Page 42 of Cheap Shot

They’d set up a little shooting drill and were trying to show her how to hold her stick.

“I know how!” Harper called out, her voice carrying over the ice. “Uncle Sebby taught me.”

He got another look from Crawford.

“So what was that little talk about earlier?” Brie murmured.

Sebastian turned to look at her. “What?”

“When you and Crawford disappeared.”

“Uhh,” he said. “I went to the bathroom. He showed me where it was.”

Brie shot him a look. “Sure.”

“I did!” He had, in fact. He’d even peed and washed his hands after Crawford left just to be on the safe side.

“Oh, come on.” She laughed. “He looked pissed that you were here. Clearly, he used the bathroom thing as an excuse to talk to you.”

Sebastian gaped. Oh fuck, she’d put way more together than he’d realized.

“So what was it? Did he want to clear the air between you or tell you to fuck off? I’m so curious.”

“Oh.” Sebastian let out the breath that had been strangling his lungs without noticing. “Well, neither, really. He thought I’d done it on purpose to antagonize him, and I assured him it had nothing to do with him. I was here for Harper. My usual chirping has nothing to do with today.”

“Oh. Well, I am glad you two figured it out for Harper’s sake. Do you feel any differently about him now that you’ve seen how good he is with her?”

“No,” Sebastian said. “He’s still a total dick on the ice.”

“Yeah, but clearly he’s a good guy otherwise,” Brie argued.

She nodded toward where Crawford had Harper up on his shoulders and was carefully skating around with her.

“Being nice to a kid doesn’t make someone a good guy,” Sebastian pointed out. “It just means he’s not enough of a dick to be rude to a kid.”

Honestly? Sebastian really wasn’t sure he could take any more of this shit. This was … not on his bingo card for the day. He was not prepared foranyof this cute Crawford and Harper interaction.

And what the fuck had been up with that moment in the bathroom? Why had he goaded Crawford? Why had he called him out on staring at his mouth? What the fuck was wrong with him?

Brie made a face. “Fair point. Clearly, I know nothing about choosing wisely when it comes to men, so …”

“Well, me either,” Sebastian said with a laugh.

“We’re a pair, huh?” Brie gave him a rueful smile.

“We sure are.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and nodded toward the ice where Harper was now dancing with Jesse and a couple of the other guys. “But today’s going well. Harper is having a blast. That’s all that matters.”

“It is,” she agreed.

After practice, Harper got whisked away to do some hockey and Harriers themed arts and crafts while the players did their dryland workouts and showered.

Luke hurried through his and when they met up again in the hallway, he asked, “Do you wanna come do some yoga with Connor and Jesse and a couple of the other guys and me?”

“Sure!” she said. “What’s yoga?”

He chuckled. “It’s exercise. But it’s kinda … slow and gentle?”

Not that his body was suited to yoga andfuckif his hammies didn’t start screaming after some of those poses Dakota Crane, the team’s yoga and Pilates instructor, put them through.