Chapter 7
Dean
“I bet all three of you will score tonight,” I say before sliding my jersey over my head and straightening it out over my gear.
The rest of the guys are still only halfway done with getting padded up, leaving me to pace in front of them as they secure their gear in place.
The locker room for the Anaheim Rattlesnakes is on the smaller side compared to some of the other teams, but we’re making do.
Or at least I am. The familiarity of being here helps me adjust easily.
Having gone to college and starting out on the minor league team here in California before getting pulled up to play two seasons with the Rattlesnakes when I started out, I don’t think I could say anything bad about it here.
I wouldn’t be here, ready to hit the ice with the Bobcats, if it weren’t for this very arena.
Playing here each year always feels a bit nostalgic.
Greyson chuckles, shaking his head while also not denying my statement.
Dominik glances up at me before returning his attention back to his knee pads. “I feel like you have better odds to bet for Grey to get a hat trick than you have for all three of us to get our own goals.”
Grinning, I shake out my arms and start doing a couple stretches in front of them.
“Nah, I got a good feeling.”
“What’s got you so confident?” Landon asks as he bends forward to tie up his skate.
I pause for a second, trying to pinpoint the root cause of the gut feeling, and come up short. “Just a hunch.”
Landon peers up at me with a raised eyebrow and studies me for a few seconds before shrugging.
“I’ll take this bet.” He pushes to his feet before turning around to grab his jersey from the cubby behind him. “I bet that Grey is the only one of us three to score and that at least two other goals will come from Reid and Carter.”
He motions to the two other forwards closest to us.
I mull it over for a moment. Carter and Reid are good.
Off the ice, they spend as much time together as Landon and I do.
Maybe more considering they are actual next-door neighbors.
On the ice, they have the same unspoken communication that Dominik and Landon have.
Yet when I look at them, I don’t have the same confidence that I did about the trio in front of me scoring.
“I’m with Landon,” Dominik says as he finishes up and Grey nods without looking away from his current task of getting ready.
“Fine, but when I win, the three of you have to…” I pause, trying to think of something good, when it hits me. “Have a sleepover in my room tonight.”
“Wait, what?” Grey asks, his head finally snapping up.
“You’re all so sure that you won’t score tonight, so if I’m right and you do, we’re having a sleepover. With junk food and late-night shit talking too.”
Landon blinks at me. “Wait, we share a room.”
I grin. “Yup.”
He shakes his head, glancing over his shoulder at Dominik and Greyson before turning to Carter and Reid, who are completely clueless to the current conversation.
After another moment, he holds his hand out. “You’re on.”
Dominik just laughs but agrees too.
“Do I get a say in this?” Grey asks, looking between us as if we’re contagious.
“What? Scared of sleepovers?” I tease.
“Grown men don’t have sleepovers,” he retorts.
“Yeah, well, who made that a rule? Come on, what do you have to lose? I promise no one will braid your beautiful man bun when you lose.”
He scowls, but I see the edges of his lips fighting off a smile.
“Fine. But only because I don’t think you’ll win this.”
“I told you so!” I yell as the guys slam into me. The buzzer lets out one final blow and the announcer recaps the Bobcats’ win.
What’s even better is the fact that I was right.
Landon just shakes his head, tapping his helmet to mine and patting my shoulder. The rest of our team hits the ice, congratulating each other on a good game before falling into line to shake hands with the Rattlesnakes.
“When was the last time all three of us scored in one game, though?” Dominik asks from in front of me and I grin, focusing on the handshakes and repeatedly saying a half-hearted “good game” to the opposing team.
Once we finish up, Landon gets pulled away to do a short interview while the rest of us get to head to the locker room.
I strip from my gear quickly, riding the high of the win with everyone else. Coach gives us the normal congratulatory speech, reminding us all to get some rest since we have an early flight home.
While the guys finish showering, I pull out my phone and quickly respond to Arianna’s text about the win before pulling up the number for the hotel. It only takes five minutes to get someone to help me and another three to make sure it’s ready by the time we get back.
I have my equipment bag thrown over my shoulder and am ready to go when the guys finish getting changed. Greyson is the first to notice me and groans.
“I should have missed that play on purpose.”
