She shakes her head before tucking her lip between her teeth, saying more with her eyes than I ever thought possible. “Can we go back to your place?”
“The hockey house? People might see you.” When she flinches I hurry to finish. “I don’t care who the hell sees you with me. I want you to be my girl, and I want a blimp to tell the whole world to fuck all the way off. You’re spoken for.”
She smiles, but it’s shaky.
“If you’re not ready to be mine though, that’s cool with me. We can take it slowly. My teammates don’t have to know. Eloise doesn’t have to know. Our parents don’t have to know.It can be just us.” I brush her hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek. “Whatever you’re ready for, I’m ready for. You set the pace.”
She looks me square in the eye and nods. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“I want to go back to your place.”
Winning the lottery wouldn’t feel as good as this. I can’t contain my glee as I pick her up and spin her around right there at the table.
“What the lady wants, the lady gets. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 25
Victoria
I’d be lying if I said there was no reaction to my arrival at the hockey house. All three de la Peña’s are lounging on the couch watching something on TV when we walk in. They don’t say a word, but their eyes follow me from the door through the foyer.
Eloise’s goalie guy, Ares, the youngest of the three brothers and the one who isn’t a twin, tilts his head to the side and nods like something clicked into place for him. He smiles before waving at me, and I offer him a shy wave in return. He moves to stand, but Apollo smacks his chest with an open palm, forcing him to sit back down on his ass. “Don’t.”
“I was just going to ask if she wanted a drink or something.”
“No you weren’t.” Artemis shakes his head. “Stay.”
“I’m not a fucking dog.” Ares brushes off Apollo’s hand.
Raffi takes my hand, leading me over to the couch. “Guys, this is Tori. We’re dating. Don’t embarrass me. Tori, these are the de la Peña brothers. None of them live here, yet they can almost always be found here.” He tosses the car keys to Apollo. “Thanks, man.”
After a quick hello, we stop by the kitchen. A guy I don’t know is heating something on the stove.
Raffi doesn’t need snacks right now, but he grabs us a couple bottles of water from the fridge, and sticks an apple in each pocket. “For later,” he says, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had both of them gone by the time we got to his room.
“Scott, Tori. Tori, Scott.” He fistbumps the guys at the stove. “Best friend of the de la Peña twins and all-around nice guy. Not a bad hockey player either.”
“I could say a great many things about you right now, Raf. But since we’re in polite company, I’ll bite my tongue. It’s nice to meet you, Tori. If this asshole doesn’t treat you right, you come find us, okay?” He cracks his knuckles, but he’s grinning at me.
Raffi isn’t even blushing. There’s no way his friends don’t know we’re here to have sex, and he’s just taking it in his stride, cool as a cucumber.
As we head to Raffi’s room, we pass Tate on the stairs. “Hey, jersey girl. Can you give me your friend’s number? The one with the Flames shirt?”
Folding my arms, I give him my best mean mug. “That’s not how we do things, Mr. Myers. You want her number, you should really ask her for it.”
“But I’m playing on the ice while she’s in the stands. If I go out looking for her, that’s stalking, and stalking’s illegal.” He laughs. “Unless you’re Ares.”
I laugh with him. When Ares was trying to convince Eloise to date him, he left packets of hot chocolate wherever she went. It was romantic, low-key stalking, but the guy has a point.
“Fine.” I plant my hands on my hips. “I’ll ask her if you can have her number. But if you hurt her I’ll slice your throat.”
The color drains from his face as he attempts to take a step back on the stairs. “Vicious. What’s your damage?”
“Shitty, cheating, hockey-playing ex. What’s yours?” I jut my chin out at him.
He holds his hands up. “Damn. Okay, you win. But we aren’t all shitty, cheating fuckers, okay? I’d never…” He scratches the back of his neck. “I’ve been cheated on, and it’s awful. I’d like to take your friend out for a drink, or dinner, or something, that’s all. Okay, fine, maybe give her a shirt that isn’t our opposition’s too.”
