Chapter 4

Tyler

It must be my lucky day. I knew it when I wore my new Nike Air Max 90 shoes, that something good was going to happen. I guess it doesn't hurt the fact I've been loitering around the offices a little more than I usually would, finding any excuse to walk to Coach's office.

Monday meetings are usually pretty intense, and depending on the mood he's in, they can go for a while. However, now I know first hand Cindy is going to be there, it puts a spark in my step. I mean, she's always at the meetings, but usually she has her head buried down taking notes and listening intently.

Today, though, after our flurry in the hall and having Cindy's cold coffee spilled on my jersey, I know things are turning around. I don't even care about the coffee.

Damn, she's cute. And hot. Very, very hot.

Those large, beguiling eyes are what get me the most. And up close up like we were, they're way better than from far away where I'm usually looking. The visions I've had about her vary, some are lust filled, and some are more romantic. Thank fuck she can't read minds.

I'm never this distracted by a woman, especially when I'm at work and supposed to be concentrating on our impending conference finals coming up. This is a big fucking deal, and I can't blow it being distracted.

So I do what any guy would do in this situation… I try to ignore what I'm feeling.

Burying shit has worked wonders for me in the past, especially because I usually don't let things bother me. But one glance over at her sitting next to Andrea and the finance geek, Simon, I think his name is, has me reneging with myself.

Perhaps my earlier thought about me going soft is a thing. Pre-Stacey, I could go up to any girl, anytime, anywhere, and be cool. Not that Stacey did a number on me, it was mutual in the end after she knew I couldn't take things further. But I vowed I'd be more careful the next time around, and not get in too over my head until I knew the girl was the one. I didn't feel that with Stacey, even though we had some good times. She didn't like us being apart all the time, and that was not going to change in a hurry. I'm not even sure what she expected. But even in the downtime, things weren't good anymore.

I glance up from my pondering and a pair of dark eyes flick up toward me from across the room.

Fuck it. The side of my mouth turns up and I distinctly see her lips press together.

My eyes flick down to her mouth and I find myself wanting to explore every avenue of this girl and earn every smile she has. Even though she isn't sitting that close to me, I can feel the electricity between us. Fuck, is she giving me eyes in her subtle way?

Maybe not the kind I'm used to from women, but hey, I'll take it.

It's almost innocent, as she isn't flat out smiling, but I feel she kinda wants to.

I can't even help it when my dick kicks in my pants at that look alone. Great, just what I need first thing in a meeting with the Hawks entire staff front and center; a huge fucking boner for Coach's sweet and delightful daughter.

At least, I think that's what she is. She seems pure to me. I've checked her out on Facebook and there's nothing scandalous in any of her posts there. She seems very tame, and very level-headed. And that only leads me to wonder what her secrets are. Maybe she doesn't have any—but we all do, don't we?

There was a recent picture of her and her best friend, Susie, at a downtown wine bar, but that's it since then.

She's everything foreign to me. I've never been with a smart office type before, but one look at her tells me all I need to know. I could definitely go there with a smart office type. If that's what we're calling it.

Realistically, I don't really have a type. I love all women, curvy or small. It's just how I am.

But this forbidden shit is really getting me going. I mean, it would still be exciting even if she didn't work for the Hawks, because I'm really attracted to her and that mysterious air she has. But knowing I shouldn't go there and the fact I want to, it's so fucking tempting. I feel like a naughty schoolboy for even thinking it.

So I sit and observe from afar, trying not to make it too obvious. But now she's in my sights, and it seems I might be in hers, because she keeps looking at me. If I'm honest, it's a little hard to stop.

Fuck. I need to ask her out. I run a hand through my hair and realize I need to just relax. Watching her and that goddamned mouth is not going to help me be able to stand up and walk out of here like a respectable defenseman should at his team's meeting. This is what she does to me.

She whispers something to Andrea, but I know it's work related as they're both scribbling shit down and paying far more attention to the General Manager than I am. It's then I see in my peripheral Andrea gives her a nudge in the ribs, subtle, but I see it. Cindy's eyes flick down to Andrea's notebook and a moment later a smile appears on her lips. Then she does the unthinkable. She bites her lip, seemingly unaware of what the hell that does to me. Then her eyes flick up at me.

Fuck. What was in that notebook?

The thought that they could be passing notes back and forth makes me smile. However, it seems highly unlikely that's what they're doing.

Then Simon leans over and whispers something in her ear, and she presses her lips together again.

I swallow and look away. Thank fuck he's gay, that's all I can say. I don't want anyone else making jokes with her, as possessive and as needy as that sounds.

I feel an elbow in my ribs, which is the only thing that tears my eyes away from her beautiful face and her pert lips.

"You taking in a word of this?" Jay mutters.

I give him the side eye. "I think I need way more coffee this morning," I grunt back.

