Page 66 of One Steamy Pucking Meet Cute

“Yeah, man,” Nolan says. “I was already planning to subscribe you to a few newspapers so you could be a lazy retired asshole with me.”

“You run a fine dining restaurant,” Jesse chuckles. “You retired from hockey, not work.”

“Let a man have his jokes,” Nolan complains.

“I was,” Liam says. “But it feels like the whole team is drifting apart all at once. I thought about Jake on his own and wanted to stick it out for him. At least a little while longer.”

Liam’s not meeting my eyes, but the sentiment of what he’s saying makes my throat feel thick. Fuck.

“Oh,” Nolan says, eyes on his beer. “Yeah.”

“Jake is unstoppable, man,” Jesse says. He gives me a punch, smiling as if he still has no idea how tough our group's retirements and changing dynamic really are on me. “You think he gives a shit if we retire? Jake would go out there one against six if he had to. He wouldn’t even complain.”

I try to smile easily like none of this is a big deal, but I still feel a thick ball of something in my chest.

“Sorry, man,” Liam says softly. “I wanted to stick it out for you. But if I’m not a Vandal, I really will retire.”

I nod my head. “Hey, no worries. It’s fine.”

Maddox has been staring hard at me. He finally gets up and comes over, wrapping me in a big bear hug. “Come on, boys. Hug our captain. He needs it.”

I try to protest, but before I know it, all the guys hug me in a tight, muscley ball. Once I’m too engulfed for anyone to see it, I let myself smile.

28

JAKE

Even though we were cheated out of a win in the couple's tournament, Nolan and Mia decided to let us have the romantic couple’s dinner anyway. Jesse and Andi are currently babysitting Walker, who is probably fast asleep at this late hour. Grams and Edgar are due back tomorrow, too. I’m glad I’ll be packing up and leaving in the morning to get back to the team for our game tomorrow night. Having a week off is always nice, but it does make me itch to get back on the ice when it’s through.

Caroline clears her throat from the other side of the table. “You’re thinking about hockey, aren’t you?” She looks mesmerizing with her curly hair pulled back in a thick ponytail, clear-rimmed glasses framing her wide eyes, and a smile tugging at her full lips. She’s wearing a black dress that’s sexy as hell and has me thinking about what I’m going to do to her when we get back to her room tonight.

“Among other things,” I say, eyes drifting down her body to make her fully aware of those other things.

“Like what?” she asks.

Mia appears by the table with a wicker basket lined with a white cloth. It’s overflowing with various fresh-baked breads glistening with butter and various dustings of herbs, cheese, and toppings. She has one arm tucked behind her back, playing up her role as our server. “Bread for our honored guests.” She produces a long rectangular plate with six different-looking squares of butter on it and sets it on the table. “Butter for our honored guests.”

Caroline rolls her eyes. “Thank you, peasant. Now be gone.”

Mia backs away half-bowed with her eyes down like a servant being dismissed.

We both laugh at her little display, then get distracted as we tear into the amazing bread.

“Why do you think we tried so hard to keep it a secret?” Caroline asks after we’ve finished the salads that followed the bread.

“Us, you mean?” I ask.

“Yeah, us.”

“Your brother, for starters,” I say. “When we first met, I didn’t know he would go after my sister behind my back like a snake. I was trying to honor the bro code.”

She snorts. “But you went after me behind his back. Almost immediately.”

I scratch the back of my neck. “Yeah, but that was different.”

“How, exactly?” She smiles, plucking a tomato from her fork with her teeth.

“Well… you came on to me. Remember? How was I supposed to resist something like that.”

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