Page 3 of Cheap Shot

A cheer went up from around the room and Luke gave a feral grin as he bumped fists and punched chests when they lined up to go down the tunnel for the second period.

Hockey was thegoddamnbestsport out there.

The buzzer sounded at the end of the third period, announcing the Harriers had captured a 5–0 win.

Arkady had been in net tonight. Jesse had been resting because of a groin sprain—a fact the team had poked endless fun at him and Connor for.

While Luke waited in line to thank Kady for a game well played, he had to admit, as fucking insane as it was for their captain and goaltender to be dating, they seemed happy together.

Of course, it had only been a year and a half.

The cracks hadn’t shown up in his relationship with Autumn until they’d hit the two-year mark. He’d also been eighteen when they met and Autumn barely twenty, so what the fuck had they known at the time?

Unlike all of his other teammates, he’d never felt the need to fall in love and have a relationship. He’d tried a few more times anyway, just because it was what everyone else was doing, but finally learned his lesson.

He was happy with his life just the way it was.

When Rafe skated away from Arkady after a helmet bonk, Luke was up next.

“Good job tonight!” he said, grabbing Kady’s mask and shaking him.

Kady grinned. “You did good too! You fight for me.”

“Of course I did,” Luke said gruffly, patting him on the shoulder and skating away.

That was his tendie. He had to protect him.

The Comets had gotten frustrated late in the third period and had spent way too much time in Kady’s blue paint. Luke had barked at a couple of their players about it, which had turned into a shoving match.

The next shift out, they’d tried itagainand that time, Luke wrestled the guy to the ground. Although they’d both gone to the box, Luke had no regrets. The team had won and hopefully Portland had learned its lesson.

Luke went through his usual post-game routine—a quick cooldown workout, some time with the trainers because he usedhis body hard and at the age of thirty-four, everything took way fucking longer to recover from, and a shower—and could still feel the energy coursing through him.

After games like this there was always a buzz under his skin. An itchy restlessness that was difficult to shake.

The only thing that had ever worked was sex.

He’d tried working out harder, tried drinking. Nothing else did the trick.

Luke thought guys who let themselves get tied down were fucking idiots, but as he dressed after his shower and watched Mickey murmur something in Rafe’s ear that had Rafe giving him a plainly horny look from under his lashes, Luke did have to admit, they hadonething going for them.

There was someone at home to have sex with.

Was it worth all the other bullshit that came with it? Nah. But at least they didn’t have to deal with hookup apps like Luke did.

They just kept gettingworsetoo. More bots, more fake profiles, more people looking for a sugar daddy.

He just wanted to get his dick sucked. Why was that so fucking hard to accomplish?

Luke tugged on a white collared shirt, buttoning all but the top couple of buttons, then slipped on a charcoal gray suit vest that matched his trousers. He tweaked the collar so it lay right just as Tanner walked past him.

“Doesn’t matter what you wear, you’re still ugly, dude,” Tanner threw out.

Crawford dug a hand into Tanner’s curly hair and messed it up.

He squawked. “Hey! I just styled that.”

“I know.” Luke grinned and winked at him, then slipped his phone into his pocket. “See you tomorrow.”