Chapter Twenty-Four

"Pip, wait."

I recognized Dylan's voice booming over the lot but ignored him. My Uber was pulled up against the sidewalk outside the rink, and I was leaving.

"Pip!" he called again.

The thud of his footsteps had me speeding up. But I was never going to be quick enough to get away from a six-two guy who trained for seven hours a day.

His hand curled around my wrist just before I opened the door of the Uber.

"What?" I snapped and turned to face him, ignoring the glances of a few passersby.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

Shock scorched over his eyes. "Leaving the rink or leaving us?"

"What do you think?" Anger prickled at my skin as I stared into his face.

"Why?" He came closer, trapping our hands between our chests.

"You think you can brawl like that, over me, in front of everyone, and I'll be okay with it?" I held his steely eye contact.

A muscle jumped in his stubbled cheek. "It was a mistake."

"You mean it was a mistake to show me that none of you are okay with me seeing you all."

His eyes narrowed further.

"You've all been acting like it's fine, that you don't mind if I'm with one of you and then another, but that's all been a fa?ade. You're all as jealous as hell." I stepped back and tugged at my wrist. "And that is something I really can't cope with right now."

"Pip." He followed me. "Fuck. It's not like that, really it's not, we all just have—"

"Save it, Dylan. My life was a mess when I met you all, and now it's a really and truly fucked-up mess."

"You don't mean that."

"I actively avoid conflict. Since my parents died, it's just not something I've invited or felt I had the emotional strength for. Hell, why do you think I ran from that church rather than storming in and having it out with Steven and Cheryl?"

"We can talk it through. Give us a chance."

I shook my head and opened the car door. "And Gina knows, she's a smart cookie, she knows that there's something between not just me and you, Dylan, but also something between me and Ben, Theo and Eduardo."

"So? What does that matter? She won't say anything, she takes care of the team, and that includes being discreet."

"Don't you see? That makes me…fuck, it's like having my own harem or something."

He snorted. "What?"

"You heard."

"I am not part of your harem."

I got into the car. "Oh yes, I think you are." I pulled the door shut. "Drive. Now."

"Sure thing, ma'am."

Within minutes, I was stomping up the stairs and visualizing my packed case being zipped closed. Soon I'd be onto the next chapter in my life, which I would keep simple and clutter-free. No men. No best friends who'd trick and deceive me. No reason for the press to write stories about me. I'd work, work, and work some more and then…

After dragging my suitcase from the walk-in wardrobe, I threw it on the bed and opened it. I started with jeans, then added hoodies, shoes, t-shirts, and underwear. I moved on to sorting my toiletries, packing them from beside the sink into a wash bag. Suddenly, I sensed a looming presence behind me.

I looked up into the mirror.

The reflection showed not just me, but four beefy guys standing shoulder to shoulder behind me. Their matching red practice sweaters complete with Viper logos made the room glow scarlet.

They were messed-up, gritty, and their expressions grim and determined, but that didn't scare me.

"What are you doing here?" I spun to them, hands on my hips. "You should be at practice."

"Yeah, we should." Theo frowned. "We'll get our asses kicked for walking out."

"But some things are more fucking important," Dylan added gruffly.

"More important than hockey, Dylan? What happened to your Big Love? Wasn't that what you said? Hockey was your Big Love."

He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Maybe I have a new Big Love."

"Don't fuck with me." I turned and reached for my Clinique moisturizer. "I'm just another game to you, a prize to win, a challenge to get me to pick you. That is what I am to you all, nothing more than a prize to try for. A Stanley Cup with long blonde hair and a twenty-four-inch waist."

"What?" Ben reached for the moisturizer and took it from my hand. "Is that really what you think?"

"Isn't it the truth?" I stared up at him. "You all fancy me, you all want me, and you're all in competition for me, I'm just a puck to you."

"You are not just a puck or a fuck." Eduardo crowded in next to me. "It is true we all have feelings for you, strong feelings, but we do not see each other as competition, not if you don't see us as a choice."

"Yeah, why choose?" Ben said. "When you don't have to."

I looked from his blue eyes to his brother's almost identical ones, and then Eduardo's dark ones and Dylan's that were almost hidden by his heavy brows and brooding expression. "Surely you want me to choose one of you?"

"No," Theo said, "not if that ain't what you want."

"But…why? How can you be happy with me seeing all of you? Being with all of you?"

"You've seen our lifestyle," Dylan said. "We're practically married to the team. Slaves to the rink."

"Yeah, we live and breathe hockey," Ben said, "and we get paid well for it."

"It's not a career that lasts forever." Eduardo kind of shrugged. "We have to make the most of it while we are the best of the best."

"And you are the best of the best." Theo slipped his arm around my waist, his big, solid body coming up against mine.

"And we figure between us," Ben said from behind me now, "we can make you see that, feel that." He touched the nape of my neck with the tip of his finger. "Maybe that's a job that takes four guys; you're not the average chick. You're hot stuff. A woman half the men on the planet would give ten years of their life to have just one night with."

"Huh, I don't think so."

"It is true." Eduardo nodded seriously. "I did read that online."

"What?" Was he being serious? That couldn't be true.

"But we want more than the nights," Theo murmured. "We want the days, too, we want the laughter, the tears, the wonderful nows and the exciting tomorrows."

I wanted to lean into him. The urge was magnetic. I couldn't resist. I did.

"Stay," he whispered by my ear. "And we'll prove that we can share nicely."

Despite myself, an amused huff burst from my chest. "Instead of beating each other up?" I turned to nod at Ben's swollen lip. "'Cause that's really not cool."

