Page 71 of Cheap Shot
I open my mouth to respond, but snap it shut. The last thing I need is these assholes knowing what’s going on between us and that I’m completely obsessed with her.
“It doesn’t matter. She is off limits.” Beau shoves Logan in the shoulder, causing him to stumble. “Now get back to doing drills before Coach comes out here and rips us a new one.”
I should follow behind them, but I remain rooted in place. My eyes remain locked on her. Everything around me seems to fade into the background as I watch her bring a water bottle to her mouth, her lips wrapping around the top as she tips it back to take a healthy pull from the bottle. Parker leans over her shoulder, his back pressed against her side as he whispers something into her ear. Michele throws her head back, and a full belly laugh bubbles from her throat. It's one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard, and I want to smash Parker’s face in.
“I’m jealous that you get to keep her all to yourself, Hendrix. I’d love to ask her for some stretching tips.” Jensen winks as he skates by, and I immediately see red.
“Stay the fuck away from Michele,” I growl, shoving him so hard he goes skidding across the ice, his back slamming hard into the boards.
“Calm down, Hendrix. He was just kidding around.” Benson grabs my arm, but I shrug him off. “What the fuck was that about, Cole?”
I inhale and exhale quickly, trying to regain some of my composure before things get out of hand. I promised myself I wasn’t going to do this. I was going to keep my head down, do my job, and then rinse and repeat. I thought my biggest problem was going to be being on the ice with my brothers, but I guess Michele is also a problem. An exquisite and tempting problem. Fuck. Why does my life have to always be so fucking complicated? She’s just a girl. A girl who turned me down. Why can’t I just forget about her and move on?
“He shouldn’t be disrespecting her like that.” The desire to throw my stick and gloves onto the ice and put my fist through Jensen’s face is growing stronger with each passing minute.
Beau must sense my dilemma because he comes to a stop in front of me, blocking Jensen from my view as he struggles to get back on his feet. “He’s just a snot-nosed kid trying to show off for the veterans on the team.”
“I don’t care. No one should talk about her like that. She’s a human being, not some piece of meat for them to ogle when in the locker room.” I move to the right to skate around him, but he matches my movements.
We dance like this on the ice for a few moments before I stop, crossing my arms and scowling at him. He doesn’t say a word, just stares at me, his eyes scanning my face as if he’s searching for something. What that something is, I have no idea, and right now, I don’t know if I fucking care.
“What the fuck are you staring at?” I growl, my eyes flicking over to Cooper, deep in conversation with Coach on the other side of the rink.
“You.” Beau smacks me on top of my helmet, pointing toward the bench where Michele and Parker are still sitting. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had the hots for her.”
Fuck. If you only knew. The problem is, I do have the hots and maybe even something a little more tangible for Michele, but the last person I’m going to tell is Beau. He can’t keep a secret to save his fucking soul. The entire team will know before practice is over in an hour. Besides, it’s not like I plan on doing anything about it. She’s made it perfectly clear that she wants to keep our relationship a secret to protect both of our careers. I don’t agree with her logic, but I’ll do anything to make her happy. The best bet right now is to play dumb.
“For who?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Cole. Remember, I was your lookout the day you egged Mr. Saunders's car.”
“You were a shitty lookout because we got caught.”
“That’s beside the point.” He snaps back at me. “Do you have the hots for the new physio, Michele?”
“And what if I do? Like we determined earlier, there's no rule against dating team employees, is there?” I ask, knowing there isn’t.
I read the entire player handbook, cover to cover, and found nothing. It's true that the team has never had a female employee who worked so closely with the team before, but it doesn’t matter. No rule means it’s not strictly forbidden. Potentially looked down upon by management, but not forbidden. I can work with that. No, no, I can’t. I’m supposed to be convincing myself to stay away from Michele, not finding loopholes.
“If you do, forget it.” Beau pulls off his glove and grips my bad shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze.
I wince slightly, reaching up and smacking his hand away. “What the fuck was that for?”
“I wanted to make sure I had your attention. Stay away from Michele. Nothing good will come of it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Beau opens his mouth to respond just as Coach blows his whistle.
“Circle up!”
The team gathers near the boards, puffing clouds of breath into the cold air. Just as I reach the group, I feel a sharp jab in my side, turning to see Jensen beside me. His eyes are focused on Coach, the muscle in his jaw bulging. “That was a cheap shot, Hendrix.”
Coach is saying something about drills or a play we are going to be running, but I’m only half listening. Making sure Jensen learns his lesson is more important than that. “Possibly, but let’s just hope you learned your lesson.”
“And what lesson might that be?”
“Stay the fuck away from Michele. Don’t look at her. Don’t speak to her. Don’t even breathe in her general direction, or I’ll put my skate up your ass.”
“If you plan on recruiting the new physio to be your new puck bunny,” he jokes, nudging me in the side, “you’re going to have to get used to sharing.”
