14. Nikoli

Dario picked us up.The man hasn"t stopped smiling at Willow, which is more annoying than anything else. He knows that. Why he keeps doing it. I look at him. He looks at me. He bursts out laughing. "Took you long enough."

"All good things come to those who wait."

Dario snorts. "Since when do you quote shit?"

Willow chuckles and asks, "What time do I have to be at the arena?"

"One of the women in the office will call you. She"ll give you details." A sudden rush of excitement explodes in my stomach at the thought of Willow at the arena. Then I remember with a start. "My parents will be there."

Dario snickers. I shoot him a look.

"My mom might get a little excited if she knows you"re my girlfriend." I sigh and continue, "She"s my biggest fan, but she"s been hounding me about getting me a girl, so be prepared to be smothered."

"She sounds lovely, Nikoli. Don"t worry, I"ll tell her you suck in bed."

Dario bursts out laughing.

To Willow. "I don"t suck, babe, I lick." I wink and Willow blushes scarlet. Laughing, I turn around when Dario stops in front of Evergreen. It"s a good thing we don"t see any police cars outside. I quickly jump out of the truck and run around to get Willow. I bring her to the front door. "Tell Grandma I"ll give her a kiss when I can, and you," I cradle her neck and pull her close, "after we win tonight"s game, I"m going to spend the rest of the night doing dirty things to you." I hold her close and kiss her until neither of us can breathe.

"Okay," she mutters, dazed.

I grin. "Babe, you need to go inside right now or I"m going to take you back to the apartment." I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But you have to work and so do I."

Willow cups my jaw with her soft fingers and strokes the scar on my face. "I can still feel you between my legs," she whispers, her eyes sparkling with excitement and joy. "That"ll hold me till later." She reaches up, plants a wet kiss on my lips and moves toward the entrance. Over her shoulder she says, "See you tonight."

I nod. She laughs as she disappears inside while I watch. I feel like I"ve been run over by a truck. Not only is my body tight with need after her teasing words. I rub my chest and turn around as Dario whistles from the truck. He raises his eyebrows in amusement when I meet his gaze. "Asshole," I mutter.

"Coach is waiting," he says.

* * *

Who would have thoughtthat I would bruise my jaw during practice because my idiot friend fell over his own feet? Not me, that"s for sure. The asshole had been distracted by the sudden appearance of Gemma—the new girl—and me, Rhodes and Lake had been going too fast to stop us from falling over him. We"d ended up in an embarrassing heap on the ice.

Drenched in sweat, I hold an ice pack to my jaw as I glare at the idiot. "Not only does the whole team know you have the hots for the new girl, but the coaches do too," I grin, "and so does the little lady. Nice one, man!"

"I was blindsided," Dario mumbles.

I roll my eyes. "You"re a professional athlete. You"re not supposed to get distracted."

"Wait until tonight. I bet you only have eyes in the audience, too!"

"I don"t get distracted by a woman. Ever."

"You lying sack of shit!" Dario points. "You can"t keep your eyes or hands off Willow." He wiggles his eyebrows. "I bet if she flashed her tits at you during a game, you"d fall over your own damn feet."

I narrow my eyes. "First of all, Willow would never do anything like that. Second, I"ve never fallen over my own feet, and third, Gemma did not flash her tits."

"Can you two girls stop talking about tits?" Madden joins us.

"What"s got you in such a good mood?" I ask, sitting back and nursing my jaw.

"I quit women."

Dario frowns. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means," Madden says, "exactly what you think it means. No women. I"m becoming a priest."

"Bullshit!" Dario shakes his head and gives Madden a look of disgust.

"I"m serious. Women are always throwing themselves at us. But why? Because we"re professional athletes. It has nothing to do with who we are. I"m over it."

I wince. "You got burned, huh?"

"Not really. I"m more pissed off than anything." Madden looks at Dario. "So, what"s up with you and Gemma?"

"Nothing."

Madden snorts. "You took three down over nothing!"

"He has a crush on the new girl," I tell Madden. "I"m sure he doesn"t think about his teammates when she"s in sight."

Dario gets up, gives us the bird, and walks out.

Madden smiles. "What"s this I hear about you and Willow?" Serious, he adds, "If I can help with anything, I will. Just ask."

I exhale and wipe my face with a hand. "I"ve thought about the situation. I think I"m going to hire Ellison Security to clean up this fucking mess. At least they know what they"re doing." I lean over the table and Madden does the same. "Marcus Carter already killed his brother."

"Fuck!"

"Tell me about it."