Seduced by the Game (64 page)

“Thought I’d
see how the other half lives, you know?” He leaned over and looked in her
basket. “Frozen dinners, eggs, cereal, and fat free yogurt? That’s it? Where’s
the steak and potatoes?”

“I’m trying
out for the ice girls this year. Have you seen the outfits they make them wear?
No steak and potatoes for me. Not until I make the team, anyway. I’m plump
enough.” She slapped herself on the butt, as if to prove her point.

“Are you
kidding? You’re gorgeous. Don’t change into one of those girls who don’t eat.”
He teasingly snuck a peek at her bottom, but his voice was thick when he said
again, “Gorgeous.”

Kelly’s blush
covered just about her entire face. Keith couldn’t help himself as he brushed
his thumb along her bottom lip. When he realized he was about two seconds away
from mauling her in a grocery store, he backed up with an unsteady step.
“Sorry. I forgot about the no hitting on you thing.”

“No, you
didn’t. But I have to say, you’re pretty good at it. Well, it was good seeing
you again. I have to get going.” She patted his chest as she walked past him
down the aisle. He turned around just in time to see her checking out his ass,
and he let her know he caught her.

“I knew it.
You want me.” He was gifted with her lovely laughter again as she turned the
corner and slipped away from his sight.

Chapter 5

Training camp
was crazy as usual. Keith was slowly getting to know the guys and how they
played. To his frustration, he still couldn’t score on Vlad.

“Come on,
Bejsiuk. Give me a fucking inch somewhere!”

Vlad ignored
him, looking totally in the zone. Keith sent another hard wrist shot his way,
going for the five-hole. It bounced away neatly as it hit Vlad’s pads, and
sailed safely off to the right.

“Ha! Denied
again O’Capitan!” Ace’s mouth never stopped. Never.

Vlad came out
of the net and gave Ace his spot. Before he went off to the side, he skated
over to Keith. “Skate around the net, fast, and then come back to about six
feet in front of him. Shoot the puck over his right shoulder. He’ll miss it.
Guaranteed. And the kid won’t listen to me.”

Keith did as
Vlad said and scored on Ace easily.

“See?”

“Sure do.”

“You got
lucky. Try it again.” Ace settled into his net and hunched down a bit, ready
for Keith’s onslaught.

A carbon copy
of the first goal, the second went in just as easily. “You’re turning too much
when the puck’s behind you, and you can’t get back into position fast enough.
You don’t need to turn your whole body like that.”

“Save your
breath. I tell him that all the time. So does the coach.”

“Bite me,
Impaler. I’ll get it.”

Keith took two
more shots the same way at Ace. One went in, one he caught in his glove. It was
definitely something he needed to work on.

After the team
was done with practice for the day, the girls took to the ice to battle for a
spot on the ice girls team. Talk about something hot enough to melt the ice.
Scantily clad, beautiful girls doing drills that included a limbo—
yes,
please lean back so your shirt rides up
—and bending over their shovels to
scoop up the snow—
cleavage galore!

Keith was on
the balcony of the second floor looking down onto the rink. He was chatting
with the general manager of the Scorpions while the candidates ran through the
various drills. One of the first girls fell when her toe pick dug into the ice
upon leaving the box, but she picked herself right back up with a smile.

“So, what do
you think of the guys?” Henry, the GM, asked him.

“I’m still
getting to know them, but they’re obviously a talented bunch. I think we’ll all
work well together.”

“Good. That’s
what I want to hear. Let me know if you come across any problems.” Henry took
his leave and left Keith on the balcony, essentially alone. Two other coaches
were up there, but they were having a heated discussion about goalie training
exercises.

Keith’s eyes
drifted down to land on a particularly cute potential ice girl. Man, he had it
bad. He even felt guilty about having sex with Pip. How stupid was that? He
wasn’t dating Kelly—yet. He was still looking at her when Ace walked out.

