Page 8 of Puck You Very Much

As he closed the door, his phone vibrated with a message, so he pulled it out of his pocket.

Could you stop ignoring me? Just talk to me?

He cracked his jaw and deleted the message. He wasn’t that into talking. Neither were the two brunettes who had been with him last night, thank God. There were so many more satisfying things you could do with your mouth…

His coach apparently had a different opinion.

“Explain this to me, Temple,” he said tensely, holding out a piece of paper.

Confused, Dax blinked and took it. It was a blog article from some sports gossip site and, of course, there was a picture of him under the glowing red headline.

Three-way, Dirt, and Drama—The Ice Devil in Rare Form

“Hmm. Charming headline,” he noted.

“The picture is even more charming,” his coach said grimly.

Dax agreed with Gray. There were definitely more flattering photos of him out there. At least the women hanging on each of his arms looked pretty and happy, and only half as drunk as he was.

“Do you expect me to read the article?” he asked with sincere interest. “I don’t have to. I was there.”

"Well, I thought you must have gone insane because, by ten that evening, you were already so drunk you announced to everyone you were about to have a threesome. You even told a six-year-old boy he shouldn’t take school too seriously—he should become a famous athlete instead; that’s the way he’d get everything he wanted!”

“Honestly, what’s a six-year-old kid doing outside a sports bar at ten at night?” Dax grumbled. “It’s not my fault his parents don’t take better care of him."

“Good God, Temple, do you ever listen to yourself?” Gray hissed, a vein popping out on his forehead. "Tragically, that’s not the worst thing you said that evening!”

Dax frowned and cocked his head. Admittedly, the whole evening was a bit blurry, but he was certain he hadn’t said truly reprehensible, dirty things until he was in his loft with the two pretty ladies.

“Want me to jog your memory?” Gray asked somberly. “You said you thought Coca-Cola was disgusting and you preferred Pepsi.”

What was Gray babbling about? “So what?”

“Coca-Cola is the Hawks’ biggest sponsor, Dax!”

Oh, yeah. Right. He shrugged. “So what?” he repeated.

“So what?” Disbelief distorted Gray’s features. He was only about ten years older than Dax, but at the moment, the expression on his face was reminiscent of his father’s when Dax dragged him out of the casino.

Dax gritted his teeth and gripped the dice in his pocket like he always did when he thought about his father…or needed to stop himself from losing his temper.

“This morning, they were on the verge of pulling out as a sponsor! If Lucy hadn’t talked them out of it, I’d have benched you for the first three games for the principle of it. You should be kissing her feet.”

Lucy. Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.

God, how was it that she could make him look like a complete idiot without even being there? Okay. It would be a lie to say he hadn’t thought about kissing her several times this past year. Her feet never played a role in these visions, though. On the other hand, her mockingly pursed lips… Yes, he’d like to get to know her more intimately, but only to shut her the hell up—damn it, the woman pissed him off!

He crushed the dice in his pocket in his fist while forcing a calm expression onto his face. It would be a tactical mistake to let Lucy James know that she was getting under his skin. Besides, Gray would no doubt rush to her with that information, just because he found it too damn funny.

“Honestly, Gray, you’re the one who talked Clark Senior into buying fucking West—and now you’re asking why I freaked out yesterday? Does our dear owner even know what you’re doing to our team because of it?”

The coach narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “You knew? How? The negotiations were kept secret!”

“I’m an amateur fortune teller," he replied dryly. “I read it in my tea leaves.”

If Gray’s expression was any indication, he didn’t find this funny. That was a tragedy; Dax thought he was hilarious.

“Okay, it doesn’t matter," Gray replied curtly. "That still doesn’t justify the fact that you angered our sponsors and insinuated that you don’t give a shit about children and education.”

---