"So what's the story behind that fucking hickey on your neck?"

Zach peeled one eye open in time to see Dustin Rios lean over the seat and stick his finger in Travis' ear. Fuck, he had been this close to actually falling asleep—something that didn't happen very often on the bus.

He settled closer against the window, trying to ignore the quiet laughter and bantering. An image of Haley, one hand on her hip and that saucy frown etched on her face, popped back into his head. What was it about her that got under his skin? He didn't know and didn't care, not when just thinking about her was enough to fire his blood.

God help him if she ever found out she had a recurring part in his fantasies. She'd skin him alive.

Starting with his balls.

Who cared? It would be worth it.

He was just starting to drift off again when an elbow jammed into his side. His eyes flew open and he turned, ready to start cussing everyone out. Dammit. If he had wanted to put up with this shit, he would have sat closer to the back with the clowns, instead of up here with Travis and Aaron. They were supposed to be the quiet ones, he should have been fine.

Travis gave him an apologetic grin then elbowed him again when Dustin leaned over the seat and ran his hands through his hair. Travis turned around, hitting Zach a third time when he brushed Dustin hand away.

"Leave me alone. It's nothing." And Christ, the kid's face was turning beet red again, the blush visible even in the dim light.

Zach looked over his shoulder, his brows pulled dangerously low when he glared at Dustin. "Would you knock it the fuck off? Some of us are trying to sleep."

Dustin held his hands up in surrender then sat back down, disappearing from view. Travis hunched down in his own seat between him and Aaron, squirming to get comfortable.

Or maybe squirming from embarrassment—still.

"You brought it on yourself, you know."

"What?"

Zach pointed to the mark on Travis' neck. "That. A hickey? Really, Banky? Aren't you a little old for that shit?"

Travis tried to tug the collar of his shirt over the mark and shook his head. "It's not—I mean, I didn't think—" His voice trailed off as he slid even lower in the seat.

"Tell me it's not from one of those bunnies." The glowing blush on his face was all the answer Zach needed. He blew out a deep breath to stop himself from swearing. "You're in over your head, Travis. You don't need to be getting mixed up with any bunnies."

"I'm not."

"Yeah? Then where the hell did that come from? Was it one of the girls from the other night at Mystic's?"

"It's not what you think."

"Is that so?" Zach reached out and poked the bruise with his finger. "Sure as hell looks like it to me. Stay away from them, Travis. They'll eat you up for breakfast and shit you out for lunch."

Aaron leaned forward, his gaze catching Zach's. "Isn't that a case of the pot calling the kettle black?"

"I thought you were sleeping."

"I was." Aaron straightened then raised his arms over his head, stretching. He winced then grabbed his side with a small groan. He'd taken a hard hit tonight in their game against Providence, managing to put the Bombers on the power play. Not that it mattered because they still lost.

"You want another ice pack?"

"No, I'm good." Aaron settled back in the seat with a sigh, stretching his leg into the aisle. Zach watched the older man for a few quiet seconds, wondering how he did it.

Wondering how his body put up with it.

Not that Aaron was old—not really. He was thirty-four, technically still in his prime. At least, in the real world. But he'd been playing pro and semi-pro hockey for half his life, being traded from one team to another, moving up to the pros only to be sent back down to the minors and traded again. Not for the first time, Zach wondered how the hell the man managed. It couldn't be easy, uprooting your life, your family, never knowing what was coming next.

Which was probably why Aaron's wife took their kids and left him.

Man, talk about depressing.

Zach turned his attention away from Aaron and looked back at Travis. "So tell me again how you got that mark."

"It's n-nothing."

"Hm." Zach hadn't expected an answer, not when the guys had been giving Travis a hard time ever since he showed up to leave for their road trip early this morning. Although technically that would have been yesterday morning, since it was after midnight now and they were on the bus headed to the next city for tomorrow night's game.

He shifted in the seat, still watching Travis. "Here's a little free advice for you: stay away from the bunnies."

"You don't."

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you. Don't go getting in over your head."

"I'm not."

"That's what you think now. What are you going to do when one of them latches onto you and sinks her claws into you? What then?"

"That won't happen."

Christ, was Travis really that naïve? Zach hadn't thought so, not really. Yeah, he was shy around women. Quiet. A little awkward. But naïve?

