Chapter 2 Brant
two
Brant
Inotice her the moment she steps into the ballroom, even with the gold mask covering her beautiful face, the color of her dress shining like spun gold in the chandelier's light.
Her sun-kissed skin, matching the highlights in her brown hair, glows, making her look ethereal.
Speaking of her hair, she has it down tonight, flowing in a cascade of curls down her back instead of her usual sleek ponytail.
Her dress hugging every luscious curve of her body, just as I'd imagined from the tiny glimpses of her I’ve seen in her business-casual attire.
Trying to keep my distance from her these past few months has been tough, but the last thing I need is a scandal involving a young woman twelve years my junior.
As the youngest hockey commissioner in history, I feel the eyes of the hockey world watching my every move.
I can’t risk my career over some young woman—even if she makes my heart race like no one else ever has, not even Jane.
Jane, even thinking of her name leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. For someone I once thought was so sweet and innocent, I saw her true side when my brothers and I considered making her our woman and sharing her like the Minnesota Norse and the Iowa Poseidon hockey teams do.
It was two years ago that my brothers and I retired from our professional hockey careers.
We had been intrigued by the Minnesota Norse hockey team and how they paired up, three guys with one woman.
We had given up puck bunnies long ago, seeking something more meaningful than just one night.
We thought we had found that with Jane until she showed us her true colors.
Charlie and Remy aren’t related to me by blood, but we’re closer than true-blood related brothers ever could be.
My parents adopted Charlie when we were both five, after realizing they couldn’t have any more biological children.
Five years later, they adopted seven-year-old Remy.
He was born with a cleft palate, and the orphanage where he lived didn’t have the resources to fix it properly.
He was teased mercilessly by the older kids at the orphanage.
And even though he has undergone numerous surgeries since becoming part of our family, Remy is still very sensitive about his appearance.
The scar that divides his lip is barely noticeable, but to Remy it’s huge.
“Is that her?” Charlie steps beside me and raises his champagne glass toward Blair. “She’s stunning. No wonder you can’t stop talking about her. Do you think she’d be interested in the three of us?”
A vision of sharing Blair with my two brothers flashes through my mind.
It feels so real, I can picture the four of us just relaxing at home watching TV.
A wave of peace washes over me until the vision shifts to Blair in the middle of my bed on her hands and knees, taking each of us into one of her holes.
I shut the vision down—it’s too dangerous to even fantasize about.
“That’s her.” A small part of me wishes I had never told my brothers about Blair in the first place.
But ever since I did, they’ve been pestering me to meet her.
Even Remy, and he was the one most devastated by Jane’s betrayal.
“But I don’t think she’s interested in taking on all three of us.
” It’s not that I don’t want to share her with my brothers—in fact, I want nothing more than to share her with them.
It’s that my feelings for her are much stronger than they were with Jane—I’m not sure I could survive her betrayal.
“She’s just as beautiful as you said.” Remy adjusts his mask, making sure to cover the scar on his upper lip. Damn it, I will not see him hurt again.
“We won’t know until we ask her,” Charlie smirks, setting his champagne glass on the table next to us. “I think I’ll go introduce myself.”
“Wait.” I grab his arm to stop him from going to Blair. “Let’s wait until after the draft. I don’t want to overshadow it with a scandal.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to waste this chance to dance with a beautiful woman.” Charlie shakes off my grip and pushes through the crowd until he’s standing in front of Blair.
I watch as Charlie introduces himself to her, too far away to hear exactly what he’s saying, only to see her scanning the ballroom, her eyes finally landing on mine.
With a tiny salute, I raise my champagne glass in her direction.
She nods, then goes back to her conversation with Charlie.
All the while, my heart screams at me to go to her.