If I wanted to taste her sweet center, I’d just show up and do it.
If she needed me to carry her to her bed to make her forget about life, I would be right there and do it.
Now of course I acted as though I was moving across the country for the rest of my life.
It was a simple three-day trip.
The kind of two game away trip that pissed everyone off.
We were going to fly in, get settled, then play a game. The next night we play another game, then fly right back across the country.
Useless? Definitely.
But that was how the schedule went.
Now as far as Madison went, I couldn’t stop looking-
“Hey, we have to plan,” Lay said as his face popped up out of nowhere.
He scared me.
My right hand tensed up, ready to throw a punch.
“Whoa,” Lay said. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I said. “What do you want, Lay?”
“What my name says,” he said.
“What?”
“West coast road trip,” he said. “It’s a quick one so we have to make it count.”
“Make what count? Win both games?”
“Forget hockey,” he said. “Let’s use our bigger sticks!”
I touched my forehead and sighed. “Lay…”
“Mav, I need you,” he said. “Look around this flight. It’s so damn somber.”
“You think?”
“So you and I still stand a chance,” he said. “No babies at home. No wives at home. No puppies at home. Come on, man, I’ve got it figured out.”
“What do you have figured out?”
Lay showed me his phone. “I know exactly what time we land, right? I have everything mapped out by the minute. Depending on how smooth you are at the strip club.”
“Strip club?”
“Yeah,” Lay said. “California. Warmth. Sun. The women are just…”
Lay kissed his fingertips and smiled.
“You need to relax a little,” I said. “Or go bother Riff. Or Reid. Or Matias.”
“I need you,” Lay said. “Everyone loves you, Mav. You’re the quiet and sexy guy. Women love that. They flock to you. And then I just slide right in and take what I want. We’re the perfect combination, Mav.”