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“Dude, just ask her out already. She’s not gonna bite.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Shut up, D.”
“You’ve been staring at her, like, all night, for fuck’s sake. Just open your mouth and say ‘Hey, wanna go out with me?’ Dude, just say anything.”
“Just don’t say something s-stupid.”
Justin Perry rolled his eyes and stifled the urge to punch Derek and Robbie. “Screw you both. Shut up and let me eat.”
“Nah, man, I’d rather bust your balls.” Derek leaned back in his chair, shit-eating grin on his face. “Much more fun. And speaking of...”
Derek smirked at Justin before he softened it into a grin that he slashed at someone behind Justin.
“Hey, guys. You need anything else?”
Damn. Just damn.
Every hair on Justin’s body stood on end at the sound of her voice.
He liked her voice. He liked her smile. He liked the way she moved. He liked the colors she dyed her hair, like a rainbow waterfall. He pretty much liked everything about Vivi Martin.
And she didn’t have the first clue.
“Yeah, can we get another round, Viv?” Derek waved his hand. “I’m getting this one so put it on my tab.”
“No problem, D. You done, hon?”
The woman he had absolutely not been lusting after for weeks touched his arm as she gestured to his empty plate.
Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.
He knew he shouldn’t face her because, sure as shit, he’d say or do something stupid. If he opened his mouth, his foot would follow soon enough.
Didn’t happen so much with his teammates anymore. He was used to them.
But put him in the vicinity of a girl he liked and... Yeah, he could wreak havoc in two seconds flat. He had a gift.
Keeping his head down, he said, “Uh, sure.”
He’d inhaled the chef’s homemade spaghetti and meatballs. He’d been starving. The Redtails had had a game tonight. A tough one against Wilkes-Barre. Justin and his linemate, Will, and fellow players Robbie, Derek, and Lad had needed fuel, and Derek’s girlfriend’s dad, who owned this place, made the best homemade pasta Justin had ever eaten, so yeah, he’d practically licked his plate clean.
Now, he reached for the plate at the same time she did. He’d meant to hand it to her, but of course their hands crashed into each other. Her hand bounced off his and hit his water glass. His continued forward and scattered dirty silverware across the table. Right into the water spilling out of his overturned glass.
Justin’s cheeks burned as he shook his head. “Damn, sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“No, no. My fault.” The woman who, okay, yeah, he’d been lusting after for the past few weeks patted him on the shoulder as she cleaned up his mess. “Don’t worry about it, hon.”
Of course, she had to bend forward to clean up, which meant her arm brushed against his arm and shoulder and, holy crap, now he had a hard-on.
Could this get any worse?
Probably shouldn’t even think that because the universe would prove that, yes, things could always get worse.
So he kept his mouth shut while she took away his glass and his plate.
Luckily, the guys laid off ragging on him, at least while she was at the table.
Of course, he knew when she was out of hearing, they’d be all over him. Par for the course, as his dad would say.
“Can I get you more water with the beer? You had a game tonight. You need more fluids.”
Looking up, he saw her give Derek a pointed look, which made D laugh like a loon.
“Yes, Mom. Please bring a pitcher of water. But bring the beer first.”
Vivi shot Derek a discreet finger, but her smile was wide. And so beautiful, Justin could’ve stared at her for hours. Which was exactly what he did when she was anywhere near him.
“Of course.” Her hand fell on Justin’s shoulder and she squeezed, making his breath catch in his throat. “Be right back.”
Trying to suck in air without the other guys realizing he was doing it proved almost impossible, but Derek steered the conversation back to tonight’s game, giving Justin some literal breathing room.
Which only meant that Derek would be all over him later. Derek had been on his ass to ask Vivi out ever since Justin’s girlfriend, Ashley, had finally made their “breathing space” last summer official.
The breakup hadn’t been a surprise. What had been a surprise was how little it had stung when she’d called to tell him they were through.
“Okay, guys.” Vivi stopped next to him again and his stomach tightened into a hot ball of anxiety. “Beer. Water.”
Setting the two pitchers she held in one hand on the table next to Justin meant she brushed up against his arm again. And damn if he didn’t get goosebumps.
Then she set a platter in the center of the table.
“And Mr. Tsouk says make sure you eat all the wings. On the house.”
“Tell Nico he doesn’t have to do that,” Derek said. “Put ’em on my bill.”
