“But he texted you? Maybe he’s interested?”
Kassie shook her head. “No.” Forgetting everything she’d just admitted to Quinn, she went back to her steadfast motto. She didn’t date athletes. “He just wanted to talk. Then he asked me to lunch. I have no idea why I agreed, but I did.”
“And you’ve been holding out on me! I expected at least a phone call about any of this! A whole week went by, and you’re just telling me now? Jeez, I thought we were friends.” She gave Kassie a look.
Whatever Quinn intended with that look, Kassie took it, because she could tell Quinn all day long that she didn’t date athletes, but she knew the truth was written all over her face. She liked Luc.
“Oh please, Quinn. You were busy with the boys.”
Quinn took a second to think about that, then nodded. “Oh yeah, I totally was. Okay. Go on.”
“Against my better judgement, I went to lunch. Then we went bowling—”
“Bowling? First, you’re spending a lot of time with an athlete, when you don’t do athletes, and second, who goes bowling anymore?”
“Does that really matter? Quinn, I spent almost the whole day with him! And it was fun! And you’re focused on bowling?”
“So? What? You like this guy.”
“Yes.” As soon as she said the word, she wanted to take it back. She shook her head frantically. “No. Does it matter? I can’t like him. No. I told you that big bro was already getting protective when Luc was just flirting with me. If Kaden knew Luc was calling me and we were spending the day hanging out, he would lose his damn mind.”
“Does he have to know?” Quinn asked calmly, as she finished her sandwich.
“You mean, lie to Kaden?” It was not like that hadn’t crossed her mind, and when she’d dated that lacrosse player in high school, she kept it on the down low.
“Not lie. He just doesn’t need to know. Especially if you two are just enjoying each other’s company. Do you tell him about all of your friends? Now, if things get a little more comfortable, then you might want to tell him before he finds out from someone else. Or not. Depending on how you want to play it.”
“There’s nothing to play.” Yet.
“Then I guess you really don’t have a problem.” Quinn smiled. “Yet.”
Kassie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her body was tired, but her brain wouldn’t shut off. All she could think about was Luc. Every time she closed her eyes, there he was. His devilish smirk, muscular arms, sexy eyes, and his flirty ways. They were burned into her brain. She couldn’t understand it. She didn’t fall for athletes. But that didn’t stop her heart from racing every time she was around him, or even every time she thought about seeing him.
When she finally fell asleep, she tossed and turned, waking up a few times every hour. And each time she woke up, she had Luc on her mind.
This shouldn’t be happening.
Kaden would kill him if she let her guard down and fell for Luc.
Rolling onto her back, she again stared at the ceiling. It was too late to worry about Kaden, his rules, or her rules. She liked how Luc had taken charge at the club, and she enjoyed the way he flirted with her at Kaden’s house, even though Kaden was right there. Yeah, that was hot. And lunch, spending the day bowling, and then pizza and beer with him was enjoyable. He was just fun to spend time with.
Kassie was afraid she had already fallen for him. Admitting that to him was a different story. She liked him and maybe spending time with him wasn’t that bad of an idea. It didn’t have to mean a relationship, just a friendship. A friendship that she wished was more. But for now, she’d settle for being able to spend time with him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Luc
Luc had done well at morning skate, concentrating on only his game. He was able to keep all thoughts of Kassie at bay. It wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be, since he was looking into Kaden’s mask most of the time. He was in no mood for a beat down, so keeping Kaden’s sister out of his mind was priority.
Sam skated again today. No more no-contact jersey. Luc still couldn’t purposely hit him; it didn’t feel right. However, Sam wasn’t shy about taking players into the corner and fighting for the puck. It was great to see him getting in there again. Trina may not be so thrilled at all the action her husband was instigating, though.
Luc even managed to go home for lunch and a nap and kept his mind from roaming. Almost. He did pick up his phone once and considered texting her to invite her to the game. But he figured he’d bugged her enough lately. If he wanted this to work, he had to play it cool.
Lining up outside the locker room, Sam patted him on his shoulder. “You good, bro?”
“Yeah. It’ll be good to have you back out there, Morris.”
Sam nodded. He was finally cleared to play tonight. “I know Coach isn’t going to let me play a lot of minutes my first night back in, but I’m just happy to be getting back into the lineup.”
“Hey, Marcella!” Pat called from the back of the line. “How many honeys you got in the crowd tonight?”
The guys laughed.
“Me? No honeys for me. I ran out of family passes. The bigger question is who you got out there? Gia has got to be tired of your crap by now,” Luc joshed back.
“Shut up, dude. Don’t you worry. My Gia is out there getting ready to cheer on her man.” Patrick puffed his chest up.
When the horn sounded and the music blared, preparing for their entrance, the crowd yelled and applauded.
“Welcome home, Morris!” Luc called as they hopped onto the ice at Rivers Arena.
“Good to be back, Rock-Star!” Sam called as they circled around the ice.
Right before Luc locked his stuff up in the changing room, he got a text from Kassie telling him that she and Quinn had gotten last-minute tickets to the game. They would be in the family section. He wished he had been the one who offered her tickets.
Luc jumped on the bench and watched the first group of players line up for the face-off. Tyler started the game, because he always did.
They were playing Columbus tonight, one of their rivals. The game started off ugly, when instead of playing the puck, Columbus’ enforcer, Miller, went directly after Tyler. Coach tapped Moose on the shoulder, meaning he was to jump onto the ice as soon as someone came off.
Moose went after Miller, getting the first punch in. Tyler adjusted his jersey and shoulder pads as he skated to the bench. Moose threw punch after punch, three connecting, as they did the dance of the enforcers. By the time they hit the ice and the refs broke it up, Miller had a bloody lip and a gash over his eye. The two players were both sent to the penalty box.