“Carbs.” She grinned and crunched. “And Bronwyn, if you and Dylan ever decide to come clean about your relationship, you’ll be invited to all of the public skating parties. I’ll show you a few tricks.”

  My cheeks flushed pinker than the bottle of rosé in the bucket of ice beside us. “We’re just friends.”

  “Mmmhmm. Sure.” She spoke through a mouthful of popcorn. “I don’t know you well, Bronwyn but I know that guy down there.” She pointed to the ice where the players had started warming up. “And he’s not fooling me.”

  “I can’t skate.” I tried to steer the conversation back to the public skating party nightmare.

  Jessie choked on a piece of popcorn and pounded her chest with her fist. “Does Dylan know that? They pretty much issue every baby a pair of skates when they leave the hospital here. I don’t know anyone who can’t skate.”

  “I mean, I’ve gone in Central Park, but we just kind of stood there.” It had been a photoshoot, and I wouldn’t have called it skating, it was more like extra slippery, jerky walking and then trying to remain upright before being helped to the side.

  Jessie handed the bag of popcorn to me. “Well, it’s a good thing that you know a couple of people who can teach you a few things. I’ll have you doing a waltz jump in no time.”

  The idea of gliding around the ice, hand in hand with Dylan, our friends skating around us seemed more like paradise than spending a week in the South of France. My hand had subconsciously found its way to rest on my belly and I watched Jessie’s eyes as they traveled from my face to my hand.

  With the fresh sheet of ice gleaming in the stadium lights, an excited murmur spread through the crowd. The announcer came over the loudspeakers and introduced the opposing team of the evening, the New York Thunder. The audience cheered and most stood on their feet. When Kane stepped onto the ice, Jessie hopped up and screamed and pumped both of her fists in the air. The admiration on her face shone and brought tears to mine. The diamond on her finger sparkled as she took her seat. After the final Thunder player had entered the stadium, the lights went down, and AC/DC blared through the speakers.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. Your hometown Ooooooooooooooootters.” The announcer bellowed.

  The excited crowd took it up a notch. If the fans were at a nine before, they were now at an eleven. The blue and white jerseys exploded from the boards through a sea of dry ice, and I found myself on my feet. Jessie smiled as she stood clapping beside me.

  As the players were introduced, my heart was in my throat. My secret boyfriend was down there, and all these people were here to see him. “Where is he?” I leaned in to Jessie and yelled.

  “He’s the Captain, he’ll be on last.”

  “He’s the Captain?”

  Jessie shot me a puzzled look. “He is, and look…” Jessie gestured with her thumb to the box beside us. “Scouts. Rumor has it they’re here to watch Dylan again.”

  The pride bloomed across my chest. Dylan hadn’t told me any of this. “Does Dylan know?”

  Jessie rolled her eyes. “He shouldn’t, but my big-mouth boyfriend told Leo. And everybody knows that guy can’t keep a secret.”

  “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me,” I said, more to myself.

  Jessie elbowed me and raised her eyebrows, “Why would he tell you that? You’re just friends.”

  “Jessie. I…”

  The announcer interrupted me before I could tell Jessie the secret that had been burning me up inside. Dylan was my man, and I was about to give up everything to be with him.

  “Captain of the Laketown Otters, Dylannnnnnnn Moss.” My hands clenched in front of me like a little kid waiting for an ice cream cone.

  Jessie hooted for Dylan and the rest of the auditorium chanted: Mossy, Mossy.

  He burst through the cloud of dry ice and I heard a woo-hoo coming from my body.

  After the puck dropped, I was enthralled. I had been to National League games before, but none had drawn me in and enraptured me like this game. The skating was fast, and the hits were hard.

  “Who are you cheering for?” I leaned into Jessie and we both kept our gaze locked on the action.

  “Don’t tell Kane, but I grew up cheering for the Otters, it’s in my DNA to root for the hometown team. If Dylan plays his cards right, this could be his ticket out of here and away from fixing boats for a living.

