Page 45 of Wanting the Winger

“Who are we leaving in charge?Bruce or Dough Goldberg?”

He grins.“River will be here soon.He’ll be in charge-ish.”

I furrow my brow.“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see.He tried to teach Bruce yoga last year and Bruce took a shit on the yoga mat.”

Bruce thumps his tail on the rug when he hears his name.Or because he’s proud of shitting on the yoga mat.

“So I guess I’ll see you when I see you,” I say.

“Yeah.Don’t let those college guys get hot for teacher.”

“Me?”I laugh.“Did you ever get hot for any of your teachers?”

“No comment.”

“Well, you always did like older women.”

He looks me up and down.“When I was a teenager, yeah.But I’m twenty-eight now.Younger women can be sexy as fuck.”

My heart practically trembles at the thought of him findingmesexy.But that’s not what he’s saying...is it?

I head upstairs, turning to call over my shoulder.“You don’t need to reassure me, Bash.I know someone will be attracted to me again someday.”

“Maybe someone already is.”

Since my back is facing him, I can safely grin so big that my cheeks ache.Whether he’s trying to build my confidence or he’s actually flirting with me, his words are making me warm all over.

And I really like it.

ChapterFifteen

Three Weeks Later

Bash

“And now it’stime for a Cleveland Crush POWER PLAY!”

The announcer’s voice booms throughout the arena, the crowd roaring.We’re playing a preseason game against Atlanta, so the stands aren’t full, but there’s a decent crowd.

Leo charges down the ice, our line’s power forward making me and Carter look slow.I’m a solid skater, so I get myself where I need to be as quickly and efficiently as I can.

Carter passes me the puck.I immediately find Leo and pass it to him.We practiced this play a lot in camp.No one expects Leo to even shoot the puck, so...

“That’s a Crush goal!”the announcer says after Leo slapshots the puck into the net.

We form a circle on the ice to celebrate scoring, the defensemen joining us.

“Let’s get another one!”Carter says.

The preseason is slower than the regular season, but it doesn’t last long, and it’s got me back in my routine again.No more sitting around fantasizing about Lainey while she’s at the lab.

Now I fantasize about her while I’m at our practice facilities.We haven’t seen much of each other in the past three weeks.If we do, it’s usually on the weekend, and it’s not for long.

Suki and the girls came over last weekend to bake with Lainey.She showed them how to use sourdough to make cinnamon rolls, and the girls gave Suki and Lainey makeovers.

Even with blue eyeshadow and bright-red lipstick, Lainey is still sexy.It actually got me going to imagine smearing that lipstick and asking her if she looked slutty just for me.

---