Page 47 of Puck You Very Much

“I don’t have it either,” Fox said, appearing next to him. “Because I behave and she rarely has to talk to me.”

“You shouldn’t be so proud of being boring,” Matt said, returning to the living room with Jack in tow and placing a bottle of vodka and five shot glasses on the table.

“At least I’m not theSaint,” Fox remarked, glancing meaningfully at Jack.

Jack chuckled softly and sipped his whiskey. “I didn’t choose the nickname. I blame Dax for it because the press was so desperate to find a counterpart for theDevil.”

“Oh, please,” Dax replied, snorting. It was so much easier to be normal with Jack in the company of others. “People were calling you that before I even joined the NHL.” The irony was never lost on him: For a saint, Jack had a damn long criminal record.

“Right,” Matt confirmed.

“Even I know that, although I should be way too young for it,” Leon said, who was not yet twenty-three. “Is it true you don’t date women during the season? Not at all? So all thatSaintnonsense is true?”

Jack shrugged. “It distracts me,” he muttered, giving Dax a determined look. “And since I don’t like losing…I forego a personal life during the season.”

Right. Jack hated losing. Man, the last two weeks must have been hell for him.

“That’s awful,” Matt replied dryly.

Jack grinned. “I bet all women say that after they’re done with you.”

Dax couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you’re looking for the wordsthat was quick.”

Matt looked at him grimly. “It’s nice you two get along when the jokes are at someone else’s expense.”

“Well, youarealways saying we should become friends,” Dax replied innocently.

“Speaking of becoming friends,” Leon interjected, “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Lucy lately, haven’t you?” He peered at Dax expectantly.

His stomach churned. Good God. The guy really was thinking way too much about Lucy. He didn’t like that.

“Yeah. So?”

“Well, I was just wondering…what type of guys does she date? I heard somewhere that she’s been to bed with eleven men.”

Dax glanced down, grinding his teeth.

Shit. Leon had heard it from him, because Lucy had told him that when they first met. He’d felt bad back then for using that information to vent his anger at her…but, for some reason, he felt even shittier about it now.

“Eleven is a lot for a woman, isn’t it?” Leon continued. He didn’t notice that his words were causing Dax to clench his jaw. “Then why not me, too? She doesn’t seem that picky.”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Dax said abruptly, clenching his hands. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

Surprised, Leon raised his eyebrows, but before he could say anything else stupid, Fox saved him.

“Dax is right,” he agreed. “It’s not okay that we sleep with so many women and pat each other on the back for it, then condemn women for a high number!”

Leon sighed heavily. “You know, Austin, sometimes your diplomatic streak gets on my nerves.”

Their team captain smiled mischievously. “It shouldn’t. You have no idea what I would have done to you if I weren’t sodiplomatic.”

“Okay, that’s my signal to hand out vodka,” Matt said, handing out the shot glasses. “Are you drinking, Dax?”

Hesitantly, he peered at the clear liquid in the bottle. Normally he didn't drink during the season. That said, tomorrow he had a damn photo shoot with Jack. He was dreaming about Lucy—naked—almost every night. Not to mention the team had lost three times in a row, despite his abstinence.

Yep, that was reason enough to break his rule and get drunk. Maybe he’d oversleep tomorrow and the photo shoot would have to be canceled—how unfortunate. Yeah, that would be something.

“Bring it on.”

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