As Justin looked up, he caught Vivi’s smile. His heart began to pound and he tried not to swallow his own tongue.
“And he said if you offered to pay to tell you to just shut up and eat the damn wings.”
Okay, that was funny as hell, and Justin grinned. So when Vivi looked down at him in the next second, he was smiling.
Their gazes connected as she smiled back, and Justin was pretty damn sure he might’ve made a huge error in judgment.
Because when she smiled at him like that, his lungs threatened to seize and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, making it almost impossible for him to talk.
A second later, her eyes narrowed and her focus shifted to his chest.
Shit. Had he spilled something—
“Do you have ink?”
She sounded like she couldn’t believe he would have tattoos. And, idiot that he was, he followed her gaze down to his own chest. Where he absolutely knew he had some amazing art.
So why the hell had he looked? Like he didn’t know it was there?
You’re such a dweeb.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened as she looked back into his eyes. “I’d love to see it sometime. I do some designing on the side and seeing other people’s work is so inspiring.”
She wanted to see his ink?
Before he could answer, Derek slapped his arm around Justin’s shoulder. “If I’d known that, Viv, I would’ve told you to ask him to show it to you before. This man’s body is a work of art.”
Justin felt a blush heat his cheeks but Derek wasn’t wrong. His brother was hugely talented and Justin was his favorite canvas. As long as Bryan was sober. When he wasn’t... Well, he didn’t do much of anything.
“Uh, sure. I guess. I mean, if you really want to.”
Damn, why did he suck so bad at this? Why couldn’t he talk to a girl like a regular human?
Vivi smiled at him like he’d just given her the keys to a brand-new car.
“I would love that. Guess you can’t just take your shirt off here, huh? What are you doing tomorrow night? Do you want to come over?”
He blinked at her. Had she just asked him to come over to her place?
His mouth dropped open and he tried to find his voice but just as he was about to speak, she turned to look at Derek.
“Wait, why don’t you guys all come over to the house to watch the Colonials game? I’ll talk to Sophie and see if Jess’ll be around.” Derek’s and Will’s girlfriends weren’t here right now but Justin knew they’d become good friends with Vivi. “You don’t have a game, right? Just tonight and tomorrow. Aly’ll be in Philly at the game but we can hang and watch Riley kick ass.”
She looked around the table at the guys before coming back to Justin, who couldn’t decide if he wanted the rest of the guys to say yes or to beg off with other plans.
Derek glanced at him before saying, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Right, Justin? We’ll be there.”
Their gazes still holding, Justin watched Vivi’s smile widen. And holy hell, he wasn’t gonna be able to get up from the table anytime soon or he’d embarrass the hell out of himself.
“Yeah. Thanks. That sounds, ah, like fun.”
How the hell could her smile just get bigger and brighter? And more beautiful with every second?
“That’s great. Game’s at five. You guys bring the pizza. I’ll have everything else. Deal?”
“I think we can manage that.” Derek stuck his elbow in Justin’s side when he didn’t say anything. “Right, J?”
“Yeah. Right. Sounds great.”
Then he smiled.
Vivi wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Justin smile as easily as he was now. Especially not to anyone other than a teammate.
It pretty much transformed his whole face, taking him out of the cute zone and into hot territory.
For the past couple of years, Vivi had thought herself pretty much immune to hot guys. Sure, she let them pick her up sometimes. Sometimes, she even went on more than one date with them. And even more rarely, she let one seduce her into his bed.
Lately, she’d been content with her battery-operated boyfriend. He never talked back and she didn’t have to stroke his ego, or anything else, after he got her off.
But since she’d been working here at the tavern and getting to know these hockey players a little better, she’d started to believe maybe all professional athletes weren’t like the ones she’d known before.
You’re painting everyone with the same brush again. Not every player is a douche.
No, just the ones she’d dated. Or just the ones who’d broken her heart.
And that had only been once.
More than enough.
These guys weren’t assholes. Yeah, they could get loud and some of them were obnoxious occasionally, but they weren’t dicks about it. Hell, even Derek, who couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his soul, made her laugh more than he made her want to smack him upside the head.
But Justin...
Totally not your type.
And yet—
Shit. She was staring.
And smiling. Still smiling at him. It was easy to smile at Justin.
Tearing her gaze away, she looked at Derek again and nodded. “Great! I’ll let Sophie know about a time.”
Then she stole another glance at Justin, who continued to smile at her and make her think things she shouldn’t think.
