35. Cassidy

"Come on, Princess,"Hayden coaxes, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through my body as he wraps his arms around my waist from behind. I"m drying my hair after a shower that probably got me dirtier than it did clean, since Hayden can"t keep his hands off me. Not that I"m complaining. "You love the Anchors." He presses his lips to my neck and I shiver, meeting his dark eyes in the mirror. "You"ll get to see me in action. I"m hot in my uniform."

I bat my eyelashes obnoxiously into the mirror. "You mean what I just experienced in the shower wasn"t you in action?"

His grin is devious, his teeth flashing white. "That was just a warmup."

I laugh and shake my head, turning back to the mirror and ignoring the hard dick now pressing against my hip. My boyfriend has crazy stamina, and I can't seem to get enough. "No way am I going to your hockey game without Sawyer."

Hayden"s arms tighten around me, and he growls low in his throat. "Why not?"

"Because you"ll be on the ice surrounded by thousands of screaming women who"ll do anything to get your attention," I say, rolling my eyes. "And I don"t want to go to jail for murder." I don"t tell him how the team WAGs dropped me like I was less than nothing the second Roman cheated and now that I see them for who they are, I want no part of their little clique.

In other words, I need a shield. Or backup. Whatever.

Hayden spins me around and pins me against the bathroom counter, his eyes blazing with heat and something darker that sends a shiver through my body. "Is my little liar jealous," his voice is rough as he leans down, nipping at my neck, "even though you're the only one I see?" I feel his grin against my skin. "That's hot as fuck."

I shove him back with a laugh, but he doesn"t move an inch. "I"m not jealous."

His smirk says he doesn"t believe me, but I can"t help it. The thought of being in Anchors Arena surrounded by all those screaming women makes me want to stay home and watch the game on TV.

Or stab someone—repeatedly.

But Hayden"s been trying to convince me for the last couple of weeks, and I"ve held out so far.

"I want my girl there cheering me on," he says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers linger, tracing down my jaw. "C"mon, Princess. If I get Sawyer to agree to go, will you be there?"

He sees me wavering and his eyes light up because I"m about to give in. Stupid freaking big-dicked asshole.

A grin tugs at his lips. "Sawyer!" he bellows, walking out of the bathroom into our bedroom in nothing but a pair of black boxers. His ass is legit a work of art.

A few seconds later, his brother pokes his head into the room, hair pulled up in its usual messy bun.

"What"s up?" Sawyer asks, looking from Hayden to me and back to his brother.

"You"re coming with Cassidy to the game tonight," Hayden tells him, ever the bossy asshole.

Sawyer raises an eyebrow at me, and I shrug. "I need a buffer."

Hayden scoffs, but Sawyer just laughs. "Between...? You and Roman? You gonna pound his face in, Slugger?"

I roll my eyes when Hayden opens his mouth and my moment of weakness falls out. "No, I"ll deal with Morozov. She"s jealous because half the crowd wants to fuck me."

Sawyer laughs, this dark, raspy chuckle. "We"re going to have so much fun, Cass," he says, winking before turning to his brother. "But if I go to jail defending your woman, you"re paying my bail."

Hayden nods, looking relieved that I"m giving in. "Obviously, bro."

Sawyer grins and disappears back into his room down the hall.

"You"re lucky you"re hot and good in bed," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest.

Hayden"s grin is smug as he pulls me into him. "Damn right." He kisses me hard and deep until I forget why I was even mad at him in the first place. "Imagine how wet it"ll make you to see me dominating on the ice."

I sigh, knowing he"s right. I"ve seen Hayden play on TV and he"s incredible. Fast and agile, with a shot that has me wondering if he"s part sniper or something. There"s a reason they call him The Hitman. Seeing it in person might just turn me into a puddle like that melting emoji. That"ll be me by the end of his game, I just know it.

"Fine, I"ll go," I sigh like I"m doing him a huge favor when in reality, I"ve loved the Anchors since I was a kid and haven"t had a chance to see them play in person since things ended with my asshat ex. For a minute there, I thought he might've ruined the team for me and there was something crushing about that I didn't want to examine. When my dad died, the bar and the Anchors were all I had left of him and Roman almost cost me one and I'm not about to let him take the other.

Hayden grins, kissing me again before disappearing into the closet to get dressed before the game. When he steps back out, he"s in a tailored suit I"m tempted to rip off.

The man is hot as fuck in joggers and a t-shirt, but in a suit?

Shit, am I drooling?

"Don"t look at me like that, Princess," he warns, his voice a low rumble as dangerous as a thunderstorm. A shiver runs down my spine and my nipples tighten in a way I"m sure he can see through the t-shirt I threw on after our shower. "I don"t have time to fuck you right now."

Hayden"s phone buzzes on top of the dresser and he groans, running a hand down his face. "That"s my alarm. I"ve gotta go."

"Have fun," I say, blowing him a kiss as he walks out the door. "Bash some heads in!" His laugh carries down the hall as he leaves.

I take my time getting ready, knowing I"ll need the armor for this. I slip on a skirt over tights since the arena will be cold, then grab an old jersey from the back of the closet. Roman"s number 22 is the only one I've got, and an idea starts to form as I look down at it. Hayden's insanely possessive and seeing me in my ex's jersey instead of his is going to push every single one of his buttons.

I can't wait to see what he'll do. I shrug it on, grinning like the Grinch and trying not to cackle as I think about what's going to happen when he sees me in this thing. For the first time, I'm glad I didn't burn it when Roman cheated.

I don"t really like makeup, but I dig out the good shit as I cover my face with war paint. By the time I"m done, I"m flawless. There"s no way I won"t run into some of the bitchy WAGs at the game, and I don"t want to face them unless I can go toe to toe. I feel sort of like a clown with the contouring and the fake lashes and everything, but this is the expected uniform.

Gross, I know.

When I finally step out of the bedroom and meet Sawyer by the front door, he whistles as he looks me over. "My brother's going to kill someone tonight," he says with a laugh. "You"re gonna be one hell of a distraction." Then his eyes linger on the jersey, and he grins.

"What?" I ask, looking down at myself, playing dumb. I know exactly what I'm doing—playing with fire.

"Nothing," he says, but the look in his eyes, so much like Hayden"s, tells me everything I need to know about what's going to happen when Hayden sees me with Roman's name and number on my body.

I blink at him, trying to stay neutral. "Do I need to change?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Get in," he jerks his chin toward a low slung black sports car that looks like it costs more than my apartment building.

I slide into the passenger seat and his laughter follows me in. Yeah, this is going to be fun.