Page 197 of Snap Shot

Me:Win for me?

Gym Guy:Always

The game goes by quickly, with minimal fights and penalties, as if the players want it to end so they can go celebrate. I watch while getting dressed as the Regents pummel Montreal, and it's a total shutout. Boehner doesn't let a single puck get past him. He and Gabe pop up on the screen for an on-ice interview right as the last period ends. Wade makes some underhanded joke about the Spears' “spears” being small and flaccid. Gabe's controlled expression has me cackling. Poor girl is trying so hard not to bludgeon him with the mic.

Gabe:I cannot believe you're dragging me to that monkey's NYE party.

Me:Remind me to thank you after I get pounded tonight

Bea:Braggart!

I'd already dished out all the sweet and dirty details of the previous weekend, but it was still new. It's okay to keep mentioning the sheer amount of sex I'm finally having, right? Right.

Bea and I drive to Gabe's hotel in record time. It's a fucking miracle my feet haven't gone numb from flooring the Audi the entire drive. I whistle when she opens the room door, black bodycon dress flattering her modelesque height. The high slit lengthens her long ass legs. She politely accepts my compliment and ushers us in while taking our coats.

“Hey, yourself.” Her tongue clicks out loudly while blowing a chef's kiss. “Someone needs to warn Radek to keep a medic on hand. He's gonna go brain-dead when you show up.”

“You think?” I tug the clingy fabric at my knees and smooth down the gold sequins on the long sleeves. They cover the whole dress and shimmer with the faintest beams of light. “Sheena overnighted it when I said I needed something for New Year's.”

“Your tits lookphenomenal.” Bea's gaze fixates on my chest, and I adjust the double-sided tape to ensure no mishaps.

“I can't wear plunging necklines. My titties would be out like Janet Jackson.” She gives herself a double chin by looking down at the scooped neck of her black cocktail dress, cinched in at the waist to show off her classic hourglass figure.

Gabe and I putter with laughter, then the three of us take four shots of peach schnapps—surely a wise decision for women wearing impractical heels and dress lengths in the dead of winter—before miraculously hailing a taxi.

The relief fades as we enter the lofted club sometime after eleven. I wish for an untimely death to save me from the blaring volume of music reverberating inside. No one else seems to be bothered. Me and the girls are the only people here with their fingers in their ears.

“I'm gonna find us something else to drink,” Bea yells from a few inches below Gabe and me.

“Water!” we yell back in tandem.

I narrow my eyes, peering through the strobes and multicolored disco lights.

“There.” Gabe points to one of the bars on the floor.

Flanked by his teammates, in a dark suit, the top buttons of his white shirt undone, hair combed away from his face, and ruthless dimples framing a gentle smile hidden by the lip of his glass. My outrageously handsome boyfriend freezes mid-sip when he catches me gawking. “Go get 'em, tiger.” Gabe slaps my ass to nudge me forward. I yelp. “I'll be over at that table.”

Goosebumps pull at my skin as his eyes rake up and down, their striking blue hue sparkling between the obnoxious flashing. “Hi.”

Donovan turns a bright, beet red and retreats into the crowd. Boehner's jaw hangs as he shamelessly checks out my rack. “Wowza.”

Landon stiff-arms him without breaking our eye contact. “Pretend you're blind. Get lost.”

“Don't have to tell me twice.” Wade covers his eyes and disappears in the same direction as his teammate.

One purposeful stride ends whatever distance between us. His arm rounds my waist and suddenly, no one else exists. “Holyfuck. You're perfection,” he mutters into my ear. My face flares with a flush. “We gotta leave.Now.”

“What do you mean?” I whisper-yell through a disbelieving smile. “Ijustgot here. Do you have any idea how long it took me to—”

Landon's hold tightens, urgent and possessive. “I need to get you in bed before I fuck you right here in front of all these people.” Velvety lips and the coarse ends of his beard brush the curve of my ear, his voice lazy with need. Pleading. “Can I? Can I take you? I don't want anyone else to see what you look like when you come.”

We exchange the briefest of glances before I reach for his drink and throw it back in one swallow. The Scotch burns the whole way down. I attempt a ladylike cough from the corner of my mouth and clear my throat. “Ready when you are.”

He barrels through the crowd, oblivious to the line of dolled-up women clamoring as we pass. Landon flits them away like annoying flies.

I try to get Gabe's attention from the table she's at, but there are too many people in between us. Including Wade Boehner. “Hey.” I stop and squeeze his hand. “What's going on over there?”

The goalie gets close to Gabe and the instinct to protect her kicks in. Gabe sends him a hateful look. He raises his hands but doesn't surrender. My friend straightens. I read an emphatic, “Leave me alone”from her lips. Boehner starts talking again and Gabe abandons her martini to shove him by the chest into the nearest wall. When he tries to move, she presses a hand to his throat and pins him there. Her victim's eyes go wide as she snarls in his face, meeting his terrifying height with her heels. I imagine her doling out a final threat before she storms off.

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