8. Tuevo
CHAPTER 8
Tuevo
S hit. I had to go. My eyes were sandpaper and the few beers I had last night were taking their toll on the slow, thumping headache at the back of my skull. I had to be at the practice, and while the arena where we played our games was right across the street, our practice facility was, at minimum, a thirty-minute drive away.
Which meant I had less than a half hour to shower, eat, and somehow manage to pull myself out of the bed where Meredith was curled up next to me.
She gave a slow groan and stretched, her hand on my chest pressing in tight.
She froze, and I covered her hand with mine.
“Morning,” I whispered and kissed the top of her head. My voice was gravel, and my head and eyes hurt, but memories of last night made it all worth it.
Her beneath me. The sounds she made. The way her body moved with confidence and free from any restraint. She’d been glorious.
Perfect.
“You need to leave.” She curled into me and then released me. “I can’t believe you’re still here.”
It was only seven, but I’d meant to be up and moving around six. “I have some time.”
But not much.
Meredith pushed off me and rolled to her back before tugging the covers up to her neck and closing her eyes. “No, you don’t.”
She was right. Groaning, I threw my legs over the side of the bed and grabbed my boxer briefs off the floor where they’d ended up. After I used the bathroom and brushed my teeth, I peeked out the bathroom door, excepting to see Meredith getting dressed, possibly trying to sneak away while I was in the shower. Instead, she’d rolled back to her side, with the curve of her spine and back on display. Her red hair was draped over my hotel pillows, off the side of the bed. She was asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake her, so after a quick shower, I moved through the room quietly but quickly. I could grab food in the lobby on my way out and then more once I got to the facility. Showing up starving probably wouldn’t be the greatest first impression, but at the moment, my only thought was whether I had time to wake the woman sleeping in my bed for another quick round.
A check of my phone told me no way in hell.
A third round would have to wait.
Instead, I took a couple minutes on my phone, scheduled and ordered what I needed, and texted Caleb.
Need your sister’s contact
Caleb
You screw up already and she refused to give it to you?
She’s still sleeping, asshole.
Caleb
TMI. Hold please.
I waited, my foot tapping impatiently until her phone number popped up on my screen.
Another quick text, and I sent the two tickets to her phone along with another text.
Bought these while you were still snoring. Hope you can make it. Have a great day. Let me know when I can see you again.
I was drenched in sweat, every bone in my body aching. Good news for me, the headache and dry eyes from earlier were gone. Only to be replaced with painful calves and hamstrings that would take hours in a sauna and a masseuse to sort out. Plus enough sweat gathering in my practice uniform to ensure I’d sweated out any remaining alcohol from last night but lost another few pounds.
Ice sprayed up to my knees as the Avengers’ first line center stopped in front of me. Markos Skullen was a badass. A long-time vet for the team, he’d been the first guy I met when I got called up and had shaken my hand so tight I was worried he’d thought we were enemies and not teammates.
“You’re good.”
He pivoted on his skates and took off toward the edge of the ice. Gone as fast as he’d appeared, before I could say thanks.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“Got it.”
Don’t fuck up. It was pretty much the only thing I’d been repeating since I took to the ice today. For the most part, the entire team had been welcoming. There were nerves, definitely, and I was a man with everything to prove and everything to lose. I didn’t doubt that half of the guys who took me in from the start didn’t plan on getting too close until they knew the long-term plan, but that was all to be expected.
I could be gone in a couple months or here for years. It was anyone’s guess at this point.
Braeden Gloss skated up on my other side and tapped his stick to mine. “Don’t let him scare you. He’s mean to everyone.”
“Man’s a beast.”
“And pissed the team took a dive. He was hoping this was his year. There’s talk of him retiring soon.”
“Really?” The guy was only thirty-two. Sure, it was older than most, especially considering he was ten years older than me, but he skated and played like a man with a battle on his hands. “I wouldn’t have thought that.”
“He’s been bitching about it every year, but yeah. Three more, maybe. Tops. Advice to get on his good side?”
“That’d be helpful.” We stepped off the ice and onto the rubber floor, headed toward the locker room.
“Score. Win us some games.”
“So no pressure then.”
Braeden tore off his chin straps and then his helmet. “It’s what you were called up to do. Shouldn’t be that hard.”
With that, he took the lead and marched into the locker room, leaving me trailing behind. He’d had no attitude, no frustration in his statement. Just the simple, basic truth.
Score. Win games. Do my job.
It was all so simple if I didn’t let my nerves get in the way.
It was later, after my sauna and my massage. After a turn on the bike to loosen up the lactic acid in my legs and after I ate lunch with the guys before we watched a film, I was finally able to check my phone.
Meredith
I don’t snore. See you soon. Hope your practice went well.
I tucked the phone into the side pocket of my bag and threw the strap over my shoulder.
And realized I was smiling.
Over a woman.
I was pretty damn sure that’d never happened before in my entire life, but with Meredith, I couldn’t stop.
Fuck it.
I grabbed my phone.
I want to take you to dinner before we leave for our next away game. Let me know what night works.
That’d give her a few days to plan something.
Tomorrow. I get to pick the place.
I’ll let that happen only because I’m new to town. But dinner is on me.
That sounds like it could be fun…
It took me a second. I busted out in a low laugh.
Damn, I liked her sass.
That’s dessert. Do me a favor?
Depends
When you try to get off later with a vibrator I’m sure you have, or your fingers, don’t just think of me, but remember how much better I am than any replacement.
Three dots appeared in a gray bubble. Vanished. Reappeared and vanished again.
I found the team’s film room with a smile on my face.
I’d left her speechless, and I had a feeling that didn’t happen to her very often.
Score one for me.