Faceoff, page 11
What fucking sucked about the situation in my room was that I wasn’t.
Staples lounged on one of my queen beds, watching television, eating chips, and drinking beer. Irritation slid through me like a butter knife through butter. If this was somebody’s idea of a joke…
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Staples glanced up, not surprised to see me. That answered my first question. No one had swapped rooms on us as a prank. “The hotel overbooked the rooms. We’ll need to share rooms. Coach felt some alone time to settle our differences would be beneficial.”
Like that’d ever happen.
I snorted my disbelief. Coach had set us up. Forced us to be together.
Now I really wanted to call Darcy. I needed to hear her voice, tell her my woes, and get some sympathy from her. But I couldn’t with him listening.
I spun on my heel and stalked out of the room. I took the stairs down a floor to Coach Gorst’s room. Gorst had an open-door policy and always gave us his room number. He might be a bachelor, but he didn’t take advantage of his single status. At least not where the team was concerned.
I rapped on the door and tamped down my temper. Yelling at Coach wouldn’t get me anywhere.
Gorst opened the door wearing pajama bottoms and no top. He yawned and scratched his chest. The guy had a pretty cut physique. I was impressed. He did some serious working out to hone those muscles to that extent.
Gorst was a legend, the youngest coach to win the Cup at thirty-four, and every player in the league longed to be coached by him. The Sockeyes had made him the highest paid coach in the NHL when they lured him away from his former team six years ago. Teamed with Garrett Calhoun, the general manager, they were a formidable pair. He had to be around forty now. He’d been married at one time before the move to Seattle but no kids as far as I knew. The guy lived and breathed hockey, with no other life outside of it.
“I know why you’re here, Ziggy, and the answer is no.”
This wasn’t starting out well. I racked my brain for a good argument. “I can’t room with him. We have history, none of it good.”
“Not my problem. He’s your teammate. Time to put personal differences aside for the good of the team.”
“But it’s disruptive to my internal flow.” That line of bullshit brought an amused snort from him.
“It’s only for two nights. You can handle it. He’s not going anywhere soon. He’s integral to this team and fits into our future plans. So do you. Figure out a way to get along with him.”
“You don’t understand.” I cringed at the whine in my tone.
“I don’t need to. Just do it.” He winked at me. “Good night, Ziggy.”
He shut the door in my face. I stood there a moment longer, knowing I wouldn’t be getting sympathy from Coach or anyone else, which left me no recourse but to man up and tolerate the bastard.
But not before I called Darcy in private.
With a sigh, I headed to the lobby and pulled up her contact info. Why she was the first person I chose, I didn’t know. I needed to talk to her, not my mom, not my sister, not Cave. But Darcy. She didn’t understand the problems between Andy and me, yet I chose her.
I refused to delve into my reasoning and hit call on the screen.
Chapter Fourteen
Phone Sex
~~Darcy~~
I went to bed early with a good book and my second glass of wine. Gage wasn’t playing tonight, and I had to admit disappointment at not seeing his gorgeous mug on TV.
Dude didn’t care for the angle of my pillow and stalked off to the living room. He’d be back.
My phone rang, and I reached for it. The display showed Gage’s name. He’d texted me over the past few nights, but he’d never called. I perked up at the sight of his name, which was utterly ridiculous. We were nothing to each other but a means to an end.
Yeah, but that kiss…
I had to stop thinking about that kiss. While it meant everything to me, it was one of a million kisses to him.
“Hi,” I said, answering on the third ring, the breathlessness in my voice betraying me.
“Hi, what’s up?” He sounded stressed.
“Nothing, just reading.”
“I heard you had a good time watching the game last night with the WAGs.” Was he fishing for compliments?
“I did. They got me drunk. Good thing I wasn’t driving. Those girls know how to party.”
Silence, as if he was waiting for me to say more. I didn’t. Feeling mischievous, I let him sweat.
“What’d you think of the game?” He was fishing. The man did have an ego.
“I thought you played a good game.”
“Just a good game?” His voice was laced with disappointment.
“Okay, an incredible game.”
“That’s better. I was in the zone.” The smile in his voice made me smile.
“You’re so transparent,” I laughed, and he chuckled, too. “You aren’t out partying?”
“I can’t, remember, or I answer to Sondra and Al. I’m trying to be a good boy.”
“I bet it’s hard.”
“Fucking hard, and I’m irritated.” I had the distinct impression he’d called for a different reason.
“What’s going on?”
“Coach put Andy and me in a room together. I had to get out of there.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t understand the issue between them. Gage liked everyone. He was the golden retriever of the team, just there for the party. And goldens loved everyone.
“Yeah, it sucks. I need a distraction so I don’t beat the crap out of the asshole.”
“So I’m your distraction?”
“It would appear so. I’m bored. I need entertainment.”
“What kind?” I asked with a tremor in my voice. I reached for the wine and took several gulps, sensing I might need a little liquid courage. I wasn’t a big drinker, so combined with the glass I’d already had, I felt emboldened by the buzz.
“What’re my choices?”
“You figure it out?” My voice dipped low of its own accord, like someone else had taken over my brain. My naughty side had unleashed itself, and I couldn’t help it. I’d spent the better part of the last few days fantasizing about this guy.
