Gage controlled the puck and headed toward the goal, the opposing team’s enforcer, Mathison, zeroing in on his back as he took off after him. Big fucking mistake. Coach had pulled me off the bench and gave me the green light to play my heart out in this game.

I raced across the ice and crashed into the shithead just as he jerked his stick in front of Gage’s skate. The punk went down so hard his helmet smacked off the ice with an audible crack, but Gage barely missed a beat, regained his footing and passed the puck to Warren who shot it in for a goal to tie up the score.

“Fuck yeah!” I screamed, fist bumping Gage’s glove and then Warren’s as we rounded the ice for the next faceoff. The crowd roared, fueling me with the kind of adrenaline that only hockey could give me.

The Blackhawks—damn them—held their ground, their goalie blocking two more attempts. Sweat soaked everything underneath my gear, pushed harder than I had in weeks. That was the thing about this game; the second Coach said I couldn’t play it, only made me want it that much more. I shredded the ice, knocking players into the boards, on their backs, and anywhere an opportunity presented itself. No one was getting at one of my guys, not today.

The breath was cold and quick in my lungs as I flew across the ice, slamming a guy into the boards before he could do the same to Warren. As the ref called offsides, the whistle blowing so we could faceoff at the blueline, a flash of red hair caught my eye. I looked up at the glass and nearly fell on my ass. It was a rare occasion that I’d seen Paige outside of her usual business attire, but seeing her in my jersey? Holy fucking shit it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. And it wasn’t like there weren’t fourteen other puck bunnies wearing the same number in the stands because there was. It just looked ten times hotter on Paige.

Was that because we’d struck a deal? Because she’d been off limits until recently? Because she was out of my league in too many ways to count? Or was it because ever since I’d gotten that first taste of her in the penthouse, she was all I could think about? Her scent filled my head even though it’d been two days since I’d seen her last. Her laugh echoed in my ears despite the action of the game surrounding me. The woman was under my skin all the ways I’d never thought would happen and I hadn’t even fucked her yet.

“Rory!” Gage shouted, snapping me out of thoughts. “Get your fucking head in the game!” He pointed at a defenseman going after one of our wings, and I bolted toward him, barely stopping him before he got our guy on his back.

Fuck. Lock it up, man!

Paige wasn’t the first gorgeous woman to show up to watch me play. Hell no. Beautiful women went hand and hand with being a Shark. Not once had I ever let any of them distract me and yet one glimpse of Paige and I was out of position and out of my fucking mind.

I flexed every single one of the muscles I spent hours at the gym sculpting, pushing myself harder than ever, forcing myself to focus on the game and ignore the redhead in the stands. I swore I could hear her screaming my name over anyone else in the crowd, but that was impossible. Fuck, I was in trouble.

Smack! Another goon bashed against the boards, dropping to the ice after my bone-crushing hit. I grunted, adjusting my mouthguard that had come loose underneath my helmet. In the two seconds it took to move it in place, I glanced upward where I knew she was in the stands. I just wanted a glimpse of that fiery hair, those emerald eyes…the man chatting her up as he stood over her in the aisle. Motherfucker was leaning…coming on to my woman. A rage I was all too familiar with bubbled near the surface, the urge to leap the boards and let the guy know who the fuck he was talking to, battled in my head.

“Jackson!” Coach yelled this time, and my head snapped around, following his angry face to his jerking hand motioning toward the opposite end of the ice. Before I could skate two inches Gage had been taken down so hard I fucking winced. The player stole the puck while Gage tried to recover, and shot it in for a goal. The buzzer sounded at the same time the lamp lit, the sound shoving my heart to the bottom of my gut as the game ended 3-2.

I skidded to a stop near Gage. “Fuck, man is your shoulder okay?”

Gage ripped his helmet off, skating toward the bench. “Fine.” His sharp tone told me to leave him the fuck alone, so I did.

My stomach rolled during the end-of-game niceties. How the fuck had I just let that happen?

“Damn, Rory, what the hell?” Warren asked when we’d made it back to the locker room.

“I—”

“Jackson!” Coach yelled before I could get an answer out. He stomped toward me, and I straightened like he was a four-star general. “What happened out there? You leave your brain in the fucking clouds?”

“No, sir.”

“You hungover?”

“No, sir. I haven’t had a drop since last week!” I took a deep breath, clenching my hands into fists, so I didn’t snap. He had the right to be pissed. I’d gotten distracted and lost us the game.

