Ryan

Watching my girlfriend on the ice never got old. Hell, neither did calling her my girlfriend. Not even after a month of dating her. I got the same kick out of thinking of her that way as I did saying it aloud to the guys and rubbing in their faces how wrong they’d been about my chances with her.

The morning after we got together again, we’d headed to the rink to set up a short track on the ice so she could use it for her morning training—after she’d sucked me off to show her appreciation for me getting permission for her to use the team’s rink. And then I’d gone down on her to return the favor, which led to us finally fucking in my bed...and almost being late to the arena because I’d been thoroughly enjoying having a girlfriend.

It wasn’t the last time we barely made it to the rink in time because we could barely tear ourselves away from each other. This morning was no different.

“Judging by that shit eating grin on your face, things are still going well for you and Tamara,” Jason murmured as he joined me where I leaned with my elbows on the low wall in front of the bench.

“They sure as hell are,” I admitted, my grin only getting bigger.

“A whole month,” he chuckled. “I never thought I’d see the day where you’d be with the same woman for more than a night or two.”

“Look at her out there.” We both turned and watched Tamara move on the ice. She was almost a blur as she skated past us, bending so low her hand brushed the ice as she took a turn around the short track I’d helped her set up a month earlier.

“I still can’t believe they let you mark the ice up.” Jason shook his head.

I glanced down at the dark purple spots in the ice which were already barely visible. “You should have seen the look on the facilities manager’s face when I told him we’d need to drill the ice and pour colored water into it.”

“It probably matched most of ours as we watched you desecrate the ice for a woman.”

“Like you wouldn’t have done the same damn thing if Cee-Cee asked you,” I grumbled as I bumped my elbow against his.

“There’s no denying that I’d do just about anything my woman asked of me,” he agreed. “But you’d only been with her for a night before you started acting as crazy as me. That’s got to be a record of some kind.”

“Ahem,” I coughed.

“Dude. I was right there”—he pointed to the far end of the ice—“when you met her. I saw it with my own damn eyes when you shoved that big foot of yours in your mouth and almost lost any chance in hell of getting in there with her. Are you telling me it was all an act and you guys already knew each other?”

“No, that was real. I was too damn close to fucking it all up with her.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure nobody was behind us listening in. “It just wasn’t the first time we met.”

“What the hell? When did you meet her? What happened? And why didn’t you ever say anything about her?” he fired off his questions.

“About four months ago, when we were in Anaheim for a game. I met her in a club, one thing led to another, but she disappeared in the morning and I didn’t know how to track her down,” I rattled off before punching him in the shoulder. “And it’s not like you can give me shit for keeping my mouth shut about my mystery woman when you did the same damn thing with Cee-Cee.”

“Yeah, and you guys ran your mouths off about it for-fucking-ever once you found out about her,” he reminded me.

“Exactly,” I chuckled. “Why do you think I never planned to say anything? I learned from your example.”

“Only you did better than me and channeled your frustration into the game. We’ll owe it to her in more ways than one if we win the cup.”

I dragged my attention away from Tamara and turned to look at Jason. “You think so?”

“Yeah, she’s made all of us better players.”

“She sure as fuck has,” I agreed, my gaze sliding back to her on the ice. “And with the help of Cee-Cee’s magic, Tamara has brought more fans to the games, too.”

Jason stepped back and dropped down onto the bench. “I don’t think even Cee-Cee guessed the national media was going to be so fascinated by the story.”

“I don’t know; I wouldn’t put much past your woman. She’s damn good at her job.”

“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed, his attention on the ice. “We’re lucky men when it comes to our women. Only we’re not the only ones who know it.”

My gaze scanned the ice and landed on the guy holding a stopwatch in the center. He was tall, with wavy, sandy-blond hair and green eyes. His dark-blue athletic pants were just snug enough to show how muscular his legs were, and his light-blue Cavaliers shirt with matching, unzipped hoodie were stretched taut across his biceps.

“Fucking Mike,” I growled. I normally got along well with the team’s trainer but ever since he’d volunteered to lend Tamara a hand with timing her laps, he’d been on my last nerve. I didn’t begrudge her the help; not when I knew she needed it. I just wished it didn’t come from a guy who checked out her ass every opportunity he got.

“He’s persistent; you’ve got to give him that,” Alec chuckled as he stepped into the bench area.

“And fearless,” Jason added. “Since he knows how much it pisses Ryan off when he flirts with Tamara right in front of him.”

“You’ve got to give props to a guy who’s seen Ryan demolish players on the ice and still isn’t intimidated enough to back off his woman.”

I glared at Alec over my shoulder. “You might want to watch your ass during practice or else I might decide to work out some of my anger on you.”

“Cut Alec some slack,” Jason suggested. “He doesn’t get it because he doesn’t have a woman of his own.”

“The day I get that riled up over some chick is the day hell freezes over.”

Jason and I burst out in laughter at Alec’s declaration, and we were still at it when Tamara skated over to us with Mike following right behind her.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Just Alec being totally clueless,” I responded, pulling her close and dropping a quick, hard kiss on her lips. When I lifted my head, I locked gazes with Mike and flashed him a satisfied grin as I reached down to palm the ass he’d been eyeing all morning when she stepped into the bench area. He just shook his head and scooted past us with a head nod to the guys.

“We’d better finish getting ready.” Jason tugged on Alec’s arm, and they left us alone on the bench.

“I’m going to miss hanging out with you guys while the Zamboni clears the ice between my training session and your practice,” Tamara sighed.

“I’m sorry you have to switch rinks.”

She waved off my concern. “I was lucky to be able to stay here as long as I did. But with the playoffs starting this weekend, I totally get it. The ice needs to be pristine for those games so nobody can complain when you kick their ass and knock them out of the running.”

“Damn straight.” I tugged her close. “There’s one good thing about you switching to another rink.”

“What?” Shocked brown eyes flew up to search my face.

“I won’t have to watch that asshole try to flirt with you right in front of me.”

“Mike isn’t that bad,” she laughed. “He mostly does it to get a rise out of you.”

“Mostly isn’t good enough,” I growled, claiming her lips again. “The guy needs to get it through his thick skull that you’re mine. No flirting allowed. Not for any reason.”

Concerned brown eyes scanned my face. “You know you don’t have anything to be worried about, right? There’s only one guy I’m interested in, and that’s you.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It’s the only reason I haven’t settled the matter with my fists.”

“If I can refrain from getting into a cat fight with any of the puck bunnies, you can keep your hands in your hockey gloves where they belong, slugger,” she laughed.

“A cat fight, huh?” I waggled my brows at her.

She brushed her lips against mine, and whispered, “Cat fights are out of the question. But if you score me some goals during the playoffs, I might let you have just about anything else you can think of.”

I hadn’t needed the extra motivation to play my best during playoffs, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to turn down Tamara’s offer.