Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

ELENNA

"You know he’s going to chew her up and spit her out, right?" Finley nodded to where Wren and Tiger stood talking. Tiger should be warming up, but instead he was saying something that made her laugh. His gaze was intent on her like she was the only other person in the entire room.

Bray was sitting against a locker, lacing his skates and glaring at them both every time he glanced up.

"He’ll have me and Sinclair to answer to if he does." As well as Bray, apparently. He didn’t say a word, but his jaw moved with open irritation. I couldn’t tell for certain, but it seemed to be directed at Wren, rather than Tiger, like he didn’t trust her with his teammate.

I turned away and watched carefully as Finley inspected all of the sticks. He wouldn’t send the players out on the ice if any were damaged in any way. A stick breaking could disrupt play. Same with broken skates or snapped laces. I hadn’t realised how many seemingly small things he had to watch out for.

All of which could be big things if they went wrong.

Finley glanced up and grinned. "I’m sure you and Sinclair are terrifying."

"I know how to break a man’s knuckles to give him the maximum amount of pain," Sinclair said dryly. "And his toes."

"Don’t forget my eyeball shot," I said.

Finley chuckled. "I stand corrected. I should point out though, any person with a small measure of sense, knows not to screw with a redhead. I might look chill on the outside, but I have one hell of a temper when I get going. I bet Wren does too."

"She has her moments," Sinclair agreed. "Maybe we should be warning Tiger against her."

"I think he can handle himself," I said.

He was leaning in, saying something in Wren’s ear. She actually giggled in response.

In all the time I’d known her, I’d never heard her giggle. She may ride his stick all night long, yet.

"Unless you’re talking about me, then he probably does handle himself too much," Orion said. He stepped up close to me, not quite touching. The space felt smaller with him so close, like his presence swallowed up the air.

"We were talking about Tiger," Sinclair said.

"Then my remark stands." He nodded to her once.

"I’m sure you do your share of handling yourself," Finley told him, his words punctuated with a grin.

Orion turned his dark gaze to Finley. "I’d tell you to fuck off, but a hockey god provokes an equipment manager at his own risk."

"Wise lad." Finley leaned on a stick and gave Orion a brief smile. "You wouldn’t want to break an ankle when your skate ’accidentally’ snaps off."

"No more than you’d want to ’accidentally’ be shot in the cock the next time we’re in a dark gym," Orion replied, unsmiling.

Finley laughed. "Straight for the groin, hmmm? At least you don’t fuck around, or mince words. I appreciate that."

"You’re supposed to be warming up." Aidan stalked into the locker room. "You want to do yourself an injury?"

Who that was addressed to specifically, wasn’t clear. Several of the players, including Tiger and Orion, were standing still, talking.

Tiger said something to Wren and she laughed again before he moved away. She was beaming when she joined Sinclair and me.

"He’s so hot," she breathed. "He’s even hotter up close. And he’s so funny."

I turned to Sinclair. "She has it bad already."

Wren lightly socked me on the arm. "I do not." After a moment, she added, "I’d suck his cock though."

"He’d let you. That would save him having to use his hand," Orion said before he walked away to warm up.

"I doubt a guy like that needs to touch himself," Wren said. "He probably has a different woman to do that for him every night." She sighed.

"Like Coast," Sinclair said. Her gaze followed the centre across the locker room. He was shirtless, his muscular body unashamedly on display. He caught her looking and winked.

A hint of colour crept up her face.

"Now who has it bad?" Wren teased.

"Javey," I said softly. He’d been watching Sinclair since we stepped into the room ten minutes ago, but now turned to glare at Coast.

"Interesting." Wren grinned at Sinclair, who responded by rolling her eyes.

"Why don’t you go and get your seats?" Aidan slipped an arm around me and kissed my cheek. He hadn’t wanted me in the locker room where naked players might lurk, but if I was going to work with Finley, I had to understand all the parts of his job.

I tried to be professional and avoid staring too long at any muscular hockey god who walked past without any clothes on. Except Orion. His grey track pants hadn’t lied about the size of his cock. The sight made my brain misfire for almost a full minute. My pussy might have misfired too.

I wanted to lick the tattoos which covered both arms and all across his chest and back. The whole package had me tempted to drag him off into a corner and fuck his brains out.

"Go on, we’re done here," Finley said when I glanced at him. "I’ll give a shout if I need help with the guy’s equipment during the game."

He raised an eyebrow at Wren when she choked back a laugh. "Wait until after the game before you handle their equipment."

She grinned. "I can be patient."

"Since when?" Sinclair drawled.

"Since I met Tiger," Wren said easily. "Although, there’s a few others here I might wait for."