"We promise." Ben touched the split in his skin. "No more fighting."

A tumble of emotions were spinning through me. "And Gina? She knows I'm seeing you all."

"So?" Eduardo shrugged. "She can keep a secret."

"And when the rest of the team guess, which won't be long…" My attention went from Eduardo to Dylan. "I heard what they were saying when they pulled you all apart. They're not dumb hockey players, they're smart, they can see what's happening under their noses."

"The team is a family," Dylan said. "What happens in the team and with our women and kids, stays that way, in the team."

I nodded slowly and found myself leaning against Theo again, needing his strength.

"Don't go," Ben said. "It would make us all so sad."

Eduardo's lips were as downturned as I'd ever seen them. He reached for my hand and squeezed, keeping his eye contact firmly on mine.

"Stay," Dylan said gruffly. "And we'll love you, and protect you, and make sure you're the most satisfied woman in the USA."

"Love me?"

"Yeah, love you." Dylan's heated gaze bored into me.

Ben set a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Because that's the way this is going, for us all…love."

Love. It had been a long time since I'd heard that word said to me romantically. Steven, I now realized, had only said it once, and that had been when he'd proposed. And had he meant it then, or was it just part of a business deal to send his celebrity status stratospheric?

"Love is hard for me," I admitted.

"We know." Eduardo was close now. He filled my vision. "How could it not be after such losses? After such deceit."

My lower eyelids prickled, and I blinked the moisture away.

"So stay," Theo said, turning me to face him. "And let us show you with actions how fucking good love can be when it's done right."

I hitched in a breath. "As long as there is no more fighting. I hated that." Was I really going to stay? Unpack my case and put my feet back under the table?

I guess I was. They were damn good at laying out a convincing argument to a girl.

"No more fighting over you," Theo said, "we can agree to that."

"Over me?"

"We can't agree to no more fighting, it kinda comes with our job description."

"Does it? I mean—"

He didn't give me a chance to finish because his lips came down on mine, a gentle, genuinely affectionate kiss that had my knees weakening.

I gripped his sweater and let my tongue dance with his.

But then the kiss was broken and Eduardo cupped my face. For a moment he stared into my eyes then his soft lips were on mine.

I sighed and reached for his shoulders. His tenderness was healing to my fractured nerves.

"We want you," he said. "And we want you to be happy."

"Pip." Dylan slid me into his arms, even though Eduardo's and Theo's were still around me. "Don't run from us, please, never do that again."

"Don't do something to make me run."

He frowned, his brow creasing. "We won't, but if you get the urge, stay and talk it out." He nipped my chin and drew my face to his.

We kissed, a firmer, deeper kiss than Theo's and Eduardo's, and he tasted darker, hungrier. A tightening in my belly told me my body still very much wanted him, all of them.

But the kiss didn't last long, and Ben was claiming me. He didn't speak, but his eyes told me how glad he was that I was no longer packing a case—that I was staying in his home, with him, with his brother and with his two teammates.

I had no idea what I'd let myself in for with this bold decision, but one thing was for sure, it was going to be a wild ride. I'd be sharing myself between four sex gods, guys who played hard on and off the ice, and were damn persuasive, too. And my reward would be happiness, love, and satisfaction. Surely that was worth any amount of risks.

The stark Florida sunshine poked fingers around the closed drapes. I stared at the patterns as I listened to Ben's steady breathing.

After I'd agreed to stay, the guys had agreed to return to practice. I'd pointed out Gina's and Mike's wrath would be worse if they didn't appear at the rink until the next day, and that had seemed to make up their minds.

I'd unpacked listening to Taylor Swift's new song and then spent the afternoon cooking up a huge roast chicken meal which we'd all tucked into at sunset. The evening had been relaxing. I sensed we were all emotionally tired as well as physically, and I'd fallen asleep with my head on Theo's lap while Eduardo had given me a foot rub.

A vague memory teased me, Dylan carrying me to bed and then Ben slipping under the covers next to me.

"Hey, get your panties on, ma choue. It is show time." Eduardo appeared beside me holding a steaming mug, his big silhouette outlined by the drapes and the sun shards.

"Mmm?" I unpeeled from Ben's embrace and sat. "I'll inform you I have panties on and in place."

He grinned and set the drink down on the bedside table. "I am not surprised, you were so tired last night."

"I guess exhaustion was always going to catch up with me."

"But today." He clapped. "There are things to do."

Ben groaned and turned over. "Shut the fuck up, man."

"There is no time for exhaustion," Eduardo went on loudly. "Mae and her photographer and an entire set are waiting for you and your pretty face to do your thing."

"Ah, of course." I reached for my tea and took a sip. "I'll just have this then I'll be right there."

"Your carriage leaves in thirty minutes, Cinderella." He tapped his Rolex. "Do not be late."

"That dude is always so damn energetic in the morning," Ben muttered.

"You need to get up and going, too." I poked him with my toe. "Aren't you all going for fittings for new kits?"

"Mmm, yeah."

I frowned at the door. "Why isn't Eduardo going?"

"His went missing on tour?" Ben sat and scraped his hand through his hair. "He's already got new kit."

"Ah, I see." I took another sip of tea then set my drink down. "I'm gonna shower, then get going."

"Really?" He reached for me, curling his wide, bed-warm arm around my skin. "Can't we just…before…?"

"No." I laughed and squirmed free. I reached for a pair of denim shorts and a white vest top. "You heard Eduardo. My carriage is leaving soon, and I have to shower and wash my hair."