9. Braxton

"Drinks on me!" Jaxon called out over the music of the hotel bar. Resounding cheers came from our teammates in reply.

Sitting beside me at a high-top table, he clapped me on the back. "It's not every day your little brother scores his first professional goal."

Would have been a great milestone if my big bro wasn't purposely feeding me the puck in front of the net until I scored when he had a clear shot every time.

"Thanks," I said through gritted teeth.

A waitress stopped by, dropping off a round of beer, as more teammates filtered in after the quick flight from Seattle to Vancouver after the game. Jaxon tapped the neck of his bottle to mine before taking a sip.

"So, Natalie is quite smitten with your girl," he began.

"We've been over this. She's not my girl."

"Baby Braxton has a girlfriend?!" A shrill voice carried over the crowd.

Great, they're never going to let this drop now.

Turning, I found Hannah Moreau, our head coach's daughter and the Comets' travel coordinator, making a beeline for our table. Behind her, she dragged her boyfriend, Cal Berg, former defenseman for the Comets and current broadcast analyst for our in-house television network affiliate.

The look of mischief on her face had me groaning as I took another sip of beer.

Hannah also happened to be one of Natalie's best friends, with Cal being one of Jaxon's. When I said this group was tight-knit, I wasn't kidding. They were pairing off at an alarming rate.

"Tell me everything!" Hannah sat on my free side, linking her arm through my elbow.

"Nothing to tell." I could only pray that she"d let it drop if I was vague enough.

Jaxon countered, "Sure. It's nothing that you got into a fight with Levi on media day over the girl. Then, you brought her to the hospital with you to visit Max. And let's not forget that Natalie called to tell me she dropped off a meal for her because she knew we were on the road."

Giving him a side-eye, I grumbled, "Traitor."

Hannah bounced in her seat. "New girl gang member, coming in hot!"

"Slow it down, Hannah. She's not into athletes," I explained. "She's made that crystal clear."

"What? Is she crazy? Who wouldn't want an athlete?" She used her fingers to tick off the points of her counterargument. "They're hot as hell. Um, hello, muscles from working out for a living. They're rich. They know how to fuck and have stamina for days."

Hannah might be a fully-fledged member of Natalie's "girl gang," but she seamlessly transitioned to being one of the guys on a moment's notice. I suppose it came with the territory of growing up a living legend's daughter and being raised in rinks across the country. That girl could talk any man present under the table over hockey, my brother included. Smirking, I could only imagine Jaxon's toddler daughter, Charlie, turning into a miniature version of her honorary aunt Hannah.

Cal returned with two shots, which she downed quickly. Slamming a shot glass on the table, she pointed at me. "After all I went through to get one? And she's not interested? Who is this girl? Give me her phone number. I'll set her straight."

Benji Mills, the right winger on the line with Jaxon and me, took an open seat at the table. Taking in Hannah practically breathing fire, he asked Cal, "What did you do to rile her up this time?

Holding both hands up, Cal protested, "Wasn't me. Braxton did it."

Chuckling, he took a beer offered to him. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Hannah gestured wildly with her hands. "Braxton says a girl isn't interested in him! Or athletes at all! Can you believe that nonsense?"

"If I explain, will you let it drop?" I groaned.

She pursed her lips. "Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on if it's a good reason or not."

Here goes nothing.

"Her roommate is sleeping with Levi."

Those words were met with silence from the group. Then, collectively, their heads turned to the corner, where the man in question had his hands up a busty woman's too-short skirt. Yeah, I'd seen that show before, unfortunately.

Jaxon whistled. "Well, that explains the fight. Levi's screwing around behind the roommate's back, and your girl knows about it."

"She's not my girl!" I shouted. "How many times do I have to explain that?"

"But you want her to be." His brown eyes held mine in challenge.

"Of course I do." Heaving out a breath, I gestured wildly with my hands. "You've seen her. She's beautiful. And it's not just that. She's got this spark. I can't explain it." Thinking of Dakota brought a smile to my lips. "But someone hurt her. An athlete. I thought for a minute it was Levi since he's been a real dick to her and her roommate—who, for the record, knows he fucks around on her. She claims it's not him, but I can tell she's scared to trust. And I don't know what to do with that when she initially bolted for the door the second she found out what I did for a living."

Jaxon smirked before taking a pull from his bottle. Swallowing, he mused, "You know what I did when a girl with trust issues ran from me?" His grin grew wide. "I married her."

Hannah chimed in. "You conveniently forgot to mention the part where you knocked her up first." She pointed at me. "Don't do that."

I scoffed. "That's not even possible with her keeping me at arm's length. But thanks for the advice."

"Hmm." Hannah twisted her lips. "It sounds like you need people on your team."

The table gave a collective groan. All bets were off when this group—the ladies, especially—decided to form teams. They were expert matchmakers.

Looking around, Hannah asked, "What? As long as no one is on Team—" She frowned, realizing she didn't have a name to go with the other team. Spinning her hand, she waited for me to supply one.

"Dakota." There was no stopping the Hannah crazy train once it left the station. It was best to just buckle up and see where it took you.

