So This Is War (Vancouver Agitators, #5)

by Meghan Quinn

To bring you up to speed, yes, I was fucking his daughter. Yes, it was in the locker room. Yes, it was out in the open where anyone could walk in. Was it stupid? Absolutely. Have I lost my mind? One hundred percent. Do I have any defense? Not one. Nope, this was pure stupidity. This was a move by a desperate man brought to his knees. A weak man. A man with no morals. A man infatuated with a woman he can’t control himself around.

“Then he’s benched,” Wood says as he looks me in the eyes, nostrils flaring. “Did you hear that, you bologna-loving motherfucker? You’re benched.”

The coach’s daughter was riding me, completely naked, in the middle of the locker room after he struck a deal with me to hire his daughter as my assistant to teach her a lesson.

Nope, this will take a monumental, epic proposal of apologies, especially if I want to stay on this team. Which I do. My boys are here. My life is here. She’s here . . . Which means I need a plan. But I swore I wouldn’t get them involved. I said over and over again that I wouldn’t use their idiotic advice or poorly constructed ideas, but I think desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s time to call on the Frozen Fellas.

“Is this seat taken?” a deep voice asks, startling me away from staring at my friend. I glance to my right and come face to face with a gorgeous set of greenish-gold eyes framed by dark bushy brows and nearly black lashes.

This face has been in my fantasies a time or two. It’s none other than Levi Posey, the star defenseman for my dad’s hockey team.

I’ve always heard about Levi Posey being the funniest, the most sensitive, almost like the golden retriever everyone wants in a man, but with a reputation for sleeping around and standing up for his teammates out on the ice. From the minute of conversation we’ve had, every aspect of that reputation is true.

“Because you’re a redhead, and redheads make my blood boil in a good, heart-racing way. You also have amazing tits. And when I got closer, I saw how light your eyes were and was captivated. No one else in this room was worth my time compared to you.”

“So . . .” I dance my fingers over the unbuttoned portion of his shirt. “If I were to tell you that I wanted to give you, I don’t know, a lap dance as a way to disrobe myself, would you be okay with that?” “Baby, I would hum music for you if you needed it.”

“But I said I wanted to come on your cock, not your tongue.” “You act as if you’ve only come once in a night.” “What if I have?” I ask. “Then you need to spend the night with me, baby, because you aren’t coming just once. Guaran-fucking-tee.”

I knock on my dad’s office door and take a bite of my bologna sandwich. Whoever’s bologna this is, it’s freaking good. It’s my third one this week.

Haha she's perfect for posey

Silas Taters is one of my very best friends and our right wing. A quick motherfucker, he practically tiptoes across the ice, nearly outskating all our opponents. He was a grumpy asshole for a bit before he met Ollie, who is now the most important person in his life. He lives and breathes to see her, and they’re together, thanks to me.

Pacey Lawes is our goalie. Ten out of ten in the stretching department, he can do the splits without cracking his nuts in half. He’s probably the most levelheaded out of all of us and is currently engaged to Winnie. They’re in love and happy . . . because of me.

Then there’s Eli Hornsby. Our other defenseman besides myself. He has the prettiest goddamn face you will ever lay your eyes on, likes green apples and French silk pie, and got Pacey’s sister, Penny, pregnant. They had a baby, named him Holden, and now they’re living happily ever after and in love . . . because of me.

I stil love you eli

Rounding it all out is Halsey Holmes. A book nerd, the quiet one, the mysterious center with the speed of a goddamn gazelle, he holds the record for most goals in Agitators history and has the girthiest dick on the team. We’re talking a thick motherfucker that scared me once in the shower. He’s currently married—got married over the summer—to Blakely, who works for the Agitators and Cane Enterprises. Yeah, both. Blakely is so good that after the wedding, the Agitators front office asked her to do some contract work and gave her office space so she could work both jobs while being close to her husband. Talk about fucking power. She’s also Penny’s best friend. But Blakely and Halsey are happily married and in love . . . because of me!

All these assholes are head over heels, living in their lover era, because of me.

Sure, I might be a thirty-two-year-old man with plenty of life experience under my belt, but that will never change the fact that I still want to weep into my pillow when my coach demands I join him in his office.

