Chapter 14

Dallas

“Strip bar tonight, boys?” Maddox shouted, waving toward the door.

We’d just gotten a few drinks from the hotel bar in celebration of our second win against Nashville. I was on point all night until one of those fuckers got a puck past me. All the guys headed out of the hotel to the street where just five blocks up the road was Slick Sally’s.

Kellan and Kristen waved at us before hopping onto the elevator to go back to their room. Braeden elbowed me in the side. “Want to go with the guys?”

I shook my head. “Nah. Not in the mood for that shit. I’m just going to head up to my room.”

With a smile, he slapped me on the back. “Say hey to Callie for me. I’ve got to say, you’re playing with fire.”

“I like the heat,” I joked. We both rode the elevator up to our floor and Kristen was by my door, eating a bowl of popcorn and wearing a long pink maternity nightgown. I could smell the popcorn from all the way down the hall. “What are you doing?”

She peered down at her bowl. “Oh, I don’t know, checking up on you.” Her serious gaze met mine. “Why didn’t you go with the others?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Wasn’t interested. Why?”

She shrugged. “Just curious. I may be your friend, but I’m also Callie’s, too. If you two decide to get serious, I can’t allow you to screw her over. I won’t lie to protect you.”

“I would never ask you to do that.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank God. You have no idea how much better this makes me feel.”

I hugged her back. “You have nothing to worry about. Now go back to your room. I told Callie I’d call her tonight.” She kissed my cheek and chowed down on her popcorn the whole way to the elevator.

Once in my room, I sat down on the bed and was about to call Callie when my phone rang. “Ty,” I answered, “what’s up?”

“Oh, just looking at pictures of you on the Internet. You know, I thought the ones with Callie Davis at the game were just a coincidence, but I’m starting to believe otherwise.”

“What are you talking about?”

He huffed. “I’ll text them to you.” A few seconds later, the pictures came through. They were of me, dressed like Jack the Jaguar at the hospital, and in the parking lot with Callie when I was done.

“Why do you sound pissed about them?”

“Are you serious?” he snapped. “You can’t get involved with someone right now. It’s bad for the show. You need to be available in all aspects.”

“No one even knows about it. And who cares? If they have to find someone else, then so be it.” I didn’t give a shit about being on the show right now. Yeah, they wanted to follow me around during the playoffs before the Stanley Cup, but they could always find someone else. I was pretty sure Maddox would be game.

“You don’t mean that. You’re getting five million dollars to be on it. You’d be stupid to throw away that much money. Not to mention, if you break your contract, you owe them money. If you want to fuck the girl, then do it out of the public’s eye.” He huffed. “Damn, I thought you were smarter than this.”

“All right, I’m done here,” I growled. “I’m going to do whatever I want and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me.” Shaking with rage, I hung up and blew out a heavy breath. If that cocksucker was right in front of me, I’d have punched the shit out of him.

Grabbing a beer from the refrigerator, I chugged it down and climbed on top of the bed. I found Callie’s name on my phone and waited to see her beautiful face on my screen.

“Hello,” she said, greeting me with that lovely smile of hers. The anger I felt moments ago slipped away. Blond hair in waves to the side and with no hint of makeup, she was the epitome of stunning.

“How are you?”

Her face brightened. “Good. You? I watched the game. You guys killed it.”

“Thanks. I let one slip past me, though.”

She waved it off dismissively. “Can’t always be perfect. I seem to recall me getting a puck or two past you,” she stated with a wink. “It’ll happen from time to time. You just got to keep on going.” Easier said than done. I always put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best. It was in my blood.

“How was work?” I asked.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. “Crazy. We had a guy come in with a piece of wood stuck through his eye.”

I cringed. “Ouch. Wouldn’t want to be him.”

She shivered. “Me, either. But you wouldn’t believe the kind of things we see. One time there was a guy who had a curtain rod stuck up his ass. He couldn’t get it out. His mother had to bring him.”

“Holy shit,” I said, laughing. “That’s insane.”

She giggled, and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. “Yes, it was. Now imagine trying to ask this guy questions without cracking up. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.” We both laughed, and I watched her settle under her covers. I wished like hell I could be there, lying with her. “I don’t think you ever told me what gave you that scar,” she said, glancing at the jagged line above my right eye.

I reached up and touched it. “I was being stupid.”

