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I showered and changed into my regular clothes, then dropped onto the bench seat beside Lennox.
He shot me a glare and stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles. “If you tell Zack to suck it one more time, I swear I’ll put your head through a locker.”
I clicked my tongue at him and made a sour face. “Aw. What’s the matter, Lenny? Did you not get laid last night?”
Lennox smacked the back of my head without hesitation, grinning the whole time. “None of your business, asshole.”
“Somebody’s cranky.” Zachary toweled off his hair and grabbed his jeans from his locker.
“Can’t imagine why.” Honestly, his attitude came as a bit of a surprise. Lennox was usually the chill one of our group. The only time I really saw him turn hostile was on the ice. Out here, hewas one relaxed dude. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with the coach’s daughter, would it?” I wiggled my eyebrows and curved my hands through the air to create an hourglass silhouette. “She’s hot.”
Zachary yanked his pants up and growled while slamming his locker shut. “Don’t, Justin. She’s not to be played with.”
“Who said anything about playing?” Adrenaline sang through my veins. I was talking shit and I knew it, but I couldn’t help it after such an awesome practice. “I like her.”
That shut them the fuck up. Spinning around, I whistled and opened my locker, then started spiking my hair until I had it the way I liked. The white-blond hair set off my tanned skin and blue eyes. I didn’t need my hair falling over my forehead like some guys. No. This was perfection. Women couldn’t resist once they caught sight of my baby blues. I’d learned to use that to my advantage. Was Lucy a sucker for blue? One way to find out. She’d been professional and courteous yesterday, but I was pretty sure she was digging me. If I’d had a few more minutes with her, I would’ve have scored a date.
And with me, dates always ended in sex. I winked at myself in the mirror and wiped the last of the hair gel on my towel.
Zachary and Lennox stared at me with matching frowns. “You need to be careful with Lucy,” Lennox said. He sat forward and lowered his forearms to his thighs.
Zachary shoved his feet into his boots and bent to lace them up. “She’s not someone you can bang and ditch.” He jerked on his laces like they’d personally offended him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I knew, of course, but I was having too much fun watching them try to act like they were concerned for me when it was really Lucy they were both thinking about.
She’d had that effect on all three of us from the minute we took off our helmets and got our first look at her. I didn’t believein love at first sight. Didn’t believe in love at all, actually, but I believed in a heavy dose of lust.
“Dating Lucy is against the rules.” Lennox lowered his voice and scanned the locker room.
I followed his gaze and found we were the last three in the room. “Come on. You really think Coach would get rid of us if we dated Lucy?”
“He might get rid of Lucy.” Zachary slapped the wooden bench. “Don’t you think about anyone other than yourself? Lucy has a daughter. She probably needs this job. You’re not going to screw that up for her.”
Damn. He had it bad for the little blonde. I didn’t expect that.
“It’s not just that it jeopardizes the team.” Lennox held up a hand to stop Zachary from rising. He faced me. “At best, dating Lucy will make the others think you’re getting special treatment. Coach’s favorite.”
“At worst, you break her heart like you do every other woman you’ve dated.” Zachary ground out between clenched teeth. “You fall in and out of love faster than most men change socks.”
“You two are really torn up about this.” I couldn’t believe it. The two most laid-back guys on the team were getting shaken over Lucy. Why? They were right about everything. I had a reputation for sleeping around. It accentuated my playboy lifestyle. Kept people from looking too close.
I didn’t fall in love, despite Zachary’s claims. I never fell in love. Never had and never would.
Love made me weak, and I couldn’t risk that, especially at the peak of my career. I played up the playboy personality for the attention it brought me and my career. No one could fault me for wanting to make something of myself. Coach Ashley had the team of a lifetime. We were on our way to the national championship.
Lennox flipped a towel in Zachary’s direction. “Settle down. Justin will do the right thing. He’s too concerned with his career to jeopardize it.”
“True that.” I spun around and put on my shoes. “And I’m not going to put Lucy at risk of losing her job.” I rolled my eyes when Zachary held up a warning finger and stood. The only women I dated were the ones who wanted something from me. It became a mutual thing at that point, and we both got what we wanted without me feeling like I was just using them for sex and discarding them. I’m an asshole, but I’m not that big of a prick.
“Listen to me.” Zachary crossed the room and cut in front of me before I could walk out. “You’re not going to hurt Lucy.”
“You’re not listening tome,” I emphasized. “I like her. I’m not going to hurt her. That’s not what I do.”
“So, you’re not going to try and sleep with her even though Coach gave us specific instructions to leave his daughter the hell alone?” Zachary arched one eyebrow but lowered his hands.
Good, because I’d feel real bad if I had to punch a fellow teammate in his smug ass mouth. I shrugged like it didn’t matter, even though it mattered a lot. I didn’t just want to have sex with Lucy. There was something different about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. There were a lot of places Iwouldlike to put my fingers, and they all involved Lucy’s body.
She’d shown me her sharp wit in her office yesterday, and I couldn’t help grinning at the memory. She was someone who wouldn’t let me get away with shit. I liked that about her. She’d been right about my leg. Maybe I should check in with her on my way out and have her give me another checkup.
