Speaking of my girl, she’d left me a message while I was in the shower.
Gracie:Nice job. Guess I really owe you now, huh?;)
Me:I plan to cash in on that. Where are you?
Gracie:Heading back to the hotel with the girls. Andy said 1st round of drinks for the team are on him. Meet you there?
I had been hoping that we could skip the after-game party and get right up to my room, but I supposed that would be a little difficult for her to pull off with her brother and her friends there. So I swallowed my disappointment and let her know I’d be there soon, comforting myself with the knowledge that I’d have her alone—and hopefully naked—before the night was over.
The hotel bar was a madhouse. Every player on the team was there, along with all of the organization staff that usually traveled with us, plus the front office guys Andy had brought in for the game. There was also a fair amount of puck bunnies trying to work their way into the knot of players.
I saw Peyton before I saw Gracie. The tall blonde threw her arms around my neck. “That was so fucking exciting! You scored three goals! I fucking love hockey!”
I laughed and patted her on the back, searching for Gracie over her shoulder.
“Someone became a convert tonight,” a laughing voice said at my side and I looked over to see Grace and her friend Rosa approaching.
“Yeah, Peyton really liked the game,” Rosa said, rubbing at the side of her face. “Pretty sure she burst one of my ear drums with her screeching.”
Peyton finally released me. “I couldn’t help it! That was the most fun I’ve had in ages.” She winked at me. “I know absolutely nothing about the game, mind you, but it was still fun.”
“She kept referring to the penalty box as the time out chair and the puck as that little black ball,” Gracie said drily.
Peyton was casting appraising eyes over the crowd of my teammates. “I bet I could find someone here to teach meallabout it.”
“Just stay away from Gabe,” I warned her. “You scared the shit out of the poor guy at the cookout.”
Her eyes sparkled as she surveyed the room. “Any other tips for me?”
Over by the bar, I caught sight of Ryan Cane eyeing all three girls with clear appreciation on his face. Anger rose in my chest. “Stay away from Ryan Cane,” I told her, eyes darting over to Rosa as well. “That guy is an asshole.”
“Got it,” Peyton said, flouncing her hair out over her shoulders. “Wish me luck!”
“I have a feeling it’s the guys who are going to need luck,” Rosa shouted after her and we all laughed.
I finally let myself drink in the sight of Gracie. She wore a red wrap dress—team colors—that hugged and highlighted every single curve. All I wanted to do was untie the string at her waist and get my hands on her.
Fucking bar full of people.
“You look great tonight, Gracie,” I told her, not giving a shit if anyone overheard me. It would be a sin not to compliment a woman when she looked like that.
She scrunched up her nose a little. “I don’t usually wear red.” She patted the top of her hair. “Makes me look a little matchy-match. But I wanted to support the team so?—”
“You should definitely wear red more often,” I blurted out. I wondered if her underwear—the new underwear she’d picked out just for me—might match the dress and just like that I had to adjust my pants so I didn’t embarrass myself in front of half the Sting’s organization.
Gracie blushed then and she was right—that was an awful lot of red for one person. But it worked on her. I couldn’t imagine anythingnotworking on her. The girl would be stunning in a paper bag.
“Hey, man.” My eyes were finally forced off Gracie when I feel a hand slapping my shoulder. I look over to see Jay grinning at me, Karlsson at his side. “I don’t think Karlsson has met the girls.”
I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck, feeling slightly disoriented. It was so easy to block out the rest of the room when Gracie was nearby. I really needed to get a better handle on my reaction to her—particularly when her brother was in the same room.
“This is Grace and Rosa,” I said.
“We met at the cookout,” Jay said, pushing his way in front of me to shake Rosa’s hand, giving her that cocky-ass smile he was deluded enough to think all the girls love. He gestured at our Swedish teammate. “I’m Jason. And this gentleman is Poang.”
Karlsson sighed and reached out to shake hands with the girls. Jay took the opportunity to lean closer. “I’m trying to do you a favor, man. Boss man is about ten feet away and you’reeye-fucking his sister in front of everyone. I figured you needed a buffer.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, eyes scanning the room for Andrew. I spotted him a few feet away, deep in conversation with Coach and the GM. But every few moments, his eyes flicked over to us.
