Read Online Skating on Thin Ice: Seattle Sockeyes (Game On in Seattle Book 1) by Jami Davenport - Free Book Online Page B

attached hurt too much when it didn’t work out. She’d never fall for a handsome face, sexy smile, and ripped body again.
    Besides nothing came between Lauren and her passion for hockey. Nothing. She’d derailed her career once for an unworthy man.
    Then there was Ethan. If the glitter in his eyes was any indication, he’d jump in bed with her given half a chance. He’d be out of her life in a few months, despite his hints that he might stay on with the team assuming his group purchased them. She couldn’t see him sticking around. He had to have a life elsewhere. Hell, as far as she knew, he had a wife and kids at home, a home he never talked about.
    “Lauren?” His voice brought her back to the present.
    “Sorry, thinking about the game this evening.”
    “Are you nervous?”
    She nodded. “I’m always nervous before a game.”
    And even more so when Ethan pinned her with his intent stare and fingered his napkin as if he wished it were a specific part of her body.
    Oh, God, she wished it were, too.
    * * * *
    Cooper watched Ethan Williams chat it up with the Sleezers after the game, like they were old buddies.
    He’d just walked out of the locker room after a close win that he didn’t feel nearly as good about as he should. He hadn’t scored a goal, but at least the rest of the first line picked up his slack. Cedric played inspired hockey, all over the ice as if there were three or four of him.
    Now it was back home with the series tied one-one.
    Speak of the fucking devil, Cedric, stopped next to him. He followed Cooper’s gaze. “You got a real issue with that guy, don’t you?”
    “The Sleezers or Williams?”
    “Everybody hates the Sleezers. I was talking about Williams, our savior.”
    “He’s not our fucking savior. What was your first clue?”
    “You look like you’re ready to drop the gloves every time you catch sight of him. Why don’t you duke it out, get it out of your system?”
    “That’d go over well with the league. They’re salivating all over the guy. That’s the problem, Ced. Why? If he’s who he says he is, what’s the big deal?”
    “The big deal is the big bucks behind him. The commish trips all over himself when guys with deep pockets want to buy into the league.” Cooper narrowed his eyes as Ethan threw back his head and laughed out loud at something one Sleezer said. The ass was totally faking it.
    “Yeah, I know, but it’s more than that. There’s a damn good reason why we don’t know a fucking thing about them.”
    “Man, you’re a distrusting soul, buddy. Let it go. Take him at face value.”
    “And what is that?”
    “He’s here to vet the team for prospective owners. Simple. To the point. As long as the Sleezers are out of our lives, what do we care, ya?” Cedric liked to throw in a ya once in a while to make sure everyone remembered he was from Sweden even though he didn’t have much of an accent anymore.
    “You’ll care if they move the team.”
    Cedric shrugged. “Not really. I spend most of my life inside an arena. It’s all the same to me where it is. Come the offseason, I can go where I please.”
    “I wish I felt like you did, but I’m a part of this community, and I want to keep it that way.”
    “Let’s get to the bus. Everyone’s waiting. You know how cranky Coach gets when he’s tired and ready to sleep in his own bed.”
    Cooper nodded and had to laugh. “Yeah. He’s already pissed at me. No reason to make it worse.”
    Cedric winked at a couple puck bunnies standing just outside the doorway. They squealed when they saw him, but security kept them back. He turned to Alex and Brick. “Watch and learn, children.”
    Ced stopped to sign their programs. One of them wanted her chest signed, her low-cut tank not hiding much. Ced gladly obliged, and Cooper had to drag him away by the arm, but not before the blond scrawled her number on a card and tucked it in his pants. Ced grinned as she copped a feel.
    Ced loved women. Women loved