“C’mon on.” Luc took her hand and led her across the dance floor towards Quinn. “There’s a cab outside for you three,” he told them. “And don’t forget to use protection.” Luc tossed them a couple of condom packs.
“Really?” Kassie gawked at his actions.
“I’m supposed to watch out for them, and that’s the best advice they’re going to get tonight.” He tugged on her arm, pulling her towards the exit.
She looked back to say goodbye to her friend, but Quinn was stuck between those two like the peanut butter in a sandwich. It didn’t surprise her; that’s how Quinn was.
Kassie shook her arm, trying to get Luc to let go. It was weird that he was holding her hand. It felt wrong, but right in a weird way.
Luc stopped and turned to her. A naughty smirk sat on his face. “Come on, sweets. I just want to hold your hand. Is that okay?”
She didn’t hate the idea. His hands were strong and rough, and made her stomach do cartwheels. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way, she liked it. She just refused to tell him that.
CHAPTER NINE
Luc
Luc drove his Porsche away from Mario’s. The cool fall air blew in the open windows. Kassie sang along to the rock song on his radio, her words slightly slurred, and she only got about half of them correct. She didn’t fool him; she was drunk. Or at the very least, tipsy. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to leave her at the bar like that. Too many bad things happened to women when they were drunk and alone. And with Quinn leaving too, he had to make sure Kassie got home safely.
He sent his buddies home in a cab, fairly sure they were all going back to Quinn’s place.
“So, who were your friends, anyway?” Kassie slurred.
“Rookies. JJ and Travis. They’re good guys, but are young and really milking the whole I’m a hockey player pickup line. But they won’t hurt Quinn, I can vouch for that.”
“Luc, I’m not worried about Quinn. And she really doesn’t care what occupation the guy has. She’s not picky.” Kassie yawned. She made a cute little squeaky noise as she did. “Do you go to Mario’s a lot?”
“Enough.” It used to be his stomping ground for picking up girls, using the lame line that he was a hockey player. He wasn’t going to tell her that, not like it was relevant ever since he’d met her. No girl measured up to Kassie. Sure, some girls had one or two good features, but none were her.
“Huh, I’ve never seen you there.”
“Oh? You go dancing there a lot?” His curiosity was piqued. How did I miss her before?
“No, not a lot. I was very focused in school. Quinn always wanted me to go out. I only went a few times, but that was our favorite place to go.” Kassie yawned and relaxed back in her seat.
Luc knew she was too tipsy to remember any of this, which is what made it so much fun. “Did you have fun tonight, Kassie?”
She stared out the window as she calmly answered. “Yes. You are a really good dancer, Marcella.”
“Oh? You liked my moves, huh?” He knew he was being way too forward tonight, but he couldn’t help it. He had hated seeing her with that other guy, and that made him bolder. Plus, she didn’t seem to mind his banter.
“Yeah. Don’t know why you left just to take me home.” She moved her eyes to the floor and wrung her hands.
“Why’s that?” Luc found her a lot more honest in her tipsy state. This was fun. She didn’t have that wall that she kept up because he was on the same hockey team as her brother.
“You’re handsome. Don’t think I don’t know that you are well aware of it. I’m sure you wish you could’ve taken some cutie home.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I am.”
“Wha?”
“Well, sweets, here’s your stop. Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?” Their conversation was enlightening and amusing, but he knew better than to get too greedy.
Kassie bit at her bottom lip and paused before answering. “Um, no. I’m good. But thanks for the ride.”
“You sure?”
“No.” Kassie chewed on her bottom lip, and his heart seemed to pause in his chest, waiting for her next words. After a few moments, she opened the car door. “Goodnight, Luc.”
Luc hadn’t stopped thinking about Kassie since the night at the club. The way she had moved against him, with no inhibitions, it was hot. He wasn’t supposed to be drawn to her, but he was. If falling for your bro’s sister was a no-no, then falling for your teammate’s sister was like signing your death certificate. But he still didn’t care.
“Hey Rock-Star,” Kaden said beside Luc in the locker room. “I hear you were keeping an eye out on the young bucks the other night. They give you a run for your money?”
It was the second intermission of their game in New York. They were losing 2–0. Coach Walker only yelled for about two minutes and left them in silence for the rest of the break between periods. They knew what that meant. They were more afraid of him when he wasn’t yelling than when he was.
“They were fine. But they don’t really need a chaperone, what they need is a leash! Actually, they picked up a girl while they were there, and I was kinda off duty after that.”
“You mean they picked up some fangirls and went home with them? Nice.”
“No, they went home with her.” Luc was trying to be more specific without being too detailed.
“Hey ladies, enough of the chit-chat, time to get back out there,” Coach Walker announced, but aimed it at them.
Lining up to go back out on to the ice, Kaden nudged Luc’s shoulder. “You didn’t say if you went home with a hottie. Any bunnies from the Marcella fan club there?”
“Bunnies? No. And the chick that the rookies snagged wasn’t a bunny.” Quinn was more like the object of the rookies’ attention rather than the other way around.
The horn sounded and the music blared. Time to hit the ice.
“Third period, boys. Let’s do this!” Tyler yelled, trying to hype them up.
“Woo!” Patrick yipped as he skated around the ice. “Let’s get this party started! We only need two to tie this bad boy.”
The refs waited for them to line up, then dropped the puck. Patrick smashed a New York defenseman into the boards, stole the puck, and took off down the ice towards New York’s net. Their defense must not have thought Pat would get near the puck, because they were covering Tyler and Kris.
Pat had the space to score, but their goalie wasn’t having it. He stuck out his glove hand and deflected the puck into the left corner. Tyler hurried after it, deked out of the way of a New York forward, and went straight for the net, burying the puck.
GOAL!
Luc glanced around, but no one was celebrating.
“Okay guys, we need one more to tie it. Then we can celebrate,” Coach Walker called out from the bench. He waved for Luc to come off the ice. “Torin, Moose, Kris. You guys are up. Let’s tie this thing up.”