Body Check (Seattle Serpents), page 13
I pull out my phone to text her but am unsurprised to see my battery is at just five percent. I’m awful at charging it on the road, and I guess this trip is no exception. Luckily the ride to the hotel is short, and we’re pulling up to the luxurious building in under twenty minutes.
We file off the bus, that same quiet from the locker room lingering over us. Somehow, and I don’t really know how, I end up in the bar along with the Serpents Singles. Still fucking hate the name, but I guess if I have to be around people right now, I’m glad it’s them.
We grab a spot toward the back, and for the first time this season, I order a real beer. I probably shouldn’t, but fuck, I need it tonight.
“That was brutal.” Naturally, Lawson’s the first to break the silence. “Fucking six–zero? What the hell is wrong with us?”
“I’m sorry, guys,” Fox offers, his usual smile nowhere to be seen.
Locke pats him on the shoulder. “Don’t, man. Just don’t. It was a team effort tonight. It’s not on you.”
“Team effort.” Keller scoffs. “If you count putting in the work toward losing, then yeah, we definitely exemplified team effort.”
He’s not wrong, but it doesn’t make his words sting any less. It sucks that we’re all feeling this way tonight. You tell the media one thing, that it’s just one game and you’re good, that you’ll find a way to climb back in the next or that you’re not worried about it and it’s just on to the next one—it’s all a fucking lie. Every loss hangs on your shoulders, weighing you down.
And this one? It’s going to take a while to lift that weight back off.
“Hutch?”
There’s no way I heard what I just did. I’m dreaming. I must be. But when I spin in my seat, I realize this isn’t some trick my mind is playing on me.
“Auden.”
I’m up and out of my chair before I even realize what I’m doing. I cross the short distance between us and have every intention of scooping her into my arms but pull up short at the last second when she holds her hand up. Her eyes dart beyond me to the group of guys behind me.
I want to say screw them. I don’t give a shit if they see.
But I don’t. I respect her wishes, shoving my hands into my pockets so I don’t accidentally reach for her.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper.
She gives me a knowing smile that tells me everything I want to hear.
Me. She’s here for me.
“I figured you could use some cheering up,” she says quietly.
Oh, man. She doesn’t know just how damn badly I need what she’s offering. I’m about to grab her wrist and pull her to my room when I hear the last thing I want to hear.
“Who’s your friend, Hutchy?”
Fucking Lawson.
I squeeze my eyes closed tightly. Maybe if I can’t see him, he can’t see me either and he’ll drop it. I’m praying he’ll let this one go, because I really, really don’t want to play twenty questions tonight, especially not with Lawson.
“Yeah, Hutch, who’s your friend?” This from Hayes. I fucking knew I wasn’t going to like that guy.
I peel my eyes open to peek down at Auden. She’s looking up at me with amusement, clearly loving how uncomfortable I am with the guys wanting to be all up in my business.
“They aren’t going to stop,” I say so low only she can hear.
“It’s okay.” She lifts a shoulder. “They don’t need to know anything.”
I nod a few times, then take a deep breath and steer us back to the table.
“Well fucking well.” Lawson gives Auden a sleazy smile that has me itching to reach over and smack him. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Auden jerks back at the pet name.
“Don’t fucking call her that.”
The words leave me before I even realize it, and I’m no fool—I know exactly how that sounded: possessive, like I’m staking a claim on Auden right here in front of everyone.
Lawson holds his hands up innocently. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t realize she was spoken for.”
I should correct him. I should tell him and the rest of the table she’s nobody to me, but that wouldn’t be true, would it? Although…it will be my bed she ends up in tonight, after all. For all intents and purposes, she is mine.
Auden clears her throat, stepping in front of me and extending her hand to Lawson.
“I’m Auden.”
“Auden,” he says, not knocking any of his signature charm off his words as he takes her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Auden. I’m Lucas Lawson.”
“Lucas Lawson?” Her lips twitch as she tries to hide a smile. “That’s quite the name.”
He grins, stretching his arms over the back of the booth we’re shoved into. “They call me Lawless Lawson because I can’t be tamed.”
“They call you that because you don’t seem to understand there are rules and consequences for your actions, moron.” Keller glares at Lawson before turning to Auden. “Keller.”
“Hi,” she says to him before shooting her eyes to me in a silent question.
What’s his deal? her hazel gaze inquires.
I shrug. He’s always like that, I reply with my eyes.
I turn back to the group, pointing each person out as I introduce him. “That’s Hayes, Locke, and our goalie Fox.”
“Fox?” She takes a special interest in him.
The man in question bounces in his seat, that ever-present smile of his shining bright. “Howdy, ma’am.”
Keller rolls his eyes at Fox’s slow Southern drawl, and I laugh. He only ever uses it to charm the ladies, but I know for a fact he’s not going to be charming this one, not tonight or any other night.
“Would you like a drink, Auden?”
She looks up at me before answering Lawson, and I dip my head, letting her know it’s her call.
She shrugs. “Sure. Why not?”
