Page 17 of Grizz

“But she walked in like she was wearing a goddamn power suit.Didn’t acknowledge any of it or try to laugh it off.She didn’t try to make it cute either like most girls would.She just marched straight toward the treadmill and started running like it was the most natural thing in the world.”I pause, aware that Tanner is studying me with far too much interest.“I don’t know.Something about that was…”

“Endearing?”he offers, grinning like he can see inside me, even though no one can.

“I was going to say unexpected.”

“Sure you were.”

Before I can respond, Jessica reappears, moving through the lounge with professional efficiency.“Gentlemen, we’re ready to board.Please gather your belongings and follow me to the aircraft.”

The guys start collecting their gear, the lazy afternoon energy shifting into travel mode.Tanner shoulders his bag and gives me a look that tells me the conversation isn’t over.

“You know what your problem is, Grizz?”

“I’m sure you’re about to enlighten me.”

We file toward the exit, following Jessica across the tarmac toward the gleaming aircraft.The thing is massive, painted in the green and black Vipers colors with the team logo emblazoned on the fuselage.

“Your problem,” Tanner continues as we climb the boarding stairs, “is that you’re used to people either kissing your ass or being intimidated by you.This Daisy PR chick?She’s doing neither and that’s got you all twisted up inside.”

“I’m not twisted up about anything.”

“Right.That’s why you spent twenty minutes telling me about a conversation that could have been summarized in two sentences.”

We step into the main cabin and the interior is right out of a five-star hotel suite.Leather seats that recline fully flat, personal entertainment systems, actual tables instead of those fold-down trays.There’s a lounge area in the back with a full bar and several flat-screens.Even after having flown on these charters since I arrived in the league almost ten years ago as an eighteen-year-old, it still surprises me just how much better flying private is.

I hadn’t even been on a plane until I was flown to the draft as a seventeen-year-old.Before that, junior hockey was long drives across the Canadian prairies in buses that had no heat during the winter and no air-conditioning during the summer.

Tanner snaps me back to the present.“Sounds like there’s some serious sexual tension between you and this Daisy chick,” Tanner opines as we settle into our seats.“Is she hot?”

“Yeah… she’s beautiful in that girl-next-door kind of way.”

Tanner snorts.“Oh yeah… definite sexual tension.And there’s only one way to solve that.”

I stare at him, completely picking up what he’s putting down.“Are you insane?”

“Think about it.She’s smart, she’s tough, she doesn’t take your shit.When’s the last time you met a woman who challenged you instead of just agreeing with everything you say?”

“She’s not a woman.She’s a complication.”

“Same thing, most of the time.”

The engines start up as the cabin crew finishes their safety preparations.Outside the window, the terminal grows smaller as we taxi toward the runway.

“Besides,” Tanner adds with that predatory grin, “hate sex is the best sex.All that aggression has to go somewhere.”

I close my eyes and lean back in my seat.It’s going to be a long flight… but Tanner’s not wrong about the hate sex.

Chapter 7

Grizz

TheTexassunblindsme the second we step off the plane.Heat rises from the tarmac in visible waves, the air thick enough to chew.Dallas greets us with a wall of humidity and a welcome committee of fans waving jerseys at the edge of the runway fence.

Tanner’s already talking about food.“Grizz, you see this new steakhouse downtown?”he says, sunglasses on, scrolling his phone.“Just opened last month.They do Wagyu flight tastings and bourbon pairings.I made a rez.”

“You really are something else, bro.”

“It’s called professionalism.”