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ELI
“Mac?” I whisper. She’s dead to the world, her hair a mess of waves as she lies on the sheets. It’s a mess because of me. I kind of overshot. And then we had to shower, and one thing led to another.
I trace the bridge of her nose. Then the outline of her lips. She groans and lifts her hand, trying to bat me off like I’m a fly.
I hate waking her up. Over our nights together I’ve realized that she’s not a great sleeper. I, however, am, and I really don’t want to be awake right now. I want to be back in bed, her body curled around mine.
But here I am in my fucking clothes at stupid o’clock in the morning.
“Hunter,” I try again. “I have to go.”
“Huh?” Her eyes blink open. As soon as they land on me, they soften. I like that way too much.
“I have to go to practice.” It’s game day and we’re starting early. This one is important. Against our closest rivals. There’s been a beef between the Mavericks and the Fairview Phantoms for years and because we’re so close geographically it’s one of the few games that sells out.
She sits up, rubbing her eyes. She has bruises down her side from hitting the ice hard on our last lesson. I’ve been rubbing arnica into them every day and though they’re yellowing they still look obvious.
“What time is it?” she asks.
“Six-thirty.”
“I thought practice was at eight.” Her voice is groggy.
“It is, but I want to go over a few things before the team arrives.” I kiss her brow. “Go back to sleep.”
“You just woke me up,” she points out, not unreasonably.
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
Her lips curl. She leans forward and puts her arms around me, pulling me in for a soft kiss. One that gets harder. And then so do I. It takes more willpower than I realized I had to pull back.
“Will you be watching the game tonight?” I ask her.
“Yep.”
“I’ll see you then.” I kiss her again, reluctantly standing and stretching my arms. I’ve been staying at her place most nights. Apart from her skating lessons we leave the stadium separately every evening, then I call her from my car to decide whose place we’re going to.
She prefers hers which is fine by me. I don’t have to clean. Plus I don’t mind putting on yesterday’s clothes and showering in the locker room. Another reason to get there before the team.
The building still feels like it’s asleep when I arrive. I walk into the locker room and grab a towel, heading to the shower. The water is hot and steamy, but I’d still prefer to be in bed with Mackenzie. I’m dressed and drying my hair with a towel when Goran and Carter arrive, neither of them looking fully awake.
Luckily, they’re both here for rehab. They’ll get stretched and pummeled then join us on the ice at nine. “Everything okay?” I ask them.
They both nod. “Need coffee,” Goran says. “The shop doesn’t open until eight.”
“He wants to flirt with Mackenzie again.” Carter grins.
I lift a brow but say nothing. I’ve been careful as fuck not to be seen with her because I know she’d hate that. Which is pretty annoying because whenever I see her in the hallways she’s always looking delectable and all I want to do is push her against the wall and kiss her until she’s breathless.
It’s even more annoying seeing Goran take her coffee every day when I want that to be me.
The guys get changed then head over to the rehab room and I grab my phone and groan when I see the notification on there.
It’s my nephew’s birthday. I haven’t sent him a damn card.
I quickly tap out a message to Myles, telling him to wish Charlie a happy birthday and that I’ll bring his gift over this weekend.
Three little dots come up. I’m not surprised because Myles is an early riser, always has been. Unlike Liam, Linc, and Brooks who’d stay in bed all day if they could.