“You better pray a story doesn’t come out about you getting smashed at a bar last night because I will bench you the rest of the season, do you understand? Own up to your shit before you even think about lying to me.”

I gave him one nod, holding my ground. It was the truth. I hadn’t even been to a bar since the night before the first charity gala I’d attended for Paige.

Paige. The guy. Fuck, that is what had distracted me. Even if for only a few moments, I’d been consumed by jealousy enough to cost us the fucking game. I needed to get a grip on my balls before I lost them.

Coach sighed, the vein throbbing in his forehead turning a less angry shade of purple. “Fine. Next time.” He looked at Gage and Warren who stood silently next to me. “We’ll get them next time.”

“Fuck yeah, we will,” Warren said.

“I’ll make sure of it,” I added.

Coach nodded before stomping back to his office, probably to break something. I hated that my temper was yet again almost costing me the only thing I was ever good at but fuck me it wasn’t like I could control it. I was trying and thought the deal with Paige was going to help. Not once did I think she’d have the power to exacerbate it.

“What happened?” Gage asked, his tone easier than it had been on the ice.

“I fucked up.”

“I get that. Again. But I’ve never seen you lose it in a game like that before.”

“I got…distracted.”

“By what?”

I cut my eyes to him before I wiped the sweat from my face with a towel.

“Um, Rory?” Warren pointed behind me toward the hallway entrance. “Towel boy says there is a redhead outside asking for you?”

Gage shifted his weight. “Do not fucking tell me that is Paige out there.” He pointed a meaty finger at the door, his massive gun flexing more than necessary.

Shit. “It could be any redhead.”

Gage’s jaw flexed. “Is it Bailey’s redhead?”

I patted my bare chest with the towel, chuckling. “Technically she’s my redhead now.”

He raked his fingers through his black hair, spinning so his back was toward me. “What the fuck are you doing, man?”

“At least it’s not your nanny,” Warren snorted, and I hissed. The look Gage flashed him was so not one I’d ever want shot at me. Warren raised his hands and backed away slowly.

“Explain,” Gage said, looking at me.

I shrugged. “Paige and I—”

“How is that even the start of a sentence for you?” Gage cut me off. “You don’t ever do, and I’s.”

“I do now.” Damn, I sounded defensive even to me.

His eyes trailed me for a second before something clicked and he burst out laughing.

“What?” I snapped after two minutes of straight laughing from him.

“You are so fucked, man.”

“How so?”

“You’ve got it bad. And for that woman? You know who she is right? Like, you know—”

“Yeah. I know.”

“And you know if you fuck this up it won’t just be you who takes the hit in the press. It’ll be on her, too.”

“Aware.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “I hope you know what you’re doing, bro. Because I swear if you hurt Bailey’s best friend, she’ll kill me just for being associated with you.”

“Got it. If I fuck up with Paige, there will be an entire mob of people coming after me. Check. Anything else, Dad?”

He slit his eyes at me. “Yeah.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Do yourself a favor and don’t fuck it up. Not for everyone else, but for you.”

I smirked up at him, opening my arms. “You want to hug this shit out, man?”

He punched me in the chest before flipping me off and walking toward the showers. I was covered in sweat and grime, but I didn’t want to keep her waiting outside the locker room door. Pushing it open, I found her leaning casually against the wall next to it. The tight jeans she wore tucked into a pair of flat, black leather boots only made her look that much more fuckable in my jersey. A slew of other puck bunnies hollered for me from across the hallway, but I only had eyes for one woman. That had never happened.

“You called?” I asked, my tone sharp from the bullshit of the game and locker room ambush.

She straightened, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I wanted to see if you’d be up for dinner after you were done in there?” She eyed the locker room. “Thought you might want to talk about the game.”

A muscle in my jaw clenched as I gritted my teeth.

“Or not,” she said. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have come.” She turned and took several steps away from me. It only took one quick reach to grab her and pull her back.

“Don’t. I’m just pissed about the game.”

“What happened?” she asked, her voice soft.

I rolled my eyes. “Fucking question of the day and you’re the answer.”

Her mouth popped into the shape of an O. “What?”

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Who was that guy talking to you?”

She tilted her head, her eyes shifting from me to the side and back again. “You were watching me?”

“I looked up. You were there. So was he.”

“Wow. I honestly didn’t think there was a thing that could tear your mind from the game. I wouldn’t have come.” She shook her head. “Thanks for blaming me though.” She spun around again, stomping with more determination toward the exit.

