marker and hand it to Jackson. “Okay, partner. Can you deliver this puck to that girl right there?” I point over at Reese, who is doing everything in her power to avoid me.
She stands alone, looking at Daisy and Kane arguing while simultaneously posing for pictures with kids.
She’s leaning against my locker. Coincidence? I think not.
Jackson disappears to deliver the puck to Reese while I busy myself with signing more autographs and posing with other kids and their families. I catch quick glimpses of my little partner in crime when he hands Reese the puck, and I suddenly can’t look away.
She bends down to get on his level and pushes her soft wavy hair over her shoulder. Her warm smile sucks me in, and the fluttering of her eyes? I’m a goner.
Reese quickly stands up straight after taking the puck from Jackson and raises an eyebrow in my direction.
I shrug innocently.
Her lips flatten.
Humor fills me, and I find myself wanting to smirk as I’m pulled away to socialize some more. I photobomb several of my teammates while they pose for their own photos with tiny fans and win the laughs of everyone in the room, even Reese.
Kane saunters up beside me, huffing and puffing.
“Lady trouble?” I ask.
“Fuck off,” Kane growls.
We both look out into the sea of kids who somehow seem more interested in Daisy and Reese than us. Jackson continues to stand near Reese, making no move to come back over to me.
Little traitor. Not that I can blame him.
I glance down when someone taps on the side of my leg.
This time, it’s a little girl with pink glasses and two pigtails. She’s holding up a puck for me to take with wide eyes. She’s cute and reminds me of Rhodes’ daughter.
Though, Ellie is as sassy as they get.
After signing the puck, I swoop the little girl up into my arms. She doesn’t talk, and her parents explain that she’s mostly deaf yet refuses to wear her hearing aids.
“Do you have them with you?” I ask them after posing with her for a photo.
The dad nods and pulls out two purple devices.
I place the little girl back on her feet but stay on her level. I pop both hearing aids into my ears, and she giggles. Not knowing sign language, I turn to her parents. “Can you ask her if she likes them? If she thinks they look good on me?”
The mom laughs while signing to her daughter.
She shakes her head and giggles again. Before I know it, she’s reaching forward and snatching them out of my ear. It only takes her a few seconds to put them into her own.
“I agree.” I nod. “They look much better on you.”
I wink at her and stand, her laugh still lingering below.
Her father shakes my hand and expresses his gratitude.
I brush them off. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.”
I eagerly scan the room after they move on to another one of my teammates.
Back to the target, I tell myself.
Reese stands in the same spot next to my locker, with her lip tucked in between her teeth.
There’s a softness lingering around her, those brown eyes warm as she flutters her eyelashes in my direction.
We keep catching each other’s eye until the room begins to clear out, taking her best friend and Kane too, as they both rush through the door.
I move toward Reese while giving each of my teammates a look that says, She's mine.
A few of them smirk; some roll their eyes.
She sticks out like a rose in a bunch of thorns.
So pretty and soft, surrounded by gruff hockey players who are hoping I blow my chances so they can try to win her affection too.
I lean against Kane’s locker, which just happens to be next to mine. “Did you get my note?” I ask her.
Reese plays with a delicate gold necklace around her neck, refusing to look at me. “Hm?” she says. “What did you say? Something about a note?”
I chuckle. “Maybe I should go get those purple hearing aids for you.”
She sucks her cheeks in, and I know it’s because she’s trying not to laugh at my joke.
I nudge her with my elbow. “Did you like that?”
She finally glances at me. I immediately drop my gaze to her mouth. Kissing her the other night really messed with my head because here I am, thinking of doing it again, while I just so happen to forget about the whole Charlie thing.
“Did I like what?” she asks.
I flick my chin to where I was standing previously. “My little stunt with the hearing aids?”
She rolls her eyes playfully while her fingers continue to fiddle with the necklace.
Silence begins to settle in the locker room, my teammates ready to end the evening but not before stopping to talk with the manager and trainers.
Reese’s lips open out of the corner of my eye, like she’s going to say something, but then they close again.
She does this a few times before finally giving in.
“You’re good with kids.”
Rhodes walks past with his gear in tow. He doesn’t even make eye contact but still manages to say, “That’s because he’s a kid too.”
“Fuck off,” I mumble.
Reese quietly laughs, and yeah, okay, fine. He’s not necessarily wrong.
I like to have fun, and if that makes me a kid, then so be it.
I shift to rest my shoulder against the locker so I can see her better. She doesn’t so much as twitch. Her back stays straight as a board as she stares out into the emptying locker room, almost like she’s afraid to move.
Afraid I’m going to kiss her again?
“What exactly are you doing here?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Did you come to answer my question?”
A huff of air leaves her. “No.”
“You came to see me, though, didn’t you?” I can’t help but rile her up.
“What?” She crosses her arms like me. “No!”
I hum. “Whatever you say, Dimples.”
Her hip pops with attitude, and excitement creeps into my blood.
I love her saucy manner. It’s entertaining and enticing all in one.
She turns to face me, little lines of anger on her forehead.
“I’m here because I help with some PR stuff occasionally.
I was the one who designed Daisy’s costume, and I had to fix a few sequins. ”
Oh?
“And,” she presses on, “I’m also Daisy’s ride.”
“So you’re an Uber driver, you make costumes, and you help out with the team’s PR?” I pretend to count. “What is that? Three jobs?”
She scoffs, like she’d rather be anywhere else than in this locker room, talking to me. “I wouldn't consider making one costume a job, and I only helped Cindy a few times. It’s nothing permanent.”
“Damn,” I sigh. “I thought I might get to see you while on the ice.”
She pushes her hair over her shoulder and turns away. “Sorry to disappoint.”
It is a disappointment. I like seeing her. I like being around her too.
I move without thought and end up right in front of her with my hands on her hips. Her eyes widen, and she jerks backward, bumping into my locker. A soft gasp slips from behind her lips, and I somehow forget all about the whole Charlie thing and how dismissive she is with me most of the time.
“Excuse me,” I say under my breath. With my hands around her waist, I scoot her over some so I can get into my locker.
Reese’s chest is unmoving, air trapped inside as she holds her breath.
A smirk works itself onto my face as I remove my hands from her waist. “Breathe, Reese. Or you might pass out and force me to give you mouth to mouth in front of my coach.”
She responds with an exhale, her sweet breath fanning in between us. Satisfaction fills me up to the brim, to the point that I almost miss her fleeing.
“Um, excuse me,” her sweet voice carries throughout the room while she dodges a few people.
She waves at Cindy, the woman in charge of our PR, before she slips through the door.
I chuckle as she scurries away.
Doesn’t she know that I’m annoyingly persistent?
As if I’m not going to chase after her? The flare of attraction between us burned so bright with my hands around her waist that I’d be a fool not to.
My pretty Uber driver with secrets that she’s unwilling to spill is doing nothing but tempting me by running off like that.
She’s about to find out the hard way that I’m relentless.