Yeah, maybe he really was.

"I hope you know what the hell you're getting into, that's all I can say."

Travis squirmed, shifting around like he had ants in his pants. Or like he had to go the bathroom and was holding it in. He stopped moving and faced Zach, his eyes clear and direct—for all of two seconds before he looked away.

"Nothing happened."

"Like I believe that."

"It's the truth. I—she wanted to do. I—I mean, we, uh, played around a little bit. But that was all. I just—I didn't want to, you know?"

Zach stared at him, wondering if he was telling the truth. Yeah, he was. Well what the hell? Zach didn't know whether to laugh—or give him shit for turning down a sure thing. So what if that made him a hypocrite?

He tried to imagine what he would do if he ever got the chance to play around with Haley. Would he stop? Fuck no. Not even close. It would be full-speed-ahead if that ever happened.

And God help both of them if it ever did, because something told him they'd kill each other.

In the end, Zach just rolled his eyes and made a little sound of disbelief. "You're killing me, Banky. You really are."

Travis looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't. He just mumbled something about having to do something then pushed his way out of the seat. He almost tripped over Aaron's leg in his haste to leave.

"You shouldn't tease him so much."

"I wasn't teasing, just trying to give him some brotherly advice."

"He doesn't need that kind of advice."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Aaron shifted, his dark eyes fixed on Zach for what seemed like an eternity. "It means he's not like you. He'll never be comfortable with playing around. You shouldn't have set him up like that."

"I didn't set him up. Not even close. You were there—he's the one who was all fired up about getting some ladies to join us."

"Doesn't matter. Hooking up with the bunnies is more your style, not his."

Zach sat back and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, don't go pointing the finger at me. I'm not the one who left Mystic's with a bunny in tow."

Aaron's brows raised in disbelief. "You telling me you left by yourself?"

"Yeah, I am. The shit gets old after a while. You know that."

Aaron's brows shot even higher, which kind of pissed him off. "I'll take your word for it."

"Oh, right. You're married. I mean, you were." And fuck, why the hell couldn't he keep his fucking mouth shut? Aaron didn't need to be reminded of his situation, especially not with all the problems he was having with his ex-wife and his kids. "Sorry."

Aaron shrugged, like it didn't matter. "No big deal."

Zach didn't miss the shadows that filled the other man's eyes, or the way his body tensed just a bit. "Maybe not. I still shouldn't have said anything."

Aaron brushed off the apology then turned in his seat, glancing toward the back. He turned back to Zach, his gaze oddly curious. "So you really didn't take any of the bunnies home?"

"Yeah, really. I was too busy butting heads with Red."

"You mean Haley?"

"Yeah, whatever. The woman's exhausting."

"So what's going on with you two?"

"Nothing. We're just—" He snapped his mouth closed. He had been ready to say 'friends' but that wasn't quite the truth. Yes, they knew each other. She worked at Mystic's. She was Jason's girlfriend's best friend. That didn't mean they were friends.

So what the hell was she? Other than a royal pain-in-the-ass that haunted his fantasies?

He had no idea.

Aaron was still watching him, waiting for him to finish. Zach cleared his throat and shrugged. "She's just going through something with her ex-boyfriend, I think. I'm just trying to help her out, that's all."

"You don't sound too sure about that."

"Of course I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just sounds like you're hoping for more, that's all."

Zach snorted. "Yeah, right. The way we butt heads? Trust me, that'll never happen."

Aaron laughed, the sound low and filled with disbelief. "You keep telling yourself that."

Zach didn't know how to respond to that. It didn't matter, because Aaron leaned back in the seat, stretched his legs out into the aisle, and closed his eyes. Zach sat there for a minute, wondering what the hell the other man meant. Wondering what he saw that made him say something like that.

And fuck, why did he care? It didn't matter. Yeah, maybe he'd entertained some fantasies about Haley. So what? He'd had fantasies about plenty of other women.

Except no other woman had ever frustrated him the way Haley did. Frustrated, annoyed—and brought out a protective side to him that he never knew existed.

He stretched out and closed his own eyes, ignoring the image of fiery red hair and burning hazel eyes. It was nothing more than temporary insanity, he was sure of it.

Give it a few days. A few weeks at the most. This odd pull Haley had on him would disappear and then he could get back to doing what he did best: playing hockey and having fun.