I had to jog to catch up to her. “Stop.”

She jerked out from under my touch. “No, you stop! Don’t you get it?” She touched the center of my chest; her fingers cool against the Under Armour t-shirt I had on over my still heated skin. “This?” she smacked my chest. “Right here? This anger you carry around with you every single place you go? That’s the root of every single problem in your life. It’s the reason why you need me in the first place.”

I kept my jaw locked, the adrenaline from the game, her words, fucking all of it surged with no place to unleash.

“And the guy I was talking to?”

My fist clenched, shaking at my side despite knowing I had no reason to be this jealous. Sure, we had a contract that said she was mine for three months, but it wasn’t real. None of it was.

“He’s worked at my company for a decade. I spotted him and asked how his daughter was doing.” Her eyes dropped to where my fist hung, and she traced her fingertips over it. “Rory you’re shaking.”

“Game. Adrenaline.” I grunted the words out like a fucking caveman.

She didn’t buy it for a second, those sharp green eyes not missing one piece of myself that I tried to keep buried underneath the rage. Stepping closer, she moved my fist to the small of her back, slipping her arms around my neck as she reached up on her tiptoes to brush her lips against mine.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. A battle raged inside me. One where I knew I was starting to care about this woman way more than I should. Better, safer to walk away from it all right now. Tear up the contract and ice my body for a few months to recover from the flames that licked my skin whenever she was close.

“Rory,” she sighed name, the tips of her breasts barely grazing my chest as she tried to kiss me again.

“I’m all sweaty.”

“I don’t care.”

“People can see,” I managed to say, my muscles unlocking a fraction of an inch as I thought about the crowd of bunnies and reporters just on the other side of the hall.

“Let them.”

Those two words, paired with the intensity in her green eyes, broke down whatever gate had held me frozen. I gripped her hips and pressed her against the wall, slanting my mouth over hers. She gasped but opened up for me, tilting her head backward to give me a better angle to stroke her mouth more deeply. Our tongues rubbed and rolled as I fused the only parts of us that our very public location would allow.

Fuck she tasted delicious, and the feel of her body, soft and pliant beneath mine turned the rage in my blood to pure need.

“Rory!” I jolted out of our embrace at the sound of Gage’s voice.

“Fuck!” I screamed. “Next person who yells my name like that is getting punched in the fucking throat!”

Gage rounded the corner. “Hi Paige,” he said in the tone he only reserved for ladies. “Asshole, coach wants you.”

I nodded. “Perfect. Like chewing me out in front of the team wasn’t enough, now I get to have the private office lecture.”

Paige hissed, squeezing my fingers. “Is that worse?”

Gage nodded, and I flipped him off. “I’ll see you after?” I asked Paige.

“I’ll be here.” She smiled up at me, the flush in her cheeks still warm from our kiss.

Gage sighed so loud I’m sure his daughter heard it back home. I walked passed him, ignoring his damn near motherly look of concern as I made my way to the locker room, passing a line of high-maintenance puck bunnies.

“Who is the new bunny?” Linda asked just as I jerked open the door. I clenched my eyes shut and tilted my head toward the ceiling as if asking God why tonight?

I had no one to blame but myself. Dip your dick in crazy twice, shame on you…

“Not that it’s any of your business,” I said, letting the door shut, revealing where she leaned in the same spot Paige had been not minutes ago. Coach would be pissed I kept him waiting, but I needed to clear this up before it got out of hand. “She’s not a bunny,” I continued. “Her name is Paige and she’s my…” I swallowed hard. “Girlfriend.”

Linda’s eyes flew wide as she pressed off the wall. “You don’t do girlfriends.”

I squinted at the blonde. “You’ve got no idea what I do.”

“Don’t I?” She reached out to touch me, and I backed away, my hand on the locker room handle like it was a safety net.

“You really don’t.” I sighed, not wanting to be a complete dick. “Look, Linda. It was over a year ago. And it was nice, but people change.”

“People like you never change, Rory. You’re a player. You like variety. I like to provide a flavor on a rotation.”

I shook my head. “Not going to happen. Ever. Again. I’ve tried to explain that to you numerous times. Don’t make me have this conversation again.” I jerked open the door and let it swing shut behind me.

I sighed as I walked toward coach’s office. Who knew being someone’s sex-toy for a few months could cause such trouble.