“What’re you wearing?” His voice was deep and sultry, promising all sorts of naughty things my mind was all too ready to imagine. Instead of chastising him for being such a bad boy, I played along.
“What’re you wearing?” I countered.
“Sadly, entirely too much, but I asked you first.”
“My jammies.”
“Do you wear underwear under your jammies?”
I hesitated, but that wicked alter ego took control and answered for me. “Just panties.”
“What kind of panties?”
“Granny panties. You’d be disappointed.”
“Those can be sexy on the right woman.” Damn, but his deep, gravelly voice sent tingles to a certain girl part.
“Am I the right woman?”
“You could be.” It was hard to believe we were having this conversation, but I didn’t have the willpower to stop it. I didn’t want to stop it.
“Take off your top,” he ordered, and I was powerless to resist. I did as told. After all, he was my boyfriend, fake or not.
“Done.” I swallowed hard and cleared my throat, nervous and excited and more than willing to take this where it might go, even if I’d regret doing so in the morning.
“Now pull those bottoms down your legs real slow and easy.”
I did. My body shivered with anticipation. I couldn’t imagine what this would be like with the real guy in front of me. Yeah, I was crossing a line, and there’d be no going back.
“Gage?” He was gone. He’d hung up. We must’ve gotten disconnected. Feeling as if I’d been played, I reached for my pajama bottoms. The phone rang again. This time it was a video call. Oh, that dirty, naughty man. I shouldn’t answer, but I did, keeping the phone focused on my face.
His handsome face stared back at me, full of arrogance and confidence I’d do his bidding. So far he was right. The background behind him showed some tables and chairs.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in a meeting room. Found an open door.”
“I hope you shut it.”
He chuckled. “I did. It’s late here. No one will discover me. Now where were we?”
Yeah, where were we? He was about to divest me of my panties. I’d already made the possibly stupid decision to take this wherever it went, and those two glasses of wine had helped lower my inhibitions immensely. I wanted him to keep going, and he didn’t disappoint.
“Oh, yes, I remember. Lean the phone against something. I want to see you. All of you.”
With a shaking hand, I put the phone on the nightstand and angled it just right. I heard him draw in a sharp breath.
“You’re fucking beautiful. As beautiful as I thought you’d be. Touch yourself. Pinch your nipples.”
I slid my hands up my stomach and rubbed my nipples, pinching and rubbing. My back arched and my body begged for more. I could not believe I was doing this, but I was, and I didn’t want to stop. Gage and wine had blown away any resistance I could muster.
“Holy fuck, that’s hot. Don’t stop what you’re doing and look at me.”
I pulled my attention from my own body to the screen. The display showed Gage’s midsection and a very obvious hard-on. He lowered the zipper slowly. I sucked in a breath and more aggressively pinched and rubbed my nipples. Freeing his cock, he began to stroke it.
He was large and thick and long. In my not-so-vast experience, I’d never seen another guy hung like him, and I doubted I ever would.
“Take off your panties. I want to see how wet you are.”
My breathing was labored, not from exertion but from desire. I did as ordered and turned my body around on the bed in a way that he’d be able to see between my legs. It took some wrangling, but my mission was accomplished by propping the phone on the headboard. I was able to see him, and he was able to see me.
“Perfect. Spread your legs wider.”
I lifted one leg over the top of the headboard, opening myself up to him.
“Holy shit. You are fucking hot. Really fucking hot.”
Still rubbing one breast, my other hand slid down to my stomach of its own volition, as I eagerly anticipated his next command.
“Touch yourself. Slide your finger inside, push it deep.”
I parted my folds and slid my index finger inside. I’d never been so wet.
“Pull it out and hold your finger up to the screen.”
My finger was wet with my juices, and I held it up for him to see.
“Do it again with two fingers this time.”
My body rocked under me as I inserted those two fingers as deep as they’d possibly go. My world began to spin, and my head left my body in control.
“Fuck yourself with your fingers. I want to see you come.” He, too, gasped in short breaths as he pumped his dick.
I watched him as he watched me. “Harder. Fuck yourself harder. Show me how much you want it.”
I wanted it a lot. I wanted him a lot. I mirrored his rhythm, pumping harder and harder, finding my clit and rubbing it none too gently. He didn’t speak any more words. He was too busy watching me and groaning as he worked himself to an orgasm and witnessed me doing the same.
He came a few seconds before I did. When I came, stars exploded before my eyes. My body entered a plane of pleasure I’d never thought possible. My emotions were heightened to a super sensitivity I’d never known.
I’d just had the best sex of my life, and it’d been video sex. I wasn’t sure if that was a testament to my sex life or to his skills as a lover, even long-distance.
An awkward silence ensued once we were down off our sexual high. I didn’t know what to say. Could a person do a walk of shame without leaving their own bedroom?
Gage’s blue eyes that’d been as stormy as a raging sea slowly cleared like the clouds giving way to the sun.
“Wow,” he said. “Just fucking wow.”
“Really?” My confidence lifted its head from its usual spot wallowing in mediocrity.