  How could I have been so short-sighted? I kept my eyes glued to the action, but my mind was racing. I had sold Dylan short, not only to my parents but to myself. Dylan was talented, smart, and good-looking, He could do anything he put his mind to – especially with the right person backing him. A good woman standing by his side supporting him, not hiding him from her parents. Not being embarrassed by his job or his blue-collar upbringing.

  “You okay?” Jessie’s voice brought me out of my daydream.

  I blinked hard and the sounds of the crowd and the bangs of the boards with body checks came back into focus. “I’m fine.” I gave her one of my cover-perfected smiles.

  “Good.” She patted my arm.

  The crowd erupted in cheers and the red goal light flashed above the Thunder’s goalie. Jessie and I whipped our heads back to the game. The first goal of the game had been scored by my boyfriend. He was gliding on one skate, his stick in the air, and his eyes – his eyes were on mine. I leaped out of my seat and clapped, holding his gaze until his team members surrounded him.

  “Jess. I…I need to tell you something.”

  She took her eyes from the game and trained them on mine. “What is it?”

  “I’m in love with your brother.” The words spilled out of my mouth.

  “I know.” She gave me a hug. “I think he knows, but you should probably be telling him that.”

  My cheeks hurt as I tried to keep the grin from spreading across my face, “I’m going to tonight.”

  Sixteen

  Dylan

  Just knowing that Bronwyn had been in the barn had made me play better. It wasn’t to impress her; it was as though her presence somehow made everything – right. Was I losing my mind? I didn’t have any worries when she was around, and for the first time in a long time, I could focus on the game.

  “Nice work tonight, Moss.” Leo clapped me on my back as we left through the players’ entrance. “What’s your secret?” There was a gleam in his eye. And I knew that he was waiting for me to say something really dirty. Old me totally would have made some immature comment, but I felt protective of Bronwyn like she deserved more respect than locker room banter.

  “It’s not what you think.” I pushed open the metal door and humidity hung thick in the air. “It’s literally the opposite of what you think.”

  Leo stopped so quickly his running shoes squeaked on the pavement. “The opposite? Who are you and what have you done with Dylan Moss?” he laughed.

  “We’re taking things slowly.” I tossed my bag into the back of the car and let the hatchback click shut. “And Leo,” I whispered. “The pent-up energy – it’s making me play better, I swear.”

  “That old wives’ tale?” Leo continued to the lobby where his girlfriend, Faith would be waiting along with my girl. I jogged to catch up to him.

  “I think there’s something to it.” I grabbed onto Leo’s forearm, pulling him to a stop. “I’m not even jerking off,” I whispered.

  “Dude.” Leo wrenched his arm free. “Too much information.”

  It was standard locker talk, but maybe we were both growing up. I shrugged. “You asked.”

  Leo laughed and opened the door to the lobby. “True enough. Well, whatever you’re doing – or not doing, keep not doing it. We won tonight, but not by much. And man, that first goal was a beauty. Now, are you ready for the fans?”

  The rest of the team had already joined the National League players in the lobby. It was a Laketown tradition that the players would hang out in the lobby after the games and hand out autographs. It was good to see that the National guys were playing along too. The Laketown kids were going to remember this series for years.

  After signing what felt like a hundred autographs and posing for double the number of photos, I was spent.

  “Can I have your autograph?” A girl wearing an Otters hat and frumpy baggy grandma clothes thrust a wrinkled gas receipt and a pen at me.

  I took the pen. “Who should I make it out to?”

  The giggle made me look up. It was Bronwyn, in disguise.

  “How about you make it out to your not secret girlfriend.”

  Instead of signing the paper, I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled her ear close to my mouth. “For real? What about the paparazzi?” I hadn’t truly understood her rationale for keeping the relationship a secret, but hell, I hadn’t cared. Secret or not, I was with Bronwyn Yates.

