Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Leia

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask Colter, fidgeting with my pizza. He scooped me up a little while ago and carried me to his bedroom. After cleaning me up, he put me in bed and told me to stay there.

He returned to the room five minutes later with pizza, beer, and a bottle of wine. I guess we’re celebrating sex. Go, Team!

"Depends on the question."

"It’s about earlier." My cheeks heat. "Um, about what happened in the truck, I mean."

He leans back against the headboard, taking a long pull from his bottle. "What’s on your mind, Trouble?"

"What does it mean?"

"What does me getting you off mean?" He smirks at me, humor dancing in his eyes.

"No." I roll my eyes at him. Why can’t he ever be serious? Jeez. "The fact that I…liked…what we did? Isn’t that kind of…?" I trail off with a shrug, unsure how to say what’s on my mind. "I don’t know. Never mind."

His smirk disappears as he sets his bottle carefully on the bedside table. "Hey," he murmurs, holding his hand out to me. "Come here."

I drop my half-eaten slice back onto my plate and scramble across the bed to him. Once I’m where he can reach me, he quickly reels me in, not stopping until I’m straddling his thighs.

"You think being turned on by the thought of getting caught makes you a hypocrite," he says.

I nod, relieved he gets it.

"You’re allowed to get off on the fantasy but shy away from the reality, Trouble. They’re two different things. You felt safe enough to explore the fantasy in the truck because you knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to you." He rubs circles against my outer thighs. "You know I’m going to protect you."

"I did feel safe," I whisper. "But I liked thinking that he might catch us."

Colter grins, his hazel eyes darkening. "I know you did. You were sexy as hell, riding my hand like that. Maybe next time I’ll fuck you somewhere you can’t make noise, or dozens of people will hear you."

My core clenches at the thought.

He groans, dragging my mouth to his for a kiss. He tastes like beer, but I wrap my arms around his neck anyway, trying to intice him into more. I want a repeat of earlier.

Sex with him is mind-blowing. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be that good or if he’s just that good, but holy moly. I still can’t feel my toes.

"Nu-uh," he growls, breaking the kiss as he slides me off his lap. "If I get inside you again now, I won’t be able to do it later, and that’s unacceptable, goddess. I fully intend to fuck you to sleep tonight. You’ll sleep with me inside you; that way, I can keep that greedy little pussy satisfied all night."

Oh, my goodness. He’s crazy. And I love it.

"Fine," I huff, pretending to be annoyed. "But I’m hogging all the covers."

"No, you aren’t. I’ll be your blanket."

My phone buzzes before I can answer him. "Hold that thought," I mumble, grabbing it from the nightstand where he put it when he brought in the pizza.

Bestie: SOS!!

"Crap," I whisper, my heart jumping into my throat.

"What’s wrong?"

"I need to call Elysa." I flip the phone around to show him the message.

"Call her," he orders as soon as he reads it.

I’m already dialing her number.

"I’m so sorry to interrupt whatever sex games you’re playing with the hockey hunk," she blurts as soon as she answers, "But Gavin is insisting on dinner tomorrow and won’t take no for an answer. I don’t know what to do!"

I quickly relay the issue to Colter, who scowls. "Invite him over," he says.

"What? Why?"

"Double date, goddess."

My stomach twists itself into knots.

"It’s the perfect time for me to meet him," he says quietly. "I’m suspended from Saturday’s game, so he’ll think I’m angry and in need of a little extra cash."

"What’s he saying?" Elysa asks. "I can barely hear him."

I hesitate for a long moment before I reluctantly answer. "He wants you to invite him over for dinner with the three of us. He’s going to try to get Gavin to recruit him."

"Oh," Elysa whispers. "That’s pretty smart."

"It’s crazy," I mutter, hating the plan just as much now as ever. I don’t want to use Colter as bait, especially when we don’t know nearly enough about what we’re dealing with here. But I don’t know what other options we have. If I don’t let him do this, he’s at just as much risk on the ice. Bruce Gordon already demonstrated that.