"Having trouble focusing?" He chuckles, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Not at all."

"A certain someone on your mind? Don't look now, but Cindy Carter is looking over here—wait, I think she's checking me out."

I nudge him back with force. "Jay, fuck off," I mumble.

"Ow." He holds his side, laughing. "No need to be so touchy."

I glance back over at Cindy, and sure enough, as soon as I look at her, she looks away.

That's how it goes for the rest of the meeting, and I'm into it. So far into it I don't know how to not be into it.

We head down to the ice as soon as the meeting is over. And it's everything I need to try to get her out of my head and the looks we were giving each other.

I'm thrilled she seems to be into it, too. Here I was, wondering how the hell I was going to get her to notice me. With other girls I don't have to do too much, but she's not like that. I dig it.

I secretly like that she's a bit of a challenge.

The disappointment was palpable as we wrapped up our glance-athon before the meeting ended. But I had to keep my raging hormones under control and walk out of there like a decent human.

She gets me unglued too damned easily. It's been this way for months.

And, yes, I have been feeling a little deprived since Stacey left, but that's not the reason I'm chasing Cindy. I haven't been out on the field or done anything with anyone else since I broke up with her.

I thought having a hiatus wouldn't be all it's cracked up to be. But at thirty-three I've been out on the town a lot, and it doesn't interest me as much as it used to.

I enjoy going out with the boys every so often and having a nice meal somewhere. But I can't do what Jay does and stay out all night. No freaking way.

It's harder when you hit your thirties. The lucky fucker Jay isn't quite there yet.

I'm the oldest on the team. Ulrich, the goalie, isn"t far behind, so it makes me want to work twice as hard as everyone else, so I know in my mind that I'm not losing my fitness. Not that I would let that happen, because I run every day before I hit the stadium.

I work out at the gym at the stadium, and at my place downtown at my apartment. I also have a weekender close to my folks on Mercer Island. I bought the big, gated, craftsman style house out of the city as soon as I could afford it. I get out there as much as I can, which is mainly on the weekends, or when I'm not playing. I love getting out there amongst the trees and not having a care in the world.

I only keep my luxury one-bedroom condo for convenience. If I had it my way, I'd drive in every day. But at the end of a long day, it is nice to not have to drive too far, and I can use all the amenities at my leisure.

The thought crosses my mind to head home early after we finish drills this afternoon and beat out some pent up frustration, and I don't mean in the gym; I'll have a date with my hand later and relieve some of the ache.

I know Jay could hook me up in a heartbeat. Even going out with him on the weekend would see to it that I worked off some frustration and my dick stayed wet. But I don't want that. And everyone thinks it's because I'm regretting things with Stacey.

I'm not regretting a damned thing. My ability to be ready to move now doesn't mean I didn't care for her. She just wasn't the one.

There was no point in wasting time knowing that fact.

True to form, Coach Carter has us doing drills on the ice most of the morning. We break for lunch only to continue more drills, then have a practice scrimmage in the afternoon.

I want to run into Cindy again, which could involve me putting my close observational skills into motion. I prefer that term to stalker, or whatever Jay was spouting. I'm sure she wouldn't be so accommodating though if she knew what I was really up to, and the fact I watch her everyday walk into the stadium.

In my defense, it's to make sure she's okay and gets into the building without a hitch. I mean, it's not unheard of for things happening in broad daylight. That's my excuse, anyway. The morning for me is where it's at, and it makes me feel good seeing her. Even better now that I'm starting to realize she might be into me, too.

I'm pleased with today. Training-wise and Cindy-wise.

Going into the conference finals is going to be one of the highlights of my career, so I know I need to keep my head in the game and not let my new obsession get the better of me. I'll see to it… first thing tomorrow.

* * *

I have physical therapy the next day, and a back massage. My lower back has been giving me some pain, but as most of us do when we feel a twinge or a tweak in our bodies, we try to hide it from the medical staff.

Ted, the assistant coach, has hawk eyes for shit like that, so I have to just do what I can and push on through until I can get a rest. That won't be for a while yet.

Coach is always harping on about rest being an important part of the game.

While he wants us to train hard, he doesn't want any of us pushing ourselves into a frenzy going into the finals. We lost in the conference finals last year and we don't want history repeating itself. Finding that balance between work and rest can be difficult at times, because you don't want to lose your edge, but even I can see the value in taking a few hours off or watching a movie at home one night instead of smashing it out in the gym.

I've had a lot of massages lately and use the jacuzzi and sauna daily, it takes some of the pain away. I don't think it's anything serious, just ailing bones and wear and tear.

The game is so bloody and brutal it's a wonder there's not double as many injuries as there are. We've all had serious knocks on the ice. I've been concussed before, and that wasn't a fairytale. Things can get rough, so I'm a big believer in treating your body right and not doing anything stupid, especially at crucial times.

