Page 138 of Fear of Intimacy

"What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked his younger brother.

"My girls called, so I came."

It worked in our favor that Mateo was just around the corner and seemed more than happy to assist us.

"You can't have five players," Landon pointed out.

"We aren't. Mateo is taking Mila and Lydia's spots." He was better than them both combined. He was set to follow in his brother’s footsteps of playing hockey before settling on football instead, so he was exactly what we needed.

"Is that a problem?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. The four guys in front of us looked at one another, having a silent conversation but shrugging.

"That's fine with us. We’re still going to win." Wyatt looked at his brother with a confident grin.

"Skates are over by the counter." Landon gestured. When Mateo walked off to change into his skates, the guys turned to us.

"This is cheating." Trevor crossed his arms over his chest.

"You guys never said it had to only be us girls," Josie shot back, crossing her arms as well.

"Mateo practically is one of the girls." My lips twitched at my words. And he was… He just happened to grow a beard and have a dick. "Plus, it's three against four, so it's an advantage for you guys."

They shrugged. Professional hockey players and their egos. Trevor shot me a grin before they all turned and headed back to the ice. At least with Mateo we actually stood a chance.

Mateo came up behind us. "Okay, what's the plan, babes?"

"So, it's eleven to three." Josie said.

"Okay, not horrible."

"Lydia and Mila were no help,” I supplied.

"Hey!" the two called out, having heard us.

"It's true," Josie shot back. "So, we need you to help us come back."

"We aren't horrible," I added. Josie and I weren't the worst, but not the best.

"Don't worry, I'll defend your honor." Mateo flexed his arms.

"Good. We need to win." Josie patted his chest. "Then we can hold it over their heads until the end of time."

"I like the sound of that." Mateo nodded. "Let’s kick some ass, then afterward, we can go on that date." With a wink at Josie and me, he went for the ice. We shared a head shake. Mateo was never going to stop asking for a date. But hey, if he helped us win, I would consider it.

Grabbing our sticks, the two of us stepped onto the ice. With our little 'break,' I was ready to play again. Although, my legs were going to be so sore tomorrow.

As I passed by Trevor, I felt something hit my ass, making me whirl to face him. He held his hockey stick with a smug look.Don't fall for it, Tasha. Don't do it.My boyfriend might’ve been sexy as hell, but we were currently enemies.

Without saying a word, I skated over to Mateo and Josie. Exchanging determined looks, we lined up with the puck in front of us. I was more than happy to wipe the smug looks off the guys’ faces.

As soon as Wyatt counted down to one, we were off.

Mateo was good. Like really good. He easily slid up to Bryton and Landon, skating between them with grace. I was curious as to why he chose football over hockey when he clearly was great at it.

"Tash." I barely had time to look over in his direction before he passed me the puck. He sent it with such speed all I could do was put my stick out and hope it didn't slide right by into Trevor's.

Somehow, the puck hit my stick and came to a stop infront of me. My body reacted automatically by bringing my arm back and hitting it. The puck flew into the net.

"Hell yes!" Mateo yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

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