Page 84 of Defensive Zone

“Thinking about Gabi and taping your stick at the same time? Is that a euphemism I haven’t heard before?” Nessie asked, that damn smirk still in place.

“Fuck off, Nessie,” he barked out and then headed back out of the locker room to grab one of his sticks.

And because of the dirty thoughts he was now thinking about Gabi, he ended up retaping his stick four times.

His hockey stick.

Damn perverts, all of them.

Himself included.

He walked back into the locker room and sat down in front of his stall, checking the tape on his socks and going through his pregame routine. He wasn’t nearly as crazy superstitious as some of the other guys, but they all had their things. He wasn’t taping his stick three times like Cheesy.

No. He’d gone for four this time because he couldn’t stop thinking about Gabi, and how pissed she was that he didn’t tell her about his parents visiting.

To be fair, he probably should have, but he’d been away for five days and then exhausted when he got back. And then last night…

Last night he was only thinking about her, only focused on her. He couldn’t help that it’d slipped his mind, especially when he hadn’t wanted to accidentally tell Ava they were coming.

“I’m trying to tell you that we like Gabi. She’s a good fit for you. That’s important.”

“She’s also Ava’s best friend and the nanny,” Max said.

“Nannies are hot,” Sully said from the other side of Max. “We talking about Gabi again?”

“You guys are worse than small-town busybodies, you know that?”

“I’m sorry. Is our meddling too much? Hey, pot, meet kettle.” Sully smacked Max upside the head.

“What the fuck, man.”

“Just trying to help jar your memory. You are the king of busybodies. You managed to taunt us about all of our relationships when we were struggling,” Sully said.

“Whatever. Shouldn’t we be focused on the game tonight?” Max said.

Sully barked out a laugh. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

“We talking about Gabi? I saw her out there near the glass,” Harty said, stopping in front of Max and propping his arm up on the end of his hockey stick.

“With his parents,” Nessie said.

Harty chuckled. “That’s even better. The parents already approve.” He paused. “Oh right, because she grew up with you like a sister.”

“She’s not my damn sister,” Max bit out, and the assholes around him laughed.

Yeah, so maybe he’d helpfully interjected himself into their love lives when they were floundering. He’d done them a service.

And this is how they repaid him?

“Hey, gossip girls, we can talk about Gabi later. How about a pep talk before the game?” Cheesy yelled out.

“Damn, Amanda has rubbed off on him,” Harty said with a grin.

Their captain had truly come out of his shell over the last few years, and they all knew it was because of his girlfriend. Where Cheesy was cautious and superstitious and shy, Amanda was the opposite. They worked well together.

Maybe some would say that about him and Gabi.

He was so far gone.

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