Page 75 of One Kind Goal

Chapter Twelve

Despite wanting to have his hands all over Morgan, Sawyer somehow managed to drive the three of them over to Austin’s house. Though he’d love to be on the ice tonight, playing alongside his teammates, being able to take Morgan and Nia to the game was pretty awesome. He’d called Brett earlier to tell him that he was bringing three additional guests besides Morgan. He’d teased his buddy a little too.

“One of the guests is famous, but he’ll be going incognito, and another is someone very special to me. Both of them would like to not have the media go wild around them. That goes for me too,” he’d said.

“Hmm . . . several names of famous people are swirling around my head, but I don’t have time for a guessing game. I’ll have to wait then,” Brett had said. “And no worries on the media. I’ll clear them out and text you to meet us in the locker room after the game.”

“Thanks, man.”

With that all set, Sawyer relaxed, ready to enjoy watching his favorite sport with his favorite people. Glancing at Morgan now as she sipped from a bottle of water in Austin’s living room solidified her as a favorite in his life. Seeing her and Nia in their matching outfits of Anchors T-shirts with blue, long-sleeved tees underneath and black leggings made him crazy for them both. It had been so thoughtful of Morgan to pick up that T-shirt for Nia. His daughter had been so excited and they’d taken at least ten selfies of the three of them in their Anchors gear. Hockey games were always fun. Hockey games with his daughter and his girlfriend were going to be epic.

“Okay,” Charlie said after fussing over the wind chimes Morgan had bought her at Trixie’s Attic. “Let’s hit the skies, people. We’ve got us some hockey brawls to see.”

“What’s a brawl?” Nia asked as Morgan helped her back into her jacket.

Charlie’s gaze flicked up to Sawyer. “Oops. Sorry. Not used to being around kids.”

“At least you didn’t swear,” Morgan said.

“Not yet.” Austin hooked his arm around Charlie’s waist and steered her toward the door.

Nia looked up at Sawyer expectantly. Of course she did. He’d answered every other question she’d had so far. She wanted an answer now.

“A brawl is like a fight,” he said slowly. “Sometimes when players don’t think a play is fair, they might get a little angry with the other team.”

“And they yell at each other?” Nia asked.

“Sometimes, yes.” Sawyer covered Nia’s curls with her purple knit hat and zipped up her jacket.

“Do they hit each other?”

“Occasionally.” He prayed no one did any hitting—or bleeding on the ice—tonight.

“Have you ever gotten into a brawl?”

Shit.

“Umm . . .” He scratched at his whiskered jaw.

“Only if it’s absolutely necessary,” Morgan cut in, taking Nia’s hand and tugging her toward Charlie and Austin at the door. “Hockey is a rough sport. It moves fast. Emotions get high. Things happen, but I’ve seen your daddy play. He tries to be fair, follows the rules as best as he can, and is focused on getting goals for the team. He’s good at his job.”

Hearing Morgan’s praise to divert Nia’s attention only showed Sawyer once again how good she was at parenting. She may not have had a ton of experience with kids, but she certainly was great with his kid.

“Thanks for handling that,” he said quietly as he followed her out the door.

“Easy to handle when it’s the truth.” Morgan smiled up at him. “You are good at your job. You do try to play a clean game.” She peeked at Nia running to catch up with Charlie and Austin near the chopper. “And when you do get into a brawl . . .” She leaned against him, making Sawyer wish they didn’t have layers of winter coats and clothes between them. “Your opponent is usually the one who sheds blood first and you usually win.” She brushed his lips with hers then turned toward the helicopter. “I’ll admit to being crazy turned on watching you skate away from a brawl as the victor.”

Sawyer stood still for several long moments, hoping the cold night air would do something about the raging erection straining against his jeans right now. It wasn’t looking good. He’d probably need a polar vortex to do the job. How was he supposed to make it all the way through an entire hockey game and meeting up with his teammates before getting to peel clothing off Morgan’s phenomenal body?

And it was definitely time to bring out the scarves again.

Letting out a low growl, Sawyer marched through the snow to the helicopter and hopped in beside Nia. He put on the headphones and made sure they were both strapped in appropriately before Charlie took off.

Flying at night was super cool. This being Vermont, there weren’t a ton of bright lights below them, but where there were, the snow took on a mystical blue hue. A glance upward brought an eyeful of stars against the black canopy of sky. His home in Rhode Island didn’t have a ton of light pollution around it, and stars could often be seen over the ocean, but that view still didn’t compare to this one. He’d been to Vermont during the fall too and that was undeniably gorgeous as well. Sawyer wondered what summer and spring brought to Maplehaven. Were they as picturesque? Would he like Vermont year round?

Especially if Morgan was here too?

He’d been thinking about her plans to move to Maplehaven and run Trixie’s Attic. Morgan struck him as the type to succeed if she put her mind to something. She may not have had an actual job before this, but she gave off a confident air that told him she wouldn’t fail. If she built her life here, could he do the same? Many of his teammates were scattered about New England. Hell, most of them didn’t live in Rhode Island where the team’s home base was. They’d settled in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut. Their goalie lived in Maine, on the Canadian border. Moving to Vermont wouldn’t affect his job much. He honestly only stayed in Rhode Island to be near Nia, but if Carina wasn’t going to be so restrictive anymore, there was no reason to stay. He could keep his place in Colorado for when he visited his mom and sister, but get a place here in Vermont too. Near Morgan.