5. Hayden

After beer number three,I haul my ass off the barstool and toward the bathroom, needing to piss bad enough to leave Cassidy alone at the bar. But as I step inside and head for a urinal, Roman comes in behind me and blocks the door with his body. "You need to back off."

"I thought I made my position on Cassidy clear," I say, turning to face him with a scowl on my face.

Roman crosses his arms over his chest and glares up at me as I take a step toward him. Yeah, I'm two inches taller, motherfucker. Eat shit. "She's taken, asshole. We"re just taking a break."

I laugh, itching to choke this fucker out and leave him on the suspiciously wet floor. "She doesn"t seem to think so. Pretty sure she told you to leave." I take another step closer and he's forced to tilt his chin up another fraction of an inch to hold my stare. "So my question is, why the fuck are you still here?"

He puffs out his chest as I get close enough to knee him in the balls if I decide I want to. Is it dirty? Yeah, but that's my thing. His eyes flash with anger. "Watch yourself, new blood. You don"t want to fuck with me."

"Oh, yeah?" I ask, stepping up to him until we"re practically nose to nose. "And who the fuck are you to think you can tell me what to do?"

"I"m captain of this team," he says with a smirk, and I'm tempted to knock his teeth out, "and the best fucking player in Seattle."

"Is that right?" I ask, chuckling. "The best player on a shitty fucking team that can't win a game to save their lives. Congrats, man. What an accomplishment." I slow clap while I turn my back on him, letting him know exactly what I think of the kind of threat he is. Then I step up to the urinal while he splutters for a response, taking my dick out and starting to piss. I groan because fuck, it feels good.

I glance over and find Roman gaping at my cock. I chuckle, and his eyes dart up to mine. "It's pretty impressive, right? You want a better look?" He scowls at me as I shake and tuck myself away, walking over to the sink to wash my hands.

"Shut the fuck up." His face is red as hell and I laugh, which he obviously hates if that vein pulsing in his forehead is anything to go by.

"It's called a magic cross, and it's going to be what steals your girl right out from under you. That's if she really is yours, which I have my doubts about." I grin as I dry my hands and toss the paper towel in the trash. "Now get the fuck out of my way before I make you."

He hesitates. "You think you can come in here and—"

"Listen, Captain," I cut him off. "I don"t give a shit what you think or who you are. This team"s about to have a new leader, and if you ever touch Cassidy again, I"ll cut off your goddamn hand."

He shakes his head. "You"re fucking psycho."

"Maybe," I say, shrugging as I shove him out of the way. He stumbles back into the hall. "Fuck around and find out."

Roman curses at me, but I tune him out as I walk back toward the bar. Fuck, I can"t stop thinking about how much I want to make him eat his words.

I"m not letting him have her. Not a chance.

As I take my seat back at the bar and something settles in my chest when I see Cassidy throw her head back and laugh at something the other chick behind the bar says, I realize that I"m not just doing this for fun anymore. This is about more than just winning or proving a point. This is about claiming something that"s mine and making sure no one else ever touches her again.

There's this soul-deep need to have her, a want that goes beyond anything that makes sense.

I don"t care what it takes or who I have to hurt to get her. Cassidy Bennett is going to worship the ground I walk on, beg for my body, and submit to my every whim, and anyone who gets in my way will pay the price.

Starting with Roman Morozov.

I"m not backing down.

Not now.

Not ever.

It"s late when I finally get back to my hotel room after closing down The Sin Bin. I'm not drunk, but I'm high from the chase. Cassidy's going to make me work for her. Sure, she ignored me as much as she could get away with, but I learned little things about her tonight that I'm hoarding like treasure.

Things like how she let her bartender go home early to take care of her new baby with a soft smile on her face, or how she got right in the middle of a fight between two rival fans and handled breaking it up like a fucking pro. Or the way she gave the old drunk at the far end of the bar a glass of water before she called him a ride because her heart's too fucking big.

But as I collapse onto the bed, all I can think about is how badly I wanted to bend her over that bar. I wanted to fuck her until her hips bruised from my fingers and my dick rearranged her insides so only I'd fit inside her.

There's this overwhelming need to possess her that's toxic as fuck, but I think I like it.

I should"ve stayed, should"ve pushed to walk her home after she closed down the bar, but after her showdown with Roman, she seemed like she needed some space. And I didn"t want to push too hard too fast and scare her off completely.

Because then I'd have to kidnap her and I was trying to think long term and do this right.

But tomorrow night will be different.

I"ll make sure of it.

I can"t help but smile at the thought of what I set in motion tonight. Because tomorrow, Cassidy Bennett will start to fall for me.

And nothing—not even Roman Morozov—will stop me from getting what I want.

I stare at the ceiling, but I'm not really seeing it as I picture Cassidy in the cropped tank top and tight jeans she wore tonight, a sliver of her tight stomach on display that got me all kinds of hot. I grip my hard dick over my boxers when I think about the way her long brown hair fell around her shoulders and down her back and those green eyes flashed with anger as she told Roman to get out of her bar.

Fuck, that last part turned me on more than anything else.

The way she stood up to him, the way she didn"t let him intimidate her... it was fucking sexy as hell.

But then I remember the way she looked at me tonight, like I was some kind of annoyance she couldn"t wait to get rid of. And that aggravates the fuck out of me.

She wants me. She's just not ready to admit it yet.

But she will.

I won"t take no for an answer.

Not from her or anyone else who tries to stand in my way.

I wrap my hand around my cock, giving it a languid stroke while I get lost in the fantasy of her lips wrapped around it, her tongue flicking over the piercings at the tip as she gazes up at me with those big green eyes while black streaks of mascara run down her cheeks from her tears.

Fuck, this is torture.

I lift my hips, fucking my fist like I haven"t had to do in years. My thumb swipes over the head, lubing me up with my own pre-cum while I jack off.

When I think about her choking on my dick, my balls tighten and I come all over my stomach, groaning as I imagine what it would feel like to fill her throat with my cum and watch her swallow every last drop of it. To know that a piece of me will exist inside of her.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I don"t think I"ve ever come that hard before.

But as I lay there in the darkness, breathing hard and trying to calm down, I realize there"s no way I"ll be able to sleep tonight. I"m too fucking fixated.

No, I"m not sleeping until she"s hooked on me and no one else can touch her. No one can take her from me.

Which is a big fucking problem because to function on the ice, I need to sleep.

Which means I need to act now.

I yank off my t-shirt and use it to clean up, tossing it in the laundry before I get out of bed and throw on a pair of shorts and a tank. If I can"t sleep, might as well get an ass crack of the morning workout in at the hotel gym.

The hall's empty as I walk down it toward the gym, and by the time sweat"s pouring down my body and my muscles are burning, I"ve got a plan.

This morning I"m going to show the Anchors a whole new way to win, and tonight I"m going to make my first move in tying Cassidy Bennett to me for life.