Face Off (Seattle Serpents, #2)

by Teagan Hunter

he cooked her breakfast?” “Maybe a few times.” “Uh-huh,” he says, and there’s another shuffle on his end of the line. “He gave her orgasms?” “Geez, I sure hope so.”

“And he definitely showed up at her work with dinner, didn’t he?” “Uh…no? I don’t know.” What? What is he on about? “He did. He definitely did.” Then I hear it—the faintest of tapping.

There is no mistaking the outline at the front door, and since I just spent the entire weekend wrapped up in it, I’d know that body anywhere. Lawson.

Daisy licks at me, letting me know she missed me too, and Lawson tugs on her leash. “All right, that’s enough. I’ll be the only one kissing Rory, thank you very much.”

Lawson reaches down with his other hand, and I take his offering. He pulls me up so effortlessly it makes me dizzy—or maybe that’s just Lawson himself.

“Rory…” My name comes out a growl, and the sound goes straight between my legs. Turns out, two days without him is far too many, and my body knows it as well as I do.

I swear, I could lean over this desk and kiss him right now, but I don’t. I’m too hungry to start something I sure as hell won’t want to stop.

“Is it weird to say I missed you?” “Yes.” His face falls, and I laugh. “But I might have missed you too.” He perks back up. “Really?” I nod. “Yes, really—but only the parts of you that brought me to orgasm, and that’s it.”

“You look different today.” I pull my brows together, those words sounding eerily similar to what Casey told me when I got back. “I do?” “Yeah, but good different. Like you’re…well, a little less Wednesday. Not so many dark clouds and all that.”

I head the opposite way—to Lawson’s, where I let him show me just how much he missed me. Twice.

I am one hundred percent, without a doubt certain it has to do with Rory. She’s been at my apartment nearly every night since I went to the clinic, and we’ve been spending all those nights tucked away in my bed and exploring each other in all the ways we didn’t get to at the cabin. It’s been amazing. She’s been amazing, and I can’t imagine it getting any better than this.

You’re still young. You got the stamina.” He’s right, I do. Just ask Rory. I want to say that, but I can’t, because apparently, we’re not telling anyone at all what we’re doing.

But my problem with that is I don’t intend for things to go south at all. I like Rory. Like really like her. The kind of like you don’t just get over or move on from easily.

I see Auden, which I’m not shocked by, and a few other players’ wives, but what truly sticks out to me is one person I wasn’t at all expecting to see—Rory. How the hell did I miss her before? Like she can feel my gaze on her, she turns her head my way, a soft grin tugging at her lips. Fuck me if I don’t want to rip off my helmet, march my way up those steps, and haul her against me, kissing her until we’re both senseless, skates and all.

I skip right over the redhead, training my attention on the only woman I want to see. Once again, she looks over at me, and this time, her smile is much bigger than before. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the smile you make when you’re into someone—big-time.

I’m in too big of a rush, hoping like hell to catch just a glimpse of Rory before she leaves because I’m that eager to see her, even though I just did last night.

Sure, I’m a little annoyed she’s wanting to hide this like she is, but I’m not a dick. I’ll respect her wishes. For now.

I slide my eyes over to Rory and give her that same smirk I did the first time I met her. It’s the smirk I’ve always reserved for picking up women, the smirk I know she hates.

“Really? You’ll take your shirt off? Dreams really do come true,” Rory says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’d especially love to see you dragged across the ice with no gear.” She bats her lashes, somehow still looking sweet when she does it, despite her words.

I’m stuck standing here with my cock stirring to life in my pants like a fucking weirdo, enjoying the sparring entirely too much.

I will myself to act cool and unaffected, even though every cell in my body is itching for me to track her down and show her how much I love that mouth of hers.

She rushes to defend herself, like she’s worried I wouldn’t like her being here. She’s wrong. I love having her here. Hell, I want her at all my practices, especially since the second I saw her there, I started pushing myself harder and faster. I played not just for me, but for her too. Besides, it’s kind of nice to be watched sometimes, and Rory was definitely watching.

She’s like obsessed with Hutch or something.” I’m obsessed with you.

“So, did you enjoy the show?” It works. The tension breaks, and Rory laughs. “You mean did I like watching you get yelled at, beat into the boards, and shoved around? Uh, yeah. It was the highlight of my day.”

We may flirt, we may fight, and we may fuck, but no matter what, she’s still Rory, and it’s my favorite thing about her.

“Okay. Will I see you later?” “I don’t know.” “What?” I try to keep the growl out of my voice, but the word comes out sharp anyway. What does she mean? I leave tomorrow on a four-game road trip; it’s my last chance to see her.

