but some folks liked to arrive early to and get their choice of seats and watch the players warm up.
Harper was there already. She avoided looking directly at Brandon as she set up the scorekeeperâs table. A few bleachers away, a young woman Brandon had never seen before cheered loudly, pumping her fists in the air and bouncing in rhythm with her cheers, her long-sleeve crop top and short shorts providing lots of excellent jiggling in all the right places.
Brandon swiveled around to skate backward and caught Gabeâs attention. âWhoâs the puck bunny?â
Gabe didnât take his eyes off her as he answered. âI donât know, but sheâs definitely got talent.â
Will slid to a stop in front of them without warning, nearly causing a whole-team pileup. He smacked Gabeâs helmet with his stick. âKnock it off, you guys. Before Duke hears you. Donât you recognize her? Jesus!â He shook his head, disgusted, his eyes on the ice.
âNever seen her before,â Brandon said, looking her over again. Heâd definitely remember a girl like that. âWhoââ
But Brandonâs question was cut off when Dukeâs voice reverberated across the ice. âKayla Ray! Well, Iâll be damned. Sweetie, what a fantastic surprise! Hey, everyone, this is my granddaughter, Kayla. Kayla, say hi to my team.â
Seemingly oblivious to the horrified gasps and cringes from the team, Kayla Ray bounced again, this time waving at the team. âHi, boys!â
On her next bounce, her top pulled up, revealing the underside of what looked like a bright pink bra.
âOh, shit,â Gabe said, wrenching his face away.
Oh, shit was right because Brandon had seen enough of Kayla Rayâs type to know she was nothing but trouble. Big time.
Chapter Four
Brandon decided to follow Gabeâs lead and refocused his attention on the dark rectangle of the hallway entrance behind the team bench. âYeah, Iâm just going to look over here for a few minutes. Let me know when sheâs gone.â
âThatâs more like it,â Will grumbled. âShow Duke some respect.â Will stood taller, as though protecting Dukeâs kin was his personal responsibility. Which he probably did feel, since he didnât have any family of his own and Duke had more or less adopted him when heâd moved to Destiny Falls. Will rented out the converted garage behind Dukeâs house, worked for him in his general contracting business, and sometimes went to church with him and his wife, Donna.
âShe must not live around here because Iâve never seen her before,â Gabe said.
âShe hasnât been around recently because most of the time Duke goes to Raleigh to spend Christmas with his daughter, but a couple years back, his daughter and her family came up for the holidays instead. Kayla was in high school then, and, uhââWill chanced a look over his shoulderââit looks like her fashion choices havenât changed much since then.â
âDude, that sucks,â Gabe said with a groan.
âTell me about it. I looked at a lot of walls that Christmas.â
Theo cursed in French, as a Quebecois like him was prone to do. âBack up. She was only in high school a couple years ago? Iâve only got eyes for Allison, but I still feel like a dirty old man for even noticing that awful bouncing thing sheâs doing.â
âSame here,â Gabe said. âI wasnât trying to look, I swear. I respect Duke too much to have these images stuck in my head. I need a cold shower before he kills me.â
Liam burst out with a hard laugh and pushed off into a glide, accelerating around them, his stick in his hands. âGive it up, losers. We have a game to win. Stop thinking about whoâs bouncing on the sidelines and start warming up something other than your dicks.â
Nobody moved to follow him.
Brandon checked to
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