"Right." She nodded. "As long as there's no one on Team Dakota, we have this in the bag. All of us working together on one team? It's almost unprecedented. No way we can lose!" Hannah patted my hand. "Don't you worry, baby boy. We'll get you your girl."

It grated on my nerves that she always referred to me as the "baby" of the group. While it was technically true, seeing as I was twenty-two when most of them were in their thirties, it only served to remind me that I was on the fringe, a tag-along member of their massive group with lots of history.

Cal threw his arm around Hannah's shoulder, kissing her temple. "We didn't need teams for me to land you."

Hannah snorted. "No. What we needed was for you to get drunk enough to record a voicemail declaring your undying love for me." She patted his cheek as if he were a child.

Raising an eyebrow, Cal countered, "That's not exactly how I remember it."

She smirked up at him. "Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it as the sole owner of that voicemail." Turning to me, Hannah said, "Tell me more about this girl. I need all the deets to set a plan in motion."

I shrugged. "Not much to tell. Met her at a party Levi threw at the house. She was taking notes for a book she's writing about hockey, even though she hates anything and everything associated with sports. I offered to help her with research."

Blue eyes bulging, a wicked grin curved on Hannah's face. "Hold up. Did you say she writes books?" I nodded. "Like, naughty books like Nat reads?"

"No." I shook my head. Wait. Did she? "No," I repeated, shaking that notion from my brain. "Definitely not."

"You sure?" She gave me a doubtful expression.

"I don't think so. She was more interested in the mechanics of the game."

I could see the wheels turning in her head, and I knew I was in big trouble.

"I have an idea," she declared.

Benji snickered. "Oh, I can't wait to hear this."

Hannah stared down the men seated around the table. "Who amongst us knows the most about hockey?"

Oh, no.

"Hannah, I don't think—" I began.

She silenced me by holding up both hands. "Look." First, she waved her right hand. "She wants to learn about hockey." Then, she waved her left hand. "You want to get into her pants, or for her to fall in love with you, or both. I don't really care." She clapped her hands together. "I'm the bridge between those two things." Leaning her elbows on the table, she stared me down. "Let me do this. I have a one-hundred percent success rate when it comes to the couples inside this group. You'd be a fool not to take me up on my services."

Jaxon nudged me from the side. "She has a point. Hannah might be unorthodox, but she gets results."

Letting Hannah butt in on my love life could end one of two ways. She could send Dakota running, screaming for the hills, or she could be the foot in the door I needed. Hannah was a child of hockey. She grew up inside the sport. Not only that, she was dating a former player and held an internal position with the team. Hockey was her life all day, every day. Who better to show Dakota that her ideas about athletes were all wrong?

It was a long shot, but I knew I had to try.

"Okay." The word flew past my lips.

Giddy, Hannah beamed at me. "Ooh! This is going to be so much fun! I thought when Benji brought Liv and Knox home, that was our group's final drama. Everyone's all paired off and making babies." She made a gagging sound. "What were we all supposed to do? Live happily ever after? Bor-ring."

"I have no objections to the happily ever after and babies." Jaxon raised his hand.

"Me too," Benji declared.

Spinning in her seat, Hannah pinned Cal with a glare. "Don't you be getting any ideas."

Nipping at her lower lip, Cal smiled as he pulled away. "Baby, it took ten years off my life when I saw you buying a basket full of pregnancy tests for the girls. We're on the same page."

"Good." Turning back to the table, she snagged a beer and drained it. Placing the bottle down, she leaned over, nearly toppling out of her chair, so I reached out my hands to steady her. Then, she grabbed my face, kissing me firmly on the mouth. "Operation Get Braxton His Girl is on!"

The second her lips touched mine, I froze like a deer in headlights. Cal had already broken the cardinal rule on the Comets of touching Coach's daughter, but this went beyond that. She was another man's girl.

A growl sounded over the music, and a breeze wafted across my face with the force of Hannah being wrenched from my arms.

Daring to peek up at the giant of a man known as Cal Berg, I shrank back at the murderous expression on his face. I was seconds away from wetting myself. He was a big, scary dude, and I'd witnessed the destruction he could do to a man's face on the ice.

Turning his attention to Hannah, he gripped her chin, his voice rough as he said, "I think you did that on purpose. You know I don't fucking share, baby girl."

You could hear the sass in her voice as she replied, "What are you gonna do about it?"

She was poking the bear, and gleefully so. Even before they hooked up, their dynamic had always been fire and ice, but it worked for them. I was beyond thankful he was taking his ire out on a willing Hannah instead of me.

With practiced precision, Cal hoisted Hannah over his shoulder and began to stride away, promising her, "You're gonna pay for that."

Peering up at us, she bit her lip, lust coloring her blue eyes. "Night, fellas!"

Benji chuckled once they were out of sight. "Best fucking show in town." He clinked his beer bottle to mine. "And you just let her have free reign with your girl. Good luck to you."

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Only time would tell if I'd made a colossal mistake. My relationship with Dakota was fragile, but I was holding out hope that Hannah might remind her of Bristol and it would all work out in the end.

Yeah, I knew I was reaching, but what other choice did I have?