Page 79 of Playoff
“Oh, right. I forgot, you played, how many games was it?”
The whistle blew and we skated off, but I felt good.
Even better at the end of the third, when the Blaze notched a 5-1 win. I had a goal and two assists, including the game winner. Weasel was skating a little stiffly, having been checked at every possible opportunity.
In the locker room, I was the one to whistle this time. “Thanks for that. First round at the Top Shelf is on me.” Cheers, which was ironic, since none of the men in this room had problems buying a drink. Still, I felt more like part of this team than I had in…I wasn’t sure how long. Probably before I’d been playing in the pros.
It was going to be hard to leave this team behind, so I’d enjoy it while I could.
Jess didn’t show up for the Top Shelf, and that was good. Seriously good, so as not to have any temptation. With the way this team had just stood up for me, I needed to do my best for them, and that didn’t involve sharing sexy times with my teammate’s sister. I put my phone away, refusing to check for a message that wouldn’t come.
Yeah, I was good. No use risking what I had right now for sex.
Chapter 33
No good deed goes unpunished
Alek
* * *
That lasted until the next day when I got her message, and my answer was an immediate yes. My brain didn’t kick in until I’d already responded. It reminded me that I’d decided it was better to stop this and not risk all the good things I had going right now. My body said we’d managed to keep it quiet for weeks, except for Fitch finding us, so why not a little longer?
And damn it, I wanted more time with Jess. She was the one person I could relax with. I’d had enough people trying to play me over the years that I had a good sense about it. Her family had been hurt by mine, but she wasn’t using me. I’d told her things I hadn’t shared with anyone else. If it wasn’t for the sex, we’d be friends. And I had few of those.
Our time was limited—my schedule with travel and evening games took up a lot of the hours she was free. Around the rest of the team, we had to pretend we barely knew each other. But now we didn’t have to work around Fitch. Fortunately, he’d found someone he was hooking up with, so he was often out.
The frantic rush was gone—we didn’t want anyone to know, but in this condo I was sharing with Fitch, we didn’t have to hide. After the orgasms, we relaxed. I even found myself cuddling her up against me and talking. I wasn’t sure who I was when I did things like that, but I pushed the worries aside. We had an expiration date.
Maybe someday I could find someone and have this. Something I hadn’t known I wanted. But not now, and not with this woman.
Late in March, before one of the last road trips of the season, Jess was distracted, lips drooping into a frown. She’d had an excellent orgasm, nails marking my back as she came beneath me, so it had to be something else that she’d been worrying about.
I moved her closer to me, her head on my chest, my hands tugging on her hair. “Hey Trouble, what’s up?”
That brought her attention back. “Hmmm?”
“You’re miles away.”
“Sorry.”
“No problem. Did you want to talk about it?” I almost bit my tongue. Who was this guy, asking to talk?
She sighed. “Mrs. Garvin’s son moved her investments to another advisor. Which is good, because I was never going to be comfortable with what he wanted to do. But my boss is pissed and I feel like I’ve failed my best client.”
“Would she think that?”
Her head shook against my pec. “No. You’re right.”
She really didn’t seem to like her job much. “Why are you a financial advisor?” She tensed. Oh, right. “Because of my parents.”
She nodded.
“You wanted to make sure you and your family didn’t go through that again.”
“Or anyone.”
Which would make knowing her favorite client’s savings were at risk more troubling.