Fuck. I was hoping she’d just want to go up to my room and fuck each other’s brains out, but I guess it would look a little suspicious if she just bailed right now. So, I do the gentlemanly thing and pull a chair out for her.
“Thanks,” she murmurs, taking a seat. She pulls the drink menu from the middle of the table and flips it open. “Hmm.” She taps her chin, the same one I’ve kissed so many times, and scans the list of drinks. “What’s good here?”
The others may not see it, but I do—that hint of a smile in the corners of her lips. She obviously knows what’s good here since it’s her hotel. She’s all in on the role she’s playing, though, and I love her dedication to it.
“I hear they make a mean Cosmo,” Hayes tells her, then a loud oof leaves him as Lawson punches him right in the stomach. Even Keller snickers at it.
“Just for that, you’re buying the next round,” Lawson tells Hayes.
“Fine.” The new guy huffs. “Auden?”
“A white wine,” I tell him automatically.
“How’d you know that?” Hayes questions.
Fuck. What do I say? What do I say?
“She just looks like a white wine gal, right, Hutch?”
I jerk my eyes to Locke, who is begging me with his own gaze to go along with it.
I point my finger at him. “That,” I tell Hayes. “Now go. We’re thirsty.”
“I’m going, I’m going.”
I’m pretty sure he mutters something about us being a bunch of assholes as he walks away, but I can’t be certain. I’m too busy looking at Locke, whose eyes are darting back and forth between me and Auden, until finally, he settles on me and gives me a knowing smirk.
Fuck me. He knows.
How the hell does he know?
I don’t know, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by it. He’s always been too damn intuitive for his own good. Even back when I played a few years with him in Nashville before he went to Toronto, he was the same way, always watching and always knowing.
I never found it annoying until now. I avert my eyes, looking anywhere but at his knowing gaze.
“So, Auden, how do you know Hutch?” Fox asks.
“Well, um, it’s kind of a funny story.” She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. It’s down tonight, and I love that it’s down. As adorable as her messy buns are, I like her hair best like this. Easier to wrap around my fist as I’m fucking her. “We met on a flight this summer.”
“That so?” Lawson’s brows shoot up as his eyes slide my way. “Going to or from the wedding?”
“From.”
The single word is clipped, mostly because I really don’t like this line of questioning. I don’t want them to know how I know Auden because I don’t want them to piece anything together. There’s too much on the line for both of us to allow them to get suspicious. It’s bad enough that Locke knows. I don’t need any of these other nosy fuckers picking up on things.
“Our flight got caught in a storm and Hutch here helped calm me down when things started to go south. We managed to land safely in Chicago, but it was a rough go for a while.” She smiles up at me sweetly. It’s that same damn smile I can’t seem to get enough of. “I’m not sure I would have made it through without him. He’s kind of my hero.”
“Good man,” Fox says, clapping me on the back. “Right, Keller?”
He just grunts in response, his arms folded across his chest, looking like he wants to be anywhere but here.
“You never hold my hand during bumpy flights.” Lawson pouts.
“And I never will,” I promise.
He juts his lip out at my answer, but his defiance is short-lived because soon he’s clapping his hands. “Goody, more beer!”
Hayes reappears with a tray full of hoppy goodness and a wine for Auden.
“I said white,” I remind him.
He shrugs, flopping back down in the booth. “They were out.”
“It’s fine. I’ll drink anything.”
Auden pats my arm twice in a soothing gesture, but it has the exact opposite effect. It ignites me, lights me up from the inside out because holy hell have I missed her touch. I knew before I was missing her, but I didn’t realize it was this bad, didn’t realize I ache for her.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Quit being all overprotective big-brothery,” Lawson says, snatching his beer from the tray and gulping half of it down.
Oh, I’m overprotective all right, but there is nothing remotely brotherly about what I feel toward Auden, and based on the way her hand lands on my leg underneath the table and gives me a gentle squeeze, the feeling is mutual. She traces a pattern against my jeans. What it is, I’m not sure, but it makes me want to haul her into my lap and show her the pattern I can trace with my tongue all over her body.
If only we weren’t surrounded by these morons.
“To a better game tomorrow!” Hayes says, lifting his glass and looking around the table.
We all stare blankly back at him until he slowly lowers his beer.
“Are we not…” He chuckles nervously, reaching up and squeezing the back of his neck. “Do we not drink to that? I’m not quite sure on the club rules just yet.”
“Club?” Auden questions.
Shit.
“Oh, did Hutchy here not tell you? We’re the Serpents Singles.” Lawson grins proudly, feeling a little too damn confident spouting off that stupid name.
“That’s not our name.”
“Then you come up with a better one, Keller,” Lawson snaps back.
Round and round they go, even Hayes and Fox joining in.
Auden leans into me with a wicked grin. “So, what’s this club about?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s nothing. It’s not even a real club. We just happen to be the only single guys left on the team.”
“And we’re damn determined to stay single too,” Lawson tells her. “We don’t want anything distracting us from the team or winning the Cup.” He leans across the table, his green eyes cutting right to me, his words heated, laced with venom. “Right, Hutch?”
