Page 17 of Troublemaker
I looked up, directly into my legal guardian’s eyes as he stared back. He looked pissed, although for once, not at me.
“What are you idiots doing? Why isn’t anyone practicing? Why are you all circling our team assistant like you’re about to tear her apart?”
Was that…did he sound protective?
I gaped at him.
“Nah, Coach. We’re trying to be helpful. Some creepy fuckwad stole Lucy’s panties out of her dorm room and she thought it was one of us.”
Oh.
My.
God.
I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know my face had gone bright red. Any ability to keep myself regulated and hide my embarrassment had flown out the window as soon as Blake had arrived. And being blonde and fair skinned, there was no way in hell I could hide a blush. My whole body felt like it was on fire. This was my nightmare, talking about my panties in front of the man whose face I had imagined when I’d made them wet…
There was a dark, unreadable look in his eyes. Usually I could tell what he was thinking, but right now the look was masked. Probably because he had no interest in hearing anything about my panties.
“That’s sick,” he said, slipping a hand into his pocket. He shut his eyes for a moment, and then when he opened them, he said, “I’m sorry, Lucy. We’ll take care of this.” Then, all business, he blew his whistle again.
“But that’s it. I’ll take care of it. The rest of you, get back to drills. Lucy, get off the ice before you slip and fall and we have to sue the university or file worker’s comp.”
I straightened.
Well.
If he could dismiss something so scary so easily, then he hadn’t seemed protective at all. No, this was annoyance. If Coach had his way, he’d never have met me. I swallowed down frustrated tears, not even wanting to think about how much it sucked that he didn’t really give a shit about me beyond being his responsibility.
So, I flipped my hair. “I think I’ll stay on the ice,” I said sweetly. “I can help the team better from here.”
“She’s our good luck charm, aren’t you, cutie,” one of the other players said, winking at me.
God, why did it do nothing for me? Why was the only person who made me feel a frisson of excitement glaring at me like I was the unwanted stray puppy who’d pissed his bed?
“Lucy, if you don’t get off the ice, I’ll haul you off myself,” Blake warned.
I grinned at him, twirling my hair. “You sure you can carry me? I’m pretty thick and you’re getting old.”
Players hooted, except for Mason, who raised an eyebrow, watching me.
What the hell are you doing?he mouthed.
I couldn’t answer him because I had no idea. I was playing with fire and was going to get scorched, but I was so hurt, angry, and scared, I welcomed the burn.
Coach threw back his head and laughed. And, completely shocking me, he pushed open the door to the ice and walked out on it in his suit and dress shoes, making his way across without slipping once. The players parted for him like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea, and then he was bending down and I was being lifted and thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
I smacked his back.
“Blake, what the hell are you doing? Put me down! You’re embarrassing me!”
He was. But worse, he was turning me back on. He’d never gotten this close to me since my parents’ funeral, and being carried by him, surrounded by his peat and honey smell, was exciting and comforting in a way that I couldn’t stand. My nose was pressed up against his back, and if I wanted to, I could lick his suit jacket.
Instead, I bit him.
“Stop,” he muttered, ignoring the team’s whispers as he gripped my thigh in warning. He was stabilizing me and threatening me, I knew that, but his hand was so close to my pussy I wondered if he could feel the heat radiating from it.
Would he notice?
