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I climb into the back, figuring that Garrett will have called shotgun this morning. But just before Calvin drops into the driver’s seat, his cell rings.

“Sorry, I need to take this,” he explains before closing the door he just opened, leaving Garrett and I alone.

“Hey,” he says, twisting around in his seat to look back at me.

“Hey.”

“Feeling better?”

I drag my bottom lip between my teeth as I take him in.

He’s wearing a Vipers hoodie and a pair of dark jeans. His hair was probably styled a few hours ago, but now it’s messy, as if he’s been running his fingers through it all morning. And he’s rocking a few days of stubble on that strong jaw of his.

The last time I saw him was through a screen, and that was hot as fuck. But in person, he’s even hotter.

“No, not really. I think I made a mistake last night.”

His eyes twinkle. “Oh, really? Maybe you could rectify that later?”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll have to see how the day goes.”

He smirks at me. “I think you might be in luck.”

32

GARRETT

Aloud growl fills the room, and I look up at Cooper, a smile pulling at my lips.

“How are you hungry already?” I tease.

“Hey, a machine this good needs its fuel, baby.”

Heat surges to my cheeks. It happens every time he calls me that.

It doesn’t matter that we’re both lying here naked, or what we just did. Hearing him call me baby does things to me that his body can’t.

Terrifying things that I’m trying not to focus on too much.

“Did you already have dinner plans?” I ask hesitantly, aware that it’s probably his way of telling me to get up and leave.

I should, I know that. But damn it, lying here with him feels too good.

When Casey told me the guys were planning on coming to watch Sutton’s game, I didn’t really think much of it. I certainly didn’t expect Cooper to show his face.

Storm, Donnelly, Monroe, Killer, sure. But Cooper Nash, the man who avoids doing anything with his teammates aside from what’s required of him? No.

I thought I was imagining it when a shiver ran down my spine the second I followed the girls out to the ice.

Casey and Megan, the girls’ head coach, let me introduce myself to the team and explain what I was going to be doing.

I don’t think many of them fully understood, but then, to be fair, I don’t often explain any aspects of my job to under tens. I think I might have used far too many long, nerdy words.

Sutton got it. So did a couple of the others who are obviously hungry to improve. Others just looked downright bored. I get it. Numbers aren’t for everyone. Nor is understanding how to use them.

But no, when I discreetly glanced at where the rather large group of Vipers were sitting, there he was, right next to Calvin.

And he stayed the entire game. I want to say he watched the whole thing, but if the tingling of my skin told me anything, it was that maybe he wasn’t always paying attention to what was happening out on the ice.