Page 22 of Cheap Shot

So, nothing new.

Luke kept his gaze firmly out of the stands as he warmed up, doing laps, crushing Tanner against the boards, and shooting some pucks at Jesse that he snatched out of the air like always.

Luke didn’t get a penalty until the second period and despite his promise to himself that he wouldn’t give Sebastian the satisfaction of admitting he knew he was there or not, their gazes met as Luke stepped into the box.

He quickly looked away.

“Hey, Crawford!” Sebastian called out a moment later. “Nice missed shot there earlier. I’ve seen better hands on a snake!”

Luke shifted awkwardly, staring out through the penalty box door.

Shit, he hadn’t really thought this through, had he? Absolutely nothing about the guy’s chirping had changed, only now Luke knew he could turn his balls inside out with his mouth in no time at all.

Luke didn’t like to admit it, but it had been adamngood blowjob.

The best ever? Maybe not, but it was up there.

Unfortunately.

As Luke left the game following a loss to Dallas in overtime later that night, he didn’t feel too bad about the results.

They’d picked up one point for overtime rather than losing two and Dallas was a strong team this year.

Plus, they hadn’t lost because they’d played a bad game.

While none of themlikedlosses, a certain number of them were inevitable throughout the season and the mood in the lockerroom was good as guys went through their post-game routines, then got ready to leave.

The guys in relationships were all heading home, the rookies had plans to do some gaming, and Tanner pouted in his stall as he stripped out of his gear.

“Why is everyone soboring?” he complained.

Luke shrugged.

“What are you doing tonight?” Tanner glanced up at him.

“I dunno,” Luke said. “Hadn’t decided yet.”

“Wanna hang out? We could do karaoke, hit up O’Neill’s, whatever you want.”

Luke eyeballed him. “Don’t we spend enough time together here and on the road?”

Tanner scowled. “Rude, man.”

“I’m just sayin’ …”

“C’mon, come out with me.” There was a distinctly whiny note in Tanner’s voice. “I need to be entertained.”

“Why don’t you know how to entertain yourself?” Luke countered. He’d made the mistake of agreeing to do something once, so every time Tanner wanted someone to hang out with, he bugged Luke about it.

Luke stripped off the last of his soggy gear and slipped on a pair of shower shoes, then strode naked into the wet room and cranked on the faucet in one of the half-wall shower stalls.

Tanner followed, wrapped in a towel, and took one of the stalls nearby. “Because I get easily bored,” he said, tossing the towel over the edge of the tiled half-wall.

Luke snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know, bud.”

“Where do yougoafter games anyway?” Tanner asked. “And why won’t you talk about it?”

“Because sometimes, I want some fuckin’ space from you,” he pointed out, dunking his head under the water and wetting it.