Page 19 of My Athlete Neighbor

He responded by slowly pushing into her, inch by inch. The sensation was incredible and Allison moaned softly, her eyes locked on his. Kane was as deep as he could go now, and he paused to let her adjust to him. Allison looked up at him, a mixture of awe and desire in her eyes.

"You're so big," she breathed.

"Want me to stop?" Kane asked, his voice low and seductive.

“Hell no," Allison pleaded, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I want you to move.”

Kane thrust slowly at first, as they savored the feel of their bodies moving together. Then he began moving faster, harder, making her gasp each time he hit that sweet spot. Their eyes met and held while he fucked her with slow, deep thrusts. He leaned down to kiss her again, gently probing her mouth with his tongue as he had done with her pussy. The bed creaked loudly with their passion. The sensation of him inside her was utterly overwhelming. Each time he thrust into her, she felt it all the way to her core. Her moans grew louder and more insistent with each passing second.

"You feel incredible," he grunted out between thrusts. "I can’t take it anymore."

She gasped his name, urging him on. Her body tightened around him. Kane increased his pace, his hips slapping against with each thrust. Allison could feel the intense pleasure, surgingand unstoppable. Her cries filled the room as she rode the crest of her climax.

"That's it, baby," Kane growled, his voice rough with desire. "Come for me."

He picked up his pace, sending more shockwaves of joy through her. Kane came hard, groaning her name as he spasmed inside her. He collapsed on top of her, panting for breath as they both rode out the aftershocks of their passion.

Kane rolled off of her, pulling out carefully. He disposed of the condom before drawing her into his arms. They cuddled for a while, just enjoying the afterglow. He traced lazy patterns on her skin as their breathing slowed.

"Stay," she murmured when he shifted.

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away." He pulled her closer, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. "Though Dmitri might try if I'm late to practice."

"Let him." She was already drifting off, warm and satisfied. "He can do his figure eights without you."

Kane's chuckle was the last thing she heard before sleep claimed her, and her last coherent thought was that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t going to end with her regretting sleeping with another hockey player.

Chapter Eight

Afew weeks later.

The visiting team locker room at PPG Paints Arena smelled like every other away locker room in the league—a mix of gear, tension, and industrial cleaning products that couldn't quite mask either. Kane had been in hundreds of them over his career, but tonight felt different. Tonight, his usual pre-game routine kept getting interrupted by the urge to check his phone.

No new messages.

Not that he expected any. Allison had made it clear she wasn't coming to Pittsburgh, wasn't bringing the puck this time. She had to be at work early tomorrow.

The problem was, they had won the last four games when she was there with the puck. Everyone went nuts, the fans, the press, the team. Part of him was kicking himself for not asking her if he could borrow her grandfather’s puck tonight. But he was afraid if he had, it would have ended their budding relationship. He wasn’t like her ex Jesse, but Kane also didn’t want to put those comparisons in Allison’s head either. The puck had nothing to do with how he felt about her and truth be told, he knew the puck wasn’t a magical good luck charm.

But he did miss having Allison in the audience.

Was that why did the locker room feel colder than usual?

"Missing something, Cap?" Oliver's knowing grin reflected in his phone screen as he documented their pre-game preparations for his vlog. "Or someone?"

"Focus on your own prep." Kane tightened his skate laces with more force than necessary. Around them, the usual pre-game rhythm of the locker room played out—equipment being adjusted, tape jobs perfected, various superstitions and rituals observed.

"The fans are focused on it," Oliver continued, scrolling through his feeds. "#WarrantLuck is trending. Everyone's wondering if we can win without the puck."

"We don't need luck." But Kane found himself checking his phone again anyway. Still nothing. It’s not like she would change her mind.

Across the room, Dmitri had claimed a corner for his pre-game stretching routine, which looked more like a ballet warm up than hockey preparation. He moved through elaborate positions, humming what sounded suspiciously like Swan Lake under his breath.

"The ice feels different," Dmitri said sadly.

"Deal with it," Kane snapped.

"Numbers don't lie." Marcus looked up from his tablet, where he'd been analyzing their recent performance stats. "Our shooting percentage is 12% higher when the Warrant puck is present. Power play efficiency increases by 15.3%. Even our hits are more effective, though I haven't figured out the correlation there yet."

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