Bristol handed off a towel-wrapped Hope to her dad before gushing, “Goose, this place is amazing.”
“Thanks. I figured it was time to grow up and stop living in an apartment since the big guy pushed for me to get a long-term contract.” I winked at Maddox.
She placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder, steadying herself before lowering onto the patio lounger between his open thighs. “I would have bought it for the pool alone. The kids loved splashing in the waterfall feature.”
The surly man who ran a tight ship on the bench finally seemed to relax with his wife’s body pressed flush against his. My permanent smile only grew larger when I noticed he didn’t mind that she was soaking through his clothing without a towel to cover her bathing suit. She was his happy place. He might still be on edge, but she helped smooth over some of the rougher spots of his personality.
What I wouldn’t kill for a little taste of the kind of devotion my teammates received from their wives.
Looping his arms around Bristol’s waist, Maddox mused, “I still don’t know what we’re doing here.”
Coach Killjoy was still alive and well, even if his wife’s close proximity had lessened the gruffness in his tone.
I tilted my head toward the grill. “Braxton always makes it sound so nice when he talks about his time with the Comets and how they have an annual barbeque to kick off the season.”
A few years back, Braxton had come over to the Speed in a trade with our divisional rivals, the Connecticut Comets. His older brother, Jaxon, happened to be their captain.
Maddox’s narrowed eyes told me he didn’t know what I was going for, so I added, “Thought we could get on their level.”
He let out a scoff, muttering, “Not sure we are the ones who need to level up. We’re the back-to-back champs, and the Comets failed to make the playoffs both years. Maybe they should spend less time worrying about social hour and more time busting their asses on the ice.”
Braxton shrugged. “It won’t matter how hard they work. Not with how management has put them in a tough spot. Overpaying washed-up players and giving up their top draft picks year after year is killing them. Jaxon’s the heart of that team, but he can only do so much.”
Asher raised a glass, pretending to toast. “Their loss is our gain.”
“Yeah, well,” Maddox huffed. “If we have any chance at a threepeat, it’s not going to be because we sat around drinking and braiding each other’s hair.”
Stepping to the side of his lounger, I gripped his shoulders from behind and shook them.
He batted my hands away as his wife’s laughter floated in the air. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Trying to get you to loosen up.”
“Maybe focus less on me and more on yourself,” Maddox shot back.
“Yes!” Bristol brightened, sitting straight up like she’d had an epiphany. “We need to find you a girl!”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m not interested in a girl.”
Blue eyes growing large, she backtracked quickly. “Oh, that’s my bad. We can find you a guy instead.”
“It’s not like that.” I chuckled. “What I mean is that I don’t wantagirl. I wantthegirl.”
With an arm curled around his wife, Braxton crooned from his seat, “Aw. Our boy Goose is looking for a love connection.”
He had me pegged. Not like I’d been trying to hide it with that admission.
“I blame Dakota,” I declared.
His dark-haired wife’s eyes widened, and she pointed a finger at her chest. “Me? What did I do?”
“You wrote all these incredible love stories and made me want something more.” I kept to myself that their real-life love storieshad also filled my heart with an intense longing for what they had.
Dakota flashed me a brilliant smile. “Not gonna lie. It makes my author heart giggle, knowing the big bad hockey players are reading what Bristol likes to call my hockey smut.” She peeked at her best friend across the patio.
Bristol held a hand up. “Listen. We all got to where we are today by living out the hockey smut fantasy in real life. Why can’t Goose?”
Tessa chimed in, “If you’re serious about settling down, I’m sure we can vet some of our friends for you to date.” She cringed. “Though the pool is pretty limited to single moms from playgroup. But you’re great with kids, so you’d be cool with that, right?”