When I get home after my massage and training, I decide to do some meal prep and make pasta, getting shit ready for the rest of the week. Thanks to my mom, I can cook a pretty decent meal here and there. And since I've been living on my own forever, I'm pretty domesticated, too. Though I do have a cleaner once a week to go over to my condo and change the sheets. I pretty much do everything else myself.

I haven't seen Cindy in person today, so the tension is mounting since yesterday.

I can't help but wonder if I am reading too much into it. If our eye-fest is anything to go by, I'd say not. Walking up and outright asking her shouldn't be too far out of my scope if she's not careful. I am that type of guy, and only one thing has been stopping me. And that's the team's rules about fraternization.

Again, I've not been in a situation like this before. I know I'm crushing on her hard.

And starting something new, especially with Cindy, is turning me the fuck on.

Given I barely know the woman, I try my best not to envision her when I'm doing myself another huge favor after training. But I can't get enough of my palm when it comes to her, so I know I'm seriously overdue getting laid. No matter how much I try, I can't help but picture her.

Her perfect fucking pale skin against my tanned body. My hard tattooed muscles against her soft body. I'd love to encapsulate her in my arms, just to hold her and take in her scent.

I can't even imagine what it would feel like to have her wrapped around me, to be able to kiss her. For her to call my name.

Yeah, my hips are moving daily to a Cindy-tune that only I know the words to.

And it's wrong, I know it. I wasn"t raised to stalk women and watch them get to work every day, or fantasize over someone I barely know while pleasuring myself more than once a day while thinking about them naked. Despite that, it's not just a sex thing.

I want to know her. Every damned thing.

But I can't ask anyone at work. Maybe I need to do some of my own research, Facebook trolling can only do so much. Especially when she isn't even active on there.

My mind ticks away at what I could do to broach her and the subject seeing her outside of work. The need part is a given. Bumping into her in the parking lot might be obvious, but, hey, it's not below me. Anything at this point will do. Hell, even having coffee spilled all down my front. That wasn't a bad icebreaker now I think about it. It would have pissed me off had it been anyone else.

So after I make the rest of my weekly meals, which pretty much consists of a huge batch of the same thing until it runs out, I take a shower and temporarily relieve my ache. Those large, dark eyes looking up at me and that indent her teeth left in her lip when she bit it… It's enough to have me seeing stars in record time.

The places I could take her if she'd let me. I'm dirty, but it's all about her. And I might be easy between the sheets, but I love making a beautiful woman feel important. I love to see her wrapped in pleasure.

My phone rings when I'm toweling off and my mom flashes up on the screen.

She and Pops live close to my weekender. I have two younger brothers, Christos who is a finance geek and the youngest, Dion, is a pro golfer. Even though we're all different in our own right, we all get along pretty well. We try not to do the huge drama thing.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, honey. Did I catch you at a good time?"

I glance down at myself wrapped in a towel after my hand job in the shower. "Yeah, all good. I'm at home. What's happening?"

"Are you coming out this weekend?"

"Probably, why?"

"I'm making Moussaka."

She knows that's my favorite.

"Sounds good. I want to fit in another trip before the finals start."

"How's your back, honey? Dad said you weren't feeling too well the other day."

"I'm fine. I had a massage today. You know how it is with the game."

"You're going to be great in the finals. I have a feeling about this," she says.

My mom and her superstitions. I roll my eyes because she's not in front of me and can't slap me upside the head. "Well, we better not bow out like we did last year."

What a huge disappointment that was.

"Remember, you have to see yourselves as winners first. There's that old saying ‘which is like unto itself is drawn' — that means you offer a signal out into the world, a vibration if you will, and the universe responds."

My mom is into all that visualization and law of attraction shit. She never stops riding my ass about it. I love how she thinks it's that easy. What she doesn't know is my vibration right now is Cindy freaking Carter.

"Next, you'll want me to meditate." I muse, wondering if I should give her ideas like that.

"You know, that's not a bad idea."

"You know you're as bad as Ashton and Taylor with all the visual stuff."

"All the top people use it, Tyler. Your brother included, he didn't get to where he is just on luck and talent alone."

"Maybe you should do my PR, Mom."

She laughs. My mom is a dear sweet woman who dotes on us boys, and will keep feeding us until the day we die. Even when we don't live there.

"I'll see you Sunday then?"

"Yeah, Friday, we have a game and I'm busy Saturday. Sunday sounds good."

"I'll be watching. Dad will, too."

"Know it. Love you guys."

"Love you too."

We hang up and I run a hand through my buzz cut.

My mind is immediately back to Cindy again.

It was nice having a five-minute reprieve and knowing I'll be eating mom's famous Moussaka by Sunday afternoon. But the more I think about it, the more I know I need to broach Cindy, and right now, just before the finals might be just the time to do it.