“No, really?” she blurted sarcastically. “Not you.”

Chuckling, I flipped her off. “Me and some of the guys had a few beers and decided on a hockey game. None of us wore our pads or masks. My dumb ass thought it’d be fun to stand in the goal. I’d never been so wrong in my life when the puck hit me square above the eye, knocking me out.”

Gasping, she slapped a hand over her mouth. “What an idiot. You were a dumbass.”

“Thanks.” I laughed. “Needless to say, I didn’t do it ever again.”

“I’d hope not.”

“What about you? Ever do anything stupid?” I asked.

Brows furrowed, she closed her eyes in concentration. “Let me think.” Then her eyes burst open. “Here we go. I jumped off a bridge in Vermont. There were huge rocks all around at the bottom, and if you didn’t land in the right spot, you were done. As you can see, I survived.”

“Wow, I’m impressed. I’ve never really visited Vermont. Is it nice?”

“Oh yes. It’s so beautiful. Not to mention the Ben & Jerry’s factory is up there. They have a gazillion flavors that we don’t have down here.”

She named all of her favorite flavors and I watched her in fascination. I’d never talked to a woman who was so comfortable with herself. Hell, I never really had time to talk to them. It was always straight to the bedroom and that was it.

“I’m not boring you, am I?” Callie asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head. “Of course not. I love hearing you talk. You have a sexy voice.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Thanks.”

I looked over at the nightstand at my plane ticket and then back to her. “Our flight leaves early in the morning and then I have practice for a while. Afterward, I was thinking maybe I could see you?”

She bit her lip. “Don’t know yet. It all depends.”

“On what?”

She shrugged, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “Lots of things. But I’ll let you know if I can.” I had a strange feeling she was up to something. “So what are all the guys doing tonight?”

“They went to a strip club,” I answered.

“Oh, and you didn’t want to go with them?”

“I’m not interested in that. I wanted to come up here and talk to you.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Will you be joining them afterward?”

I lay back in bed. “Nope. Thought I’d stay here. If you want, we can talk all night. I’m down if you are.”

“As much as I’d like that,” she said, grinning wide, “I have to be on my toes tomorrow at work. Can’t do that if I’m sleep deprived.”

“I understand. I should probably let you get to bed. It’s getting late.”

She nodded. “Good idea.”

“Sweet dreams, angel.”

“Good night, Dallas.”

She ended the call and I sat back on my bed, wondering what the hell I was doing. I didn’t know how to be in a relationship, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to be in one.

I was falling hard for Callie Davis.

Me: Have a good day at work.

Callie: Thanks! I’ll try! Have fun at practice. :)

“Damn, man. Do you realize you’ve texted her a thousand times since we got back?” Braeden shook his head and chuckled.

Rolling my eyes, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “More like twice, asshole.” We were already back in Charlotte and on our way inside the rink for practice. Some of the other guys stumbled in, obviously exhausted from their night at Slick Sally’s.

“Missed a good time last night, Easton,” Maddox called out. I glanced behind me at him and Justin walking through the door. It was the first time I’d noticed the family resemblance. “Why didn’t you join us?”

Thoughts of Callie ran through my mind. “Had better things to do. Besides, I wasn’t in the mood for crabs.”

Maddox’s smile flattened and I chuckled. I’d known too many men who’d gone to that strip club and came back with more than they’d bargained for. Callie was the reason I didn’t want to go, but I respected her enough not to let them know just yet, even if I wanted to throw it up in their faces.

Braeden nudged me in the arm as we walked into the locker room. “What do you want to bet Maddox goes into the shower to shave off all his pubic hair?”

“I’d die laughing.”

I followed him into the locker room and he froze when he turned the corner, his wide-eyed gaze fixed on something. “You’re not the only one who’s going to die laughing.”

Kellan slapped me on the back and pushed me forward. “What the hell’s going on?” I demanded. Once around the corner, I saw what Braeden was looking at. My locker was devoid of my pads and uniform, and in its place was a bright pink bikini. “Seriously?”

Kellan burst out laughing. “It’s your choice, brother. Women can be difficult sometimes.”

Dropping my bag, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Callie probably expected me to choose my pride over humiliation. Little did she know I was about to prove her wrong. Taking off my clothes, I grabbed the bikini. “Here we go.”