Chapter 3

"This is incredible." I was staring, but I couldn"t bring myself to care.

The team box in Opal Springs Arena was a world away from the stands we used to have. Plush chairs and new tables were dotted around the room, most facing the window that looked down over the ice. Along one wall was a table covered in plates of food. Behind that, the wall was decorated with the team logo. In the centre of the room, the logo adorned the floor.

The box was full of family and friends of the Ghouls, talking and laughing in small groups.

I recognised Saxon Davies, twin brother of Cole, the team"s right defence.

Saxon was a prop for the Opal Springs Fury, the rugby union team. Right now, he was basking in the attention of three women. He and his twin were good-looking as hell. Saxon, in particular, knew it. Whenever I saw him, he had women hanging off him, and arrogance to spare.

Cole was the quieter of the two. I couldn"t remember having seen him with anyone, now I thought about it. I"d always had a bit of a crush on him, but from a safe distance.

No doubt he was as in demand as his brother, he was just more subtle about it.

"It really is amazing," Cat agreed.

She"d had a tour of the facilities a few weeks ago with her guys, so none of this was new to her. She still seemed as impressed as Eden and me.

"It"s good to have the guys here. I can skate at the community rink without them interrupting me." She grimaced, but she"d eventually forgiven them for the trouble they gave her when she was trying to practice her speed skating.

"No," Oliver told her.

She rolled her eyes at him and settled into a chair near the window. "I wasn"t planning to try for a comeback."

He rolled his eyes back at her. "You forget all three of us know you better than that. If you thought you could, you"d go for it."

"He"s right, you know." I sat beside Cat, where I could keep half an eye on the ice and the other half on Oliver. I wanted to sit beside him, but that might raise Eden and Cat"s eyebrows.

"Did you pay her to say that?" Cat teased.

"No, I"m just always right," Oliver said smugly. "I don"t need to pay Marley anything extra to agree. Right, Marley?"

I pretended to contemplate for a moment. "I"m always open to the idea of a pay raise. Maybe I should insist on one in return for stroking your ego."

Judging by the way his eyes darkened, it wasn"t his ego he was thinking of me stroking. Of course, now I was doing the same thing, picturing my hand curled around his cock.

"I don"t think I"ve met a man who needed his ego stroked," Eden remarked. "Do they exist outside Opal Springs?"

"Not in Melbourne," Cat said. "Not that I met anyway. It might be a universal thing."

Oliver huffed. "Us men are as sensitive as women are. We all need to be told we"re amazing from time to time."

"Dad, you"re amazing." Cat leaned over to give him a hug.

"Thanks, but as my daughter, you"re obligated to say that." He returned her hug and patted her back lightly. His words were accompanied with a loving smile that made my heart melt. They were as close as father and daughter could be.

I"d seen him with young patients a million times. He loved most people, but children in particular. There was something incredibly sexy about a guy who liked kids. Every time I saw him with them, my ovaries sat up and took notice. Did he want more children, or was Cat and her little sister, Bree, enough?

"Marley and Eden think you"re amazing too," she assured him. "You"re like a second father to both of them, right girls?"

"Absolutely," Eden agreed.

I swallowed. Oliver was more like a daddy than a father, but all I could do was nod and squeak out, "Sure. Look, the guys are warming up."

That was the perfect way to change the subject. All eyes were immediately on the ice, where the Ghouls and the Demons were stepping out onto the rink.

My gaze followed Phoenix DiMarco, the Demons' goalie, as he knelt down to do groin stretches.

"I"ll never not want to watch goalies warm up," I said.

"I can do that," Oliver remarked.

"Dad!" Cat slapped him lightly on the chest. "None of us needs to think about you doing those."

I hoped like hell my face wasn"t bright red right then. My head was about to combust from the mental image of Oliver lying over me, his body moving back and forth as he thrust into me.

Oliver chuckled. I wasn"t sure if it was directed at his daughter or me. Maybe both. He was enjoying stirring us both up. He was such a brat at times. It was one of the things I liked most about him, but if he wasn"t careful, Cat was going to catch on. Or Eden would.

I gave him a warning look, which he responded to with a wink. Fortunately, Cat"s attention was on the ice, watching her three guys. Easton and Cruz seemed to be teasing each other, judging by the grins on both of their faces. Shaw shook his head at them both and skated down to the other side of the rink.

"They must be excited," I said. If I was them, I"d be so nervous I"d want to pee myself.

"They are," she agreed. "Easton was saying the other day they feel like all their dreams came true." She rested her hands on her belly.

"Those boys are lucky you forgave them," Oliver said darkly. "For a while there, I was ready to throttle them with my bare hands." He made a strangling gesture with his hands, moving them back and forth like he was choking the living shit out of someone.

The protective side of such a caring man was hot as hell. Would he throttle someone if they did something to me?

"Lucky for all of us there"s no need for that," Cat said. "And Dean Hayes is dead, so I"m free to get on with my life."

