“Damn, my head is splitting,” Connor complained as he opened his locker next to mine.

“That’s what you get for drinking like a frat boy.” I tugged my Under Armour shirt down over my chest.

“More like Max & Ruby reruns all morning until Jessica showed up to get Hannah.” He pointed at me and then paused. “Practice is going to suck today.”

“Hydrate.” I grabbed an extra Gatorade out of my locker and tossed it to him.

He caught it one-handed and nodded in thanks before chugging it.

I grabbed my skates and sat on the bench to put them on. I was already half-way dressed, but I was always the first in the locker room to make sure I was the first one on the ice.

“So where did you run off to last night?” Connor asked.

“Just needed to help a friend.” I kept my eyes on my skates, pulling the laces tight.

“You don’t have any friends.” He shot me a curious look.

“Not true.”

“Okay, let’s qualify that. You don’t have any friends that aren’t in this room.” He gestured around the huge square that was our locker room.

Even Lukas was here, so I guess he was pretty right. I had a few friends in Montana, but I’d mostly dedicated myself to the ice, which didn’t leave a lot of time for relationships, period. Friendships or otherwise.

Not that I’d met a woman who had ever been willing to deal with my insane training schedule. Now that we spent so much time on the road? Forget it.

Except Pepper will be on the road with you.

I banished that thought right out of my head. Pepper wasn’t an option for anything more than a working friendship. I just had to think of her the same way I saw Connor.

Except Connor didn’t have curves like that. Thank God.

Or crystal blue eyes that lit up like a Christmas tree at comic book movies. I had more fun watching her watch Iron Man than actually seeing the flick. Not that it was half bad. That Tony Stark guy was a badass.

“And that rack—”

Crosby’s voice carried down the bench as I finished tying my skates.

“I mean, just the one is a fucking ten, but two? Twins? That’s got to make them both elevens. Where the hell has Coach been hiding them?”

Every muscle in my body locked down tight.

“Shut the fuck up, Crosby,” I snapped.

“What? You pissed that I already had one crawling up on me?” He shot back before pulling on his chest protector.

Good, he’d withstand the ass-kicking I was about to hand him.

“Not worth it,” Connor said, his hand slamming against my chest as I stood.

“If someone talked about Faith that way,” I muttered, knowing damn-well I wasn’t pissed on behalf of my baby sister. It was all Pepper.

Funny, gorgeous, smart, utterly refreshing Pepper.

“Yeah, well, we’ll just make sure to keep Faith out of Shark’s reach, okay?” Connor patted my chest like I was a dog that needed soothing.

“And Jessica?”

Connor’s eyes darkened and he turned back to this locker, grabbing his shin pads. “The locker room would be the safest place my sister has hung out in years. God knows what drug-addict loser she’s shacked up with right now.”

Damn. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Connor was the most put together member of his rather fucked-up family.

“So what do you say, Gentry?” Crosby called down. “Want to make a bet?”

“On?” I answered, reaching for my leg pads.

“I’ve got fifty bucks that says I fuck one of the sisters first. Or a hundred that I nail them both.” The smirk sealed his fate.

I was off the bench in less than a heartbeat.

Crosby’s eyes widened, then disappeared as Gage stepped in front of me. The hand he placed on my chest wasn’t what stopped me; it was Lukas and Connor on either side of me, both with a lock on my arms.

“Whoa,” Connor said softly.

“I’m not a fucking horse,” I replied.

“I’ve got this,” Gage said, his tone leaving zero room for argument. “Sit on your million-dollars-a-year hands.” Then he turned back toward Crosby. “You say one more word about either of those girls and I will fucking end you. Understand?”

“What’s going on in here?” Coach asked from behind us.

Lukas and Connor immediately released my arms.

“Nothing I can’t handle, Coach,” Gage answered. “Just setting the boundaries when it comes to the opposite sex.”

“Speaking of that, everyone take a seat,” Coach ordered.

Once we’d all done so, he moved to the center of the locker room, where he could see us all.

I shot Crosby a glare for good measure. Gage wouldn’t have to end him, because he’d already be dead if he said that shit again.