“Yeah. You’re hot. We have to do this again.”
“We do?”
“Yeah, once we get to the next town, I won’t be rooming with asshole again. I’ll have privacy.”
“Oh, okay.” Who was I to deny us both the pleasure of phone sex when we’d enjoyed it so much?
More awkward silence ensued. I racked my brain for a distraction.
“Your sister stopped by to see you a couple nights ago.”
He frowned, sat up, and zipped his jeans. Obviously, this discussion wasn’t one he wanted to have with his dick hanging out. “Which one?”
“Sutton.”
“Oh, she runs away once a week and comes to my place or her older sister’s place. She’s a drama queen like my mom. Everything is a big deal and the end of the world and everyone is out to get her.”
“That pretty much sums up a teenage girl’s life.”
He shrugged, giving me his signature lopsided smile, most likely the same smile that had women falling at his feet since he’d been a little boy.
“She’s a whirlwind.”
“More like a hurricane.” He sighed, though his eyes filled with fondness for his difficult sister. A small twinge of sadness squeezed at my heart. I’d never known what it was like to belong to a large family who loved you unconditionally despite your faults. Being part of such a family had been a childhood dream, one I’d given up over the years after multiple futile attempts at creating such a closeness within the foster system. I hadn’t been one of the lucky ones. Through no fault of my own, I’d been moved around more times than I could count.
“I’d hoped to save you from the mess that’s my family, but I guess I should’ve known better. I want to keep them off the show, though.”
“I’ll do my best.” Sondra was a bulldozer, and if she found out he had a family prone to drama, all bets were off. She’d be all over that.
“I guess you should meet them sometime.” He didn’t sound enthused, and I refused to take his lack of interest in such a meeting personally.
“Sutton mentioned Sunday dinners.”
He chuckled and his eyes lit up as if recalling some fond memories. “Yeah, they’re pretty wild. My mom and aunt do huge Sunday dinners one Sunday every month. It’s a big deal, noisy, boisterous, and can be overwhelming. I’ve never taken a girl there.”
“You’ve never been almost engaged.”
“True that. I’ll take you. It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done to relieve my sexual frustration, not that my family dinners are a reward exactly. They can be entertaining, though.”
I averted my gaze from the phone, nudging it slightly so he couldn’t see my face. I’d returned to normal enough to be embarrassed at my behavior.
“Hey, Darce, no walk of shame via video. Got it? Nothing to be ashamed of. We’re in our sexual prime, and we need a release somehow. In fact, I think we should release some of that frustration every night I’m on this road trip.”
“You do?”
“Fuck yes. I wasn’t meant to be celibate.”
“You know, I’d be okay if you had sex with others as long as it didn’t leak into the media. I know this is tough on you.”
He snorted out a chortle as if I’d said the most ridiculous thing ever. “After what we just did? You think I want to find a one-night stand somewhere? Fuck no, I want more of that.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, and I’m thinking this needs to be a fake relationship with benefits. There’s no way I’m going back to separate beds when I get home.”
“You aren’t?”
“No, baby, I’m not. We’ll be more convincing if the atmosphere is sexually charged every time we’re together, don’t you think?” Convincing? I was already convinced we were an item, but that’s how much of a pushover I was.
Despite how bad of an idea our sleeping together might be, I didn’t voice one single argument against it. Falling fast and making bad decisions was how I got my stupid heart broken last time. Now I’d signed up for a heartbreak sequel to my pathetic love life.
And I was looking forward to every moment of that sequel.
Chapter Fifteen
When You’re Good…
~~Gage~~
I drove like a madman to get home that morning, rejoicing it was Saturday and traffic was light. I had the rest of the weekend to spend with Darcy with the exception of a few workouts and a practice. My next game wasn’t until Monday, and I planned on putting my free time to good use.
I’d slept the bulk of the overnight flight from North Carolina, conserving my strength for the sex play to come. Cave was disappointed I didn’t join the guys’ all-night poker game on the plane, but I had to get in my beauty sleep so I’d be refreshed and ready to go.
Since our first video encounter, we’d had an encore every night. Now I wanted the real thing. I wanted to touch her skin, feel her wet, hungry mouth on my body, and bury myself inside her. I’d never been this worked up over a woman in my life, and that said a lot.
Dumping my duffle in the middle of the entry, I tossed my jacket over a chair. Grabbing a condom from my wallet, I held it in my teeth as I stripped off my clothes while walking toward the master bedroom. I rolled a condom on my already hard dick and opened the door. I made out a figure under the covers and grinned. She’d done as I’d requested.
Dude lay on the pillow next to her head and glanced up at me. I tiptoed to the bed and picked him up, ignoring his annoyed meow. After carrying him to the doorway, I set him down in the hallway.
“Sorry, buddy, but I don’t need an audience. Only one of us is getting their perverted fantasies fulfilled tonight, and it’s not you.” I shut the door and turned back to the bed.
Peeling away the covers, I grinned broadly. I switched on the lamp next to the nightstand to illuminate the body I’d only seen on video. Darcy was a sound sleeper, but I’d wake her up soon enough. I allowed myself the luxury of savoring her bare skin in the dim light.