Oh, he definitely knows Auden isn’t just some woman I met on an airplane. He knows she’s more than that and this meeting here isn’t accidental.
“Right,” I tell him, ignoring the way Auden’s stare burns into the side of my head as I drain the rest of my beer.
The conversation picks back up, and we sit around for another half hour or so, mostly listening to Fox and Lawson go at it with the occasional interjection from Keller about what a bunch of idiots they are. I’m on his side with that.
“Well,” Auden says, her fingers playing with the stem of her glass, which is still full. “I think I’m going to head up to bed. It was so nice meeting all of you.”
“You should come to our game tomorrow night if you’re in town,” Fox offers, ever the gentleman.
She smiles warmly at him. “I just might.”
She’ll be there all right. Even if I have to drag her onto the bus and stow her in the luggage compartment to hide her from Coach, she’s coming. I won’t be able to play knowing she’s in town and not at the game. I’ve proven time and time again that I play better when she’s there. The team needs the win.
Yeah, that’s it, I tell myself, even though I know that’s not true. I don’t want her there for the team. I want her there for me.
She rises from her chair, and I follow, pulling it out so she can step away from the table.
She turns her hazel eyes on me. “Thank you. It was so great seeing you again. What a weird coincidence running into you here, huh?”
“The weirdest.” I roll my lips together, knowing full well she doesn’t believe in coincidences.
She believes in fate.
Keller coughs in a poor attempt to cover up a muttered, “Coincidence my ass.”
I think it’s Locke who smacks him for it, but I can’t be sure. My eyes are still trained on Auden when I hear the telltale thwack.
We stand there for far too long, trapped in a staring contest neither of us is interested in losing. I wish I could close the distance between us. I wish I could pull her into my arms, wish I could slant my mouth over hers, throw her on this table, show her just how damn much I missed her.
But I can’t.
A throat clears, pulling us from the daze.
“Good night, boys,” she tells the table, then she sashays away in a rush.
I watch her go, trying with everything I have in me to convince myself not to run after her.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
“I’m going to bed,” I hear myself say.
“Yeah, I bet you are.” Keller snickers. “Her bed, maybe.”
I march through the bar and almost make it through the doors before a hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. I’m not surprised when I turn to find Locke staring down at me, his dark brows pulled tightly together.
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to; the frown on his lips speaks loud enough.
“What.” It’s not a question that leaves me. It’s pure annoyance because I loathe the look he’s giving me, the one that tells me this is a bad idea.
“Those other guys might not be aware of who she is because I doubt they’re ever on the internet for anything more than porn, but I do. That’s Auden Sinclair.”
He knows. He knows about the contract with the team. He knows I shouldn’t be doing this.
Just like he knows I’m going to anyway.
“Just be careful, man. There’s a lot riding on this season to risk for some pussy.”
The Cup. The C on my sweater. Everything I’ve worked so damn hard for.
I nod once. “I will.”
His brows pull together tighter, but he doesn’t say anything else. He just nods, squeezing my shoulder twice before letting me go, and like the fucking fool I am, I never make it to my room. I go to Auden’s and show her just how damn badly I missed her.
CHAPTER 14
AUDEN
I’m starting to think there’s something to Hutch’s theory of me being his good luck charm.
After getting decimated by Anaheim 6–0, they come back the next night and flip the script, winning 4–0 and making it look like it’s an everyday occurrence for them. When Hutch comes to my room after the game, he’s in great spirits.
“Ahh!” A loud squeak leaves me when he hauls me into his arms the second he walks through the door I was admittedly waiting right next to. “You’re a madman.”
“Maybe.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “But you like it.”
“Maybe,” I counter, kissing his stubbled cheek. He’s let his beard grow out since he’s been on the road, and I won’t lie, I’m really liking it, especially when his face is buried between my legs.
He carries me through the room, and I expect us to head straight for the bed, but that’s not the case. He lowers us to the couch, my legs draped on either side of him as I straddle his lap. Since I’m wearing nothing but a t-shirt, his already hard cock feels delightful between my legs, and I can’t help but grind my hips down, craving the friction he’s providing.
“Now who’s the mean one?” he says between kisses.
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” I grind on him harder, loving the hiss that leaves his lips.
“Nah. It would only suck if I thought we wouldn’t end the night naked.”
I’d laugh at his cockiness, but we both know that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
“Congrats on the win, Hutchinson. You played amazing.”
“Had nothing to do with my playing. It was all my good luck charm.” He sucks on my neck lightly.
“No. It was all you.”
He pulls back. “Are you kidding? You saw how I played before you showed up last night. There’s no way it wasn’t you.”
I shake my head. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Did you ever stop to think it’s a confidence problem and not me?”
“I have plenty of confidence.”
“Sure, in the bedroom, but not out on the ice.”
He stares up at me for a moment, his brows slanted together as he takes in what I just said.
After several moments, he nods a few times, his hands squeezing my hips. “I think you might just be onto something, Sinclair.”
