Page 73 of Three Pucks and a Baby

With a wink, I replied, “It’s okay. I was just giving you a hard time.”

“You did a good job at it,” she mused.

“There are some benches down the hall from the locker room. A lot of the girlfriends and parents wait for their guys down there, so they don't get tangled up with the puck bunnies.”

“I’m not the only woman who has an issue with them, huh?”

I laughed. “No, you’re not.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you there.”

“See you soon.”

“Good luck!”

“Thanks,” Grayson and I called.

When we turned away to start warming up, Grayson practically bounced on the balls of his feet in his skates. “I can’t fucking believe she came back.”

“Me either.”

A grin stretched on his face. “We’re going to have one hell of a post-game celebration tonight, aren’t we?”

“I hope so.”

Tilting his head at me, Grayson countered, “You don’t think Vivian’s a sure thing?”

“She should be.”

“Dude, where is your confidence?”

“I dunno. Somethin’ just seemed off with her.”

“Maybe she wants to come back to us, but she’ll need some coaxing?”

“That could be it.”

“Collins, Reed, quit flapping your jaws and warm up!” Coach blared.

Since we didn’t want Coach on our asses, we started stretching. While Grayson happily hummed through his adductor rocks for his hips, I found myself even more tense from feeling like the other shoe was about to drop.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN GRAYSON

With Vivian in attendance, I had my best game since the season opener. I was legitimately on fire. So much so that at the second intermission, Coach Murano was singing my praises.

But it wasn’t just me.

So were Bennett and Theo. It was obvious that Vivian was affecting all of our abilities. After the game, I planned on begging her to come to some of our out-of-town games.

After an impressive 5-2 victory, we headed into the locker room. Although I wanted nothing more than to ditch the usual post-game recovery activities, I knew I couldn’t do that to my body. After stripping out of our gear, Bennett, Theo, and I did our usual short ride on the stationary bike to rid our muscles of lactic acid. After some quick stretches, we got dressed.

We didn’t bother taking a shower. We didn’t want anything else keeping us from Vivian. I did shower myself in a hell of a lot of body spray so I wouldn’t smell like a sweaty ass.

As we exited the locker room, my gaze immediately started searching for Vivian. Apprehension pricked up my spine that she might’ve bailed on us again. But then my heart leaped into mythroat when I saw her sitting on one of the benches down at the end of the corridor.

At the sight of us, she rose to her feet. While Theo played it cool, Bennett and I broke into a jog to reach her. When I got to her first, I drew her into my arms, sweeping her off her feet.

After I whirled the two of us around and around, my actions caused her to squeal. “Put me down,” she demanded breathlessly.

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