Page 21 of Ice Rebel

“Let’s see. That management wanted to suspend me. That I needed to get a hobby, or at minimum a girlfriend to take the edge off. Oh, and that he was making me co-captain of the team.”

“That’s fantastic.” His eyes lit up, but only briefly. “Wait a minute. What do you mean co-captain?”

“You heard me. Three guesses about who the other co-captain is and the first two don’t count.” Being the captain meant a whole lot of babysitting.

“You’re fucking kidding me. Jagger?”

I glanced out the passthrough into the living room, double checking I didn’t see his ugly face. “Yes, Jagger. Now how in the hell am I supposed to deal with that shit?”

He almost doubled over with laughter. “That is going to be so fun to watch.”

“Very funny.”

Darren skidded into the room. “Hey. Do either of you know if the old man kept any Christmas decorations here? The girls would love to see some festive light.” The poor guy who’d rented us the house could soon reconsider his decision.

My buddy was more than half drunk. I rolled my eyes, nodding toward the set of stairs I could see from where I was standing. “I think there are some in the attic.”

“Oh, hell, yeah. Come on, girls. Let’s go create an uptown party.”

Were they really going to do a dance up the stairs? If only alcohol had that kind of effect on me, enough to blur out reality for a little while. That wasn’t possible given my wolf’s metabolism.

While the girls squealed, Hudson moved so we were standing shoulder to shoulder, even tilting our heads as we gawked at their antics.

Darren was the practical joker of our group.

“Are there really decorations in the attic?” Hudson asked, trying to curtail his laughter.

“How the hell would I know?”

We both burst out laughing. Darren was also one gullible son of a bitch.

“That’s shit about Jagger, but who knows. Maybe you’ll learn to get along.”

“You really don’t think he’s such a bad guy?” I was curious as to his answer.

He shrugged and pitched his empty bottle into the already overflowing trash. “I’ve talked to him a couple of times. Honestly, I think he’s going through some shit just like all of us. Maybe give him a chance to prove your theory wrong.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I have a choice.”

The way my housemate rubbed his jaw meant something was stewing in that twisted brain of his. “The coach is right about one thing. You do need to get laid.”

“Very funny. That’s not what he was talking about.”

“Then what?”

“He really thinks I should have a girlfriend. To ground me. To take the edge off.”

He continued stroking his stubble while nodding. “That could work. Just imagine how cool it would be to come home from every game and have her waiting for you in a skimpy negligee.”

“Like hell I’d allow that to happen. Not in this freaking house!”

“Please,” he chided, tilting his head from side to side. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Are you going to take the coach’s advice?”

A few sizzling images popped into my mind, all about the sultry woman from the gym. Her dazzling sea-green eyes glittering with flecks of gold, the way the sunlight coming in through the frosted glass highlighted her copper hair and her voluptuous body when pressed against mine… “Maybe.”

Hudson was way too thoughtful, which meant he was about to do something stupid that could easily get us into trouble.

“What?”