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She nods, and then steps up to me, pressing a light kiss to my cheek. “My pleasure,” she says with a little wink. And then she lets herself out.
The first time I paid for sex, I felt sick afterward. And then the next morning, I realized I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t worried about broken condoms or faulty birth control or any of the other unknowns associated with casual sex.
Karlie showed up that first night and I’ve just kept calling her back. It’s not that I’m attached. It just seems easier to only see one escort. Fewer people to know, smaller risk of someone blabbing. The last thing I need is a sex scandal. At thirty-three, I’m already the youngest head coach in college hockey. Discretion is paramount.
My phone buzzes with a text notification and I pick it up.
FLUX:Are you bringing guests to Seattle?
“Shit,” I mutter, realizing I’ve forgotten to let our travel agency know that I’ll be bringing no one with me to the Frozen Four.
ME:Do I look like the kind of guy who has an entourage?
FLUX:Touché
ME:You bringing people?
FLUX:My friends are coming. They’re going to share rooms.
ME:How many friends do you have?
FLUX:Zeke is coming, Pasha too—bringing girlfriends and friends
ME:Don’t tell the team
FLUX:No shit
Freddie Flux may have left the Portland Ptarmigans last season with an injury, but his friend Pasha Volkov was still a star defender for the team. And his other friend, Zeke Cooper, left the team earlier this season out of caution after a series of concussions. It was a great loss and the Ptarmigans haven’t yet recovered. But Zeke’s scrappiness was legendary, and he’s still treated like a celebrity around the city. Rumor is he may start doing some commentary for ESPN. Lately he’s been traveling, shooting a YouTube series about obscure sports. A few of his spots were picked up by NBC Sports and ESPN. They were good.
FLUX:You’ll like my friends.
ME:Because I’ll have so much downtime…
FLUX:Don’t be a dick. When we win, you’ll want people to celebrate with.
ME:Don’t jinx it, asshat
FLUX:Gonna jinx someone else tonight.
ME:Wrap it up
FLUX:Love you too
I roll my eyes and laugh at his antics. Freddy has always been one of those golden boys that is never without a beautiful woman on his arm, and yet it’s never the same one. And insanely enough, drama never follows. I once watched him break things off with a woman, who ended by thanking him for being so considerate.
I turn off the TV and go back to my still-made bed. I never bring Karlie to my bed. It feels wrong. This is mine.
I’ve never wanted to go to bed and smell a prostitute on my pillows. I used to love the way I’d crawl into bed after a long road series and smell Deanna on my sheets. It was intimate, and intimate has no place in my world right now.
CHAPTER3
MEGAN
“I can’t believeI’ve never done this before!” Ainsley nearly shouts over the overhead speakers during the second-period intermission. Her big, Juliette Lewis eyes take it all in with a flicker of mischievousness.
“Freddy’s guys are killing it!” I say, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my cropped black puffer vest. I love this vest. When I put it on tonight, Tansy walked in and immediately laughed about what happens when you put a cactus flower in an igloo. And then she put on her cowgirl boots. I just laughed. You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take the cowgirl boots from the girl.
“They are playing well, aren’t they?” I turn to Zeke and Pasha, sitting down the row on the other side of Faye and Lule.
