Page 23 of Wildcat
As I work, I stack the piles neatly and throw away more spoiled food. Gross, Dad, seriously.
I finally find what I’m looking for. Two pages stapled together with the word ‘schedule’ and this week’s date on it. I hold it up and kiss it, then remember it was on a desk with old food.
I start toward the door, but a mass of green fills the escape route. A very handsome mass.
“Coach—” Leo stops with his hand up like he was about to knock on the open door. Two very long seconds pass before he speaks my name. “Scarlett.”
He starts to smile, but my horrified expression must scare it off his handsome face.
I hold up the paper to indicate why I’m in here, but don’t speak. I’m incapable of forming words as I take him in, all six feet and two inches of him covered in padding and wearing skates that make his already big frame mammoth.
He takes a step closer at the same time I do, then we both stop.
“What are you doing here?” His deep voice snaps me out of the trance.
“Finding a schedule. Coach is on the ice.” I try to brush past him, but he steps in front of me.
“I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to clear the air.”
“I already told you I won’t tell my dad.” Talk about an awkward conversation with dear old dad. He can’t really think I’d be eager to share the details of my one-night stand.
“Thank you, but that isn’t it. You and I are bound to run into one another, and there’s no reason it should be weird between us.”
“You mean except for the fact we’ve seen each other naked?” I ask in a hushed tone.
His mouth curves up. “Except that.”
I fight the flush climbing up my neck from standing this close to him. “Like I told you yesterday, I’m not interested in a repeat. It was just one night. Zero weirdness coming from me.”
He studies my face without speaking. The office is quiet. Way too quiet. Noise in the hallway gets louder, and Leo finally steps back, and I can breathe again. “Perfect. Zero weirdness.”
9
HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE AWESOME
SCARLETT
Oh,it’s weird all right. My legs carry me down the hall away from him, but my heart pitter-patters in my chest. Holy crap. Leo in a bar as a regular guy, hot. Leo in his hockey uniform, ugh, I hate myself a little for admitting this, but so,sooohot. What is it about a guy in a uniform?
I glance back as I turn into the tunnel. He hasn’t moved from the outside of my dad’s office, and his eyes are pinned on me. He lifts a hand, cocky smirk on his face. Damn him.
No hockey players. No jocks. No men. No dating.
I say each phrase under my breath like a pledge as I march back to the ice. Dad is in the hot seat now. He smiles stiffly as Lindsey moves in front of him.Good call on the jacket, Mom.He looks sharp against the green backdrop.
My gaze moves past him to the hockey players hanging out, waiting their turn. More have arrived, and they’re a swarm of green muscle. I find Leo in the back of the group talking to another player. While he’s preoccupied, I take the opportunity to appreciate how good he looks.
He’s had a haircut since our night together, but the light brown strands still have a mind of their own. He holds his stick in front of him, both hands resting on it casually.
He tips his head back and smiles at something his buddy says, and when he does, he catches me staring. I know I should look away, but I drink him in for a few good seconds first. It feels much safer with my dad acting as a barrier between us. A reminder that this can’t happen.
Why did he have to be a Wildcat?
“All right,” Dad’s voice startles me as he appears in front of me. I glance back at Leo to find an amused smile on his face at my being caught off guard.
“Mom did good,” I say.
He mumbles his agreement, even as he continues to mess with the knot of his tie.
