Page 7 of Netting the Goalie

Damn, maybe I’d hit my head at practice today and was passed out on the ice, hallucinating.

And wouldn’t that fucking suck?

Then again, if I was having a hallucination, maybe I needed to hit my head more often because, holy hell, she was only inches away and my heart revved like a muscle car.

And when she put her fingertips on my chest and tapped twice, my heart actually answered by pounding against my ribs.

Strangely enough, I knew what she wanted me to do, even though my teammates accused me of being the most clueless guy around.

I bent down, turning my head so she could whisper in my ear.

“I know exactly what you mean.I’m really glad we met.”

My abs clenched and, when I straightened so I could look into her eyes again, her expression made my lungs seize up.

Her lips curved in a smile I wanted to taste.

Christ Almighty, I hoped I was reading her right.She was flirting with me, wasn’t she?

I’d been making all the wrong moves on the ice lately.Maybe I couldn’t trust my instincts.

Even so, I couldn’t stop myself from blurting out the words on the tip of my tongue.“Maybe you and I could slip out of here and get to know each other better.”

She blinked, her eyes widening as her smile froze.

Jesus, I was a fucking idiot.Why the hell—

“I would love that.”Her smile nearly took me to my knees.“But maybe we could wait until after dinner?I have a feeling I’m going to need fuel for later.”

Bliss

I watchedShane’s mouth drop open and my grin widened as anticipation made my body tingle like I’d taken shots of grain alcohol.

It’d been a long time since I’d tingled over anything.And that had sucked.

But so far, tonight didn’t suck at all.Not while there was the possibility that I would take this man home with me, strip him down to his skin then run my hands all over every hard muscle in his body.

While I contemplated that scenario, Shane continued to stare at me until finally he shook his head.

“Damn, I didn’t… I mean, yeah.Sure.After dinner.”Then he shook his head again and his lips curved in a kind of rueful smile.“So can I get you a drink?”

Was he actually embarrassed?Yeah, he’d shocked me by being blunt, but the way he’d said it hadn’t made me feel like a piece of meat.No, I’d felt desired.

Adorable.The guy was freaking adorable.

“I’d love one, thanks.”

The relief on his face made my smile widen.“Anything you don’t like?”

“Not much.”Totally the truth.I had three older brothers with a healthy admiration for alcohol in any form.They’d given me a wide breadth of knowledge to pull from.

Shane started to shake his head again but stopped when a bemused smile twisted his lips.

Oh, please tell me this man wasn’t one of those closet cretins who thought women shouldn’t enjoy sex and alcohol.Chauvinists who believed simply because they had a dick, they were entitled to pass judgment on women?

I’d leave him with a serious case of blue balls—

“So you want it sweet or hard?”

---