“Now, I hate to bring this up again, but you’re all aware that we have a no-fraternization policy.” He leveled us all with a stare colder than the ice. “In the past, you’re aware that I’ve allowed an exception to the policy.” He nodded his head toward Bentley, who was currently engaged to our trainer. “However, there will be no more given, and this more than extends to my daughters. I hate to sound like a shotgun-toting father, but anyone who crosses the line won’t just be benched—you’ll be in breach of contract and no longer a Shark. Keep your hands off my daughters. Understood?”

A rumble of acknowledgment rolled through the locker room.

“Why are you looking at me, Coach?” Rory Jackson asked from across the locker room. “I’m a happily married man.”

“Yes, and you’ll notice I kept my girls out of Seattle until you were.”

Rory laughed, breaking the tension in the room.

“See you on the ice,” Coach said and left us to finish dressing.

Hopefully, that warning was enough to keep Crosby’s dick in his pants.

Hell, hopefully it was enough to warn me off, too.

The minute I saw Pepper watching from the other side of the glass, tablet in hand, I knew I was in serious trouble. I narrowed my focus to the ice, concentrating on drills, pucks, and the fluid motion of my body, pushing myself to exhaustion.

But every time I grabbed my water bottle from the top of the net to hydrate, I looked for her, found myself grinning at her shy smile and wave when she looked up from her tablet.

For the first time since I’d stepped on the ice at the age of two, I couldn’t block it all out—couldn’t give the practice one-hundred percent focus.

Pepper never left my fucking thoughts.

Two hours later, I skated off the ice, sweat-soaked, but buzzing from a good session. There was something satisfying about the ache of well-used muscles.

“Nice going, out there,” Pepper said, grinning up at me. Fuck me, she was tiny usually, but with my skates on she barely hit my rib cage.

“Thanks. It was a good practice.” I ripped off my helmet and held it under one arm, squirting some of the water from my bottle onto my head and letting the cool liquid steal some of the stifling heat.

She blinked a few times, her gaze darting over my features with a bemused expression.

“Pepper?”

With a jolt, she laughed, the sound awkward and charming as hell. “Right. Sorry, got distracted by you know…” she waved her hand in my general direction. “Not that I date hockey players, because I don’t. Or that I’d date you. Or you’d even want to date me. So anyway…” she looked to the side and sighed, then waved. “Hey, Mason, what are you doing here?”

The guy from the party—Pepper’s high school ex—smiled warmly and pulled her in for a hug.

The primal, chauvinistic, cave-man instinct I’d always thought had skipped me suddenly flared to life, every nerve in my body screaming to rip him off of her.

So you can what? Throw her over your shoulder pads and walk away?

At least my logical side still functioned.

Until Mason cupped her cheek and gave her what had to be the sappiest half-smile ever. “Man, it’s so nice to have you home. I’d almost forgotten how awesome you make me feel by just being around.”

Fuck that, carry her out.

And logic apparently had fled the building.

She stepped back, out of his reach, and closer to me. Take that, asshole.

“Mason, have you met Eric Gentry? He’s the Shark’s starting goalie.”

I fought every instinct to pull her against me, and instead removed my blocker, setting it inside my helmet.

“Nice to meet you.”

The guy’s eyes widened. “Yeah, you too. You have some great numbers.”

“Thanks. I have some really great coaches.”

“And a great analyst, too!” Pepper added in.

“That remains to be seen,” I teased.

“I’ve got you pegged already,” she said, a smirk playing across her pink lips.

“Do you?”

“Yep. You’re strong in the glove, great with the stick, and your ratio of rebound goals is killer and getting better. My guess is, given the way your butterfly is looking, you’re recovered from that knee injury?”

My jaw dropped. “I didn’t tell anyone I had a knee injury.”

“Didn’t have to. Stats don’t lie. You favored that side for the beginning of the season.” Those blue eyes of hers called me out.

Fuck me. Beautiful, funny, smart as hell, a body curved for sin, and completely. Fucking. Untouchable.

“So, I was looking for your dad,” Mason interrupted. “He said something about coming up to practice with you guys.” He gave me a fake-humble shrug. “I play a little, too.”

“A little, ha!” Pepper laughed. “He was drafted right out of high school. My dad begged him to go to college first, but he went straight into the NHL.”

My forehead puckered. “Mason…” I led, looking for a last name.

“Hall,” he supplied with a cocky grin. “I only played two years with the Ducks. Turns out I did need some time maturing my game.”