At least this way, we have a shot at stopping Gavin before he gets someone hurt or destroys someone’s career.

"It’s our only plan, pretty baby," he reminds me.

"I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it."

He smiles, reaching out to cup my cheek. "Believe me, Trouble, I’m not thrilled about it, either."

I sigh heavily. "Set it up, Elysa. Tell him whatever lies you have to tell him."

By the time dinner rolls around, I’m a nervous wreck. I’ve changed four different times and paced a hole in the floor. Elysa is in much better shape than I am, even though she’s the one who has to pretend she’s still into Gavin.

"I’m never dating again after this," she mutters, throwing herself down onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. "I’m going to be a crazy cat lady."

"What? No way." I twirl to face her with my hands on my hips. "You can’t give up just because your first attempt didn’t work out." Like me, Elysa hasn’t ever dated much. She bumped into Gavin downtown one day, and he asked her out. They hadn’t been dating long, but she was having fun with him. I don’t want him to scare her away from trying again, especially since she was way too good for him in the first place.

She scrunches up her nose at me. "Easy for you to say. You won the dating lotto. I ended up with a dud."

I plop down beside her, resting my head against hers. "He has teammates, you know."

That perks her up. "Oh, I didn’t think about that. Are they hot?"

"Probably." I shrug. "They play hockey fifty million hours a week."

"Good point."

The timer on the oven dings.

"I’ve got it," I say, climbing to my feet. "I need something to do anyway."

"Good, because I hate cooking." Elysa kicks her feet up on the couch with a cheeky grin.

I shake my head, laughing as I enter the kitchen to check the lasagna. The scent of tomato sauce and garlic fills the small space, making my stomach growl. I pull the oven open, and my mouth waters. It looks amazing. Elysa may not like to cook, but she’s fantastic at it. Me, on the other hand? Well, not so much.

I can handle the basics, but anything beyond that is asking too much. Heidi is the sister with skills in the kitchen. Our adopted mom taught her everything she knew. She wants to open a bakery when she graduates. If anyone can do it, Heidi can.

"Damn, you look good," Colter growls behind me as I put the bread in the oven. He quickly crosses the kitchen, stepping up right behind me. His hand brushes my ass before I feel his erection grind against my ass.

"Colter," I groan, slowly rising to my feet.

He pulls me back against him, his arms wrapped around me. "Fuck, I missed you."

"You saw me this morning."

"Too long," he mutters, nuzzling my throat. "Way too fucking long."

I melt against his chest, my body heating as he kisses all over my neck. He’s right. A full eight hours without seeing him is way too long. I missed him like crazy today. I kept expecting him to show up at the office. But we thought it would be best if he stayed away today, just in case Gavin decided to show up to see Elysa. Neither of us wants to give him any reason to suspect this is a setup.

"I missed you too," I whisper.

He spins me around, tilting my head back with a finger beneath my chin. "Yeah? You missed me?" His hazel eyes scan my face, his expression probing. "Enough to come home with me again tonight, goddess?"

"Maybe."

"If you don’t come home with me, I’m sleeping in your bed with you. Think you can be quiet while I’m fucking you all night?"

"Colter," I groan, my blood threatening to liquefy.

"Don’t Colter me, Trouble," he growls. "One way or another, I will be sleeping in the same bed with you tonight, and I will be fucking you until you pass out on top of me. So if you don’t want Elysa to hear us, then you had better pack a bag and come home with me."

"Maybe," I say again. I’m definitely going home with him tonight. But I like teasing him. I like when he gets growly and bossy. It’s kinda hot.

He narrows his eyes at me and then smirks. "You just have to fuck with me, don’t you?"

"Yep, and we both know you love it."

"Yeah, I do," he says, his expression softening. "I love every goddamn thing about you, Leia."

