Levi leans over. “Damn, she’s hot.”
My eyes are deceiving me. I squint and lean forward.
“This is my daughter, Liliana Ramirez,” Coach says.
I’ve been punched in the gut. No. No. No.
I haven’t stopped thinking of Lili and now she’s here.
“Liliana will be your new PR rep. Her job is to work with each of you one-on-one and get your social media up to par. The seniors will be capitalizing on most of her time since they are drafting and need as much help as they can get,” Coach explains. “And for any of you who think you’re going to date my daughter, let me remind you she is an employee of the Dragons team. Any type of inappropriate relationship can lead to you being kicked off the team, which means losing your scholarships,” he says pointedly, raising his brows and looking each of us one by one in the eyes.
I bite on my lip as my leg bounces nervously. Noah turns to look at me wide-eyed, but I act as if I don’t see him. I didn’t make it this far to get kicked off the team. Hell, I stayed at Westfall during summer session so I could finish my degree faster. It was also an excuse not to go home to Mom. Although, I could’ve gone to work at the hockey camp and made some money, but I wanted my degree faster. Coach said I was good enough to draft, even though I’m only twenty-one.
Liliana steps up and gives a quick introduction about herself. She’s a pre-law student which I know but, apparently, she has a big blog about her journey of applying to Harvard and she has a 150K followers. I want to ask myself how I didn’t know this, but Lili and I kept things short. The only thing I really know is I’m attracted to her, our chemistry is off the charts, and she suffers from a broken heart.
Our gazes lock and her dark eyes suck me under, but I can’t let that happen. She quickly pulls her gaze from mine and ends her little spiel about being excited to work with each of us.
I bet that’s a damn lie. I bet she hates the idea of working with me.
Coach Ramirez calls a few of the guys to watch some plays, in order to get ready for our game this week, and then he tells me and Noah to speak with Lili.
Noah watches me wide-eyed.
I give him a look of warning.
When the guys disperse, I quickly mutter, “Do not say anything about Hawaii. No one can know.”
He nods profusely as if he gets the gravity of what I’m dealing with, and then we both walk over to Lili. I introduce myself the way I usually would with a handshake. Lili is clearly on the same page as me and treats me like a complete stranger, even though I made her come seven ways from Sunday less than two weeks ago.
The guys clear out. I wait as Lili goes through Noah’s social media. At least the dude posts some of the things he does and has a decent number of followers. I decided I was a lost cause when it came to social media so even though I have pages set up, there isn’t much activity on them.
Once Noah leaves the room, it’s just Lili and me in the media room. All the air feels like it’s been sucked from my lungs, or maybe it’s this room is too small to contain us both or whatever feeling is filling up inside of me.
“I can’t believe you’re Coach Ramirez’s daughter,” is the first thing I say.
She blinks. Her long lashes brush her cheeks. Her dark eyes look threatened maybe, but other than that she is beautiful. My memory didn’t do her justice. Her long black hair flows down her back in a shiny straight sheet. She’s wearing some pink lip gloss that makes me want to kiss the hell out of her. Her floral scent wafts over me, reminding my dick just how happy he is to see her. Down, buddy. She’s a no-fly zone now. She’s wearing a fitted sky-blue shirt that shows her ample chest and tight blue jeans that reveal how perfect her curves are.
“I can’t believe your one of my dad’s players. If I knew you were a hockey player. . .” she huffs, not finishing the sentence.
“Don’t even think it. I’m happy it happened,” I say.
“Are you crazy?” she whisper-shouts. “You don’t know what my dad is like.”
“Oh, I bet you I do,” I retort. “We need to act like we don’t know each other.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re in agreement. Now let’s go over your social media. I was hired to do a job.” She’s all business.
I pass her my cell phone. This is so freaking crazy. I thought I would never see this girl again and here she is. Since I’ve been back at the hockey house, I’ve had many girls proposition me, but I wasn’t interested. I thought after I had sex with Lili I would somehow change. I thought I would maybe want to have sex with random girls, knowing how good it can feel. I rejected each of those girls because, apparently, my cock only wants the girl in front of me, which is a big damn problem because there is no way I can have her.
“Your social media is practically nonexistent,” she declares.
“Which is why you’ve been hired to help me,” I say, raising my right brow.
“Cute.” She smirks, and I detect a little bit of a blush.
Coach pops into the room. “Russo, good. I know I can trust you around my daughter,” he says. Then he looks at Lili. “This guy isn’t your typical jock. He’s finishing his four-year engineering degree in three years and drafting early,” he informs her. Then he pats my shoulder.
I feel myself blush, which is weird. I don’t blush.
“Nice. He also doesn’t have any proper social media set up,” Lili retorts.
“That’s what you’re here for.” Coach smiles proudly.
“I don’t know what to post. I’m either in class or playing hockey.” I shrug.
Lili watches me with a curious look.
“I need to head out. Keep your hands off my daughter, Russo. And make sure your friends get the memo. The last thing we need is trouble this close to the Frozen Four.”
“Yes, sir,” I say.
Coach Ramirez leaves the media room. Lili watches me with her brow cocked.
“What?” I smirk. Shit! I can’t believe she’s standing in front of me. I thought I would never see her again. I feared I’d never feel this way again. Not that it matters. She’s my coach’s daughter.
EIGHTEEN
Logan
After a long day of classes, I head back to the hockey house, hoping my crazy housemates do not feel the need to host a back-to-school party. I want to get ahead on my readings for class so I can stay on top of my workload and end with a high GPA.
I’m at the kitchen table, getting some homework done, when Cait barges into the kitchen with Noah.
“Holy shit,” she says, watching me wide-eyed.
“What?” She stops and watches me.
“She’s here,” she blurts then looks between Noah and me.
“If you’re referring to Lili, I know, and please keep your voice down. I don’t need any of the guys finding out about Hawaii,” I warn. Then my brows furrow and I think back to Noah behaving weird this morning.
“Did Noah tell you she was here?” I ask Cait, but I don’t have patience to hear the answer. I turn to Noah. “Did you know Lili was going to Westfall before this morning?”
Cait steps forward, looking apologetic. “She’s the RA for my floor. I saw her last night,” she admits, giving me a deer in the headlights look.