Page 43 of Match Penalty

She pulls him toward the dance floor, and he goes willingly.

Aleksi wanders off too, leaving Scottie and I to search for an open table.

I catch the sight of Wolf, sitting at a large table already with beers ready to go. He waves us over.

In a matter of minutes, I glance out from my spot at the table, a cold beer in my hand. Wolf and Scottie are deep diving into puck theory, now with diagrams drawn on napkins.

Hunter’s moved on from the blonde, already charming his way into dancing with three different women with that easy smile of his. He's in his element here.

Aleksi is attempting what he claims is dancing, but it looks more like he's having a seizure. I could care less about my teammates inability to dance because my attention keeps drifting to her.

Cammy's dancing with Aria and Kendall on the dance floor while Brynn, Penelope, and Isla are taking shots at the bar.

She's beautiful. No surprise there.

Anyone can see that, but seeing her like this—relaxed, happy, free—it hits differently. Makes me want to be a part of that somehow.

"You're staring," Aleksi says, sliding onto one of the barstools at the table.

"I'm not," I lie.

"Right." He follows my gaze. "You haven't taken your eyes off her since we got here."

I don't bother arguing. We both know he's right.

“I haven’t seen you make a move with Dr. Hensen yet.” I counter.

He looks over his shoulder. “Soon. I need to warm up.”

I laugh, looking around to see the first round of beers are gone. “Want a beer? I’m going up to the bar to get another round,” I offer.

“Sure, thanks,” he says, distracted by the diagram that Wolf has drawn as he gets sucked into their conversation.

I move through the crowd, but it’s not easy. This place is packed for a Thursday night, but I guess Ladies’ Night is a solid marketing gimmick.

When I finally make it through the crowd, I see the bar, at least three people deep around the entire perimeter. Six bartenders are working as fast as they can to fill drink orders. I see an opening as a small group moves away from the bar, and I slide in, beating out a few others. The crowd fills in quickly around me.

"Sorry… umm… excuse me," a familiar voice says, and my whole body tenses.

Cammy.

She’s trying to squeeze in a few feet down the line from me without any success. Most everyone else is in the same position as she is, waiting for their drink order. She still hasn’t seen me.

I can see the bartender on his way down the line—I’m up next.

I glance over to see Cammy moving down the line, trying to find another spot to get in, but she seems flustered. Just then, someone bumps into her, almost tripping her up in those four inch heels of hers.

I whip an arm out and reach around her, my hand gripping her hip, yanking her to me. She crashes against my chest—the heat of her body radiating into my skin. She makes a cute squeaking noise, and I see the moment she notices her green hair band around my wrist, causing her eyes to shoot up finding mine—recognition flashing across her eyes.

"It's you?” she says as relief settles over her. "What are you doing?"

She doesn’t pull away from me like I half expect her to.

"Helping," I say close to her ear, my cheek against her soft hair and my thumbs brushing against her hip bones, before I reach out for the bar. “This place is a zoo. Let me help.”

Before she can argue, one of the people to our left loses their balance, causing me to cage her in with my arms as I press my palms to the bar, holding them off of bumping into her. The move has her flush against me, her back fitting perfectly against my chest. She freezes.

“Relax,” I say. “Just keeping the animals at bay.”

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