The guys are working their asses off. Things are moving so fast it’s hard to keep up. There are only ten seconds left in the game. I hope it doesn’t come down to a shootout. Declan gets the puck and he stickhandles across some players from the other team. I sit on the edge of my seat. Come on, baby. He gets closer to the net but there are a lot of guys around protecting the net. They are coming at him from all sides and I hold my palms up to my cheek as Declan shoots. For that millisecond I hold my breath, waiting to see if the puck is going in the net… he scores. Declan freaking scored the winning goal. I fly out of my seat and cheer. Blossom and Paris are right with me. They have become such good friends to me. They are supportive and there for me when I need them.
The crowd goes wild as the buzzer goes off and it’s game over. The Westfall Dragons have won the Frozen Four and I couldn’t be prouder of Declan. He really is so special. Logan calls me and I answer the phone. We’ve been talking on the phone whenever he calls to say hi to Declan.
“He did it,” Logan cheers on the phone.
Tears of happiness stream down my eyes. “He did and you’re next.”
“Thanks, Poppy. I sure hope so. Tell him I love him and congratulations. I’m sure things will be crazy over there after the game with the interviews and stuff.”
“I’ll do that. Good luck on your game too. I’m rooting for you. Declan is too,” I say.
“Thanks. Take care,” Logan says.
We end the call and the girls and I head out of the arena. It’s going to take a while for Declan to leave the arena with all the interviews, so we decide to go get a bite to eat and head back to our hotel to change so that we are ready for the party tonight. And what a party it’s going to be. I couldn’t be happier for my man.
FORTY
Declan
The team came out to celebrate at a club in St. Louis. We are so pumped. The puck bunnies from Westfall followed us here, and I’m betting the bunnies from Buffalo are here too because they clearly know we are hockey players.
We meet up with Poppy, Blossom, and Paris at the front of the club in a quieter bar area. I take in my girl in her tight-fitting Bordeaux dress and my dick stiffens.
She runs up to me and kisses me, even though her brother is standing right beside us. She gives me a quick peck on the lips and congratulates me whispering, “The real kiss will come later.”
“Okay, enough of that,” Ryse jokes.
He’s been a good sport about us being together and we try not to have too much PDA around him but sometimes, like now, we fail.
Poppy moves on to Ryse and hugs him too. “Congratulations, big brother.”
Ryse could’ve drafted this year but he preferred to finish his five year degree. So he’ll be back at it next year.
Paris comes up to him and gives him a quick hug. “Congrats.”
“Thanks.” Ryse smiles at her.
We all head into the club where the real partying is happening. The guys from the team line up at the bar and we all do shots of tequila. The girls stand with us and take the shots too.
We are all super pumped and we head out to the dance floor to dance. The bunnies pounce on the guys, but I have my girl in my arms and I couldn’t be happier. I can’t keep my hands to myself as she moves. She’s become so confident, so sure of herself, it’s a nice sight to see. I love when she wears that black makeup on her eyes. It makes her look sexy as hell. She looks over at Ryse and a pout forms on her lips.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“That bunny is all over my brother,” she says.
“He’s a big boy,” I answer.
Blossom and Paris are dancing with Liam and Rowan.
“I know,” Poppy says, but I can still see she doesn’t like it.
After a while we head back to the bar. Blossom and Paris line up beside us and Ryse walks up to the bar too.
“You guys up for doing a shot together?” he asks.
“If I take one more shot, I’ll want to hump you on the dance floor,” Poppy mutters quietly. Good thing it’s soft enough that her brother doesn’t here the comment. I place a kiss on her lips and tell her to keep it down because she clearly has a loose tongue right now.
The bartender lines up the shots. We each take one, but Ryse and Paris decide it would be funny to intertwine their hands and take each other’s shot.
Poppy cocks her brow and looks at me and I just shrug it off. “They’re friends.”
I tell Poppy we should get out of here and head back to the hotel, but she insists we have to stay and hang with our friends.
“Fine, but you’re sleeping in my room tonight,” I say to her.
“You’re rooming with my brother,” she reminds me.
Last night she stayed with Paris and Blossom because we all needed a good night’s sleep before the game, but tonight I need to make it happen.
As the night wears on, Blossom is talking to some guy who plays for the NBA and Paris is talking to his friend. By the looks of it, I’m guessing he plays for the NBA too.
Blossom comes up to us with Paris and says, “We’re going to leave. They’re headed to a party in some mansion and it sounds fun.”
“That sounds like a bad idea,” Poppy warns.
“Come on, it’s just a party. Blossom and I are due for some fun,” Paris says.
“Yeah, besides I’ve been celibate for years, I don’t plan on breaking it,” Blossom says. I know she’s talking to Poppy but I feel weird listening in on the conversation. I act like I didn’t hear what she said.
“We’ll meet you back at the hotel in a few hours,” Paris says. “I never get to have any fun.”
Ryse walks over to our little group standing in the middle of the dance floor. He’s clearly drunk and swaying.
“What are you guys doing?” he asks Paris.
“We’re going to head out with those guys,” Paris says, pointing to the famous NBA players.
“You don’t want to go home with that dude,” he says to Paris.
“Do you know who he is?” she asks Ryse.
“Everyone knows who he is. My point exactly,” Ryse answers.
“Are you not going to take one of those bunnies home for the night?” Paris asks. I don’t know what’s going on between these two but the convo is weird. When I look over at Poppy, the look she has on her face confirms what I’m thinking.
Ryse grins sheepishly. “So what if I am?”
He waits.
Paris waits. “Have fun,” she says. “Let’s meet for breakfast tomorrow.”
Then she takes off.
Ryse looks frozen for a minute but then the bunny he was dancing with pulls him away again and he takes off to dance with her.
“Looks like I got an empty hotel room for the next few hours,” Poppy says.
I take her by the hand. “We’re leaving.”
We’re both feeling our alcohol as we walk through the hotel lobby, but we keep our distance and hold hands as we make our way to the elevator. I silently pray that no one gets on with us. We enter the elevator and the second the doors close, I pin Poppy to the wall. Her hands come up and her fingers dig into my scalp as we kiss. She wraps one leg around my waist and I press my arousal to her center.