Page 50 of Pinch
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Shaking my head, I glance around to see the team watching me with worried eyes.
“TTG?” Mav bumps my helmet with his before heading to formation.
“Yes.”Tic-Tac-Goal.
It’s our winning play, and we’ve done it a hundred times. Hancock brings it down the center, and I’m on the left winger headed straight at him.
The puck goes to Mav, and he “unexpectedly” sends it over to me.
I dig in, taking it around the back of the net before chipping it to Mav as soon as I clear the goal, but it catches the post and flies high into the air.
I raise my stick to bring it down and instead hit the opposing defensemen on the shoulder.
One of his teammates body-checks me into the boards, and a fight breaks out. The guy I clipped punches me straight in the face, and blood fills my mouth. Donovan grabs him, throwing him off me, and we all go to town, throwing punches.
Fighting feels good right now, even if it doesn’t solve anything. I don’t catch another fist, but when the refs finally break it up, I’m headed to the bin on a high sticking penalty.
It was an accident, but I’m out of the game for five minutes. We ended up losing by a point, and to make matters worse, it was my fault. Because I was thinking about a girl.
Hanging my head in the shower, I felt like a total amateur as the hot water washed the blood off my cheek. Needless to say, the drive home with Mav was no picnic.
He was pissed, but he didn’t lay into me. We’ve all had bad days on the ice, but I was completely off my game today.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Mav’s brow was furrowed.
Shifting in my seat, I looked out the window at the growing dark. Flashes of Haddy’s sweaty body flooded my mind, her long, dark waves sticking to her skin, covering her soft breasts with my mouth, the taste of salt on my tongue, the sound of her soft moans in my ears.
“I think I had too much last night.”Too much sweet pussy.
“Nah.” He shook his head, taking the exit. “I’ve seen you play with a worse hangover than that. I think your problem is you need to get laid.”
Shifting in my seat, I cleared my throat. “I don’t know.”
He has no idea.
Finally, I just said, “I’m sorry, Mav. I played like shit, and I let you and the team down. There’s no excuse for it.”
We drove a while with only the radio playing until our driveway was in sight.
Reaching over, he grabbed my shoulder and gave it a firm shake. “Don’t worry about it, bro. We’re still Mav and Gav. We’ll get ‘em next time.”
“I think you mean Gav and Mav.”
“Don’t make me kick your ass.”
Exhaling a chuckle, I climbed out of the Rover ready to face whatever was waiting for me inside.
“I love this movie so much.”Gigi coos from where she’s curled up on the couch beside Maverick.
“I’m just waiting for Fred Willard to ask if he can take aShih Tzu on his luggage.” Mav chuckles. “Then I’m going to bed.”
“Nooo,” his cousin wails. “You have to watch the whole thing with me. Or at least until Hubert. He’s my favorite.”
“Why didn’t you name Spanky ‘Butch’?”
“Because Butch is a bitch.” Gigi shakes her head like it’s so obvious.
Sitting across from Haddy at dinner had been a torture test. She’s so gorgeous. The few times she glanced at me, I was struck by her sapphire eyes made even more intense by her dark hair and slim dark brows framing them.
