Page 44 of Puck Me Twice

“Yeah.” Finally reaching my locker, I grab for my clothes. I don’t particularly want to drop my towel with a half-chub, but the longer this conversation goes on, the less I’ll need to.

“Going after team personnel… that’s career suicide, man,” Lewis says, shaking his head.

“The team knows. Coach knows. Management knows.”

“Really?” I don’t understand why Lewis is so surprised.

“As soon as it turned into something, she gave the paperwork to her boss.” I shrug. “It’s⁠—”

“Hold up.” MacGregor sits down. “You filed the relationship form with her?”

I nod. “We weren’t hiding anything.”

“But you didn’t exactly broadcast it, either."

“Because you assholes gossip like schoolchildren.” I glare at Pope. “She deserves to be treated with respect. She shouldn’t have to have her life be gossip fodder.”

“It will be, though,” Reynolds points out. “The talking heads asked about it at intermission.”

He was interviewed in the break between periods, and I was too in the clouds to notice when he rejoined us.

Fuck.

I blow out a breath. “What did you say?”

He shrugs. “Just that it wasn’t my place to comment.”

Okay. It could be worse.

I probably should call my agent, though.

“Seriously, man,” MacGregor says, nudging me. “Vanessa Morgan? She’s, like…”

“Ten out of ten,” Cole says.

“Super hot,” Reynolds adds.

“Way out of your league,” Schwartz says.

At that, I laugh. “Don’t I know it.”

“Does she have a friend?” Jenkins asks. I can’t tell if he’s joking, but I’m fairly sure he has a girlfriend.

I lick my lips. “Her best friend is Whitney’s little sister.”

A few of the guys curse.

Wyatt Whitney is a brawler, unhinged on the best of days. He needled me all game. I didn’t even have to be on the ice at the same time to know he was smirking at me.

“Damn it,” MacGregor says with a congenial smile. “So she’s off limits, then.”

“I’ve always liked a challenge,” Pope says, smiling with his teeth.

To my surprise, it’s Andrews who pipes up next. “Bex would kick your ass and make you thank her for it.”

Pope isn’t deterred. “You know her? Is she down to fool around?”

“We went to college together. You touch her, I’ll kick your face in, and Whitney can have the leftovers,” Andrews says casually as he packs one of the equipment bags. “She’s off limits.”