“And yet you didn’t. It’s okay. I won’t tell Stella that you secretly wanted to spend a night with me.”
He levels me with a glare, but it doesn’t have the same “fuck off” energy that he had before his high school sweetheart came back into his life. Stella really brought our team grouch out of his shell, even though he sometimes tries to deny it.
“Listen, I’m all for paying up on lost bets, just ask Lilly,” Dominik says as he steps up beside Greyson. “But how are four grown-ass men supposed to fit in one hotel room?”
“I got it all figured out.” I grin before turning on my heel and leading the way.
The entire ride back to the hotel is spent with Landon and Dominik questioning my seriousness and a couple of the other guys laughing as if we’re joking about this.
It isn’t until I tell them to meet us at my room twenty minutes after making it back to the hotel, giving them time to change and grab their stuff, for them to realize how serious I am about this.
“You had a cot brought up?” Greyson asks when I open the door for him and Dominik.
“Yup. And had them pull out the couch-bed and make that up too.” I motion for them to enter. “Landon popped out to grab snacks and hot cocoa.”
While Grey hovers in the entryway, Dominik shrugs and moves around me to claim the cot.
“Like I said, no one will braid your luscious mane, Grey.” I back off, letting the door close and forcing him to come in.
“How the fuck did we all score?” he grumbles while heading to claim the pull-out bed.
I grab the remote and turn on the TV, finding a rerun of a comedy show to have on in the background, and drop onto my bed.
Landon returns shortly after with two bags of goodies and a drink tray.
Before the door shuts, the colorful hair of our team’s social media manager fills the space, immediately laughing.
“Please let me take a picture for our account,” she begs and I shrug.
Her pictures and other content ideas never bother me, but I know Greyson is more reserved than me, so I’ll be leaving the decision to him.
Before he can answer, Lucy beats him to it.
“I’ll even angle it so that your face isn’t in it.
Just enough of your legs to show there are four of you. ”
Grey sighs, but it lacks any annoyance or frustration. “Sure. Go ahead.”
Lucy squeals, motioning for Landon to get into his bed, and proceeds to snap a few pictures before running off to post them.
For as much as they all grumbled about paying up on the bet, we spend the next half hour catching up.
Dominik brags about his fiancée’s latest book release and talks about her brothers coming down for another visit soon.
Greyson tells us all about Harper’s upcoming dance recital, which I make sure to ask for tickets to.
His kid is cute as hell and absolutely loves every one of us who are on her dad’s team.
Stella is trying to make sure their kid gets a wide range of extracurricular activities under her belt, like dance and gymnastics, but Harper has her eyes set on wearing skates every chance she gets.
When they came to last year’s family skate night, she could almost keep up with us.
Granted, I had snuck off and used most of my energy with Arianna in the lounge room. But still. His girl is good at skating.
An ache that can only be called jealousy hits me square in the chest. These two get to proudly talk about the women in their life, something I would love to do.
Just as the thought forms, Landon gets up and crosses to the bathroom, and that ache drops to a pit of guilt in my stomach.
I should be used to it by now, sneaking around my best friend’s back.
We’ve been doing it for almost two years.
But slowly something’s changed. Ever since Thanksgiving, seeing that golf lover boy try his best to show off for Ari like he was a damn peacock, something snapped.
I find myself wondering what it would be like to just tell Landon I’m into his sister, that we’ve been hanging out every week and each time she wraps me tighter around her finger.
As if summoning her, my phone lights up with a notification. Seeing Arianna’s name makes me grin and unlock the phone quickly.
Ari: She won’t leave my side. This is how we live now.
All the air in my lungs heaves out the moment I click on the attached picture.
Yes, Cora looks adorable sleeping against Ari’s side.
She’s sprawled out, her back to Ari, making it look like Cora is the little spoon of the two of them.
No matter how hard I try to keep my attention on my cute pup, all I can focus on is the fact that Arianna didn’t try to cover herself up.
At some point while cuddling, Ari’s shirt had ridden up her torso where Cora pinned it just above her chest. The lacey red bra is a stark contrast against her pale skin and my fingers itch with the need to peel the cup down and suck her perfect nipple between my teeth.