I crinkle my nose, as my stomach tightens at the thought of flying down the street at supersonic speed. As a nurse, I see the results of such speed, see far too much loss. Perhaps that’s why I’m so cautious and controlled. “Sort of the complete opposite.”
His gaze moves over my face again, then lowers for a low sweep of my damp top. “No worries, Jules,” he says in a low voice that makes me wonder if it’s normally reserved for the pillow. “I can go slow. Real slow.”
Honest to God, if I didn’t know better—and I do—the soft way he just said slow makes me think he’s talking about sex, and not getting behind the wheel of a fast car. Okay, clearly, I’m exhausted and hallucinating, right?
3
Rider
I’m in a good mood. A damn good mood, and I’m not sure why. I mean, there’s no reason for me to be upset or angry. We just kicked the shit out of the Anaheim team, which means we’re one step closer to securing the cup, but I’m not entirely sure that’s where my high is coming from. I lift my stick as I glide across the ice, and the crowd goes crazy, cheers erupting from the stands. Some very familiar puck bunnies jump up and down and wave homemade banners to fight for our attention.
I get checked from behind and turn to see Kane. “You going to hit that?” he says to me, gesturing with a nod to some blonde as she screams my name at the top of her lungs.
“Nah, not tonight.”
“I’m starting to worry about you, dude,” he says as we make our way off the ice and into the locker room where the energy is high and everyone is talking about Zander’s winning goal. My gaze goes to Zander, and while he’s all smiles, he’s on the phone, a big grin on his face. Since he got married to Sam, and now they’re bringing another child into the world, a sibling for his daughter Daisy, I’ve never seen the man happier.
“You know my rules. No sex during game week.”
“Game’s over for the week,” Kane informs me. “We don’t play again until next week in Philly.”
“Yeah, okay so maybe I’ll hit that,” I say just to get my bro off my back. But the truth is, Jules has been on my mind since I first met her. I’d driven her home, but we didn’t exchange numbers. Kane probably didn’t get her friend’s number either, as he rarely—or never—goes out with the same woman twice. I need to forget her. I want to forget her. So why the fuck can’t I get her smile out of my goddamn head?
I grin, and Kane must mistake it, because he says, “Now look at you. Sex is putting a smile back on your face.”
Before I can stop myself, I say, “Let’s get a drink at Nelly’s first.” Shit what am I doing? Hoping to run into Jules again? I mean the odds of that… Actually, I don’t know what the odds are. I have no idea how often she goes there. It’s close to her work, but still.
Kane shakes off his gloves and gives me the side eye. “Why do you want to go back there?”
“No reason.”
I try to shift away from his watchful eyes. Dammit, I wish my brother couldn’t read me so well. Then again, I suppose I can read him too. Fifteen years ago, at the age of fourteen, I moved in with his family of five, and Kane and I shared a room. I was only supposed to be there temporarily, but we totally hit it off like brothers—which meant we bickered about everything and anything. Maybe I was resentful that he had a loving family and stability, and I think he hated that he had to share everything with the asshole who’d just invaded his home, and it’s possible I was a real asshole. But then one day, a group of guys thought it would be fun to kick the shit out of the poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks, a kid who did not belong in their middle-class neighborhood—or so they thought.
Like any good brother, Kane came running to my defense, and back to back, he stood with me, fought with me. I’ll never forget that day. My heart still wobbles a little when I think about it. We’d been on our way to the rink and I was lagging behind. Kane was a kick-ass hockey player by the time I met him. I was a nobody. But his parents bought me a pair of skates—maybe they thought it would help us bond. No one really won the fight that day, and those fucking douche bags ran away with my skates, but it did change things between Kane and me. A truce had been formed when he lent me his skates for tryouts, and while I never really threw myself in to anything back then, I wanted to make Kane proud of me. I ended up impressing everyone, and earned myself a spot on the junior team. In the end, I showed a tremendous amount of skill and I guess that’s why Kane’s parents never shipped me off to the next home. With hockey, I was worthy of being loved. I was someone.
“You sure about that?” Kane asks, bringing my thoughts back. “Absolutely no reason you want to go back to Nelly’s?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. I’m the one usually dragging you to the bars. Did you hook up with someone after I left? Wait, I thought I saw Candy in the parking lot with all her friends when I grabbed an Uber.”
“I saw her, too.” I tug off my helmet and run my hands through my wet hair. “But we didn’t hook up. I ended up talking to Lindsay’s friend.” When Kane stands there, his look stunned as he stares at me, confusion all over his face, I say, “Lindsay. You know, the girl you left with?”
“I know who she is.” He drops down onto the bench and tugs off his skates. “How do you know her name?”
I shrug like it’s nothing. “Jules, her friend told me. They met for drinks, but I ruined her night.”
“It’s not like you to ruin a girl’s night.” Kane grins. “Maybe you really are out of practice.”
“Ha. Ha. Jules had just gotten off work at the hospital. She’s a nurse, and was having a drink with her friend when I intervened.”
“And you didn’t sleep with her?”
“No.”
“How did you learn so much about her, then?”
“It’s called talking,” I say, deflecting so I don’t have to think too hard on why I was interested in learning so much about her. “You can do that with girls. You should try it.”