Page 10 of The Hat Trick

Suddenly, the buzzer sounds indicating the end of the period, and signaling that the other players are going to walk in here any minute. He pulls away, lips swollen from our kiss, and I’m sure I look similar. His large, callused hands cup my face.

“Promise you’ll see me after the game,” he pleads.

I nod because I don’t think my voice works right now.

He smiles, “Good.” Then kisses me quickly one last time before leading me back out to the tunnel.

I hear the sound of footsteps coming down the walkway, and it sends me into a panic. I don’t think I’m going to be able to get out of here without passing them. I look around to see if there’s some place I could hide until they pass, but there’s nothing. They are coming closer, and I know they are going to see me.

As I walk out the direction I came in, I come face to face with one of the players who has taken off his helmet to reveal his sandy blond shaggy hair. He’s in his skates still, but even without them he clearly has over a foot on me, and I don’t know what is in the water these men drink, but whatever it is makes them all impossibly attractive.

“What are you doing back here?” he asks.

“Oh, um, I’m a friend of Vince’s so I was just checking on him.”

“No one is supposed to be back here during a game.”

“It won’t happen again.” I try to move past him, but am stopped by a scowling face. One I recognize from my searching last night and know as Matt McQuaid.

“Thought we weren’t allowed to have puck bunnies back here until after the game,” his scowl deepens.

I scoff, “I’m not a puck bunny. I’m just a friend.”

Matt looks me up and down. “Definitely a puck bunny.”

“Fuck off, McQuaid, she’s leaving,” the first guy says. I look back and see his jersey is number fifty-two, the name on it says ‘Collee’.

I push past them both and leave the area before I can be judged by anymore players who think I just fucked their teammate.

Once I get back to Audrey, she instantly smiles like she can read my mind.

“That looks like it went well,” she smirks at me.

I shrug. “I guess you could say that. Also, forget about McQuaid, he’s an asshole.”

5

The guys come back into the locker room where I’m still recovering from my kiss with Chandler. Everyone is buzzing with energy, anxious to get a goal since the first period ended with zeros for everyone. Coach is telling us how we are going to switch it up for the next period to increase our chances of scoring.

Once he’s done, he gives us the last few minutes we have left to hydrate, get our gear back on and get ready to go back out for another twenty minute period.

I’m putting on a new t-shirt since my last one was covered in sweat, when my teammate, Brent Collee nudges my shoulder.

“Who was that girl that came back here?” he asks.

I avoid answering for a few moments while I get my pads on. I figured since no one said anything when they first came back here no one saw her leaving, but I guess I was wrong.

“Did you ask her who she was?” I don’t look at him yet.

“She said she’s a friend of yours.”

I smirk, thinking about the kiss we shared. “Then I guess she’s a friend of mine.”

“McQuaid may have called her a puck bunny.”

I roll my eyes as I grab my jersey to put on. “McQuaid assumes every woman is a puck bunny.”

Collee laughs as he nods in agreement. It’s no mystery to anyone on or off the team how Matt McQuaid operates. He’s the biggest man whore on our team, and that’s saying a lot. I swear, he brings home a new woman every single night. And sure, I sleep around, I’m a twenty-seven-year-old single man. I’m no saint, and never have been. Though, I’m not like him.

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