  “Fuck the paps.” She took off the baseball hat and her eyes sparkled almost as brightly as her white-blonde hair. Only Bronwyn could look gorgeous under fluorescent lighting.

  I kissed her cheek and she folded against me. I wrapped my other arm around her shoulder as we kissed, the gasps of recognition disappearing into the background. When her lips left mine, the world came back into view along with ten million cell phones – all pointing at us.

  “I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” I whispered into her ear. She slid her arm around my waist.

  “Good.”

  I don’t know what was better, walking out of the arena with a short-handed goal against the New York Thunder under my belt or, having the most beautiful woman I’d ever known on my arm. The crowd followed us outside and a familiar luxury SUV pulled up in front of us.

  The tinted window rolled down. “What are you looking at? Get in,” Jessie shouted.

  I opened the door for Bronwyn, and she slipped across the leather seat as I shut the door behind me. Kane eased his way through the crowd. “I thought we had it bad.” Kane looked in the rearview mirror. “But you, Bronwyn, that’s another level of craziness.”

  “I know,” she sighed. “And that wasn’t even that bad.”

  Kane navigated the Mercedes to Oak Street. “Are you two coming to the after-party?”

  I looked at Bronwyn and she shook her head subtly, and her eyes told me that she was looking to do something other than hanging out with a bunch of hockey players – and her hand sliding to the front of my jeans confirmed it. “I’m actually trying to stay away from parties right now – Coach’s orders. But…if you want to go…”

  “You know what. That sounds like fun, but I’m very tired.” She spoke through a very convincing yawn.

  Kane glanced in the rearview mirror. “So, I’ll drop you two off at the Yates Estate then?”

  “Sure--” I looked to Bronwyn as I answered but she interrupted me.

  “No.” Her voice was stern and then softened. “I mean, I’d really like to see your house.”

  If it wasn’t dark, she would’ve been able to see the wrinkles in my forehead. In all the years that we’d been together, we’d never gone to my house. I racked my brain trying to remember if I’d put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and if I’d put away, or even folded the baskets of laundry that had piled up in my room. I was a bachelor working a full-time job and training in elite hockey, I didn’t have time to fold my boxers up into squares.

  “I’d like to see the flower gardens. You know, like from the bouquet you brought me the other day.”

  Jessie spoke from the passenger seat. “The gardens are beautiful.”

  “Alright then, let’s go to my house.” It seemed weird, but with the added pressure from my cock pressing against the buttons on my jeans, I didn’t care if we were going to a shack in the woods.

  The lights from Kane’s SUV hadn’t even left the driveway when Bronwyn came at me. As soon as the front door was shut and she pressed me up against it, her fingers fumbling at the button on my jeans.

  “What happened to taking it slow?”

  She paused and looked up at me then nipped at my bottom lip. “Maybe I’m just teasing you.”

  I arched my back pushing my hips and buttons harder into her fingers. “Do your best. It’s making me play better than I ever have in my life.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” My cock was throbbing and there was no way I wanted her to stop – but we’d had a deal, and even though I said I wasn’t superstitious, what if the blue balls were the secret to my hockey success?

  She traced the bulge in my jeans with her nail and slid down my body to her knees. The heat from her breath filtered through the denim and goosebumps erupted over my entire body. My knees almost buckled when she kissed the zipper. In this state, if she were to take me in her mouth, I was a goner.

  The sparkle in her eyes as she looked up at me made my legs feel even weaker. I let my hands rest on her silky hair. “What did I do to deserve this?” I meant her, not the teasing, but she misunderstood and rose to kiss me again.

  “That goal. I’ve never been with a hockey star before.” I let the comment slide, we’d never spoken about our pasts, but I was pretty sure there had to be a few pro players under her designer belt.

  I scooped her up in my arms and took the stairs two at a time and tossed her onto my bed. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that I had made it that morning and her hair was splayed out over the plaid comforter. I crawled over the top of her and kissed her jawbone, her breath was raspy against my ear. “I’ve never been with a supermodel before.”