“And most importantly, rule number five. Under no circumstances will you have any sort of physical contact with my daughter.” “What do you mean⁠—” “Fucking her. You will not fuck her, Posey.” “Ahh . . .” I smile. “Well, no worries there. Pretty sure if she looks anything like you, there will be no need for rule number five.”

Nope, it’s Coach Wood’s daughter, and it’s not just because she’s insanely hot with her dark red hair and light gray eyes or her killer curves. Nope, it’s the fact that I know that face. I know that voice. I’ve touched those legs. I’ve kissed those lips. It’s the redhead from the bar. The girl I’ve been searching high and low for over the better part of a year. The girl who haunts me in my sleep. The girl I think about whenever I consider hooking up with another woman. The one I compare everyone to, who no one ever comes close to matching.

The girl I hired a fucking private investigator to find. That’s how goddamn desperate I was.

“Listen to me, you fuck,” he starts, apparently forgetting his bedside manners for people doing him a favor. “I saw the way you just looked at her, and if you even think about her in any way other than your coach’s extremely off-limits daughter, I will personally slice your dick off with a rusty pair of skates. Got it?”

I bend down to pick it up just as a furry critter skitters over my hand and across the floor. Mother. Of. God. The world stops spinning as the skin on my knuckles tingles with the sensation of clammy, claw feet. I stare down at my hand and then to the right, where the furry critter scurries around the baseboard of the tiny bedroom. “Oh . . . my . . . fuck,” I scream like a man whose nuts just got lassoed off before levitating off the floor and right on top of the slats of the bed.

“Not a problem.” She sighs. “You ready?” I squeeze my hands into fists. “I fear what you might hear when I lift my foot.”

Im crying from laughter

I remain shaken and stunned from rodent death by the size fourteen shoe incident. I squealed in front of her. I broke the bed. I killed a fucking rodent with my foot.

If I had to pick one of them to have a secret kink, I would have guessed Silas Taters. He gives the vibe of tying someone up and fucking them until they can’t take it anymore.

Sandie brought up the idea that maybe my dad was telling him to make things difficult.

I like smart girls

I don’t understand this entire ruse. If I had a child, I’d want what’s best for them, and what’s best for them is their happiness. Why doesn’t Coach Wood want that?

“Remember what I said, Levi.” I place my hand on his shoulder and lean into him. Our noses are mere inches from touching. “This is not your typical boss/assistant relationship. We are going to get intimate with each other.” “We . . . we are?” he asks as I grip the hem of his sweatshirt and pull it up and over his head. To my surprise, he’s not wearing a shirt under it, and dear God in heaven . . . Oh fuck me, he’s so hot.

Annnnnnd . . . I’m hard all over. I pick up a throw pillow, place it against my face, and scream into it, only to lower the pillow and find Wylie standing there, drying her hair while wearing one of my hockey shirts. Mother. Of. God. “Are you okay?” she asks. No. I’m not. I want to fuck you.

“You . . . you like bologna sandwiches?” “Love them,” she answers with a smile. Mother. Of. Fuck. This is the worst-case scenario out of all scenarios. This . . . this is blasphemy. This is bullshit. This can’t be the world I’m living in. No, this is a nightmare. Someone punch me. Poke me. Stick a chopstick right up my dick hole. Pull me away from this disaster I’m living because, oh my fucking God, the girl of my absolute dreams, the one that’s been persistent in my mind for a year, the girl who could do no wrong, she likes bologna. No, not like . . . loves.

“Hold on, ladies, before we get irritated with him, let’s hear him out. He wouldn’t pull us all out of our homes for something stupid.” She gestures toward me. “Tell us what’s going on.”

I expected the boys on sos not this haha love it

“It’s not an emergency room kind of thing. This is a mental thing. You see, I’m in quite the situation, and I called upon you four because I believe you are my best bet at figuring this all out.” “You didn’t think to text the men who brought us into this situation?” Penny asks. “You know, your teammates, your friends?” “Why would I ask them for help? They’re completely inept when it comes to love. And before you all start defending them, I’ll have you know I’m the backbone of your relationships.

Now, I need to preface this by saying I’m obsessed with redheads. There’s something about them that gets my dick spiking up like a turkey thermometer.”

“My penis is tattooed.” “What?” they all say together. “How do the boys not know?” Blakely asks. “You obviously see each other’s things in the shower, right?” Winnie cutely asks. “We do, but my tattoo is on the underside.”

