Page 87 of The Flirty Forward

“You can play center, Aiden’s position,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ooo does that mean she can shove people and check them into the boards?” Brielle asks. “What?” she asks when everybody looks at her.

“You do realize I do more than just check guys, right?” Aiden asks dryly.

“Of course, Babe. Sometimes, you punch them too.” She laughs, and tries to get away from him, but he grabs her around the waist and pulls her into his arms, silencing her laugh with his lips.

“Well, they’re going to be no help,” Rico says. “I’m off to the net.” He fist bumps us and heads over to the net.

“How come he’s wearing padding and a helmet when none of the rest of you are?” I ask curiously.

“Because this might be a game for fun, but we need him. He doesn’t need to take a puck to the head,” Sebastian explains.

“Got it.”

The ref blows the whistle, and we head to the center. “You do realize I have absolutely no idea what to do, right?” I askSebastian. He skates behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders.

“See that net?” He points to the one in front of us. “Put the puck in there.”

I shake my head. “Wow, thanks, Hart.”

He moves so that he’s in front of me. “Did you just call me by my last name?”

I lift my chin. “I did.”

He grins. “I like it.”

“You’ve got face-off,” Gunner says to Sebastian.

Sebastian skates over to face off with Travis. Sebastian grins at him and gets into position. “Ready?” he taunts.

Travis grins back. “Born ready.”

The puck drops, and then it’s game on. I literally stand there for the first few seconds. “You gonna join the game, Babe?” Sebastian asks as he skates past me.

“I can’t even see the puck; it’s here and gone before I can even get to it.”

He laughs and winks. “I’ll get it to you.”

I watch him skate towards our net. He teases Brielle; I know that because I can see him grinning and her shaking her head. “So this is what does it for you, huh?”

My body tenses when William closes in on me. I start skating the other direction, trying to get away from him. He stays right with me. I frown at him. “How do you know how to skate?”

He grins. “I played college hockey.”

My jaw drops in surprise. “Really? You?”

He gives me the look I’m sure he’s spent hours perfecting in the mirror. It’s a smile or sort of a smile. To me, it just feels empty. “Not what you were expecting?”

“I just didn’t know you could wear anything besides a suit,” I toss out as I skate away.

“Stephanie,” Sebastian calls out. He slides the puck my way. It’s a gentle pass, but I still panic.

I hit it to Gunner before somebody comes at me. I grin when it actually gets to Gunner. Then I’m skating towards the goal because this is actually really fun. The other team gets the puck, and I wait for Aiden to clear it and send it back our way. The puck suddenly bounces off the wall near me, and I go for it. Another guy is coming, I can see from my peripheral; but I don’t focus on that. I line it up and send it to Sebastian. He grins at the pass and shoots and scores.

I throw my hands up in the air. “Score!”

Sebastian skates over to me and grabs me and kisses me. “Great pass!” I beam at the praise.

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