I grew up in this rink, and seeing half-naked men is part of the job.
Yet, I never looked twice at any of them. Not one guy did it for me.
Until now.
With his muscular shoulders and arms on full display, Cam keeps going with the strip tease. He takes off his shoulder pads and his chest protector, and then pulls off his t-shirt.
I squeeze my thighs together and grit my teeth hard. If I was hot for Cam before, I’m about to burst into flames now.
Sweaty, bare-chested, and with a perfectly messy head of dark hair, Cam could grace the cover of any magazine and he’d sell out the racks. His chest is nearly hairless with pecs that demand you look at them. He grins at me, seemingly impervious to the cold.
And I may be naïve and inexperienced, but I know I’m not mistaking the fact that Cameron Wildwantsme looking at him. Brazen and cheeky, he’s the polar opposite to me and my shy demeanor. Craig calls out goodbye and dismisses the team, and everyone starts to leave the rink. Meanwhile, Cam’s dark eyes shine with mischief as he skates over to me. He leans over the boards and cocks an eyebrow.
“Hey, Ms. McMann. Aren’t you supposed to be joining me on the ice right about now?”
I draw closer to Eric without planning on it. “Um, Eric and I were still going over formations for this week’s game.”
Completely clueless to the way Cam is smirking at me, Eric waves his hand. “Vannah, go ahead and work with the new guy. I’ve got to get home anyway. Anna’s about to pop.”
“I thought she wasn’t due for a month.”
“She’s not. Doesn’t change the fact that this baby’s a load.”
He stands up and follows the rest of the team out of the arena.
The door bangs shut behind him, and Cam and I are alone.
I stand up, forcing myself to ignore my shaking legs. I open the swing door and step onto the ice, striding past Cam like he’s not changing every molecule in the arena with his presence.
“Okay.” I grab a stray hockey stick and pretend to take a shot. “Your shot’s on point. What do you want to improve upon this season?”
“I finally get to see you with a stick in your hand,” he teases me.
I laugh. “I guess you do.”
Still half-naked, Cam skates over until he’s close enough to touch. The air between us thickens so much I think I’m going to lose my mind.
Without thinking about it, I reach out and put my hand on his bare chest. He audibly sucks in his breath, and I can feel his heart racing beneath my hot palm. His dark eyes fix on me like I’m the most fascinating creature he’s ever seen. He looks at me like—like I matter. Like this electric current between us matters.
But his mouth is teasing and filled with fun. His expression seems to waffle between flirting and joking. And he’s a player. Probably in more ways than one.
My life is logical and safe. My world is a glass box with a hamster wheel inside where I run and run in place until I exhaust myself. It has no room in it for someone as complicated and confusing as Cameron Wild.
Fighting for control, I curl my hand into a fist and let go of him.
“Put a shirt on, please.” I walk over to the boards and grab his t-shirt. “I don’t want you getting pneumonia.”
His eyes tell me he knows exactly why I’m making this demand, but he complies.
And while Cam’s blinding beauty is now somewhat hidden by clothing, my pulse has gone haywire.
“I think we should skip the on-ice initiation and go straight to the coffee shop,” I say in a strained tone. “I’ll run over the team handbook with you. Some of the rules are important—”Like the one where I’m not allowed to date a player, for example.“—so I’ll meet you in my office in say, twenty minutes, and we can walk over together. Is that enough time for you to shower?”
He takes the stick out of my hand gently and gives me a wink. “Plenty. I’ll see you then.”
* * *
Cameron