  She laughed and slapped at my arm. “That’s not true. You’ve been with me before.”

  I tapped my chin like a detective from an old movie. “Well, you’ve got me there, Princess.”

  She crossed her arms across her chest and gave me a fake-looking pout. “What happened to Queen?”

  “They behead people who do stuff like this to the Queen.”

  “Stuff like what? —”

  Instead of responding, I undid the button on her ugly jeans and she wriggled to help me as I slid them down her mile-long, tanned legs.

  “This.” I kissed the front of her panties, and she squeezed her knees around my ears.

  “Dylan, wait.” Her voice was breathy as I bit the pink fabric and pulled the panties down with my teeth. She put the panties back in place. “Wait a minute.”

  I rested my chin on the bone between her legs and stared up at her.

  “Not like that. Come up here.” It was getting really weird, her words were serious, but her voice was filled with giggles.

  “My Queen.” I bit the panties again. “Permission to pause the talk, wait until after I’ve…” I was going to say eaten, but it seemed too crass. Instead, I kissed one thigh then the other.

  Her legs trembled against my head and her fingertips had made their way to my hair. “Permission granted.”

  It took everything I had not to kick off my 501s and fuck her. My brain was into our dating game, but my cock was clearly not on board. He didn’t care about the hockey, or the build-up anymore. He wanted some action.

  Bronwyn writhed underneath my face, arching her back and moaning. “I’m getting close, Moss. I’m going to…” Her back was arched tight like a bow and my comforter was fisted in her hands. “Come.” She screamed as her body bucked beneath me. She was twitching as I replaced her panties, and she flinched as I patted the front of the floral lace into place. She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling sharply as I kissed my way up her body.

  I propped myself up on my elbow and pressed my body against hers. There was no way she’d be able to miss the raging hard-on pressing into her hip. “What did you want to talk about my Queen”? I was hoping it was an amendment to our agreement.

  She propped herself up on her elbows. “I don’t want our relationship to be a secret anymore.”

  I nodded. “I figured as much when you let ten thousand people photograph us together tonight.” I brushed her hair behind her ear. “That felt good by the way.”

  “Didn’t it?” She smiled and nuzzled her face into my chest.

  “Alright, so we’re official? You’re my girlfriend.” I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me.

  She batted her eyelashes at me. “If you’ll have me.”

  I threw myself on her and her giggle in my ear made my heart soar. The feeling at that moment was better than any goal I had ever scored. I went to kiss her, but she put her finger on my lips. “There’s one more thing.”

  “Anything.” Was this where we changed the rules? I didn’t think it was possible for my cock to get any harder, but it proved me wrong. I shifted uncomfortably, my fingers twitching to release the throbbing monster from my jeans, like a gunfighter in the countdown to a duel.

  “It’s a weird question. And I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”

  This was definitely not the direction I thought the conversation was headed and my tense body relaxed. “You can ask me anything, Bron.”

  She opened her mouth, and a little squeak came out like her throat had closed around her words.

  “What is it?” I had never seen her like this. Something was wrong.

  She sat up completely and I wrapped my arm over her shoulders.

  She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Would you still want to be my boyfriend if I didn’t have any money?”

  My head jerked involuntarily like I’d been slapped. “What? What are you talking about?”

  She stared at her fingers in her lap. “If I lost everything, would you still be interested in me?”

  I shifted, so I could slip my hand under her chin and force her to look me in the eye. “Bron? What kind of a question is that? Do you think I’m with you for your money?”

  “No,” she gushed. “Not at all. It’s just something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Are you alright? Is everything okay?”

  “I’m fine, Dylan. I really am. It’s just… my family. They put these ideas into my head about every man.”

  “Every man, or just the dirty mechanic who fixes their boats?” I narrowed my eyes at her. Like a bad third period, this night had taken a turn for the worse.