34. Hayden

Sweat dripsdown my back as I slam the weights onto the rack, the clang echoing in my home gym"s high ceilings. Sawyer"s on the bench next to me, pushing through his own set, muscles straining under inked skin, hair pulled back in a bun.

No one would ever suspect my perfect doctor brother has all those tattoos under his white lab coat and tailored button downs.

"So you got Cassidy moved in?" he asks, setting the bar back on the rack and sitting up. "That was fast."

I shrug. "She didn"t have much to move. And you know how it is when you throw money at a problem. The movers handled it."

Sawyer nods like he understands. He knows more about my obsession with her than anyone else, including her. "And Roman?"

"What about him?" I ask, my jaw tight as I think about that motherfucker.

Sawyer smirks. "You"re not going to do anything about him? After last night?"

I shrug, picking up a towel and wiping it over my face. "I'm not sure yet if he's worth the effort."

"You sure about that? You think paying him off's going to make him go away?" Sawyer asks, raising an eyebrow. "He just lost the only leverage he had over Cassidy. I doubt he's going to take that shit lying down." Sawyer wipes his face on his shirt. "He seems like he has a fixation on your girl, the same way you do. The difference is she wants you. He knows it and I doubt he's going to let it go."

"If he doesn't back off, I'll kill him," I say, meaning every word, but I want to break something at the thought of him starting more shit in the meantime.

Sawyer nods like he expected me to say that. This is why I love my brother. He just gets me. He doesn't try to talk me out of it, and I know if I have a body to bury, he'll be right there with me, with dirt on his hands and a bullshit alibi. "And how"s operation knock up your girlfriend going? You need more pills?"

I grin at my brother. "Nah, I'm good. She's been passing out for naps and getting dizzy randomly for a couple of days, so I think it might've worked."

"You want me to test her?"

"Not yet, but soon. I'll let you know when I figure out how I want to handle it. I'm not ready for her to find out."

Sawyer laughs, shaking his head. "I love when you unleash your inner psycho." He grabs a towel and wipes it over his chest. "I"ve got today off. What"re we doing?"

I move over to the stationary bike, climbing on and hitting the button to start. "A bunch of the team"s coming over and we"re watching the Storm-Armada game tonight. I wanted to introduce Cassidy officially and make sure they know she"s off-limits."

"You don't think she'll slap the shit out of you for that?" Sawyer asks, moving to the treadmill across from me.

"Oh, she might try, but that's not gonna stop me. Those assholes will hit on anything with a pulse. She'll just have to deal with it."

"You going to tell her you've been slipping those pills into her smoothies every morning?"

"Nah, I like my balls where they are."

Sawyer starts up a jog, and we get lost in our workouts and the thumping bass of his playlist blasting out of the speakers. After a couple of songs, he uses his smartwatch to turn the volume down.

"Is Mattson coming over tonight?"

I eye my brother, shaking my head. Sweat drips down my hair and into my eyes, and I grab a towel to deal with it. "Can't you wait until the offseason to try to fuck my teammate?"

"C"mon, Hay-Hay. Invite him."

"Dude, last time you fucked around with one of my teammates, you ghosted him and he got all weepy and obsessed. Then shit was weird on the ice until I got traded here. It fucked with the team chemistry."

Sawyer rolls his eyes. "That was one time. Besides, Mattson is a big boy. He can handle himself."

I laugh, knowing that Sawyer will get his way eventually, so I might as well save myself the hassle and invite Torin over tonight. "He's also straight." I level my brother with a look, but honestly, he indulges my crazy, so the least I can do is indulge his. "I"ll invite him. Don't make me regret it. I want the Cup this year."

Sawyer"s grin is smug as fuck as he turns up his music and starts running again.

I shake my head, but I can"t help but smile. Asshole knows I"d do anything for him.

Hours later, after a shower and helping Cassidy fill up the empty half of my closet with her clothes, the game"s turned up on the sound system and the rowdy shit talking of my teammates fills my living room.

A cold beer in hand, I lean against the kitchen island, taking it all in. My teammates are sprawled across the sofas, eyes glued to the flatscreen where the Storm are duking it out with the Armada. Sawyer's watching Mattson more than the game and I shake my head at him when he catches my eye from across the room.

We"re playing the Storm in our next away series, so we"re watching for intel we can use to kick their ass on their home ice.

Cassidy walks into the kitchen and I pull her into my side, kissing her temple and breathing her in. I"m addicted to the smell of her shampoo and can"t get enough. It"s better than a benzo at calming me the hell down.

She looks up at me with a smile that makes my chest tighten. In my t-shirt and some leggings, she looks like she belongs here. She didn"t dress up for the guys and isn"t desperate for their attention, which is what I was afraid of when I first invited them over.

I should've known better. She's not like that.

I lean down, pressing my lips to hers in a quick kiss that"s more possessive than anything else, with my fingers digging into her jaw enough to tilt her face the way I want. "You good?"

She nods, leaning back against the counter next to me. "They"re... intense."