I swallow and wet my lips. God, what I wouldn’t give to fuck her on the bench right now. It’s always been a fantasy of mine. The bench, the locker room, and on the ice. A chilly feat, but I’d be up for the challenge.

“Is that so? Then what is your type?” I ask. He stands and sticks his hands in his pockets. He looks down at me and says, “I’m staring at it.”

“Exactly.” I shake my head. “God, he thought he was so good. He thought he could just skate on by, drive me nuts with his pectorals on display and his bulge ready to be unwrapped. Ohhhh no, I see right through him. When I said this is war, I meant it, Sandie. Time to strap on the war paint.”

“Battle? Ohhhh no, Sandie. This is war now. All of this is war. I was sidetracked for a second there, trying to please my dad, but not anymore. I’m doing this for me and me alone.”

“Oh, it does. Nothing makes me happier than making you happy.” And then, her foot rubs up against my leg under the table. Yup. She’s playing, and I’m all fucking in. Consider my will being snapped. My strength weakened. My need for her too strong. The question is, who will break first? Because it sure as hell won’t be me.

Pacey says. “Like we can talk about how Winnie wants to get married this Christmas Eve.” I glance up at him. “She does?” He nods. “Yeah, I’m not sure about it, but she’s dead set on the idea.” “Or how about how Penny wants to get married next summer?” Eli says. “When Holden is a little older and can be the ring bearer.” “Well . . . that’s fucking adorable,” I say. “Or how about that I plan on proposing to Ollie soon?” “Really?” I ask, feeling myself getting excited. Oh, the queens are making moves on their men, and I’m fucking here for it.

“Wait,” I say, feeling breathless. Levi parts the door slightly and offers me a questioning brow. “What?” he asks. I wet my lips and muster all the courage I can find. “Don’t fuck her, Levi. Please . . . please don’t fuck her.” He straightens up and asks, “Why?” “Because.” I twist my hands over my clutch as I try to find my words. “Because. Why?” he asks, this time, taking a step forward and lifting my chin with his finger, forcing me to look at him. “Because I don’t want you fucking her.” “Why not?” He’s not letting me get away with evasiveness. When I don’t respond right away, he believes I won’t answer and starts to shut the door again. But I don’t let him as I step inside the room where I spot Samantha sitting on the edge of the bed, hands propped behind her, enjoying the show between Levi and me. “Wylie, unless you have a reason⁠—” “Because I want you,” I say before I can stop myself. “I want you, Levi, for myself. So please, please don’t do anything with her. It will . . .” I choke out the last few words. “It will gut me.”

His eyes squeeze shut as his hands smooth down my sides. “Fuck, I shouldn’t.” His eyes open, and there’s clarity in them. “But I can’t fucking stop myself,” he says right before his mouth crashes down upon mine. Thank God.

Wide-eyed, I watch it stretch upward, revealing an intricate set of tattoos on the underside, a stack of triangles that move upward toward the head of his cock.

She pauses me. “Are you serious about this?” “Never been more serious about anything,” I say. “I want you, Wylie. All of you. I want to spoil you and show you that I’m the man you deserve. Let me do that. Give me a chance.”

“I can see it. Mark my words, I think you’re going to be Wylie Posey.”

“Ollie’s the horny one,” Levi says. “I can see that. I think I might like her the most.”

But I admit there’s a large smile on my face because those words, “I’ll be here when you get back,” gave me chills. I. Want. That. More than I thought I wanted.

“I never said he wasn’t a good guy. I’m just perplexed by him. Is he good in bed?” “Incredible,” I say. “And adventurous.” “Huh.” Penny looks over at Blakely. “Maybe it’s in the Gatorade in the stadium or something.”

I wet my lips and look her in the eyes. “What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m in love with you, Wylie.” Her eyes well up as she moves in closer and sits on my lap. She cups my cheeks and gives me a soft yet full kiss. When she pulls away, she says, “I’m in love with you too, Levi.”

Cute

“What the fuck are you doing?” Coach Wood’s voice booms from the door of the locker room. Everything in my body seizes as a tidal wave of dread nearly drowns me. I clench my arms around Wylie as I look over her shoulder at her steaming father. Hands are clenched at his sides. Eyebrows are slanted. His neck veins look ready to pop right off his body. And the only thing that comes to mind? I’m absolutely fucked.