Page 72 of Playmaker

“How so?”

“Because he liked to put me in my place by letting me know how hot other women were. Like he wanted to remind me that he could do better or something.”

I wrinkled my nose. “What a charmer.”

“I know, right?” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, we were watching a movie one night, and he’s kind of been prickly all day. There’s an actress on the screen who he’s made comments about before, and in the movie, the guy just isn’t into her character at all. Like he’s totally oblivious to how hot she is and whatever. I guess Ty wanted to get under my skin, because he says, ‘I don’t know what this dude’s problem is—I would put her on the counter and lick her until her soul left her body.’”

The laugh burst out of me before I could stop it, and I clapped a hand over my mouth. “Oh my God. Seriously?”

She was giggling too, and nodded. “Yep. I think he just wanted to get a rise out of me or something. But like, as soon as he said it, the only thing I could think was… ‘yeah, me too’.”

I straightened. “Oh, really?”

Her face was bright red, and she laughed as she nodded. “Yeah. I, um… The more he started making comments like that, the more I started realizing that I felt the same about women as he did. But I didn’t feel that way about him. Or any other man.”

“Whoa.” I blinked. “That’s a hell of a way to figure out your sexuality.”

“Tell me about it. So after we separated, that’s when I got involved with Kendra. Wasn’t my first time with a woman, but itwas the first time I went into it thinking, ‘okay, I might actuallybea lesbian and I’m okay with that.’”

“And then you dated her?”

“For a little while, yeah.” Sabrina exhaled. “I was still working through my divorce, and I was also focusing hard on getting back into condition to play hockey, starting my PTO in Seattle—all of that. So I wasn’t in a good place to be pursuing anything.”

“That makes sense. Did it end on good terms?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think she was happy about it.” With a wince, she added, “I think, judging by some of the stuff she’s said to reporters, she believes I was just in it to get a feel for being a lesbian.”

“I’ve heard that,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”

“No. It wasn’t. It was just really, really bad timing in a lot of ways, and I wasn’t as emotionally available as she deserved. I was over Ty, but I also wasn’t, if that makes sense.”

“It does,” I whispered, covering her hand with mine. “But you’re in a better place now?”

“I am.” She looked at me through her lashes, and a small smile came to life. “My divorce is over and done with. My career is on the rails. I know who I am now. So… yeah. I’m in a way better place.” She swept her tongue across her lips. “That doesn’t mean we have to date. This can just be—”

“It just started.” I brought her hand up and kissed her palm. “It doesn’t need a name or a definition tonight.”

Uneasiness crept into her expression.

I released her hand, then curved mine behind her head and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m not going to show up outside your house with a U-Haul. We’re teammates, and we had a bit of a rough start, and we’re right in the middle of the chaos of the regular season. I’m fine with letting this evolve at its own speed.”

That must’ve been the right answer, because tension I hadn’t even noticed in her started to unwind. “Okay. Okay, that works. Because…”She bit her lip. “Whatever this is, I want to do it. But… one step at a time.”

I smiled. “Sounds perfect to me. Especially because I’m really enjoying this first step.”

She laughed, and the rest of that tension melted away. “I am too.” She slid closer to me. “We should get up at some point. Maybe order room service or something. But…” Her lips brushed mine. “I’m not in any hurry if you aren’t.”

“Mmm, no.” I tangled my fingers into her hair. “I’m not in any hurry at all.”

“You know,” Sabrina said, “if someone had told me when we first came to Pittsburgh that we’d end up like this? I’d have asked what they were on.”

Feigning surprise as I picked up my wineglass, I said, “Whaaat? You didn’t see all the romantic writing on the wall?”

She chuckled as she continued thumbing through the leatherbound menu. “Look, I’ve never been good at picking up the most blatant clues. If that was a reverse-psychology attempt at subtle flirting?” She shook her head. “You’d have been barking up this tree forever.”

I laughed, almost choking on my wine. “Hmm, yeah, I’m oblivious too. Maybe that’s why we had to start out the way we did.” I winked. “So it was obvious when we started to like each other.”

She grinned across the white-linen draped table for two. “I don’t know how obvious it was. I’m not kidding—you probablywouldn’t have been out of line to hold up a sign saying, ‘Sabrina, I’m trying to flirt with you,’ and even then I’d have missed it.”

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