“What are you thinking, darling?” Tanner asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing over at Rhea, who stood at his side.
“Let’s make this friendly little competition a little more interesting for me.”
“How so?” Rhea asked.
“Easy.” I affirmed. “I want to go on a date tomorrow night. I want to be wooed and seduced and end up with my ankles twisted behind my head if it’s all done properly.” I grinned when they both stiffened. “And you’re going to play for the privilege. Starting with the first period.” The buzzer sounded around us, signaling the end of the warmup round, and the teams started lining up on the ice behind them. “Whoever scores more goals in this period gets to pick out my outfit for the date.”
“Anything?” Tanner asked with a mischievous light in his eyes.
“Whatever you want me to wear, the choice is yours. From my shoes to my lingerie.”
“Deal.” Rhea said with a nod, skating backward with determination as she turned to Tanner. “Game on, Brooks.”
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” He cracked his neck and winked at me, joining her for the faceoff.
And with one quick blow of the ref's whistle, the puck dropped, and my heart rate skyrocketed as they went to work to earn the right to make the plans for tomorrow.
Tanner was already smirkingwhen the puck dropped, the kind of cocky little curve of his mouth that always made me want to knock his teeth out… or drag him into a dark corner and climb him like a tree. I hated that he had that effect on me.
Tonight, though?
Tonight it made my blood thrum.
Goldie stood at center ice, bundled in her pink puffy coat with that sexy little cardigan on underneath it, cheeks flushed, eyes glued to us like she was watching the world’s hottest showdown. Her attention always lit something inside me, it made me want to show off.
To win.
To dominate.
Focus, Dalton.
The puck hit the ice, and Tanner lunged. I cut around him, sharp and fast, our shoulders brushing. Even through our gear, it felt like a physical caress of his skin on mine, full of electricity that shot to my core, sudden and addictive.
I stole the puck cleanly and skated backward just to taunt him. His eyes darkened with that ‘oh, you want to play’ look that meant trouble.
“You really think you can take me?” He muttered when he got close enough. Not close enough to get the puck, though.
“I already am,” I shot back, passing around him and stuffing him into the boards as we rounded the net.
We were ignoring every other player on the rec league team, which was in poor taste, sure. But tonight, the ice could have been completely empty besides the two of us. No one else mattered.
Skating as if we were the only two around, we fought nonstop, using every trick we had in our books against each other. At one point, I skated so hard I felt like my lungs were on fire, and he did a circle around me, using his long legs to overtake the possession.
I may or may not have used my stick to trip him for it. That was the perk of weeknight rec league, after all. There was no such thing as a penalty box, and if he bitched about getting done up by a chick, he’d never hear the end of it.
It was dirty, duh. But that was why I had so much fun doing it.
Tanner Brooks wasn’t the kind of guy I was going to beat head-on. I had to outsmart him.
Or, better yet, cheat.
And besides, there was something oddly gratifying about how he continued to get up off the ice, brush himself off, and skate even harder after me each time. He was the big bad dog, chasing me down like his—prey.
Like his favorite snack, his hunger was clear in his eyes each time we came nose to nose at the face-off.
And damn if that kind of game didn’t make me hotter.
He slammed into me—not hard, but with enough force to jolt my balance and send a pulse of heat spiraling low in my belly. I recovered quickly, fighting for the puck, our sticks crashing, our bodies tangling. He pinned me against the boards for a second, breath hot on my neck as he used his body weight and height against me.
