I also tracked Haley in the box.
This wasn’t new. I’d been conscious of her location during every practice since I’d arrived. What was new was that she knew I knew she was there. I knew she knew. The footage shewas logging right now would show me playing with a controlled aggression that had nothing to do with the opposing team.
Crim noticed, though he didn’t say anything. He just played harder, testing me in ways that weren’t part of the drill.
I matched his every move.
We went back and forth for at least twenty minutes, pushing each other hard. It probably looked productive from the outside. The coaches seemed pleased. Crim did not seem pleased, but he concealed it well.
Coming off the ice after the last session, Brashe fell into step beside me.
“Good practice,” he said.
“Yes.”
We walked a few more steps.
“Haley’s office was warm today.”
The statement hung between us, but I didn’t respond.
His silence was worse than anything he could have said. He’d noticed, assembling the pieces into a picture I hadn’t given him permission to see.
We reached the locker room, and he veered off toward his stall. I continued to mine.
Neither of us said anything else.
After showering and dressing, I did some leg work in the gym and left.
Since the building emptied by five, it was quiet. Most of the staff and players were gone by now, headed home or to whatever they did when they weren’t here. I stayed late because that was me. I did film review on my own. Strength training in the weight room.
When I reached the stairwell, my phone rang. My agent calling about contract details. Nothing urgent. I leaned against the railing on the second-floor landing while we wrapped up the call.
The door beside me opened.
Haley came through, a bag looped over her shoulder. She stopped when she saw me.
The fluorescent light overhead flickered. It had been flickering for at least a week, the kind of thing maintenance would get to eventually but hadn’t yet. The landing was narrow, maybe six feet across, with concrete walls and a metal railing.
My phone was still in my hand.
She stopped beside me and looked up, her plush lips parting.
The knowledge appeared on her face before either of us moved. She wasn’t surprised the way she’d been in the hallway.
I slid my phone in my pocket.
She set her bag on the floor.
My hands found her face, tilting her chin up. A nudge and her back found the wall behind her.
Her hands came up to grip my jacket, pulling me closer. I kissed her the way I’d wanted to since the park bench, the welcome dinner, and when she’d handed me a sketch of Beau and looked at me like I was worth seeing.
She made a small sound when my ridged tongue found hers, and I pulled it deep inside. My hands slid from her face into her hair, tangling in the soft strands. She arched into me, her body fitting against mine.
I tugged her blouse free from her skirt and explored her infinitely soft skin beneath.
She gasped into my mouth.