Dean was the Ghouls" former goalie. He died of a nasty case of the flu, according to Oliver. Nothing he didn"t deserve, I guessed. It sounded like a particularly horrible way to go.

Her eyes glazed whenever she mentioned him, which wasn"t often. What he did to her that night would live with her forever. I knew she still occasionally had nightmares about it. No one would blame her for that. If it was me, I"d come apart at the seams. Cat was one of the strongest people I"d ever met.

"I"m happy for you," I said sincerely.

"I know you"re going to meet someone amazing," Cat said. "Both of you deserve to have your own happily ever after. You too, Dad."

"And if I don"t, I have Lucifer, the cat, to keep me company," Oliver said.

Cat leaned over to pat him on the arm. "Poor Dad. Maybe you should cut back your hours a bit and get out more. It can"t be healthy to work all those hours. Right, Marley?"

"Right," I said. He didn"t work quite as many hours as she might think he did. Of course, I wasn"t going to tell her what he did with those other hours, as tempted as I was. She really should know what he and I were up to. Okay, not the specifics, but that we had a relationship that went beyond boss and employee.

"I"m here now, aren"t I?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, you are, and I"m going to insist you come to the pub with us after the game," Cat said. "You never know who you might meet."

Oliver shrugged. "Who am I to argue with a pregnant woman?"

"Exactly." Cat nodded. "Marley, Eden and I will keep an eye out for the perfect woman for you."

"Maybe I"ve already met her." Oliver didn"t meet my gaze. Instead he looked at his daughter, an eyebrow raised.

Cat narrowed her eyes at him. "You have? Are you seeing someone and you didn"t tell me?"

"I might be," Oliver said, looking cagey. "I don"t have to tell you everything. Last time I looked, I was the parent around here."

"We want to meet her," Cat said immediately. She looked like she might bounce out of her seat. "Right, girls?" She looked around at Eden and me.

"Absolutely," Eden agreed.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, sure. Definitely." Or maybe a hole could open up under my chair and swallow me up instead.

"Why don"t you send her a message and invite her to the pub?" Cat suggested. "What"s one more person? Unless she doesn"t like crowds."

"She loves crowds," Oliver said.

"The game is starting," I said, gesturing towards the ice. With any luck, that would end the conversation for now. Before things got even more awkward. If that was possible.

All eyes turned down to the game. The excitement level rose, laced with a dose of anxiety. The first game of the season was an important one and the guys had a lot to prove.

The worst thing that could happen would be for them to fall on their faces after everything they"d done to get here. All the work they"d put in. Like any professional sporting team, they were all replaceable if they didn"t perform.

In front of their home crowd, in a brand-new arena, they"d want to win, and they"d want it badly.

"I can"t breathe," Eden said with a laugh.

"Neither can I," Cat agreed.

"Remember when we had to convince you to come to a game with us?" I teased. "You were absolutely certain you"d hate every minute of it. Now, here you are, practically a puck bunny."

"I remember," she said. "That feels like a hundred lifetimes ago."

I turned my attention back to the ice as the puck was dropped and both teams snapped into action.

The Demons centre took possession of the puck and skated into the Ghouls" defensive zone, pushing it out in front of him like he had all day.

It was Shaw who intercepted him and stole the puck before sliding it over to Cole Davies.

The crowd cheered, but it was short-lived. The Demons took back possession a few moments later and scored the first goal of the game.

In the box, we collectively groaned, but the guys skated back into position, their focus firmly intact.

For the next ten minutes, we sat on the edges of our seats. The guys switched in and out every thirty seconds, their coach, Kage Foster, gesturing at them and keeping them on track.

Moments before the end of the first period, the Ghouls" new goalie stopped the puck a hair from the goal, stopping the Demons from scoring again. The Demons" centre, Coast Riggs, had snapped the puck towards the goal at an impossible angle, making the save all the more impressive.

Even those in the audience who were cheering for the Demons cheered for the goalie this time. His face hidden behind his mask, I couldn"t see his expression, but he nodded his acknowledgement of their appreciation.

The period ended before the guys could resume their places. Instead, they stepped off the ice to have a break and a drink of water.

"That was so exciting," Eden said. "I don"t think I"ve seen a game that exciting before."

"They"re playing in the big leagues now," I said.

Granted, the AIHL wasn"t the big leagues compared to North American hockey, but this was a step up from playing as amateurs. Someday maybe, they"d be raking in millions.

"They are, but they have what it takes to win," Cat said. "There"s no reason they can"t beat the Demons."

"Of course there isn"t," I said.

I pushed my glasses back in place and turned my attention back to the ice as the second period started. My attention kept going back to the goalie. After that save, I was intrigued to know about the guy behind the mask. Cat said she"d introduce us. I"d make sure she did, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

Although, maybe Oliver would tell her what was going on if he thought I was interested in someone else. I didn"t like playing games, but sooner or later we"d have to come clean. If I gave that a little nudge, then where was the harm?