Page 58 of What If I Knew You

“Oooh here they come!” Layken points to the team as they move onto the ice for their warmup and I can’t help but sit up straighter and watch anxiously for him to appear.

“Where’s number thirty-seven? Do you see thirty-seven?”

Layken glances at me and laughs. “Girl, you already know his number?”

“What?” I shrug innocently. “I Googled him as soon as I had the chance. Of course, I know his number.”

“You’re not smitten at all.” She turns back to watch the players for a minute and then gestures with the tip of her chin. “There he is. On the left.”

My eyes rake through each player as they circle around the net and then split into sides, some shooting a puck and others rebounding. And that’s when I spot him.

Not that he looks any different from any of the other guys on the ice when they’re all in uniform but to me he’s very different from anyone else out there. His strong arms carried me down my hallway to my bedroom. His sculpted chest and broad shoulders have pressed against my bare chest. He explored my body with those large soft hands.

I can still feel his touch when I think about it.

I can still see the sense of wonder and pure lust in his eyes.

“What position does he play?” Layken asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Uh, he’s a sub for the left. I think sometimes he’s a left wing and sometimes he’s left defense.”

“Wow, he plays two positions?”

“It’s not uncommon, really. Players move around a good bit even during game play. I’ll have to ask my dad the next time we have lunch what his plans are for Bodhi since he’s not necessarily a starting player.”

“Do you think one of the guys is considering retirement or something and that’s why they brought him on board?”

“I don’t know. I suppose it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I wasn’t following the team much while I was in London. You would probably know more than me at this point.”

Layken shakes her head. “Nah. I’m a fan but I’m not the super-know-every-detail kind of fan. All I know is that the guys have always been great to work with whenever we’ve had charityevents for the hospital. And thanks to your dad, they almost always come around to visit the kids. Especially around the holidays.”

“Dad loves being Santa for those kids. I imagine he’ll do it until he physically can’t anymore.”

“Hmm.” Layken smirks bringing a finger to her chin. “Maybe I could write the next great holiday romance where Santa shows up to see the children in the small-town hospital and ends up falling for one of the single moms who sits with her son day in and day out. She spends so much time taking care of her ailing son but nobody is there to take care of her…until Santa shows up and then BAM. Christmas miracles everywhere and happily ever afters for everyone.”

“Wow. How do you do that?” I ask her, amazed.

“Do what?”

“Just come up with storyline ideas like that on the fly?”

She smiles. “You mean like the story about the girl who accidentally texts the virgin pro hockey player and he writes her back and then somehow she’s offering him lessons on how to be great in bed so he’s ready when he meets the love of his life except he think he’s already met the love of his life and it’s her?”

Nearly spitting out my drink, I cover my mouth with my hand and roll my eyes. “Oh please. That’s pretty far-fetched, don’t you think?”

Without response, she merely shrugs with a mischievous grin and then gives her attention to the pregame ceremony. After the national anthems are sung and the teams get into their starting positions, she leans over to me as I’m watching the players and murmurs, “Far-fetched maybe, but not out of the realm of possibility. Just saying.”

I shake my head silently, not wanting to give her any more fodder for her wildly creative mind. Though now that she’splanted that seed in my brain, would a hot hockey player falling in love with his coach’s daughter be so bad?

Not for me.

Pretty sure Dad would not say the same.

For the first couple minutes of the game Bodhi is on the bench but the minute Ledger Dayne comes off his first shift, Bodhi hits the ice and sprints to his position to get into the action. Magallen has possession of the puck and forces it to August Blackstone in the corner. August is checked by one of the Pittsburgh players and the puck is taken over by them.

“Dammit! Come on Stars!” I shout along with Layken and the other fans surrounding us. We watch as Pittsburgh moves the puck down the ice to our goalie, Barrett Cunningham, but that man is on point tonight. He stops the puck from entering his net three times before the Stars take a solid possession again. Griffin being the closest to Barrett, he swings the puck back around the net to the corner and shoots it at Bodhi.

YES! Let’s GO Bodhi!

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