“Are you really into her?” That’s her hang-up? I chuckle, loving a little too much how jealous she sounds right now. “Don’t worry, Wednesday, the only person I’m into is you.” “Really?” “Yes, really. Now, let’s try this again. Will I see you later?” She sighs, and I hear the smile in it. “Yes, Lucas. You’ll see me later.”

I don’t know how I got into this with her, but all I know is I never want to look back. With Rory, all I want is forward, and quite possibly a future.

After being around him so much lately, it’s weird not having him here, not smelling leather and cedar, not hearing his laugh.

I still hear his laugh because we talk every day, but still. It’s not the same as him being here. When he’s gone, he’s a little less annoying, which I find completely unnerving. When he’s gone, I don’t find myself feeling like I need to bury myself in work as much, which is just strange.

When he’s gone, those Wednesday-like tendencies, as he likes to say, make an appear...

I informed him you were planning to take care of it personally, but—surprise, surprise—he wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted we bill him for everything. So, every time a patient’s come in, we’ve billed his account.” I’m stunned. Lawson has been paying for these bills the whole time and hasn’t said a word to me about it? Why? Why wouldn’t he bring that up? Why would he not tell me? It’s annoying. Completely maddening. So damn frustrating that I just want to…I want to… Kiss him.

It rings three times before he picks up. It’s dark, the room nearly black, but I can still make him out on the screen. “Wednesday?” he answers groggily. “What’s wrong? Everything okay?”

“I’m not mad you did it, only mad you didn’t tell me.” And even then, I’m not really mad. More like…surprised. Though, at this point, I shouldn’t be, not after all the other things I’ve seen Lawson do for people.

“Do you hate me?” he asks quietly, looking so sad I can’t help but laugh. “No, Lawson. I don’t hate you. I…don’t think I can hate you. Which is incredibly annoying, by the way.” He grins. “See? I knew you liked me all along.”

“So let me do this. You’re always so busy taking care of everyone else. Let me take care of you.”

Something so fucking strong I physically have to choke back the sob that’s suddenly lodged in my throat.

“Then why’d you answer? You should be sleeping.” “Because you called.” He says it so simply, so genuinely, and I fucking break. Everything inside of me splinters open, all the hurt and the pain and the long nights and early mornings…it all comes crashing down on me, and I can’t seem to see straight anymore.

I’m already hitting the red button and tossing my phone to the side, suddenly feeling very, very worn out. It’s just my period, I tell myself, and it’s all I will tell myself, even though it’s not as true as I wish it were. No, the truth knocking right at my heart is far scarier than that.

He’s an idiot, and it reminds me entirely too much of Lawson, who I really don’t want to think about right now.

It’s something else entirely, and the rock sinking in my stomach tells me it has to do with the man I can’t stop thinking about no matter how hard I try.

I wrench it open, not caring one bit that I look like death or that I’m not wearing a bra, and I come face to face with a grinning Lawson. “What are you…” Another bark from Daisy. Oh, right. Her.

To his credit, he doesn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable about me mentioning menstruation, which only further annoys me because of course he’s not uncomfortable like most guys would be.

I’m being a brat, I know that. But I’m just so…ugh! I missed him. I missed him so damn much, and then he comes over here and leaves me like it’s nothing. Yes, I know I asked for it, but still. Lawson is never one to back down from a challenge, and he chooses this one time to do so?

His lips pull up into a smile. “There’s my Wednesday.” And I leap into his arms. He catches me with ease, squeezing me tightly like he never wants to let me go. He buries his face in my neck, inhaling me before placing soft kisses against my skin.

I missed you,” he says as I slide back down his body and to my feet. “I know.” His chest rumbles against me, and he pulls away, looking down at me. “It’s okay, I know you missed me too.”

Instead, I press up on my tiptoes, kissing him hard and fast. I must take him by surprise, because it’s a couple of seconds before he registers what’s happening, then suddenly, he’s kissing me back, and it’s just as good as I remembered.

It’s good, so damn good, and I’m certain there is no way there’s another person out there as good at kissing as Lawson is because he doesn’t just kiss me—he claims me, marks me as his and his alone. It’s overwhelming and not enough all at once.

He laughs, pulling away more. “As much as I missed you—and in case you didn’t believe me the first time, I really fucking did—I’m not here for that.” I wrinkle my brows. “Then what are you here for?” He gives me a look that says, Really? You have to ask? He sighs lightly. “You, Rory. I’m here for you.”

I never even registered it swinging against me when he was kissing me, too wrapped up in his touch and his scent and…well, just him.