Page 11 of One Shot

Chapter five

Lucas

Jealousy flares as I watch the brown-haired beauty walking away practically hand-in-hand with my teammate. My heart aches with longing for her to come back so I can get to know everything she hides behind her shielded bright blue eyes and oversized t-shirt.

Ty-Ty? What is that shit?

He’s about to be pussy whipped real fast if he’s responding to that. But damn, who can blame him? That girl is beyond beautiful. With the fire behind those mesmerizing eyes, she’s a beauty with an attitude. I’m not sure what it says about me but that has my blood rushing south.

How does Tyler know her? She is way too good for him. Tyler is a player. A girl as modest and angelic as she seems deserves so much more loyalty. Our stare down takes center ice in my brain again, eliciting a burning desire in my groin.

“Wipe that dirty little smirk off your face, Lucas Donato, before I slap it off. I can smell your filthy thoughts from here,” Bren shouts at me and smacks my arm, leaving a stinging behind. “Don’t even let yourself think about it. That is my cousin.”

“Your cousin?” This should be interesting. “Who cares? You love me. Don’t you want to have fun family gatherings?” She rolls her eyes. “Come on, Bren, you know I don’t fuck around.” My tone is more serious now. I don’t sleep around. It’s never been my thing and never will be.

Bren’s eyes narrow. “Yes. My cousin. As in Lauren Bellinger. As in Nick Bellinger’s sister.”

Shit. I knew those eyes looked familiar. Now I feel incredibly dirty for what I was just thinking while staring into them. Surprise quickly colors my guilty thoughts. Nick Bellinger’s sister? There’s no way.

“Wait, hold on. Nick Bellinger’s sister? But I thought she didn’t go here. What’s the—”

Bren cuts me off before I can say anything else, “Have you not been paying attention to any of my emails? You’re the captain for fuck’s sake, Lucas. She got the only junior spot for the Wyverns’ Student Marketing Program. Nick applied for her before . . . before everything.”

My mind is racing. Nick Bellinger. He is a legend—was a legend. He was my mentor. Nick was classy, barely got in fights, and levelheaded ninety-eight percent of the time. He was the only guy I’ve ever shared the ice with who was calm, cool, and collected, yet his skill showed he could kick your ass in seconds. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever watched. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with, even though it was brief.

I idolized—still idolize—him. He was smooth with the ladies and a huge heartthrob but never a man-whore or anything bordering on womanizing. He was someone I aspired to be like from the first time I saw him play for the Wyverns, even before I was on the team. He was my teammate, and he was starting to become my friend too.

But I wanted to do terrible, wonderful things to so, so many beautifully perfect parts of his sister. I had barely even talked to her! Fuck. This season was already going to be hard on me mentally.

I’m the first captain since Nick and a junior—just like him, the second in Wyverns’ history. I can’t get distracted. I owe it to myself to focus this year and get the team to the finals. While doing that, I’ll be making sure scouts everywhere see the success so next year, as a senior, I’m already securing NHL contracts.

I realize I’ve been quiet for longer than a minute trying to wrap my brain around all of this. Around her. Around her being related to Nick. Bren is still glaring at me. I’ve never seen her look soconcerned.

“I’m not looking for a one-night stand. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Bren.”

“Yeah. That’s the thing.” Bren pauses. I glare at Bren like she has three heads waiting for her to finish the sentence. Bren glances at Liam, then to me, then back to Liam—clearly telling him to take over.

Liam sighs and chimes in “Bro, I’ve known you over half my life. And I’ve never even seen you devour a girl like that.”

Throwing her hands dramatically in the air, Bren continues to nag me. “Hooking up isn’t the concern, Lucas. She can’t have you fuck with her emotions. She says she doesn’t want to date anyone, and she’s sworn off love. Don’t try anything to confuse her. She’s been through enough.”

My temper starts to bubble up to the surface, ready to start fuming as I grow more and more frustrated with this unnecessary lecture. I wouldn’t harm a fly let alone Nick Bellinger’s sister. I cut Bren off before she can get another one of her unnecessary concerns in.

“Can you two stop? Nothing happened and nothing is going to happen. I don’t even know the girl and you both know I worshipped the ground Bellinger walked on.” I sigh, polishing off my drink. “Like you said, Bren, she’s not interested in dating. And I sure as hell won’t let anything, especially anything with legs like those, distract me this hockey season.”

Liam eyes me over his nearly empty drink.

“Why do you say it like that? Or if she didn’t have legs, would you?” Liam asks me puzzled polishing off his drink while peering around to order another, which he clearly doesn’t need.

He’s a damn good friend, and an even better hockey player, but he isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. Bren looks like she wants to smack him for the dumb question.

“What the fuck. Dude. It was an expression. I swear on Wayne Gretzky’s hockey career that I am not going to fuck around with Lauren Bellinger.” I give each of them a long stare reinforcing what I said. “Got it? Good. I’m going home. See you at the gym tomorrow,Liam. Bren, please get this big guy home before he’s at the point where he’s too hungover to lift tomorrow.”

“With his stupid legs comment, he might be already there,” Bren mutters under her breath.

I can’t stop thinking about the fire in her piercing, enchanting blue eyes on my walk back to my apartment. Lauren Bellinger and I are going to have a hard time not giving in to each other if twenty minutes in the same bar has me wanting more than just her lips on mine. More than half of those minutes were us on opposite sides of the bar.

Fuck. I’m screwed.

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