Oh, my goodness. That’s the second time he’s basically told me that he loves me. He means it too. I see it lurking deep in his eyes. This crazy man is in love with me.

"Colter, I lo—"

"Gavin just pulled up," Elysa interrupts, popping her head into the kitchen.

Crap.

Colter and I reluctantly break apart, turning to face her.

"Let’s get this over with," I mutter.

Elysa ducks out of the kitchen to let Gavin in. I start after her, but Colter grabs my hand, tugging me back into his arms.

"Tonight, when I’m inside you, you’re going to finish what you were trying to say," he growls against my ear. "I want to hear you screaming it, Leia."

"Okay," I agree, more than willing to give him that.

He inhales a sharp breath and then releases me. "Let’s get this over with."

Even though Gavin is a bookie, he’s not a bad guy. Well, he doesn’t act like a bad guy. He’s always been pleasant to me. He’s laid-back, always laughing and joking. It’s also obvious that he really likes Elysa. He can’t keep his eyes off her at dinner.

She tries her best to act like everything is fine, but she nearly chokes on her wine when Gavin brings up hockey while we’re eating tiramisu after dinner.

"You okay, kitten?" Gavin asks, rubbing her back. His Rolex gleams, standing out like a sore thumb in our apartment. He probably makes more in a week than we do combined in a year. He never acts like it matters to him, but I can’t help but notice the disparity today.

He’s dressed in a thousand-dollar suit, his dark hair slicked back. Elysa is in a pretty black swing dress with her hair in an intricate updo. She looks gorgeous but uncomfortable. Dresses aren’t really her thing. She only ever wears them for Gavin.

Does he even notice that she’s uncomfortable? That she dresses up for him even though she hates it?

"Fine," she wheezes, waving him away. "Wrong pipe."

He grins at her, flashing his dimple before he turns back to Colter. "You’ve had a long career in the AHL," he says, his gray eyes serious. "You never wanted to move up to the NHL?"

"I started out in the NHL a decade ago." Colter sets his fork down. "Tore my ACL three seasons in and got sent down to rehab. I was out for a year before I could skate on it properly again. I knew I wouldn’t get called back up my first time back on the ice."

"Damn." Gavin shakes his head. "That’s a bitch."

"Yeah, it is. But I’m still playing, so it is what it is." Colter scowls. "I should be playing, anyway. Fucking Bruce Gordon."

"Who?" Gavin furrows his brows like he’s never heard the name before. He’s a good liar; I’ll give him that. If I hadn’t seen them meeting with my own eyes, I’d almost believe he had no clue who Bruce Gordon was.

"He plays for the Stingrays," I jump in, rolling my eyes for effect. "He couldn’t play nice on the ice the other night and kept starting fights. Colter ended up suspended from the game this weekend. He’s grumpy about it because the team flew out today."

"Uh, fuck yeah, I’m grumpy," Colter growls. "If I’m not on the ice, I’m not getting paid."

"You get paid by game?"

Crap.Did we just give him intel he didn’t have? Surely not. I mean, surely it’s not a trade secret how hockey players are paid, right?

"It’s more complicated than that, but when we get suspended, they dock our pay equivalent to how many games our suspension lasts. Since we aren’t making bank like the NHL, we try really fucking hard not to get suspended," Colter says.

Gavin inclines his head in a brief nod. "Well, fuck Bruce Gordon then." He lifts his beer bottle in a salute, flashing that dimple again. "May he get what’s coming to him."

Colter lifts his bottle in acknowledgment, his expression dark.

I place my hand on his thigh. It’s rock-hard with tension, but it doesn’t show on his face. He’s playing it cool, way cooler than I am, because I want to crawl across the table and slap the smile off Gavin’s face. He’s the reason Colter is suspended right now, and he knows it.

How can he sit here and commiserate with Colter as if he didn’t orchestrate the entire thing?

Elysa deserves so much better.