Chapter 56: Bryn

I’ve been to several games with the team by now, but nothing like this. First of all, the rink was gorgeous. Everything looked like it had just been built yesterday and it was huge. It looked more like a professional rink than a college one. I could hear the crowd already cheering on their home team as we made our way to the guest locker rooms.

“You trying to run, Little Bee?” Sawyer whispered into my ear as he slung his arm over my shoulder.

I shake my head and smile sweetly up at him. “I have no idea what you mean.”

He chuckles and leans down to kiss me quickly. A few of the guys tease us as they pass, but Sawyer just tells them to F off. Since they don’t have the little kitchen set up we have back at our rink, I made sure to prep the smoothies for the guys before we left. I poured them into some traveling plastic bottles and passed them out before they started changing. We still had an hour before the game, but it sounded like a packed house, which meant I needed to find a spot.

Normally I would stand next to Coach, but us being guests here, there was no room set out for me. It’s like they wanted to be sure to weaken our team the best they could. If something happened to one of the guys, I would have to break through a crowd to check them out. Of course, there are medics here too, but they don’t know the guys like I do. They could say our guy can’t keep playing just to screw without chances.

Now way will I let that happen. I need the best seat as close to the ice that I can find. I head out of the door and nearly get run over by a huge, giant body. Strong hands grab me by the shoulders and steady me.

“Sorry about that!” The male voice says. “Didn’t see you there. You’re a little thing.”

I look up to see a guy who looks to be taller than Sawyer, at least by two inches. “I-It’s okay.”

He smiles down at me. “You’re not hurt?” He has a slight accent that makes him even more…attractive.

Shoot, why am I thinking that?

“No. I’m fine.” I give him a tight smile and try to walk around him, but he slides his hand around my wrist.

He isn’t rough, but his touch feels like it’s burning me. What is happening?

“Wait. What’s your name?” He asks giving me a knee buckling smile with dimples and all.

How horny am I? Why am I looking at this guy at all? Sawyer is sex on steroids and more than enough for me. Maybe I’m still wound up from our round earlier. Also, this guy doesn’t seem to notice my wedding band or the obvious bump I’m sporting. He must think I’m single and available. What do I do here? Crap. Run, woman!

“Uh, Bryn.” I say instead of running like I should.

“That’s a cool name. I’m- “

“Maddox!” The sound of Sawyer’s voice makes ice run through my veins.
He appears soon and slaps the big guy…Maddox on the shoulder.

“What the hell are you doing here, man?” Sawyer asks.

The guy Maddox releases me so they can do their bro hug thing. “I changed teams after you left, but didn’t know where you went, so I had to take an offer here.”

Sawyer scoffs. “At this dump? We have to fix that.”

The guys laugh, and then Sawyer looks my way. He moves closer to me and wraps his arms around me.

“I see you met my girl.” He says proudly.

Maddox looks between us, and a hint of pink appears on his cheeks. He reaches up and scratches the back of his head sheepishly. His hair is short but gets longer toward the top. It’s combed back, but I bet it’s long enough to almost reach his eyes when down and loose. It’s also this golden blonde color that looks too pretty to be real…and soft.

Crap! Stop it.

“Uh yeah. We just met. Sorry man, I didn’t know she was your girl,” Maddox says.

Sawyer scoffs. “No worries, man. She’s gorgeous, right?” He looks down at me with a look I’ve become more familiar with.

It’s as if he is showing me all the emotions inside him just by looking at me.

But…why isn’t he being weird about this guy and me? He’s always insanely jealous.

“Yeah she is.” Maddox says and I turn my head to look his way.

He’s giving me a strange look, and I have the urge to run and hide. Who the heck is this guy?

“We should get together are we kick your asses. You can come back to our place for a drink!” Sawyer offers. “Then we can talk about you moving to our team. No way are you slumming it with these assholes.”

Maddox chuckles. “Your one bossy son of a bitch, but I’m cool with that. If it’s okay with your girl.”

Sawyer looks at me expectantly. I’m so confused that I just nod.

“Cool! I’ll send you the address.” Sawyer says.

“Alright. It was nice to meet you, Bryn.” Maddox says in this low soft tone and holds his hand out to me.

I purposefully hold out my hand that has my ring and accept his handshake. I feel his finger brush over my ring, but his face doesn’t change, and instead he lifts my hand and kissing my knuckles.

Sawyer just chuckles and playfully pushes Maddox away. “Come on, Romeo.”

He turns to me and pulls me into a breath, stealing a kiss before pulling back and kissing me on the forehead. “See you after the game, baby. Be good.”

He winks at me and turns to leave with Maddox. I’m left there in utter shock and confusion. What the heck just happened? How well does Sawyer know this guy that he would be willing to let him touch me and kiss my hand like that?

I shake my head, trying to clear the confusion and make my way to the bleachers. As I suspected, it’s pretty crowded already, but since fans for each team seem to stick to their own sides, I find our side has several seats still free. I spot the perfect seat, but it’s between two huge guys who are either too manly or uncomfortable to sit next to each other. Sitting between them isn’t something I’m looking forward to, but I need to be close to the ice. So I suck in a breath of courage and walk toward the row.

When I reach the guy sitting by the aisle, I smile. “Hi. Is that seat taken?”

He’s looking down at his phone when I speak and waves his hand absentmindedly. “No, go ahead.”

“Thanks.” I say and then do my best to squeeze past his legs with him making to effort to give me more space.

Thankfully, I can get past him without falling right into the separation glass. I take my seat and wrap my coat closer around me with a little shiver.

“Hey.” The guy on the other side of me says.

My head snaps his way and I’m met by a middle-aged man dressed in a suit. He looks like he came from some cushy corporate office and happened upon this place and decided to take a look inside. The rest of us are dressed in school colors with all sorts of memorabilia to support our team, but not him.

“Hi.” I say politely and turn my head to face the rink.

The home team is out on the ice now, stretching, and I spot that blonde hair. Maddox is dressed in goalie gear and is stretching out his legs. The stretches can be a little…sexual if you’re a woman who reads way too many spicy sports romances. Now with this odd attraction I feel for the guy and the way he’s stretching…well if there was a hell I’d be going there. I should not be checking him out right now! I’m not a cheater and I love Sawyer, but hot damn.

Needing someone to talk to, I take a quick picture of him and send it to Poppy. It doesn’t take long for her to send me a gif of some animated dog thing with his eyes wide and his tongue rolling out of his mouth.

*Poppy: Holy crap! Who is that and where can I get one?*

I let out a sigh of relief. She finds him really hot too, so I don’t feel so horrible checking him out. Because wow…he’s very, very hot.

*Me: I needed to confirm that checking this guy out isn’t cheating on Sawyer. LOL.

Poppy: Heck no. I talk about how hot guys are around Zach all the time. It’s all in good fun and it makes him want to prove how much better he is.*

I crinkle my nose up at the innuendo. Some things you just don’t want to know about your sister’s love life. Sex being on the top of the list.