She gripped onto the sides of his waist andholy mother.His muscles flexed each time his lungs filled with air, his taut waist expanding under her half-covered fingers.Why had she worn gloves?She wanted to rip them off and press her palms into the contours of his hard stomach.
The scruff on his chin rubbed the soft skin of her cheek, and then, just like that, the moment was over. Tyler pulled back and opened his eyes, his hand still curved over the skin below the lobe of her ear.
Before Emma could speak, Tyler’s eyes shifted. Emma turned and saw Sean stalking toward them from the front door. His expression was unreadable—stoney and cold—as he strode past and took the metal stairs two at a time down to the locker room.
A pang of guilt hit Emma’s gut. Why did she feel bad about this because Sean looked pissed? How many times in the last year had he done something to put that look on her face, and he’d never apologized?
Tyler dropped his hands and stepped back. His lips looked flushed and warm. When they turned up at the corners, she realized she was staring.
“Alright, then. Thank you for helping me with that. I hope you have a good game.” The words came out more breathless than she’d anticipated.
Tyler picked up his equipment and headed for the stairs. “Thanks. I’ll see you after for theawkwarddrive home.”
“I’ll catch Sean after the game. It might be a minute.” She knew she should’ve taken her own car. The second Tyler had shown up, all six-foot-three of him standing in her doorway, she should’ve called an audible.
Tyler nodded. “I’ll probably stop by the pub anyway, so no rush.” He waved over his shoulder and started down the stairs. Emma looked up and locked eyes with the woman selling tickets. She winked and gave Emma a thumbs-up.
* * *
Emma took her seat next to Kelty on the bench as the game began. The sounds of skates slicing through the ice, sticks clashing, and the chatter of the crowd felt more abrasive than it had the other night. Probably because now it was distracting her from replaying that kiss.
Her hip still tingled where he’d held her, and his cologne still clung to the front of her shirt. She lifted it and breathed him in.
There weren’t as many people at the arena for this game, and Tyler’s fan club was noticeably absent. It made sense that tonight wouldn’t be as well-attended—the Snowballs hadn’t lost to Dr. Quinn Medicine Hattrick in years.
The puck hit the ice, and it only took a few minutes for Emma to recognize something was off. Sean’s posture on the ice was all wrong. He never looked as relaxed as Tyler, but tonight he was so tight, he looked like he was about to fold over.
Kelty frowned. “What’s wrong with Sean?”
Emma’s lips drew into a line.She had a hunch.Sean skated like someone who’d just caught their partner cheating and found themselves in the middle of a smash room.
“He’s going to hurt himself,” Kelty muttered as Sean hit the boards and went down, then charged after the defenseman.
Fly intercepted the pass and sent the puck to Curtis who crossed it to Sean. Tyler flew down the ice, waiting for the pass, but it never came. Sean worked it away from the boards, then lost it as two defenders swarmed him.
Emma’s stomach twisted.He wasn’t passing to Tyler.Her nails dug into her jeans. What was wrong with him? He was so worked up about one kiss that he’d throw this game away by blackballing his best player?
Tyler glided around the back of the net and threw up his hands in exasperation as the buzzer went off at the end of the first period. He lifted his facemask and shouted something at Sean.
Emma stood up and clapped a hand over her mouth as Sean dug his skates into the ice and rocketed toward Tyler, who was skating backward toward the bench.
“What the hell is he—” Kelty started, then gasped as Sean slammed Tyler against the boards. His helmet went flying, and Sean took full advantage of his hit. He tore Tyler’s jersey over his head to force him down to his level and started wailing on the perfect abs Emma had been admiring an hour ago.
“Shit!” Emma hissed, jumping over the benches until she stood next to the boards. “Sean Thompson, stop being aCHILD!” she shrieked across the ice. Tyler was punching Sean now. Blood ran down both their faces, and Emma started running.
The ref, who’d already left the ice, skated over and tore them apart, screaming something in their faces. Probably threatening to kick them out of the arena, and Sean, at least, deserved it.
Pressure built behind her eyes as she rounded the curve and started down the other side, approaching the back of their bench. The Snowballs stood on the ice, leaning on the boards as the ref shoved Sean and Tyler to their bench and slammed the door.
“Sort it out or I’ll upgrade it to game misconduct!” he yelled over his shoulder as he skated back to the scoring area. Someone’s blood was streaked over the white stripes on his left arm.
Tyler leaned back, holding the bridge of his nose. Blood oozed over his lips and chin, and Emma couldn’t tell where it was all coming from. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.This was her fault.She shouldn’t have dragged Tyler into this.
Emma looked at her hands. What was she supposed to do now? She’d run all the way over here and hadn’t even brought her purse. There were at least a couple of Band-Aids in there.
Footsteps pounded behind her, and she whirled to find Kelty holding a first-aid kit. She cracked open the lid and stuffed a handful of gauze into Emma’s hands. “You take Tyler, I’ll help Sean.”
Emma nodded and pushed through the door. She had to walk past Sean to reach Tyler at the end of the bench and kicked his skate as she passed. If he noticed, he didn’t show it.
