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The rest of the boys hooted and hollered, and Hammer slapped me on the back. “Too many more nights like tonight, and those other guys are going to have a real fight on their hands to reclaim their spot on the top pairing.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wouldn’t deny it felt damn good to do something right. Not only that, but it was something I felt like I could do again and again. Maybe it wasn’t a one-time thing. Maybe I was starting to find my stride at the NHL level, finally.
It’d taken long enough.
I passed Ghost doing a post-game interview with Anne Dennison on my way up to the owner’s box. She was making googly eyes at him, and he was eating it up with the biggest shit-eating grin I’d ever seen. I had to fight down the urge to tell him they should get a room. They were on live TV. Not the right time for that.
Besides, I was hoping to collect Cadence and take her out somewhere. Not to do something of the get-a-room variety, although that thought had merit, and I hoped we were heading in that direction and would arrive sometime in the not-too-distant future. But for now, I simply wanted to be with her for a bit before we had to leave town again.
She looked up and smiled at me as soon as I came through the door, warming me all the way down to my perpetually cold toes. She’d been sitting with Katie again—no Dani, this time—but once she saw me she came over and rose onto her tiptoes to give me a peck on my chin.
It wasn’t quite the kiss I wanted from her, but at this point in our relationship I’d take whatever she’d give me. Pecks on the chin were still a hell of a lot better than being only friends.
I took her hand and led her into a quieter part of the room to give us some semblance of privacy. Not that I was deluding myself. No doubt every ear in that room would be on high alert, trying to figure out what was going on between us. Sometimes it seemed like that was all the Storm WAGs did all the time—try to hook up all the single guys. Hell, they’d gone above and beyond their usual level of interference at Christmas with the general manager, going behind his back to set up a profile for him on a dating website. It had all worked out in the end, but that was a ballsy move if ever I’d seen one. These women could be relentless when it came to being sure every guy involved with the team ended up just as happy and settled as they were, preferably with a boatload of babies on the way sooner rather than later.
If all went according to plan, though, they wouldn’t need to interfere with what Cadence and I had going. We were managing just fine on our own, thanks. Not that anything would keep these women out of it if they thought they might need to help. They hadn’t ganged up on me yet, but something like that could happen at any time, whether their interference was necessary or not.
Cadence wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her cheek on my chest. “You had a good game tonight,” she murmured, her voice muffled against my suit.
“You noticed? I thought I was nothing more than a guy on your brother’s team,” I teased.
“You are a guy on my brother’s team. But you’re also…” She shook her head and burrowed closer.
The sensation of having her pressed up against me like that was too much. Despite the layers of clothes between us, I felt every curve of her body. The soft mounds of her breasts and the hard peaks of her tits. The gentle slope of her waist and the smooth flare of her hips. My thoughts were heading south, fast. Needed to redirect my thoughts.
“Also what?” I prompted.
She shrugged. “According to Anthony, you’re also my man.”
There wasn’t any point in trying to stop myself from grinning. “What do you have to say about that? Am I your man?” Because I sure as hell wanted to be.
“I don’t know. What would that mean?”
“Well, to start, it’d mean I can kiss you. And hold you, like this. Maybe take you out sometimes.”
“So basically like before but with kissing and all that other yucky stuff that Connor doesn’t like, hmm?” There was a definite teasing quality to her voice.
“All that other yucky stuff?”
She went rigid in my arms as soon as the words left my mouth. But then she laughed. “Not right away.”
“Right. So not tonight, but tomorrow is a new day.”
“Watch it,” she said, laughing. “I’m getting pretty good at punching guys in the belly.”
“And kneeing them in the nuts,” Jonny said as he came into the owner’s box.
Hammer was right behind him. “Amen to that.”
Cadence whirled around, blushing. She was too fucking hot when she blushed. Made me think all sorts of things I had no business thinking with her brother standing three feet away. Still, I didn’t care. She was gradually letting down her walls and welcoming me in.
Slow and steady, I reminded myself. One step at a time.
“Come out with me tonight?” I asked once the guys made their way past us and we were as alone as was possible surrounded by all the WAGs and kids, not to mention half the team.
Still blushing, she turned back to face me. “Come out with you where?”
“Your choice. We can go with the big group to dinner and be surrounded by people. Or we can go, only the two of us, back to Shari’s and share a slice of pie.” I tried hard not to let my preference show too much. Either way, I’d be with her.
