Page 16 of Hot Shot

Brendan’s jaw tightens. “I’m in charge of him. I’m his captain.”

“On the ice,” I say. “You know what, this is actually not a conversation for you and me to have. Leave Max alone and don’t you fucking dare tell him before I get a chance to.”

“Yeah,” Shelby says.

Because now I’ve found my baby’s father. Now I can tell him. The weight of that falls off my shoulders. I hadn’t realized how much it had been affecting me, not knowing how to get in touch with him to tell him about the baby.

I grab her arm and pull her out of the tunnel with me. She’s remarkably quiet all the way to my car.

Then she turns to me, smile as wide as the big Texas sky.

“Holy shit, girl. That man is sex on a candy-coated stick. I mean stupid hot.”

“Like a cross between a football player and an underwear model was my first impression.”

“Or a hockey player, as it turns out.”

“Yep, didn’t see that one coming.”

chapter

eight

Max

I got the text from Charlotte a couple of hours ago. All it said was her address and a time to come over. I’m half an hour early. To say I’m excited and nervous is a fucking understatement.

I’ve wanted this woman, no, craved this woman, for the last four months. Then when I find her again, I discover she’s my captain’s sister? What the actual fuck? I mean, I’m glad I know where she is, but still. Brendan already doesn’t like me very much. At least from what I can tell.

CHARLOTTE: You can come in. You don’t have to sit in your car and wait.

I smile at her words. At her name and number saved into my phone. And at the fact that she saw that I was here early. Then I get out of my car and walk up the sidewalk to her home. She’s got a green 1920’s era bungalow with a wide front porch and mature oak trees surrounding the house and lot.

She opens the door and stands there, barefoot and looking like my goddamn wet dream. Cut-off jean shorts, a baggy Texas Tornados shirt that does nothing to hide her perfect tits, her toenails are painted bright blue today. Her brown hair is wadded up on top of her head in what my sisters refer to as a messy bun.

I want to pull her into my arms, especially since I was wearing most of my pads during the hug I got at the arena. I couldn’t feel her softness press against my body. But she skirts around me when I get close to the front door.

“Did you find it okay?” she asks.

“Yeah. I actually had a buddy with an apartment not too far from here my sophomore year.”

She nods. “Because of course you’ve just been living here in Austin. Life is weird.” She leads me to a sofa in the living room. “Want anything to drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

“I guess I’m just going to dive right in,” she says. “I invited you over here to discuss something.”

“Your brother being my team captain?”

“I suppose that could be part of it, but no.”

“Before you give me whatever reasons you’ve come up with about why we don’t make sense together,” I move to sit on the ottoman in front of where she’s sitting. I reach forward and grab her hands. “I have so many things I’ve been wanting to say to you these last few months.”

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you a single moment since that night. I knew you were special the moment I first saw you and this confirms it.” I bring her hands to my lips and pepper them with kisses. “What are the odds I’d get drafted to the team where your brother is goalie? What are the odds we’d end up living in the same town? Tell me you don’t feel this pull between us.”

“It actually is irrelevant right now.”

I swallow hard. “Did you meet someone else? Is it that guy who was supposed to meet you that night?”