“Ah, my
favorite day of training camp. Hot girls in skimpy clothes.” He pointed to a
busty girl with long flowing chestnut locks. “Jesus, would you look at that
one? Yeah, that’s it, honey. Bend down low. A little lower—BAM! Christ, would
you look at that ass. Man, I’d like to plow myself into that. Damn!”

Keith looked
at him, shaking his head in disgust. “Are you for real? What the hell’s the
matter with you?”

“Huh? What are
you gay or something?” Ace didn’t even spare him a glance. He was too busy
making hand gestures, pretending he was grabbing the girl’s ass.

“No, I’m not
gay, but I’m also not fifteen.”

“Oh, come on.
Pick one out. Not my girl though. I’ll be banging her in a couple of hours.”

“You’re pretty
sure of yourself, Hawthorn.” Keith almost wished he had Ace’s confidence. Not
his arrogance though. He could keep that.

“No reason not
to be. I have a mirror. I know how hot I am. All I have to do is crook my
finger and they’re half-naked before they reach me. It’s almost too easy. So
which one do you want?”

“None of them.
I was just talking to Henry out here.”
And then looking at Kelly.

Ace followed
Keith’s gaze. “The fat chick with no hair?”

“Fat? There’s
not a fat girl down there. And if you’re referring to the curvy girl with the
short, blonde hair, I think she’s cute. No, actually, I think she’s smoking
hot.” Keith was beginning to like Ace less and less. Vlad warned him that would
happen if he spent too much time with him.

“I think her
name’s Kelly. I’ve seen her around at practices and skating in the rink. She hangs
out with some of the girls I’ve dated. I wouldn’t waste my time though, she
doesn’t put out.”

“Okay. I get
it. All you think about is sex. Next subject.”

“Just trying
to help you out, man. Blue balls ain’t fun for anybody.” With that parting
remark, Ace left him alone on the balcony once more where he continued to watch
Kelly skate a bit longer before leaving himself.

* * * *

It was the
Saturday before their first preseason game, which meant that Keith was off to
the beach party. He picked up Brandon Marcoux on the way, along with a cooler
full of Molson.

“Hey, Keith.
Where’s Vlad? I figured he’d be with you.”

“Nah. He’s
picking up Manny.” Manny Parsons was the Scorpions’ enforcer. At six foot two
and two hundred-ten pounds, he was a good protector to have on your team.

When they
pulled into the small parking lot, Keith wished he was driving something
smaller than his crew cab pickup, but with some finagling, he managed to
squeeze into a corner spot. “Looks pretty packed already.”

“It’s San
Diego. We’re at the beach. It’s always packed.”

Keith caught a
flash of a hot pink top and curly, blonde hair out of the corner of his eye as
he was pulling the cooler off of the tailgate. Taking a better look, he
confirmed that it was Kelly. He came very close to dropping the cooler on his
foot.
Be cool!
“Hey, Kelly. How are you?”

“Hey, Keith.
I’m great. How are you?” Kelly stopped next to him and gave him a sunny smile.
He thought he actually heard some brain cells pop. She looked incredible.

I’m great
too. We had sex last night. Yeah, yeah it was all in my head, but…
“Fine. I’m fine. How are
you? Oops, already asked and answered. I guess people are just used to saying
that when someone asks them how they are, you know? I mean I know I asked you
first, but I guess I forgot, you know? It’s good to see you again, though. I
mean I’ve seen you since the last time, but you know, I mean to talk to you
again, you know?”
Seen you since the last time? What the fuck is wrong with
me? And could I fucking say “you know?” about ten more times.

Kelly looked
at him, cocking her head at his strange attitude. “Uh-huh. Um, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.
Of course. I just meant… Forget it. How were skating tryouts? You looked good
out there.”

“You were
watching me? I’m not sure if I should be flattered or creeped out.”

“Honey, we all
watch the ice girls.” Brandon decided Keith had floundered enough and chimed in
to throw the poor guy a lifeline. “Brandon Marcoux. Nice to meet you.”

