Page 61 of Anatomy of a Player

She raised an eyebrow. “Who says I need tutoring?”

“Not me, baby. How about we tutor each other?”

“You never stop, do you?”

“I can go all night.”

She tried to pull off a reprimanding look, but she only held it a couple of seconds before a grin broke free. She gave me a quick kiss, then she unwrapped her legs and slid down my body—one long, heavenly drag that made it hard to remember we were about to stop the kissing. Her gaze dropped to the obvious bulge in my pants, and she exhaled a shaky breath. “Water. I think we should start with water.”

While she went to get the drinks, I sat on the couch and started going through hockey plays to try to get to a place where I could explain them. When Whitney re-entered the room, a gray and white cat trailed after her. As soon as he noticed me, he froze.

“He’s got a bit of an inflated ego,” Whitney said, “but he’s okay.”

I thought she meant the cat, but then she winked at me—right. I was the one with the inflated ego. There was a lot of inflating going on with me right now.

I downed half the glass of water she handed me in one gulp. This girl had been tying me in knots since she’d put me and my ego in check. I thought she’d be a challenge, but I’d had no idea.

That thought set off a chain that led to the one I was doing my damnedest to forget, and a leaden lump set up camp in my gut. The bet was supposed to show everyone how okay I was and get me out of my funk—I’d thought it would be just what I needed. But now I was thinkingthis girlmight be just what I needed.

She’d be pissed as hell if she found out about the bet, no doubt about it.

Whitney shot me a smile, and my heart turned over in my chest.

Everything had changed. If I slept with her now, obviously it’d be more than sex.

She’d turned from a fun distraction to my escape, and I wanted to be her escape, too.

I wanted to make her smile and laugh, and find out everything I could about her. I wanted to spend hours kissing her, and take my time exploring every inch of her skin.

I wanted her. All of her.

My lungs tightened, not expanding with my breaths like they were supposed to. The thought of how much I cared for her scared me as much as confessing did. And I knew if I came clean, I’d lose her. It was selfish, I knew, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. I’d screw it up eventually, but for now, I was going to hold on for as long as I could.

“All right,” Whitney said, bending to retrieve her notebook. I caught a flash of cleavage and my thoughts got totally sidetracked. “Lyla’s helped me a lot with hockey terms, but there are a few things I still struggle with.” She batted her eyes at me. “Help me, Obi Wan Ken-hockey-boy. You’re my only hope.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Whitney

While Lyla had done her best to explain hockey to me—and I totally loved her for helping me—there was something about the way Hudson described it that made all the terms and rules actually sink in. It was the passion, the way he’d stand up and demonstrate a certain play. He’d rolled his eyes when I told him to be careful on his ankle—I felt guilty I’d forgotten about it earlier while we’d been fooling around.

He flopped back on the couch next to me, making the cushions dip, and I couldn’t help but go with it, which pretty much left me plastered against his side.

“Let’s see…” He reached up and ran his fingers across his jaw, and I wanted to take over for him, feel the scratch of his whiskers under my palm again. “What else do you need to know for you to pull off the hockey reporting gig?”

“Out of all the games you’ve ever played, which one is your favorite?”

“I doubt the guys will expect you to know that,” he said with a smile, but a contemplative crinkle showed up on his forehead. “There’s just no topping the championship game last year—winning the Frozen Four tournament was one of the best moments of my life. Hockey’s opened up so many paths for me, so I’ve always enjoyed it, but that was when I really got being part of something bigger. I’ve never felt that…sense of family before. It was there with the guys, but when the entire school came out to support us, it took it to a new level. It was amazing.”

Every time I forgot about the article I was supposed to be working on, something happened to remind me about it. The way he talked about the support, too… He didn’t seem like he was taking advantage. More like he was truly grateful.

“It was also one of the few times Dane and I pulled off a play from the old days that we didn’t get in trouble for,” Hudson said.

Cold spread through my gut as I thought about the note on the fridge. I could tell the two of them were close, and I’d archived one of their notes as evidence. “Dane would do just about anything for you, I take it—and you for him.”

The reverie in his features morphed, an expression that hinted at admiration taking its place. “The guy has a total big brother complex—he’s got four younger siblings, so you’d think he’d have enough to worry about. But the day I met him, even though we were the same age, he became my big brother, too. Sometimes it’s a pain in my ass, but I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s really my only family.”

I opened my mouth and Hudson sighed before I could even get the question out. “I should’ve known better than to say that out loud,” he said. “Now you’ve got your investigative journalist face on.”

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