Chapter 2

York

Have you ever met somebody who checks off all your boxes? Like perfect smile. Check. Sense of humor. Check. Knockout body. Double check.

But there’s one major pucking thing that doesn’t make the list. She’s the coach’s daughter. And there’s a major rule in my book. Never date a teammate’s sister, daughter, ex-wife. Especially not the coach’s.

It sucks. Because staring at Noelle Pearl right now, with the low light of the bar highlighting her crisp blue eyes. She looks stunning. I almost can’t turn away, but I do.

I take a long pull from my beer before being interrupted by a few college-aged guys.

“Hey, don’t mean to bother you, but was wondering if we could get your autograph,” one of the guys asks.

There’s three of them, and they all appear to be the same age as Noelle, and it sort of pisses me off. I’m not even sure why I’m so upset.

I don’t show it, though.

Instead I act like the nice hockey player I am, and snap a few photos, and sign a few things for the men.

Noelle smiles at them, and they introduce themselves to her. They even ogle her a bit, but I make sure to move my body between them.

As soon as they leave I slide back into my barstool.

“Glad they’re gone,” I tell her, happy to have her all to myself once more.

“Does that get annoying?” She nods her pretty head at the guys as they’ve moved to a nearby table.

I scrub a hand down my face. “No, not normally. Actually I’m happy to have fans who believe in me. And want to see me succeed. I thank them by taking photos with them and meeting them.” I huff out a deep breath. “I just didn’t like the way they were staring at you.”

She lets out a quick burst of laughter. “Are you kidding? I don’t think they even realized I was here.” She plays with the little black straw of her drink between her fingers and takes another sip. “And they didn’t look at me in any weird way. They were probably wondering who I was.” She quickly stands up. “Oh god, York. People are snapping pictures. They’re going to think we’re together.”

I glance over my shoulder as somebody snaps a photo of me. The thought of people thinking Noelle and I are an item doesn’t upset me. In fact, it makes me want to wrap an arm around her, pull her close, and smack a big fat kiss on her luscious mouth.

However, I don’t. Instead I peek down at her, nodding at her drink.

“You done?” I ask her.

She nods. “Yeah.”

I grab some cash out of my wallet, and toss it on the bar. “Let’s get out of here,” I say, grabbing her tiny hand in mine.

She tosses her carry-on over her shoulders and laughs as I rush her out of the bar area.

I make my way toward my own gate, wondering if she and I are on the same flight. “What’s your gate?”

“B-4,” she whispers as soon as I’ve stopped her in the middle of the terminal.

Our eyes crash into each other, and I swear I get this urge to kiss the fuck out of her, but of course, I don’t. “Before what?” I ask her, knowing full well she didn’t say before , but indeed said her gate number, because my flight’s out of the same one.

Her eyes twinkle as she smiles. “No, B-4,” she says, emphasizing the b and the number.

I smile wide. “I was kissing. I mean, kidding,” I say, stumbling over my words.

Her eyes widen as her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. God, she’s so fucking adorable it hurts to look at her.

“York Steele, over here,” a woman, with her phone out, pointed at me, says.

I can tell she’s filming, and I step a bit behind Noelle, hoping she can shield me from the woman. “Hi, there,” I say, not really feeling friendly. I don’t mind snapping a few photos here and there, but come on, let a man have some privacy.

“Who’s with you? Is that your girlfriend?” Now there’s a small crowd, all with their phones out pointed at me.

“Is it a holiday fling?” another woman asks. “You know how hockey players are. They’re never into anything serious.”

Photos snap of Noelle and I from all angles while everyone asks us of our relationship status. I’d like to just announce that she’s the coach’s daughter, but before I can, somebody else recognizes her.

“That’s Noelle Pearl. Coach Pearl’s daughter. Oh, are you having a secret affair with the coach’s daughter?” some man with a camera asks.

A taller lady smiles at us. “How romantic.”

Click.

Click.

Click.

“Follow me,” Noelle says, grabbing my hand. She marches up to the help desk at our gate and smiles at the lady behind the counter. “Hi, I was wondering if we could wait in the loading bridge until the flight. As you can see this is the York Steele I have with me, and he’s got quite the little fandom growing out there,” Noelle says, pointing at the growing crowd.

The woman behind the desk smiles at me, and then taps away at her computer.

“Please,” I say, hoping it’ll help.

She smiles up at me. “I think we can do that. Let me just check you both in.”

“Thank you,” Noelle says, reaching for her phone to pull up her ticket info.

I do the same, and after a few minutes, the lady, Deanna, opens the door and lets us into the loading bridge.

The door shuts behind us, and I’m grateful to be away from the crowd back at the gate. Noelle lets out a deep breath and slinks against the wall.

“Thank you for that,” I tell her. “Sometimes things get a little crazy.”

“How often does that happen to you?” Her big blue eyes search mine.

“Not too often.” Mainly because I never really go anywhere. To games and that’s about it, but it’s seriously not too often. “It’s mainly places like this. Airports. Anywhere really crowded. Doesn’t help it's only a few days before Christmas.”

Noelle smiles, and damn she’s so pretty. Her long brown hair falls around her shoulders, almost creating this cocoon around her, and I desperately want to be tucked away in there too. It’s crazy how much this woman is affecting me, but she is.

Bad.

We’ve got a little over thirty minutes until our flight, and I’m wondering how we can pass the time. Okay, you’ve guessed correctly, my mind has hit the gutter, and now it’s filled with sexy images that flash through my brain.

My body hardens, and I cough to try to unscramble my thoughts. It’s been a long time since I’ve been intimate with a woman, and honestly, I’m wondering why not.

It’s not like I actively go out looking for women. Lenna and I broke up over two years ago, and since then I haven’t really dated much. There’s been a few hookups here and there, but nothing permanent.

Honestly, with my schedule it’s hard to keep a relationship going strong. It’s why Lenna and I broke up.

“How’s school?” I ask, sliding down the wall to sit beside her on the ground.

She smiles. “Going good. I’m almost done.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, I guess. Honestly, it may sound funny, or silly, but I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

My eyes meet hers. “I think that’s normal at your age.”

“Not for you. Did you always know you wanted to play hockey?”

I nod. “Yeah. Ever since I was a kid when my father threw a pair of skates on me and taught me how to play.”

“See. You knew exactly what you wanted and you went for it. It’s why you’re so successful.” She slumps beside me. “I have no clue what I want.”

I smile at her. “You’re still young. You have plenty of time to figure it out.” My breath hitches in my throat as our eyes meet, and I swear she doesn’t feel so young. The air’s charged between us, and I smile.

“Yeah, I guess,” she finally says.

“I don’t think I’m really one to hand out life advice anyway.”

Her eyebrow arches. “Why’s that?”

I glance up at the ceiling, looking for the exact way I want to tell her what I’m trying to say, but before I can say anything the doors open wide.

“Excuse me, we’re going to start boarding now, and we figured you two would board first,” the flight attendant says.

I nod, getting to my feet quickly. I reach my hand down for Noelle, and when her tiny hand slips inside mine, it’s like a spark ignites deep within my system. “Sure thing,” I tell the flight attendant.

Together, we follow her down the bridgeway, and I head to my seat in first class.

Noelle stares at her ticket on her phone. “I’m all the way in the back,” she says with a small smile. “With the common folk.”

“Take my seat,” I tell her, not able to live with myself if I don’t offer Noelle all the comforts of first class. Her smile alone is deserving enough of the seat.