Page 2 of Yo Ho Ho
"It's not just for me," he said. "Birdie is getting nervous about tomorrow's game and he's doing that thing where he chews on ice to calm himself down."
"That is so damn annoying."
"I know!" He threw his hand up in exasperation, sending some cubes to floor. "Anyways, be thankful he isn't your roommate."
Max just gave him a smirk. She was one of the few women who traveled on the road with the team. She had no roommate, which was convenient considering last year's incident.
The Incident. Max could feel her cheeks flush with heat as the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room. She knew she wasn't the only one who noticed judging by the way Logan's smile disappeared from his face.
She quickly turned and started filling her bucket up, hoping the move would distract both of them from saying things that shouldn't be said.
"So, uh, what brings you here so late?" he asked.
"Bruised shoulder."
The small laugh from Logan eased the tension again, letting her know that it was OK to move on from that awkward moment.
"Yeah, I bet lugging a typewriter around can do that to you," he said.
See? Things didn't have to be awkward.
"This is the 21st century. It's a laptop, and it's taunting me."
His eyebrow quirked up. "Taunting you?"
"I'm trying to write a column for Sunday, and it won't let me."
"Yeah, I'm sure it's the laptop's fault," he teased. "So what's the ice for?"
"Whiskey."
He walked up to her — so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, making her toes curl in her bunny slippers. Max was going to need more than one whiskey to calm down tonight.
"Sounds like you're going to have a better night than I am."
Logan gave her a wink and wandered out, leaving her alone with her thoughts and her bucket of ice.
Damn that man. She was definitely going to need the ice, the whiskey and a cold shower. That stupid column would have to wait until tomorrow.
Logan trudged back to his hotel room with the ice bucket tucked under his good arm. Of all the women in the world, why did he have to run into the one he couldn't have? All he could think about now were those tight black leggings and pink fluffy bunny slippers she insisted on bringing with her on road trips. Oh yeah, he knew about the slippers. Hell, the whole team knew about the slippers.
But there were things the team didn't know about her. Things only Logan knew.
He gently kicked the door to his hotel room since his hands were full with the ice bucket and the shoulder injury. He could hear his lug of a roommate lumbering over before swinging the door open.
Alex Orlov scowled at him from the doorway. "Don't you have a key?"
"Nice to see you, too, Birdie," he replied sarcastically.
"Took you long enough."
Alex took a handful of ice from the bucket and started chewing. Then he finally moved out of the way to let his teammate back in before closing the door behind him.
"It's not easy to fulfill the ice needs of a huge defenseman."
Logan dropped the bucket on the dresser and headed for the bathroom to get a towel. But Alex just stood there, blocking his way.
"I'm going to get punched tomorrow, aren't I?"