You’d eat him alive.
“Hey, Viv! Can we get refills?”
The call came from across the room and she tore herself away to take orders. And she did have to tear herself away because that smile made her think bad thoughts. Dirty thoughts. Thoughts that would probably make a sweet guy like Justin run the other way.
Since it was close to eleven-thirty and the tavern closed at midnight, she was busy with last calls, cleanup, and restocking for tomorrow.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t keep her eye on Justin. Now that she’d noticed him, she couldn’t seem to stop.
Every time she looked in his direction, she found her gaze drawn to him. And found herself wondering what he looked like under the gray slacks and white dress shirt. He wasn’t wearing a tie. None of the guys were now. But she knew from her sister’s boyfriend, Riley, that the guys always wore suits to the games.
Used to be, she’d see a guy in a suit and turn away with a sneer. She’d thought they looked stuffy, arrogant. Her dad had never worn a suit to work in his life, and he’d supported his family just fine.
These guys made her rethink her whole suit aversion.
“Ugh, I’m so glad to be out of the damn kitchen. I think Dad and I were about to explode if we had to spend another minute together. Hey, Derek told me about Sunday. You sure you want this crew in your house, making a mess and drinking all your alcohol?”
Vivi turned to Sophie, who’d spent most of the night in the kitchen helping her dad cook. Her friend lived up to her red-headedness whenever she worked with her dad in the kitchen. The Tsoukoulos family loved each other fiercely. They also fought fiercely.
“I’m surprised you and your dad escaped without bloodshed tonight.”
Sophie shrugged, her nose adorably wrinkled. Sophie’s middle name was probably adorable. “Nah. Never happen. He’s my dad. And he’d never lay a hand on me. Of course, I may hit him over the head with a frying pan one day, just to show him I mean business.”
“I like your dad, Soph. He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, well, don’t tell him that. His ego’s already huge from you telling him how wonderful he is.”
Laughing, Vivi rubbed her shoulder against Sophie’s. “But he is. And yeah, I definitely want to have the guys over. It’s been a while since I’ve had a party. It’ll be fun.”
Sophie looked up at Vivi with a doubtful look on her face. “Uh-huh. Talk to me again Monday morning.”
“Come on, they can’t be that bad.”
Vivi looked over at the table where the guys were shooting the shit. They’d finished eating and were lounging back in their chairs, sipping beers or sodas or water, laughing, talking. Looking like they were having a great time with each other. Like they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.
So different from the other athletes she’d known.
Which wasn’t many. Guess it just took one really bad one to make all the rest seem like assholes. Of course, it only took one good one to change her mind completely.
“They’re not.” Sophie nudged her with her elbow and Vivi realized she’d been staring at Justin again. “And some are even sweeter than the whole lot of them.”
Vivi shot Sophie a look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sophie’s left eyebrow rose. “Uh-huh.”
Vivi shook her head. “Anyway...it’ll be fun to have a party at my place. I can’t remember the last time I had people over. Between my work schedule and Aly never being home, I swear we’re barely there.”
“I don’t know you how you do it.” Sophie shook her head. “You work like eighty hours a week, I swear.”
Vivi shrugged but didn’t say anything as she took the tray of clean glasses out of the dishwasher and began to put them away.
Eighty hours was a stretch. Closer to sixty-five in reality, but yeah, she worked a lot. Had to if she was going to make ends meet.
“So, uh, hey, Vivi.”
It was a good thing she wasn’t holding anything in her hands as she was turning. As it was, she gasped in surprise as she came face-to-face with Justin.
“Oh my god, Justin! You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
Staring up into his eyes, Vivi realized she’d never really noticed how beautiful Justin’s eyes were. A warm, golden brown with flecks of green. Too brown to be hazel but completely gorgeous.
And, damn, if that wasn’t the strangest thought to have right then. But it wasn’t wrong.
The guy wasn’t exactly sex on a stick. He didn’t have that cocky attitude most of the guys she knew wore as comfortably as they wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
No, unless he was a freak in a secret fringe life, Justin seemed to be exactly what he advertised. Sweet, quiet, and a little shy.
Not on the ice, of course. On the ice, he flew.
She didn’t know much about hockey other than the basics. She’d always been more into football...until a certain asshole had ruined the game for her.
“You didn’t. My mind was somewhere else.”
She smiled, tried not to make it look like she wanted to take a bite out of him.
