Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(139)

“He said that love can cause all kinds of emotions. And he made me promise that I wouldn’t send any more messages to Kingston or tell him that my mom and my dad are going to get together, ’cause they’re not.”

“Well, I still think it’s cool that he’s moving here.”

I smile. “I do, too.”

“Did you ask him about calling him Dad?”

I shake my head. “Not yet.” I’ve been calling him James, and it’s starting to feel a little weird to me now, but I think calling him dad will seem weird, too. I wanted to ask him about it last night, but I was too chicken to do so. “But I will. When the time’s right.”

“Well, I’m happy for you. You’re gonna have two dads. One’s a famous hockey player and the other’s a hockey agent. And of course, your Uncle Optimus. God, everyone’s gonna think you’re cool.”

My heart swells as that sinks in. Gabby’s right…

I finally find my dad and Kingston’s going to be my stepdad.

That makes me … extremely lucky.





58

Kingston

“Just because you won last night’s game doesn’t mean you get to reap the benefits for several days after,” Ellie says as I pull the truck into the parking lot of the practice rink.

“No?” I give her my best confused face. “Are you sure?”

“What are we doing here?” Ellie glances around, probably noticing that the parking lot is completely empty.

I pull into the players’ lot and put the truck in park. I offer a smile but say nothing.

“What’s going on in that devious mind of yours, Rush?”

“Well, I happen to know that no one’s going to be here today. Plus, I’ve always had this fantasy...”

Ellie peers up at the building. “Don’t tell me you want to have sex in the locker room?”

“Yeah, no.” With a flick of my wrist, I unbuckle her seat belt. “But I do know another place…”

She nods toward the building. “Inside there.”

It’s not a question, but I nod anyway.

“You want to sneak into the practice rink and have sex while no one’s there?”

“Would you rather wait until someone is there?” I tease.

Color infuses her cheeks. “We could get in trouble for breaking and entering.”

“Not if we’re allowed to go in.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” I can see the intrigue. She’s definitely turned on by the idea.

I reach into the cup holder and retrieve the key ring. “I thought we’d use these.”

I managed to snag a set of keys to the practice arena under the guise that I’d be coming in early on Sunday morning to get in some practice time. No one asked any questions, so I didn’t offer any details.

“I like this devious side of you,” Ellie says, then reaches for the door handle.

The second she opens her door, I do the same. I reach the front of the truck at the same time she does, then take her hand and lead her to the rear entrance door. It only takes a few minutes to get into the building and turn off the alarm. I make sure to lock it back so that we won’t have any unexpected visitors.

Although we do a lot of our practices at the Cedar Park Arena, we also spend a lot of time at the practice facility. It’s not as flashy and it’s not built for fans to be able to watch the action, but the rink’s as nice as the main one.

“I like it here.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” I ask.

“Because there’s this room upstairs where you have a direct view of the rink, but it offers some privacy.”

“Really?” I pretend not to know what she’s referring to. “Maybe you could show me this room.”

“I’d be glad to.”

Ellie tugs on my arm and I let her pull me toward a darkened hallway. I don’t miss a step as I follow her to the elevator. The second floor has several offices, and all the doors are closed with the exception of the room she’s referring to. It’s actually an empty room that’s rarely used. Sometimes some of the player’s families come up here, mainly those with small children who can’t handle the chilly air downstairs. Every now and then, we’ll have cake in here when it’s someone’s birthday.

There are no lights on anywhere in the arena, except for a few small ones to light the hallways and a couple high up in the rafters. If anyone happened to come in, I seriously doubt they’d see anything, but in order to ensure that, I kick the door closed with my foot. Getting caught doesn’t bother me so much, but I damn sure am not going to invite trouble if I don’t have to.

However, I am going to have to get my hands on this woman.

And soon.





Ellie

The second Kingston pulled into the parking lot, I knew exactly what he was up to. I can’t lie. It lit a spark deep inside me. The idea of having sex at the practice arena… It’s definitely taboo.

Probably not nearly as taboo as it could be. There are no people around, which makes it safe. I’m not sure I’d be willing to do this otherwise. Then again, as I slide my hands up underneath Kingston’s shirt, I’m not sure that’s the case. This man… God, he makes me do crazy things, want crazy things.