She shook his
proffered hand, and the three of them started walking toward the beach.

“So you all
watch us. Really? Well, I guess that’s to be expected. I mean we are wearing
those skimpy outfits and all. It’s not like we don’t watch you guys getting all
sweaty and hot on the ice.” She gave an exaggerated flip of her nonexistent
hair, gaining a hearty chuckle from both of them, and Keith started to relax.

“Good to know.
Maybe next practice, I’ll practice without a shirt on—give you girls something
to really look at.” Brandon was an easy flirt.

“Can’t say I’d
say no to that. Oh, there’s Zoe. I’ll catch you guys later.”

Keith found
his tongue just in time to say, “Bye.”

“Man, you’re
smooth, Keith, you know? Real smooth, you know? Like her, do you? I think you
do, you know?”

“Fuck off,
Marcoux.”

Brandon
playfully slugged him in the arm and took the cooler from him, setting it down
beneath the big white tent, out of the sun. He opened the lid and fished out a
couple of beers. “Want one?”

“Nah. Not yet,
thanks. I’m going to walk around, maybe stick my feet in the water.”

“That loosely
translates into you’re going to go stalk Kelly?”

Keith couldn’t
deny it. “Something like that.”

* * * *

Kelly walked
over to join the group of girls who’d made the cut to become ice girls, but
veered off before she reached them to greet Zoe first. “Hi, Zoe.”

“Hi. Kelly,
right?”

“You got it.”
Kelly had only met Zoe briefly when she had bumped into her while she was in
the office handing in her paperwork to the human resources manager.

“Are you
excited for tomorrow? First game as an ice girl.”

“Actually, I’m
a bucket of nerves! It’s silly to feel that way, I guess. I’m a great skater,
and we’ve all been practicing with the shovels and making sure we’re in the
right formation to clear the ice quickly. It’s just that we haven’t done it in
front of twenty-thousand people before.”

After taking a
swallow of bottled water, Zoe said, “You girls will be fine. Try to block the
crowd out. See the ice and only the ice. Concentrate on your goal and forget
all the rest. I’ll bet after the first period is over, you’ll all feel like
pros.”

“I hope so.
I…” Her thoughts shut down as she watched Keith take his shirt off and dive
into the ocean. He really was a joy to look at.

“Ah, so it’s
Keith, is it?”

“Huh? Is what
Keith?” Kelly tore her eyes away from him and returned her attention to Zoe,
but she could feel herself blushing.

“Um hmm. You
have the hots for him, don’t you? You can’t fool me. I study people for a
living. I saw your eye wander to him before at the rink. He’s a good pick. From
what I know of him, he’s a genuinely nice guy. He doesn’t sleep around either.
At least he’s never been talked about. He was in a steady relationship before
he came out here.”

“What happened
to the girl?” Kelly hadn’t seen Keith with anyone, and he only ordered for one
when he’d ordered his takeout.

“That’s
Keith’s story to tell. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

“I think I’ll
just go talk to the girls for a while. It was nice talking to you, Zoe. See you
later.”

Kelly walked
toward the group of girls gathered around the volleyball net, but she stopped
just short of reaching them to pay attention to Keith in the water again.

The sun was
reflecting off the ocean so brightly, it was hard to see him clearly, so she
walked a little closer. He had his back to her, and each time he came up out of
a wave, she watched, mesmerized, as the water cascaded down over his muscular
back. Walking closer still, she could see a tattoo on his left shoulder of an
intricate Celtic knot. Out of nowhere, a picture formed in her head of her
licking it.
Down, girl.

Before her
mind could run away with any more wayward thoughts, she turned around and
finally made her way over to the other ice girls.

“Girl, you’ve
got a fan.” Tansy pointed behind her, and Kelly turned around to see Keith
looking her way.

“You put out
for him already, Kel?” All the girls knew that Holly was the nasty one. Every
group had one. Someone who wasn’t happy unless they were putting someone else
down.