“Hall. As in Bobby Hall.”

“That’s my dad.”

This kid wasn’t just some minor league player trying to use Pepper to step up into the NHL again, he was hockey royalty.

“Nice. He’s one of the greats.”

“So he likes reminding me,” Mason forced a laugh. “Your dad?” he asked Pepper again as I heard the familiar ring of my cell phone from the bag I’d left in the hallway.

It was my mother’s ringtone.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I said to them both, going for my cell.

“Oh, he just came off the ice. You might try his office,” Pepper said as I swiped my phone open. “Hello,” I growled a little harshly, seeing Mason run his hand down Pepper’s arm.

“Eric?”

“Mom, yeah, sorry. Didn’t mean to snap. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just calling—”

Pepper laughed at something Mason said, the sound bright and open.

“Who is that?” Mom asked, her interest piqued.

Shit. “No one to worry about, Mom.” She’d be a dog with a bone if she got the slightest hint that I was interested in someone here.

“It’s a girl!” She covered the receiver with her hand, or something, given how muffled she sounded. “Ed! Get in here! Eric has a girl!”

“I do not have a girl,” I rebutted low and soft.

Pepper turned at that moment, an eyebrow quirking. Great, she’d heard me.

“At practice, too, if my calendar is correct! She must be someone really special!”

Fuck, if I didn’t stop her now, she’d have Pepper and I married off with two kids by dinner. Not that I’d mind practicing for kids with Pepper because damn did that woman have—

“You have to bring her home for Thanksgiving!”

“Mom!” I snapped, gaining the attention of Pepper, Mason, and every other player walking by us on the way to the locker room. “You have the completely wrong idea.” I dropped my voice and turned away, to deflect attention. “How is Dad feeling?” Maybe the subject change would shake her.

“Oh, he’s out in the machine shed, trying to fix that Combine. You know him.”

My stomach twisted.

“Yeah, I do, and the docs just cleared him last week. What the hell does he think he’s doing?”

“Eric Gentry, don’t you dare use that tone with me.”

And boom, I was ten again.

“Sorry, mom. Just let me send a check. Get the combine fixed or buy him a new one, I don’t care. But he’s had four spinal surgeries in the past two years. He doesn’t need to be out there like that.”

“Oh honey, I know you want to take care of us, but I just can’t. If your daddy knew that it was your money that had kept us afloat for the last couple of years, he’d be so embarrassed.”

“He never has to know, Mom. As far as he knows, I’m the Blue Line Financial Mortgage Co.”

She sighed in relief as the last of the team filed past me.

“Good, and I promise we’ll pay it back.”

“I don’t care if you pay it back. I honestly wish you wouldn’t—”

“...so I pop the hood,” I hear Pepper say as she and Mason get closer, “And a family of squirrels has moved into my engine and chewed up every hose!”

My eyebrows hit the ceiling when I looked at her.

“It’s true,” she whispered.

“No problem, I’ll take you home,” Mason said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

Uh. The fuck he would.

“Of course we’re going to,” Mom said in my ear.

“I’ll take you home,” I said to Pepper.

She stopped, clutching her tablet to her chest and looking up at me like I had four heads. “You will?”

“Sure. It’s on the way to my place.” Where we would not be going. Her place was safe. Ivy was there, so my hands would mind themselves. At my house? All bets were off the second she said yes.

“Oh, I really don’t mind,” Mason argued. “We could hang out? Get some dinner?”

Pepper’s gaze swung from Mason back to me.

“I thought you had to talk to Coach Harris?” I prompted Mason. “No biggie, of course, Pepper. We can absolutely watch another one of those comic movies another time. I’ll just—”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh! That would be awesome!” She patted Mason on the shoulder. “Mase, you know the way to Dad’s office, right? Eric, I’ll just run to my office and input these numbers while you shower. You are going to shower, right? Because…” she motioned to my body again, but it wasn’t so flattering this time. “I mean, we’re going to be in the same car and everything—”

“Relax, Pepper. I’m going to shower. Right now. I’ll come to your office after. Mason, it was nice to meet you.” Asshole.

Pepper nodded, and I heard a sigh in my ear.

Oh, fuck my life.

“Mom. You’re still there.”

