Ryan

Practicing our slap shots was my favorite part of practice. It wasn’t just because it was fun to show off a bit since I had the best slap shot on the team. This drill was one of the last ones, which meant we were almost done. Jason Campbell, my defensive line mate, set up on the top of the circle opposite from where I was. Our friend, and my neighbor at the apartment complex where I lived, Alec Rourke, setup at center ice on the blue line while his line mate moved past me to the bottom of the circle. Alec didn’t wait long before he fired a pass to Jason, who cycled it to me for a one timer that sailed straight into the net.

Snagging a puck, Jason passed it to Alec. When his shot went high and slammed into the boards, I flashed him a cocky grin. “Shut it, Forrester. We all know you’re the king of the slap shot,” he growled.

“Only because he keeps calling himself that,” Jason laughed, sending the puck Alec’s line mate had passed to him my way.

Raising my stick, I pivoted my hips and put some extra force into my already powerful shot. My aim didn’t suffer for it, and the puck crashed into the back of the net. “What can I say?” I shrugged my shoulders. “When you’ve got it, flaunt it. Right?”

“I thought flaunting it was puck bunny territory?” Jason asked.

“Ask Ryan, he’d know,” Alec replied.

Their gazes turned my way. “Like I’m the puck bunny expert? Alec would know just as well as me,” I snapped. “Better even, since I’ve been staying away from them.”

“Oh, yeah? Since when?” Alec snorted.

Coach sent a glare our way, and we started cycling the puck for slap shots again. It didn’t stop Jason from sticking his nose in my business, though. “Now that you mention it, I guess you have been flying solo lately. I hadn’t noticed it before because I’ve had my own stuff going on with Cee-Cee. What’s up with that? Did I miss something?”

“Just a mystery woman who ruined puck bunnies for me forever,” I mumbled, wincing at the memory of how shitty I’d felt when I woke up alone after the last time I’d hooked up with someone. Just the memory of her gave me a semi, while being near any other woman since then had my dick shriveling and my balls trying to creep back up into my body. Not that I was going to share shit like that with the guys. Some things were better left unspoken.

The blowing of a well-timed whistle dragged their attention away from me and the story I wanted to keep to myself. “Bring it in, guys!” Coach hollered.

We skated to center ice and took a knee in front of him. As I dropped down, my muscles protested. Hockey seasons were long, and at that moment I swore I felt every minute we’d spent on the ice.

“I’ve got good news and better news for you guys. Which do you want first?” our coach asked, his lips tilting up in a smirk.

I didn’t trust that look.

Or his tone of voice.

And definitely not the gleam in his eye.

He was happy about something, and Coach was never happy. Not during season, anyway. Win or lose, he was always serious. I had a feeling that we weren’t going to agree with his classification of the news he had. Some of it was going to be bad—at least from our point of view.

“Good!” about half the team yelled out.

“Better!” the other half hollered.

“Neither,” I mumbled under my breath, earning me an elbow in the ribs from Jason.

Coach rubbed his hands together in excitement, and I jerked my head in his direction as I turned to glare at my line mate. “Just wait for it,” I hissed at him.

“I guess I’ll start with the good news since it makes more sense to do it that way anyway,” Coach chuckled. “The data guys in the office were doing some number crunching, and our playoff chances are looking better and better each week. They said we have a ninety-eight percent chance of securing our spot. As long as you guys keep playing the way you have been lately—which you damn well better do—we can clinch it by the end of this weekend.”

Jason nudged me. “See, it’s good news. Stop being such a suspicious bastard.”

“And there’s something better than that?” our team captain asked. We all wanted the championship cup badly, but none more than him. It was his last season before retirement, and for him nothing would beat going out on top.

“The better news is that I’ve secured a power skating coach who’ll make the most of the month we have until the start of the playoffs to improve your speed on the ice. Starting today.”

Tired groans echoed around the rink. We’d just finished a grueling practice, and I was beyond ready to hit the locker room and take a shower. “Told you so,” I muttered.

Jason shrugged. “Don’t be a dick. It’s not like this is the end of the world. We’ll do some extra skating drills; so what?”

Coach held up his hand, putting a stop to all of our grumbling and side conversations. “I don’t want to hear it, guys. Every single team in this league is looking for little things to make themselves better, and I’ve found us someone who can give us that. At the level of game play we’ll be facing in the playoffs, even a one percent improvement on your speed can make the difference between winning and losing. So suck it up and do what needs to be done to help us get to the championship.”

“You heard Coach,” our captain called out. “I used to do power skating camps back in my youth hockey league, and they helped make me the player I am today.”

Several guys nodded in agreement, including Jason. “He’s right, man.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, as I tried to shake off my exhaustion and get ready to skate hard. “I know.”

At our coach’s signal, I shuffled to my feet along with everyone else. “Do a few laps,” he ordered. “She should be here soon.”

“She?” The question echoed around the rink, voiced by several of the guys including me.

“Yes, she,” Coach responded, stressing the second word. “And I don’t want any bullshit about it because we’re damn lucky to have gotten her to fit these sessions with us into her training schedule.”

“Training schedule? What is she, a figure skater? I bet I could out-skate any figure skater any day of the week,” one of the rookies snorted.

“You heard Coach; shut it!” our captain chastised. “Besides which, you’re being a dipshit since some of the best power skating coaches are figure skaters.”

“They are,” Coach agreed. “And there’s nothing wrong with that because there’s a lot that a figure skater could teach you guys about using the edges on your blades. But Miss Antonov isn’t a figure skater. She’s a speed skater. The best one in the country. Hell, make that the world since she’s got the Olympic gold medals to prove it. She’s coming straight here from a big win at the World Single Distance Championships this weekend.” He turned his attention to the rookie who’d mouthed off. “And you can mouth off all you want, but she’d beat you in a race without even breaking a sweat.”

The rookie nodded jerkily and skated off to lap around the rink.

“Coach sure told him,” I laughed. “Can you imagine how embarrassing it’d be to get beat by a girl on the ice? We’re professional hockey players, for fuck’s sake.”

Jason’s gaze darted over my shoulder, and his eyes widened in surprise. I started to turn my head to look behind me, but it was a good thing that I didn’t do it quickly or else the smack I took across the back of my helmet would have landed on my jaw. Even though my visor only protected my eyes and nose, the hit wasn’t hard enough to hurt. But it would have been a blow to my ego to take a slap to the face in front of the whole team. Especially from the stunning blonde with dark brown eyes that’d delivered it. The one who’d rocked my world after an away game in Anaheim and then disappeared before the sun came up the next morning. The sight of her accomplished something no other woman had been able to do for months—she made my cock hard as steel.

It was uncomfortable as fuck to stand there with my dick pressing against the confines of my cup, but it was worth it to know that I was able to get it up again. And it was all thanks to the beauty who was glaring at me like she’d like nothing more than to shove her skate up my ass.

Fuck me and my big mouth. Or not fuck, considering I’d probably screwed my chances to ever have her in my bed again.