Before she was distracted with any of the other players, I hooked my arm through hers and Sinclair’s and led them out to seats at the side of the rink. Right behind the plexiglass, we had a good view of the entire game.

"Sunshine Coast Sunrays," Sinclair said. "They beat the Demons the last time they played."

"Who didn’t?" I settled back in my seat. One win didn’t mean they’d turned the season around.

I winced as Aidan shouted something at someone. I couldn’t make it out, and I doubted the crowd would have heard over their own noise, but he sounded angry.

"They’ve got this," Lex Stone, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, sat beside me. "Aidan barks a lot, but he’s got them motivated." His gaze slid to Wren and he blinked a couple of times. She seemed completely oblivious.

"I know," I said, probably not entirely convincing.

"Then get ready to celebrate," Lex said lightly.

The team started to file out of the locker room and onto the ice. The crowd cheered. The arena was only three quarters full. The team’s losing streak had lost them fans. Sinclair and the rest of the PR department, along with the team’s GM, were working to bring them back. A team was nothing without its supporters.

Aidan followed them out. He glared daggers at Lex, until he realised the younger coach kept glancing at Wren.

She still hadn’t noticed, or she wasn’t interested. Lex was the quiet, introverted type. She was always attracted to brash men, like Tiger and Bray.

Lex noticed Aidan glaring and almost shot out of the seat to make way for him to sit beside me.

Aidan slipped his arm around me, which got us some stares from the crowd.

"Don’t worry about what anyone else is thinking," he said in my ear.

"Are you reading my mind again?" I asked, my eyes on Orion as he skated over the ice. We were sitting right by his position, almost close enough to touch. Close enough for him to turn to me and nod.

"I didn’t need to, it’s obvious," Aidan said. "The whole arena is probably wondering what a beautiful woman like you is doing with a massive prick like me."

"Maybe because you have a massive prick," I said with a smile.

He grunted a laugh. "A woman like you wouldn’t be satisfied with only a big cock. You need men who know how to use them. And their hands and tongues."

"And your brains," I said. "And sense of humour. It might surprise you to know, there’s more to life than fucking."

"Yes, there’s also hockey," he said with a faint smile.

"No one can accuse you of having a one track mind," I said. "Two tracks, maybe."

"Three," he corrected. "You, fucking and hockey. In that order. That’s all I need in life." He kissed my temple.

"And the occasional steak," I reminded him.

"That too." He chuckled. "Excuse me for a moment." He rose and moved to the edge of the rink to speak to a couple of the players. His voice was low, but his tone quickly switched from pleasantly conversational when he was talking to me, to grumpy and direct.

"He’s very different from Finley," Wren remarked. "If I had to say you had a type, I’d say hockey-mad. Finley is so much more laid-back. In relation to Aidan and Orion, anyway."

"Finley can be just as intense," I said. "He turned on the charm for you two."

"That tracks," Sinclair said. "Intense, overprotective… You definitely have a type."

I shrugged, my gaze followed Aidan as he walked over to speak to Orion. I didn’t need to hear to understand the gist of that conversation. Keep your fucking hands to yourself out on the ice.

Orion smirked and nodded as though he’d think about it. For a moment, I thought Aidan would pull him straight off, but he turned and stalked away instead.

If anything developed between Orion and me, it would be interesting. Could they get along and not kill each other?

I sat back and watched the game begin. I kept half an eye on Aidan and the other on Finley, while following the play at the same time.

Aidan was always at his most intense and focused when the guys were on the ice, smashing the puck and skating around the rink like they were born on ice skates. The skill of being able to move around like that, handle a stick and have any control over the puck, was impressive. Especially at a professional level.

Sitting back here, watching, was a turn on. No wonder so many people liked to read hockey romance. Maybe I should write one someday. I crossed my legs at my knees and focused on the game.

Orion saved a goal at the last second and sent the puck spinning out of the defensive zone, to Tiger’s stick. He drove it forward ahead of him, controlling the puck as if he wasn’t aware of the opposition players checking ours to keep them from reaching him before theirs did.

He flicked the puck to Javey at the last moment, right before he lost possession. When the opposing D-men took off after him, he shot it back to Tiger.

A second or two later, Tiger slid it back.

Orion passed it to Javey, who slammed the puck past the opposing goalie, to score the first point of the game.

The crowd went crazy, screaming out, "Demons! Demons! Demons!"

Sinclair, Wren and I were on our feet, cheering and clapping.

Wren put two fingers between her lips and whistled so loud it made my ears ring for a minute or two.

I glanced over to Aidan. He was clapping and actually smiling. It only lasted a moment, but long enough for me to see before his usual prickly expression returned.