“Yep.” I could practically hear the smile in her voice.

“And you heard everything.”

“Yep!”

“It’s not what you think.”

“I’d better see that girl at my Thanksgiving table. Love you! Bye!” She hung up, never having told me the original reason she called.

Shaking my head, I made my way into the locker room. My thoughts jumbled into a tangle as I got my gear off and showered.

They were still spinning after I got out of the shower and dressed in the now-empty locker room.

What the hell was wrong with me? I’d never gotten possessive of a girl. Ever. Sure, maybe Faith, but she was my sister and that was a whole different set of instincts. Maybe it was that Coach had asked me to keep an eye out for her. Or maybe that Mason was a complete and total douchebag.

Whatever it was, I needed to get a grip on it before I got a grip on her.

“So, Mason Hall, huh?” Gage asked, sitting next to me on the bench as I tied my shoes.

I was so distracted I hadn’t heard him come in.

“What about him?” I asked.

“I saw you out in the hallway with him and Pepper.” His eyes narrowed slightly, just enough to send a warning, but his tone was soft. “Between that and your lunge for Crosby earlier, I thought maybe you might be getting into something that you shouldn’t be.”

“Coach asked me to look out for her when it came to the guys, especially that Mason guy. That’s all. Said he was going to try to get close to her for the wrong reasons.”

Gage nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “You know the history there?”

“Besides the fact that he’s Bobby Hall’s son, and they dated in high school?” I stood and slid my wallet into the back pocket of my jeans.

“Yeah, those are important parts. Everyone figured that she’d go with him, but he broke up with her, went to the Ducks, too early, too green, made an ass out of himself thinking his daddy’s name would let him skate by, and then got sent to the minors. Coach maneuvered a couple trades so Hall could move to our farm team.”

“In Tacoma.” Thirty minutes away.

“That’s the one. Now, everyone looking from the outside has always pretty much assumed she’d come home and they’d get back together—”

Now he had my attention. “Who is everyone?”

“Friends. Some family. Tabloids. Hall was still playing for the Ducks back then, so they were always a story.”

“You telling me to get out of the way? Like they’re fated or some bullshit?” I leaned against my locker, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Hell no.” He stood. “I’m telling you to get in the way. That kid is going to try and do exactly what he did to her last time.”

“Which is?”

“Use her name to get himself on an NHL roster and leave her in the dust. Or worse, get signed to the Sharks, and then play the dedicated boyfriend while he fucks everything that moves behind her back.”

Just thinking that he’d cheat on her like that had red flashing in front of my eyes.

“Did he?”

Gage nodded once and then turned for the door. “You heard what Coach said. Keep your hands to yourself. But do Pepper a favor and keep him the fuck away from her. She always sees the good in people, too sweet to see what he was up to then, and what he’s definitely up to now.”

“You really think she doesn’t see through it?”

He cocked his head to the side in thought. “First loves die hard.”

Then, like that had answered anything, he left.

I grabbed my keys and headed for Pepper’s office, where I found her leaned close to a dual monitor computer system, entering data from her tablet while videos were paused on the extra screen.

She had a pencil between her teeth, her look of concentration so intense that I probably could have shot a puck through the wall and she wouldn’t have noticed. She was as focused on her work—as dedicated as I was, and damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell.

I watched her quietly, leaned against her door frame until she put the pencil down and stretched.

I tried to ignore the way the move pushed her breasts against her V neck shirt, highlighting the curves better than a spotlight.

I failed.

“Eric!” She bounced to her feet. “You ready for some more Marvel magic, Iron Man?”

“Still with Iron Man, huh?” I arched a brow at her. “I’m not being a hero anymore.”

“It’s the red hair,” she said with an impish hip check. “And maybe the pads, too.”

Yeah, Iron Man. I was okay with that. Because from what I saw in that movie we’d watched the other night, he was going to be the one who ended up with his smokin’ hot co-worker, who was aptly named Pepper.

I held the door open for her, and she brushed against me as she slid through the small space.

Electricity hummed through my veins, all concentrating in the one area I knew I couldn’t use when it came to this woman.

Fuck Mason and all that first love bullshit.

This wasn’t high school, and I wasn’t a kid.

I could keep my hands to myself, but he sure as hell wasn’t getting his on her.