Page 36 of Puck Happens

“The first woman to land a triple axel? Yes. Yes, I did.”

No. Nope. I wasn’t going to get distracted.

“You did a good job today,” I said.

She couldn’t quite contain her smile. “Thanks.”

I pushed off her garbage car, stepping up into her space. “But you need to ease up on Novek.”

“What?” She snapped, that smile gone like it never was. Her gray eyes were immediately thunderstorm dark.

“Yeah. I’m trying to get this team to gel, and I can’t do that if you keep poking Novek with a stick.”

“I’m not poking anyone with a stick. I’m pointing out places he can improve, and he just doesn’t like it because he has an overinflated ego. You wouldn’t be saying any of this to me if I was a coach who had a dick!”

That made me smile. “Baby, trust me. I am so glad you don’t have a dick.”

“Ugh! Men. Focus, Dillon. I’m doing my job. I’m doing it well. You just said that.”

“Yeah, and now I’m telling you if it comes down to you or Novek, I know who will get fired. It won’t be our star forward.”

“That’s…wrong.”

“That’s the NHL, babe.”

“Don’t…you can’t call me that.”

I knew that. She wasn’t allowed to be my babe. I didn’t like it, but I knew it.

“That reminds me,” she said. “You can’t keep jumping to my defense. You said I had to earn their respect and I can’t do that when you’re fighting all my battles for me. The guys are going to start to wonder.”

Again. She wasn’t wrong.

“Fine. We need some ground rules,” I said.

“Good idea. Stop fighting my battles for me and stop calling me babe. Stop waiting by my car to talk to me in the parking lot.”

“Okay. Stop making trouble with the guys.”

“I’m not trying to.”

The wind kicked up again and her hair blew across her face. I didn’t even think about it, I just reached forward and pulled her hair from her lips where it got stuck. My fingertips brushing the satin smoothness of her cheek. The delicate strands of her hair and every instinct in me wanted more. Demanded more.

She took a deep breath, her eyes dilating. If I picked her up in my arms, right now, what would she do? Where would she wrap her legs? Her arms? How would she kiss me?

“Dillon,” she breathed. “Please stop looking at me like that.”

Fuck.

“Just be careful,” I said. I thumped the top of her car and walked away.

7

The Next Day

Liv

Yeah. So I was going with the opposite of careful. Like… the polar opposite. I showed up even earlier this morning and I still wasn’t the first one in the parking lot. Jeez there were a lot of overachievers on this team.

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