Oh shit, where the hell had that thought come from?
“What can I do for you?”
Did she imagine the flare of heat in his eyes? Or was she projecting her own feelings onto him?
Shit, shit, shit.
“Yeah, I just wanted to check if you need us to bring anything other than pizza. For Sunday.”
Her lips wanted to curl up in a smile at the way he held her gaze. She’d noticed he didn’t typically do that with women. And she didn’t just mean herself.
Maybe she’d been watching him a little more than she’d realized. Now, she found herself wondering what it would take for him to actually look at her and smile. To hold her gaze and smile directly into her eyes.
This close, with only the bar between them, she could tell how tall he really was. How he towered over her. Why had she never noticed that before?
Probably because she’d never really checked him out before. She’d sworn off men a few months ago. Actually, she’d sworn off relationships because sex was still very much on the table.
But Justin didn’t seem like the kind of guy who did casual sex. He seemed too...nice.
And she didn’t do nice guys.
Usually she went for the guys who looked like they could bench-press a Volkswagen, all bulging muscles and thick necks.
And thick skulls. And miniscule brains.
Justin was long and lean. Lanky. A little gawky. Kinda clumsy.
She’d seen him walk through the door tonight with the guys, head down. He nearly tripped over his own feet but caught himself before he fell too far forward. He barely broke his stride, like he did it all the time and it’d become second nature.
She remembered shaking her head and smiling a little then totally forgetting about it.
Now—
“Uh, Vivi?”
She blinked. Oh my god. Had she been staring into his eyes this whole time?
“Yeah. Sorry. Sorry, I...” was thinking about what you look like naked. She shook her head. “What was your question?”
Ugh. How totally stupid did she sound?
His gaze dropped, like she’d dissed him in some way.
Without thinking, she reached for his arm and squeezed.
Her first thought as she made contact... Holy shit, the man is solid muscle.
Her second... She didn’t want to let go.
Her head snapped up, watching as he turned his head to look at her hand on his arm then slowly looking up to catch her gaze.
The connection was instantaneous and almost shocking.
Those brown eyes of his made her want to pull him closer so she could look even more closely. Which would mean his lips would be closer.
And why are you thinking about his lips?
Blinking, she pulled back but not enough to release his arm.
“I asked if you wanted us to bring anything other than pizza?”
Pizza? What—oh, yeah.
She shook her head, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity.
“No, but thank you.”
“No problem.”
His gaze dropped and she thought he was going to walk away but he didn’t. Instead, he took a breath and caught her gaze again.
“Thanks for the invite. It’ll be nice to hang out somewhere that’s not a bar or someone’s apartment playing Xbox.”
Her smile came a little more naturally now because she could totally see this group of guys sitting around virtually killing each other.
“But it’s probably fun to gang up on Derek, right?”
He smiled. And her heart skipped a beat.
Stop that.
“Yeah. He’s easy to kill. He’s always talking so he doesn’t really pay attention to what he’s doing.”
She shook her head, grinning, and watched his gaze slide down to her lips. Suddenly, she found it hard to breathe.
His gaze shot back up in a split second and she couldn’t mistake the blush on his cheeks. Damn, the guy was hot even when he blushed like a kid.
Silence fell then, a little awkward, until finally, he took a step backward. She blinked, like she was coming out of a trance, and quickly gave him another smile.
“So I guess I’ll see you Sunday.” She pointed randomly to the bar. “I really need to—”
“Yeah, sorry.” He shook his head. “I’ll let you finish up so you can get out of here. Sorry to—”
“No, you’re not. I just—”
He bumped against the chair behind him and almost knocked it over. He managed to grab it just before it would’ve tipped. And that adorable blush on his cheeks burned a little brighter.
Shaking his head and huffing out a sigh, he lifted a hand and said, “Night,” before turning and heading back to the table. Trying not to make it obvious, she watched him as he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair then jerked his head toward the door. She couldn’t hear what he said, but it was obvious he was leaving.
Derek said something that made the rest of the guys groan and Justin knocked him on the shoulder as he shook his head.
Then one of the younger guys got up and walked out with Justin. But not before Justin glanced back and smiled at her. Then he vanished out the door.
She stared at the door for a couple of seconds before she realized what she was doing. Then she forced herself to continue restocking the bar.
And telling herself she was definitely not thinking about taking a bite out of Justin.
No, no, no.