I laugh, taking a swig of my beer before passing her the non-alcoholic mixed drink I poured for her before she walked in here. She"s a bartender, chances are she"ll notice. Hopefully she just thinks I"m shitty at mixing drinks and pour light because I"m not letting her drink a drop of alcohol tonight. Not when she could be pregnant already. "Yeah, hockey players are like that."

"Gee, I never noticed owning a hockey bar and everything." Her grin could level cities with the amount of punch it has. Then she breaks eye contact to look around the room. "It"s kind of hot the way they're so… passionate."

Jealousy flares inside of me like a tornado of fire, consuming everything good and rational in its path. "Don"t get any ideas," I growl, pulling her back against me.

She laughs and smacks my chest, but I can see the heat in her eyes. She likes it when I"m jealous, likes that I"m so fucking obsessed with her.

"I"m a total idiot for it, but you"re the only one I want, Hayden," she says, and it"s all I need to hear to calm down.

"How about we clear this shit up right now?" I say, wrapping my arm around Cassidy and steering her into the living room.

"Guys," I call out, voice slicing through the noise. Heads turn, attention snagged by the edge in my tone. "This is Cassidy." I tip my head in her direction and squeeze her tighter to me. "My girlfriend."

The guys nod, murmuring greetings as they look back at the game. But I can see the way their eyes linger on her, the way they size her up. Check her out.

I tighten my grip on her and she side-eyes the fuck out of me for it.

I try to calm down by reminding myself they don"t know what she looks like naked or how good she tastes when she comes on my tongue. They don"t know how tight her pussy is or how she moans my name when I fuck her so hard she walks funny the next day.

I"m about to make sure it stays that way… unless they find her OnlyFans. Fuck.

"You fuckers touch her and I"ll break your fingers," I say, loud enough for everyone to hear while I sink into the couch and pull Cassidy down onto my lap. "Got it?"

There"s a chorus of yeahs and middle fingers in my direction, but I don"t miss the way they eye Cassidy. I can"t really blame them. My future wife is hot as fuck.

"Nice to see you again," War says, tipping his beer in salute. Somehow, I forgot that some of these guys probably met her before at the bar, or when she was dating Roman. I try to block that shit from my mind and pretend it never happened.

"Damn, Vaughn. She's out-of-your-league hot." Corbin earns a glare from me that has him raising his hands in surrender. Who the fuck says something like that right in front of me? "I mean, respectfully. In a non-sexual way."

I nod while the guys laugh, taking a swig of beer, refocusing on the game. The Armada"s breakout passes are sloppy as hell. We"ll feast on turnovers next week.

Mattson gestures at the screen. "Their goalie"s a sieve. Five hole all day."

We all watch the screen as the Storm's winger, Bouchard, slides a shot right between the goalie's legs.

"Called it." Sawyer holds out his beer and Torin clinks it with my brother's, grinning at Sawyer and not realizing he's falling straight into his trap.

Cassidy leans forward, her eyes fixed on the TV. She"s ignoring all my jackass teammates in favor of the game, the way it should be. "Karlsson"s always been weak at blocking the five-hole." She smirks up at me and I grin.

Five hole.

Chuckles ripple through the room. I set my beer down and stretch my arm along the back of the couch, muscles flexing. My other hand's wrapped around Cassidy's thigh.

"Yeah, dude's gonna be seeing pucks flying past his pads in his nightmares after we light him up," I say.

"Shit, the Storm's defense is looking tight tonight," Kingston mutters.

Warren snorts. "Not as tight as your mom was last night."

Kingston flips him off and the rest of us laugh and throw pillows at War.

Cassidy relaxes back into me and I breathe her in. This right here is something I never had with my last team and didn't know I needed until right now.

On screen, the Armada"s top scorer, Jensen, weaves through the defense and rips an answering wrist shot top shelf.

"Damn," Gabe mutters from the recliner. "We gotta shut that kid down."

Torin nods, his eyes glued to the game, which is no doubt pissing my brother off. "No doubt. He"s got wheels for days."

Cruz nods at the screen. "See that? Armada"s defense is sloppy on the transition. We could exploit that."

"Yeah, just like you exploited that "open net" last game, huh?" Warren grins at him, and Gabe rolls his eyes, smacking War in the face with a pillow.

The guys groan and start chirping about the Armada"s shitty defense.

Cassidy reaches for a slice of pizza from the box on the table, but I don't let her get far. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her back against my chest as we watch the game. She"s comfortable here with my teammates, relaxed and happy. And I'm realizing that she fits in my life just as perfectly as I do in hers.

And if she doesn"t like it, well... she"s not going anywhere.

"Refill?" I ask, already moving to grab her glass before she can answer, and meeting Sawyer's gaze, telling him with my eyes to keep an eye on her so none of the guys fuck with her while I'm gone. Then, I head to the kitchen and mix up another non-alcoholic fruity drink, handing it back and watching her sip it. Can"t have anything messing with what might be growing inside her—my legacy.