Page 68 of Home Ice

I nibble on her earlobe. "Maybe I like tormenting you," I whisper.

She slips her hand under my shirt. Her fingers are cold at first, and it sends a shiver through me when she slides one along my stomach. I feel each hair bend under her touch and spring back as her finger passes. "You do it very well."

"That makes two of us." I bite a little harder. She stiffens and then scratches a fingernail across my abs, as if she's telling me that she can play this game too. Fuck, I want this woman.

Poppy sets our drinks on the table. Too loudly. Lily and I both jump, and I know it's his way of telling us to take it down a notch. I wonder if he ever feels like this with Zachary. I watch as Poppy sits next to his husband. The two of them share a quick look and Poppy weaves his fingers through Zachary's. They do feel like this. They're just better at hiding it.

After a few drinks, I shift, and the alcohol all suddenly rushes to my bladder. Princeling is in the middle of telling us about a girl he hooked up with in Winnipeg, but I can't wait for him to finish the story. All hockey hookups end the same way, anyway. We either wake up alone in the hotel room because the girl disappeared on us, or we have to wake her up and tell her she needs to leave. There's no happily ever after. Just a one-time shot and it's done. Most players like that. Kayden is one of them. I don't know Sammy well enough yet to know if he is or not.

I nudge Lily from my lap. Unlike the rest of us, she's only on her second drink. When I stand, everyone turns toward me. "Sorry, but if I don't piss in the next thirty seconds, there are going to be ten thousand and one lakes in Minnesota." My head spins a little with the first step, and I make the mistake of shaking my head to clear it. Note to self: five drinks at a small neighborhood bar that caters to locals are stronger than five drinks at an expensive bar downtown that caters to tourists.

"You need me to help you?" Lily asks.

"Yeah, Branny. Do you need your girlfriend to hold it for you?" Kayden teases from across the table.

I ignore him and smile at Lily. "I like thinking of you as my girlfriend." I sway a little as I look into her eyes. I shouldn't be drinking tonight. I'm the starter tomorrow. But I wanted to celebrate her finally coming out with us. I think I may have celebrated a little too much, though.

"I like that you think of me that way." She puts her palms on my cheeks, and I let my eyelids droop as I wait for her kiss. I don't have it in me to hold back right now, so when it comes, I might just take her to that bathroom with me. But it doesn't come. She's just holding my head steady. Shit, no more drinks for me tonight. "Does that mean you do need me to come hold it for you?" She winks.

I shake my head and flip Kayden off for starting this as I pass by on the way to the single stall bathroom.

When I come back, Lily is at the bar. Talking to a man. A man who is standing way too close to her. I snarl and do my wobbling best to storm up to them. Just before I get there, I overhear the guy. "You say that, but we both know there's only one reason a girl wears a dress like this." He motions at the length, or lack thereof, of her dress. "Let's just cut that hard-to-get crap and get to the fun."

He slides his hand along the edge of the bar, closer to Lily, and I clench my fists so tight they hurt. Serenity and I had a huge blowup once because she said I didn't defend her honor at a bar, whatever that meant. I slipped away to make a phone call, and when I came back, a man had taken my seat and was flirting with her. I just watched them. I told Serenity it was because she looked like she was doing fine, but it was really because I wanted to see what she would do. I didn't trust that she wouldn't flirt back. This isn't like that. Right now, I'm hoping this fucker tries to touch Lily because I will break that arm so fast he'll be on the way to the hospital before he knows what happened.

I circle behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. I want this asshole to have no doubts that my girl is off limits. He shouldn't even be looking at her.

She arches into me when I nuzzle her neck. "Miss me?" I ask her as I stare at the man. Based on the step back he suddenly takes, he definitely gets the message I'm trying to send. "You don't have a problem here, do you?"

"I always miss you when you're gone," she says. "And it's nothing I couldn't have handled. He's not the first man I've met who doesn't understand what the word 'no' means."

Heat rises in me at the thought that she's had to put up with this before. The man holds his hands up, palms facing me. "Sorry, bro. I didn't know she really was here with someone. I thought that was just a bullshit line. You know how chicks are."

I nudge Lily to the side so she's not between me and this fucking wannabe alpha. Anticipation surges through me. Maybe I'll get my wish after all. "I do know how women are. And I know that when they say they aren't interested, it means they aren't interested. So you know what a real man does when that happens? He fucking steps away. He doesn't call her a liar, and he doesn't imply anything about the clothes she's wearing. Because if my girlfriend, or any woman, wants to wear a see-through bikini to a Bone Me Hard Bikers convention while not being interested in a single person there, she can do it. You know what a real man does?" I point to myself. "He fucking respects that, and he keeps his hands and his eyes and his thoughts to himself. You got all that, or do I need to write it down? I hope not, because I'm at the stage of drunk where my hand might not work so well for writing, but it works just fine for making a fist."

The man's face is so red he looks like an inflated tomato. He scans me up and down for a second before stammering something and walking away. I wish it didn't matter what I look like for him to accept the message. But I can only do what I can do.

"You—my drunk boyfriend, who only slurred a quarter of the wonderful words you just said—have been letting Kayden rub off on you. I like it." She steps in front of me and kisses my cheek.

I pull her so tight I can feel every inch of her body. "Sometimes he can be a good influence. That man was right about one thing, though. You make that dress so fucking hot."

"So you've said."

"And have I told you just how much I want to rip it off you and fuck you until you're screaming my name?"

She purrs and rolls her hips against me. "You might have implied that too."

"But not tonight?"

She cups my balls in her hand, and Christ, I'm so turned on that I almost fucking come in my pants. "Not tonight. But I think we should get you back to the hotel." My eyes must light up because she quickly adds, "to your own room. Alone."

"You're no fun."

"We still have the ride back. That takes around twenty minutes."

"You'll come with me?"

Her giggle makes me want to lift her onto this bar and hear what noises she makes with my face between her thighs. "I'll come with you. But I want out a block before we get back."

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