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“Just fucking say it.” I sigh.
They look at each other, and then fucking die of laughter. Briggs is laughing so hard for a minute I’m scared he might wreck the van.
“Dude, we just picked you up in the middle of the night in your fucking underwear outside of a sorority house in Briggs’s daddy mobile,” Chaney wheezes. “You snuck out of a sorority girl’s window like a creepy old cradle robber. Got a thing for daddy kink, old man?” He’s literally struggling to breathe, he's laughing so hard.
“Oh fuck you, Rookie,” I say, slapping the back of his head.
His shoulders shake with more laughter, and then Briggs looks back at me for a moment before dragging his attention back to the road. “As funny as this is, brother, I’m kinda worried you’re going to get caught. I mean, what if someone actually saw you?”
I shrug. “Trust me, I had a moment of insanity. Won’t happen again.” Although, that’s a promise I’m not sure I can keep since she seems to make me lose all semblance of sanity. “I’m going to be more careful.”
He’s got a point. I’m sneaking into her room because I couldn’t stay away from her. Is this shit really just for fun anymore? Because the way I felt tonight… Ineededto be with her.
I couldn’t go another second without seeing her.
And what’s more, I’m disappointed I didn’t get to spendmoretime with her tonight before I was unceremoniously shoved out the window. I wanted to hold her in my arms for a while, to hear about her week, to tell her about mine. To soak up everything about her.
I’m beginning to think that I might be a littlefuckedwhen it comes to my coach’s daughter.
18
HUDSON
“Do you even realize how fucked you are?” Chaney says nonchalantly while we walk toward my car after deboarding the plane. We’re just returning from another stretch of away games.
I got “voluntold” to drop him off because Briggs needed to get straight home. Since I’m the only one not rushing home to a wife and kids, they picked me to chauffeur the rookie around. Lucky me. Don’t ask me why a grown-ass man doesn’t even have a driver’s license. He also has a strong aversion to rideshare because of the privacy risk. That part I don’t blame him for I guess, but fuck, hire adriver. Or something.
I’m just grumpy because I’ve been stuck on a plane with other anxious, grumpy hockey players who want to get home to their families.
This time, it’s different. I actually have someone to get home to, and I can’t fucking wait another second to see Caroline. We barely had two days together since the night that I snuck into her room at the sorority house, and it wasn’t fucking long enough before I had to head back on the road for another game.
I haven’t stopped thinking about her, and I can’t wait to see her in my bed tonight. We agreed to only meet up at my house moving forward, just to be safe. This time, no one can interrupt us and there’s no chance we’ll be caught. Perks of living alone. But I’m also excited to just be together outside of my bed too, to hear her laughter, to hear about the kids at the rink, to flirt and tease like we always do. I just really like being around her.
“Don’t make me leave you here.” I stop mid stride and narrow my gaze at Chaney’s jab, my lips tightening into a scowl.
Chaney lifts his hands in surrender, but the sincere expression on his face gives him away. “I love you enough to say it, Rome. You’ve been bouncing around for the last hour and a half, filled with nervous energy, and I know it’s got every bit to do with getting home to see…” He looks around, lowering his voice and shielding it behind his hand before he continues. “Caroline.”
“Get in the car,” I tell him, unlocking the Rover and tossing my hockey bag in the trunk before sliding into the driver’s seat.
Once he gets in the passenger seat and shuts the door, he turns to face me.
“Listen, I’m just worried, okay? You’re… You’re one of my best friends, and I don’t want Coach to make your life a living hell. Brother, you are fucked-up about this girl. And not just any girl. Our coach’s much younger, very fucking off-limits co-ed daughter. Dude, she was a baby when you were a teenager.”
I clench my jaw, averting my gaze. “We’re not together, Chaney. We’re just having fun. We tried to stay away from each other, and it didn’t work, so we’re just taking it day by day.”
He huffs, flopping backward against the leather of my seat. “Yeah, until you get caught, and guess what… then it doesn’tmatterwhat kind of shit you two want to label it. Then, it’s too late. Coach knows, the media has a field day, and your entire career is on the line. You’re playing with fire, and I’m scared you’re going to get burned.”
Part of me wants to snap on him, my patience already wearily thin, but another part of me sees that the kid is genuinely worried. I can see it on his face and hear it in the tone of his voice. He’s actually fucking concerned.
“Rookie, I appreciate you, alright? I do,” I say with sincerity.
He nods. “Just looking out for you, Rome. That’s all.”
“I know. I appreciate that, and as much as I do, I’m sick of looking at your ugly-ass face.” I smirk, pulling out onto the highway towards his high-rise downtown penthouse.
He chuckles but doesn’t respond, and it leaves me thinking about my brothers and the shit we’ve been through throughout the years. Somewhere along the way, we just added another to our crew.
The rookie became a part of our group from the moment we met him. Suddenly, he just started showing up to shit. Typical Chaney– he’s a persistent fucker. But, he’s one of us now.
