While jarred enough to shake his head, he was on his feet in a flash, running on his skates toward me.
“Hey!” Coach Wagner yelled as he got in the middle of the two of us. “Enough. Christ. What am I running, a daycare?”
With a smile on my face, I flipped Nick off and he was about to jump over the coach, cheered on by a couple of the guys.
“I said fucking enough!” The coach’s voice bellowed across the ice. “Whatever the hell is wrong with the two of you, suck it up. You’ve just earned yourself forty-five minutes of drills. Get to it.”
I heard a collective groan from a couple of the guys as I leaned over, placing a hand on my knee while cooling down. You bet I’d been on fire and in truth, I had to give credit where it was due.
“Move!” the coach yelled again.
When I stood, I was body checked by three of the team, their shoulders hitting me hard. I could tell the coach was fit to be tied.
I moved away from the others, trying to cool my ass down. A couple of images floated in front of my eyes, which helped.
The woman from the night before. She’d been the catalyst to let go of some anger, using all that testosterone for a much better use.
If only I could secure the opportunity to thank her. Then again, I’d thought about what Ansley had mentioned. Was it possible the girl had been using me for some nefarious purpose? Oh, hell, no. I’d feel her deception in my bones, which I didn’t. What I did feel was chemistry. Way too much chemistry. In fact, my hunger was more intense than before, my wolf needing to see her again.
But how in the hell could I see her again without risking blowing my cover? God. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid as to lie to her.
“Nice job, Beast. Very nice indeed,” Coach Wagner called. “Now, let’s see if you can keep the momentum going into Saturday. Time for some drills, ladies. You obviously need the repetition.”
Another collective groan could be heard from every player. As with everything else since I’d arrived, it would seem they were eager to lay the blame on me for some extra work.
Hell, I didn’t mind. As the coach said, I needed to keep the momentum going.
We covered the ice, working the drills for a solid forty-five minutes until we were drenched in sweat.
The whistle was blown again and I noticed the photographer had continued taking pictures. Ansley had made good on her promise, sending me a long email of dos and don’ts. Whatever. I was here to play hockey, not turn into the cover story.
So as not to hear their bullshit, I headed to the showers as soon as we were dismissed. At least the practice had gone off without a hitch.
I pushed through the others, heading into the locker room.
“Hey, how was your date?” Danny was going in the opposite direction, his grin a mile wide.
“It was nice.”
“Nice, huh? Did you tell her the truth?”
“I couldn’t do it.”
He whistled and turned around to face me as he passed. “That’s risky, man. I’m going to be at the game on Saturday. Looking forward to watching you crush the competition.”
“Thanks, man.” No pressure. No pressure whatsoever.
With thoughts of the lovely woman, I stripped off my clothes in record time.
I walked into the showers, eager to wash off the sweat. As I turned on the water, I was struck by the fact I could still gather a whiff of Christine’s perfume. How was that even possible? I’d had fleeting thoughts of her all day, wondering why I’d been such an oaf and hadn’t gotten her phone number.
Because that would mean confessing my true identity. I could only imagine what she’d say and how she’d react. Nah. It was better this way. She didn’t need to get tangled up with some hockey player.
The other players started filing in, half giving me dirty looks.
Finally, Tony moved to the shower beside me. Until I’d arrived, he’d had his share of notoriety both on and off the ice. Considered a ladies’ man, he enjoyed the limelight more than most.
“You didn’t do too badly today, buddy,” he finally said a few seconds later.
